Cache Me Out

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• Apple has released its iOS 18.4 software update, which includes 8 new emojis
• The new emojis come at the same time as iOS 18.4's Ambient Music feature and new Photos tool
• Since being released, users have taken to the new additions well, especially Apple's new smiley emoji

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It’s been a week since Apple released its latest iOS 18.4 update, and despite its rather rocky rollout of Apple Intelligence, the new software update packs some redeeming features - one of them being the addition of eight new emojis.

Apple’s library of emojis is extensive to say the very least, offering small visual elements that iPhone users including myself rely on to bring a text message or group chat to life.

Although the company has introduced only eight new ones, each is unique, and there’s one in particular that’s far too relatable. It’s easily the best one of the bunch.

Yes, new emojis are the most basic feature iOS 18.4 introduces – it also brings a new Photos tool and Ambient Music feature – but that doesn’t mean we’re not allowed to be excited about them.

I’ve had a real hard look at the eight new additions to Apple’s range of emojis and already I know which ones I’ll be using the most, and the ones I could do without - here’s my verdict.

8. Root vegetable

Is it a turnip? Is it a radish? I don’t know. But what I do know is that this is the emoji I will be using the least. There are enough food emojis out there already, so what impact is this one having?

7. Bare tree

I use Apple's nature emojis quite often, especially when captioning a photo with a picturesque natural landscape or quirky plant. The new bare tree emoji just looks a little sad, though.

The only instance where I would maybe use this is during autumn or even Halloween, but it’s not one I’m itching to use right now.

6. Spade/ shovel

Let’s call a spade a spade. This one is on the more boring side of Apple’s iOS 18.4 emojis. If you have a particular attachment to spades or shovels, then perhaps you’ll find yourself visiting this emoji over and over. For me, not so much.

5. Flag of Sark

Like most flag emojis, you’d only use them in very specific contexts or if you’re expressing national pride (I use the Welsh flag emoji constantly). That aside, it’s a pretty neat-looking flag, and it's nice to see Apple bring more national flags to its library.

4. Splatter

From its design, the purple splatter emoji is another one that I would’ve thought was always part of the emoji gallery. But alas, it’s shiny and new.

This is another one that looks good, but the only thing that lets it down is the lack of different color options, which would entice me to use it more.

Perhaps the next iOS update will fix this?

3. Fingerprint

The fingerprint emoji is just cool to look at. Is it as exciting as the new smiley emoji? I wouldn’t say so, but design-wise, it still packs a punch and is a solid addition to the emoji library.

2. Harp

It’s strange that a harp emoji is one of the new additions to iOS 18.4 because I would’ve assumed that this was always there. That shows how often I use musical instrument emojis.

Though this is a very specific emoji, it’s very summery. With all the summer photo dumps I have planned for the coming months, I could definitely see myself using this in an Instagram caption somewhere.

1. Undereye bags face

Okay, so Apple does have a sense of humor after all. The new emoji face with undereye bags wins by a landslide, not because it’s particularly inventive or creative, but because it’s the most relatable.

Since iOS 18.4 was released, this emoji has received a lot of praise from Apple users for the reason above alone. This shows that relatability is everything when it comes to emojis, and there’s no doubt this one will be a hit with users.

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• From iPhone to Android and (almost) back again – the iPhone 16e failed to lure me back to iOS
• Apple One's Premier subscription tier just got two new perks, but I still don't think it's worth nearly $40 a month

                                                        </article>

Source: Apple has introduced 8 new emojis with iOS 18.4 - here they are, ranked from best to worst

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• The Nintendo Switch 2 retail price has proven controversial
• Some have speculated that the cost was in part due to potential US tariffs
• Nintendo of America Doug Bowser has now said that this is not the case

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There's been a lot of discussion about the price of the Nintendo Switch 2 and now the Nintendo of America president has chimed in.

Some, including several notable industry analysts, have speculated that the $429.99 / £395.99 starting price was decided with potential US tariffs in mind.

Speaking in a new interview with The Verge, Doug Bowser has clarified that this is not the case. "Any previous tariffs were not factored into the price itself," he said plainly.

This would help explain why Nintendo has made the unprecedented decision to delay Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders in the US. In a statement provided to TechRadar, Nintendo stated that this was due to "the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions."

