On 4th October 2021, millions of unsuspecting online users were surprised when a sudden internet blackout shut Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and Whatsapp down. The six-hour outage left many people without access to these platforms, which have cemented their place as the everyday cornerstones of modern communication.

The significant outage lost Facebook billions on the stock market and made businesses that run on their platforms vulnerable to losses. Facebook’s data center issue shook the world, and a smaller Instagram outage a few days later highlighted how vulnerable we are to any disruption in our connectivity. And this isn’t the first time.

Who could forget Fastly’s outage earlier this year that affected sites including Reddit, eBay, and The New York Times? Similarly, AWS Frankfurt experienced a major outage that took servers down when employees could not resolve the issue due to environmental problems preventing access to the data center.

With 96% of companies depending on the cloud, digital platforms going down is a real and present threat. As companies revisit their crisis plans to avoid similar calamities in the future, the question is: what does a smart cloud strategy look like for companies today?

While not too long ago, everyone was talking about moving to the cloud, now we’re waking up to the fact that simply putting our data out there isn’t enough. A well-developed cloud strategy could save your business aches, pains, and even potential shutdowns.

Configuring a cloud strategy

The majority of businesses on the cloud are using public services provided by giants like AWS. The benefit here is that companies can easily store their data in warehouses without needing the large budget and staff that housing the data themselves would require.

There can also be substantial discounts available to a company investing heavily with a single provider due to economies of scale. However, these discounts can often come with a vendor lock-in, making it contractually impossible or more expensive to switch or access other cloud providers. For example, some cloud providers offer startups free cloud credits at first, then lock them into paid plans later on.

And, as exemplified by the Fastly outage, depending on a sole external cloud provider can have disastrous consequences if an outage occurs. The same goes for data leaks and cybersecurity threats; storing all of your data in one place makes it more vulnerable to attacks.

Vendor lock-in also limits the amount of data sovereignty your organization can maintain. For example, with many larger cloud services based in the US or Asia, only a small portion of European data is actually stored in the EU. This could above all mean that your data is vulnerable and potentially visible by non-European authorities, due to extraterritorial legislation like the US Cloud Act. With 36% of EU based companies now using cloud computing, this could become a bigger issue in the coming years.

Finally, it also means less flexibility to take advantage of alternative configurations and possibilities that could work better for other parts of your business. For example, your accounting team’s data needs may be very different from what you need to properly store your client data.

Pros and cons of having one sole provider:

Easy to move to an existing service

Discounts may be available

Possible vendor lock-in

Vulnerable to outages and security leaks

Less flexibility and data sovereignty

Configuring a multi-cloud strategy

Instead of relying on one provider, many are creating multi-cloud environments across multiple vendors. According to a study by Accenture, out of enterprises that have already moved to the cloud, 93% have adopted a multi-cloud strategy.

Going multi-cloud also offers flexibility by enabling companies to optimize workloads according to different providers’ capacity, performance, location, environmental efficiency and costs. With other USPs provided by various vendors, companies have the luxury of selecting the best aspects of each provider.

A multi-cloud strategy also enables companies to avoid lock-ins with a sole provider, giving them the ultimate choice and flexibility in their cloud infrastructure. For example, this means you can also choose between multiple payment models (hourly, monthly, yearly) and multiple resource types (virtual, baremetal, homegrown).

Of course, as with any plan, there are some drawbacks to consider. One is that you really need to do a lot of initial research to choose which cloud providers can offer what you need to build a cloud strategy that meets your company’s needs.

D iversifying cloud platforms may also require internal staff to manage your cloud strategy, adding to operating costs. Providing the needed security measures for a multi-cloud setup is another vital requirement and adds a layer of complexity.

Pros and cons of building a multi-cloud strategy:

Less vulnerability to shutdowns and attacks

Less prone to geopolitical risks when the cloud mix is diverse/international

More flexibility and options in building your cloud strategy

Lower operational costs when adopting a pick and choose strategy

Higher contract and operational costs unless the architecture is multi-cloud by design

Need to develop a strong security strategy

What to consider when pursuing a multi-cloud setup

Even with a reliable cloud provider at hand, one bad downtime situation is all it takes to ruin a priceless reputation. At the same time, working with multiple cloud platforms can also increase the complexity and workload associated with cloud configurations, so balancing the benefits with the drawbacks of multi-cloud environments is essential. With those factors in mind, there are several steps to consider when deciding on a multi-cloud strategy.

Identify how and why a multi-cloud would benefit your organization. A clear understanding of its usefulness in your context will help to shape your strategy and deployment. Ask yourself the following questions:

Are you using a multi-cloud setup for dynamic provisioning in the event of an outage or heavy usage demands?