Bowser added that "the new [of the tariffs] is fresh, and like many companies right now, [Nintendo] are actively assessing what the impact may be."

He went on to try and explain the reasons behind the price tag, citing its improved specs and new features. He also said that "you want to consider pricing relative to Switch since we still have that in distribution but, really, the consideration was driven more by what is a part of this particular gaming experience versus what it is relative to the Switch."

The varied prices of games, for example the $79.99 / £74.99 Mario Kart World, has also been controversial. Bowser said that "each game, we believe, is a unique experience, and therefore can command a distinct price tag.

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• Nintendo Switch 2 vs Nintendo Switch: comparing price, specs, design, features and more
• I spent four hours with Nintendo Switch 2, and it hasn't just exceeded my expectations – it's blown them away
• I fell off the map in Mario Kart World and didn’t respawn – here’s why that’s awesome

                                                        </article>

Source: Nintendo of America president says 'tariffs were not factored into the price' of the Switch 2 and weighs in on the price of games

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• Security researchers uncover new flaw in WinRAR
• The flaw allowed threat actors to bypass Mark of the Web and deploy malware to Windows devices without warning
• WinRAR released a new version to fix the bug, so update now

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Experts have uncovered a flaw in WinRAR which could allow threat actors to bypass the Mark of the Web (MotW) and deploy malware on people’s computers.

The vulnerability was discovered by Japanese researcher Shimamine Taihei from the Mitsui Bussan Secure Directions, and is now tracked as CVE-2025-31334, and was given a severity score of 6.8/10 (medium).

MotW is a security mechanism that displays a warning when an executable file is downloaded from the internet. It is built into Windows and serves as an additional layer of security, warning people that files downloaded from the internet might be dangerous - however, there is a way to work around the warning when a file is shared in an archived format.

Symlink

“If symlink pointing at an executable was started from WinRAR shell, the executable Mark of the Web data was ignored,” WinRAR explained the vulnerability.

A symlink (short for symbolic link) is a shortcut or alias to a file or folder. Instead of copying a file, a symlink just points to it. Therefore, a hacker could create a symlink pointing to an executable with MotW, and if a victim runs it, the MotW wouldn’t show.

The vulnerability was found in all older versions of WinRAR, and it was addressed in version 7.11, which is now available for download.

Ever since Mark of the Web was introduced, cybercriminals have been looking for different ways to bypass it and deliver malware without warning.

In late January 2025, 7-Zip patched a major flaw that enabled just that. It is tracked as CVE-2025-0411 and was given a high severity score, 7/10. Earlier still, in 2022, researchers found a password-protected .ZIP file with an .ISO file inside that was able to bypass MotW.

To mitigate the risk, users should always keep their archivers up to date, and be vigilant when downloading files from the internet.

Via BleepingComputer

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• We've rounded up the best password managers
• Take a look at our guide to the best authenticator app

                                                        </article>

Source: Still using WinRAR? It has a worrying security flaw that could let hackers hijack your Windows device

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• Marvel has released one final trailer for its Thunderbolts* movie
• The new teaser puts the focus squarely on Lewis Pullman's Sentry
• It reconfirms the superhero's dark alter-ego will be the film's Big Bad

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Well, Marvel isn't hiding it anymore. As it ramps up its marketing campaign for Thunderbolts*, the comic book titan is no longer being coy about the movie's Big Bad.

Admittedly, it wasn't anyway. Anyone who's kept tabs on the final Marvel Phase 5 film's development since January 2024 will know who its main villain was likely to be. With each new round of footage, it's become more and more obvious who it'll be, too.

While Thunderbolts' official trailer heavily implied that its primary antagonist would be someone you expected to be a good guy, though, its latest teaser, which you can view below, just comes out and says it.

Who is the villain in Marvel's Thunderbolts movie?

The film's latest trailer confirms the titular band of misfits and disgraced heroes will face off against The Void, aka the nefarious alter-ego of Lewis Pullman's Bob Reynolds/Sentry. Heck, Pullman's mentally unstable superpowered being even says "I am The Void" in the teaser, which is as good a confirmation as any.

It sounds like Yelena Belova, Bucky Barnes, and company have got their work cut out, too. Pullman's Reynolds informs them "there's no use fighting" him, before CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine calls him "invincible, all-powerful [and] stronger than all of the Avengers rolled into one."