Could this approach save or make more money?

What operational steps are necessary to make multi-cloud viable in your organization?

The answers to these questions will differ in each instance but are vital in illuminating the processes moving forward.

Steps to set-up a multi-cloud strategy

Let’s say you’ve decided going multi-cloud is the right move for your organization. How can you get there?

1. Identify all the different cloud vendors and contracts tied to your company

Firstly, getting the big picture of your various cloud configurations is essential because it will help you understand the state of your organization and define how you want cloud operations to evolve onwards.

2. Determine which services you would like to integrate or stop

Once you’ve got a picture of the state of the cloud in your company, the second step is to determine which services you’d like to integrate or stop altogether. Are there opportunities to combine different services that would optimize performance or lower operating costs? Approaching the situation with a strategic lens will tease out your roadmap.

Multi-cloud enabling products could help you make that move without damaging the integrity of your current setup. Products like multi-cloud load balancers can help manage online traffic with third-party integrations and guarantee more server availability in the case of debilitating cyberattacks. Mapping out your multi-cloud plans will help you figure out where these sorts of products fit into your organization.

3. Build and develop a team with multi-cloud management capabilities

Thirdly, building a team that can manage the multi-cloud configuration is essential. Using different cloud operators can increase the complexity of an organization’s cloud setup, so having a skilled and collaborative team to oversee the architecture and operation of the cloud setup is necessary to instate and evolve your multi-cloud mission.

4. Create cloud governance procedures in tandem with cloud management tools

Finally, cloud management is a defining aspect of the multi-cloud approach. Assessing how you’ll handle integrations and accessing a vendor‘s APIs across multiple providers without incompatibility issues should be explored ahead of long-term implementation. If you can figure out how your separate deployments will work in tandem, this will help make your multi-cloud setup less complicated.

With such a variety of cloud vendors available today, a multi-cloud or hybrid approach is fast becoming one of the trusted cloud strategies. As more companies consider how to maintain a constant online presence, really taking the time to build out a clear cloud strategy can give companies and users peace of mind during an otherwise unpredictable situation.

VCs spent $11.8B on mobility startups in Q1 2020, report says

VCs spent $11.8 billion on mob ility companies across the globe during Q1 2020, representing an increase of 62% year-on-year (YoY).

This is according to PitchBook’s Mobility Tech Q1 2020 report which says that much of this uptick was driven by three key deals.

These included: Go-Jek’s $3 billion Series F round in March, Waymo’s $2.3 billion VC round in March, and Grab’s $886 million later-stage VC round in February.

If these three deals were excluded, the data shows that VC investing during Q1 reached $5.6 billion, down 23% YoY.

At the same time, VC exit activity remained relatively healthy with 12 VC exits in the quarter, down from 16 in Q1 2019 and 15 in Q4 2019.

The report notes that venture capital financing in the space peaked in 2018, when approximately $60 billion were deployed into mobility startups. In 2019, investors spent $36 billion.

Overall, the investment has been driven by self-driving technology, the popularization of shared mobility, and the development of electronic or connected vehicle technologies. All of this, the report adds, has resulted in a resurgence in innovation in the transportation sector over the past decade.

As is the case with most sectors, the report argues that dealmaking in Q2 2020 will also be affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

“Startups are likely to face a more challenging funding environment , with deal terms increasingly favoring investors ,” it notes — and that’s on top of startups losing leverage in the M&A sphere.

“We expect to see significant valuation haircuts in the space and declining deal activity in the near term. We anticipate exit activity to be muted in Q2 due to a drop in strategic acquisitions from corporates and generally volatile public market conditions,” the report continues.

Autonomous vehicles: A record figure in Q1

Venture capital investors poured a record $3.4 billion in Q1 2020 — much well above the $793.7 million invested during the same time period in 2019.

This was largely driven by Waymo’s aforementioned raise, which pushed the company to a $30 billion valuation.

According to the report, corporate investment from car manufacturers drove much of the deal activity seen in the sector.

In July last year, Cruise Automation — a subsidiary of GM — raised $3.4 billion of development capital from SoftBank and General Motors.

Ford has pledged $4 billion to autonomous vehicle development, and Volkswagen has committed $2.6 billion in capital into Fordowned Argo AI.

In 2018, Intel acquired Mobileye for $14.9 billion, marking the largest corporate acquisition in the space to date.

The report says that, historically a significant portion of VC investment in the space has gone toward startups focusing on developing full-stack autonomous solutions, such as Zoox, Nuro, and Aurora.

However, there are some good news for more specialized startups. PitchBook detects signs this is starting to change as investment expands into companies that focus on a single aspect of autonomy , such as perception or localization, or otherwise augment the autonomous vehicle space .

Ridesharing: Investors spent a hefty $6.6 billion

Investors spent $6.6 billion on ridesharing companies during Q1 2020 — representing a drop of 38% YoY but an increase from the $1.4 billion raised in Q4 2019.

Top deals included Go-Jek’s $3.0 billion Series F round, Grab’s $886 million later-stage VC round, and Via’s $400 million Series E round.

Overall, the report states these large rounds illustrate investor‘s appetite for ridesharing businesses stayed strong despite the near-term uncertainty generated by the coronavirus pandemic.

“Longer term, we expect continued VC investment to focus largely on international late-stage ridesharing competitors such as Grab, Didi Chuxing, and Ola,” it adds.

Carsharing: Will suffer as a result of coronavirus

On another note, carsharing deal value dropped in Q1 2020 by 40.9% YOY.

The standout deal during the quarter was Turo’s $30 million later stage VC round from ADIT Ventures, Larry Fitzgerald, and Tauheed Epps.

“Investment in this segment has cooled relative to previous years, due to existing headwinds such strong competition from ridesharing services and difficult unit economics associated with fleet ownership,” says the report.

“As a result, American brands ReachNow, Car2go, LimePod and Maven have shut down or scaled back operations in recent months, while OEMs such as BMW and Daimler have restructured their European MaaS offerings,” it adds.

As expected, the report says the carsharing industry will likely face a more difficult funding environment as social distancing rules reduce the near-term attractiveness of the space.

Last mile delivery: Increased spending

Q1 2020 was a strong quarter for VC investing in last-mile delivery with investors spending $5.3 billion, a sum representing increases of 62.35% YoY and 128% over Q4 2019.

Top deals included include Go-Jek’s $3.0 billion Series F round and Grab’s $886 million fundraise.

The report says deal value in the space has seen an upward trend over the past few years as delivery services rapidly expand in an underpenetrated market.

“Capital deployment in delivery continues to be dominated by late-stage deals, reflecting the relative maturity of VC backed companies operating in the space. We expect the funding environment for delivery startups to be favorable relative to other mobility segments in the near to medium term,” it concludes.

It seems ridesharing companies were the biggest winners during Q1 but with the coronavirus pandemic threatening current activity it’ll be interesting to see whether VCs end up spending their money on early-stage companies , if at all.

How to get the most out of attending a digital event

Digital events are fairly new and have won in popularity due to the pandemic. As with in-person events, you have good ones and horrible ones. I like to drop the phrase “ not all digital events are created equal ” into the many conversations I’m nowadays having about digital events.

Say, you’ve done the research and you’ve decided on signing up for a digital event, great! Now what?

Having organized multiple digital events under the TNW brand (e.g. TNW Re:Brand, Sprint), a global C-suite event together with the Financial Times (The Global Boardroom), as well as produced events for thirds parties (governments, public companies), we’ve learned a lot about organizing these online experiences. It goes without saying that we’ve also attended dozens of online events and learned a lesson or two about how to attend a digital event.

Based on that, I’ve created a framework with seven steps in order to put a strategy behind your attendance:

1. Define your goals

Do a 60 second mind exercise to figure out what you want to get out of attending the event. Write it down in bullet points (e.g. hear three interesting quotes I could share on my LinkedIn account, meet five people, meet five relevant people to talk about xyz).

2. Prepare and schedule your day

Block your agenda for 1-2 hour pre-event to schedule your day. Find which talks you want to see, check if there any round table sessions you’d like to participate in, browse through the attendee list, and send out meeting requests to relevant people.

3. Block time in your agenda

Make sure you’ve put your favorite talks, sessions, and meetings in your agenda. Let your direct colleagues know you’re attending the event, so you don’t have to hustle between attending and your day to day.

4. Install, engage, enjoy

Get yourself a good spot, good Wi-Fi , great coffee, nearby snacks or fruit and headphones. Enjoy.

5. Take notes

Heard something interesting? Did something trigger a thought? Seen something remarkable? Had a great conversation? Take notes, so you can remember and act later on.

6. Follow up

After the event, reach out to the people you’ve met. It doesn’t always have to be a follow up meeting, it can also be a LinkedIn invite with a small personal and event related note.

7. Evaluate

Grab your goals from point 1 and see if you met them. If not, what was the reason, was it the event? Was it you? Think about how you could improve your experience for the next digital event