If planet Earth had a supremely powerful human at its disposal, it begs the question: why wasn't he called upon to help the Avengers to try and stop Thanos from wiping out half of all life in the universe in Infinity War?

Based on how terrifying The Void appears to be, it wouldn't have been worth the risk. That's made clear when he menacingly says: "You have no idea what I'm capable of... maybe I should show you." Anyone else get shivers down their spine?

Anyway, Reynolds/Sentry/The Void will be sticking around in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) for longer than many Marvel villains. Indeed, he was announced as part of the initial 27-strong cast that was announced for Avengers: Doomsday in late March. So, while we don't know how the eponymous ragtag group will actually 'defeat' Sentry/The Void, he will make it out of this film alive and play an active role in that Marvel Phase 6 flick.

Do you want to spoil anything else before Thunderbolts crashes into theaters on May 1 (UK) and May 2 (everywhere else), Marvel? I hope not. While we wait for the Disney subsidiary's next big-screen project to arrive, get the latest on it via my dedicated hub on Marvel's Thunderbolts movie.

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• Spider-Man 4's official title has been revealed – and it has ties to a controversial time in the Marvel hero's 80-year-plus comic book history

                                                        </article>

Source: New Marvel trailer for Thunderbolts* shines a spotlight on its main villain, and he looks and sounds even worse than Thanos

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• Researchers found three malicious PyPI packages, two targeting bitcoin developers, and one WooCommerce stores
• Two are designed to steal data, and the third to test for valid credit cards
• All three have since been removed from the repository

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Multiple open source software packages on the Python Package Index (PyPI) repository were found to be malicious, likely compromising thousands of devices, experts have warned.

Cybersecurity researchers at ReversingLabs found two malicious packages, “bitcoinlibdbfix” and “bitcoinlib-dev”, which cumulatively have around 2,000 downloads.

They claim to be a fix for a legitimate Python module named “bitcoinlib”, which contains features for creating and managing cryptocurrency wallets.

WooCommerce stores also under attack

Recently, the community discussed an issue related to how the package generates error messages.

The crooks saw this as an opportunity, created the two malicious packages and jumped into the conversation in an attempt to distribute them. It doesn’t seem to have worked: “The malicious content of that library was detected by the package contributors and the comments were deleted,” ReversingLabs said.

Both libraries attempted a similar attack, the researchers further explained. The idea was to overwrite the legitimate ‘clw cli’ command with malicious code, exfiltrating sensitive database files.

At the same time, researchers from Socket found a third package, which doesn’t target bitcoin developers, but rather WooCommerce stores. Furthermore, this package doesn’t even try to hide its true intentions, and instead is “openly malicious”. Despite being obvious malware, it still managed to rake in 37,217 downloads.

The malware is called “disgrasya” and works as a fully automated carding script. "The malicious payload was introduced in version 7.36.9, and all subsequent versions carried the same embedded attack logic," Socket said.

Carding is a type of cybercrime where stolen credit card information is used to make unauthorized purchases or test if the card is still active. Since criminals often buy these card details from the dark web, whoever built and distributed disgrasya could have profited greatly from it.

Via The Hacker News

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Source: Malicious Python packages are stealing vital data, and have been downloaded thousands of times already

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• Samsung Galaxy S25 smartphones just got a free major AI upgrade
• S25 users will gain access to Visual AI in Gemini Live, via an update that's rolling out now
• Visual AI allows users to ask questions about what they see in real time on screen or via camera access

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Samsung just announced that all Galaxy S25 users will get a brand-new Visual AI experience on their smartphones, and it's starting to roll out today – April 7, 2025 – as an update.

The upgrade, powered by Google Gemini, allows S25, S25+, and S25 Ultra smartphone owners to have 'real-time visual and conversational interactions' with Gemini Live.

In the press release published on Samsung's website, the company gives multiple examples of how Visual AI can help users get even more from Gemini, which is built into the best Galaxy smartphones.

With Visual AI, you can grant Gemini Live access to your camera and screen sharing, and the AI voice assistant will be able to tell you what you're looking at.

Samsung says the new upgrade to Gemini Live means the AI can 'have a real-time conversation with users about what it sees – making everyday tasks easier.'

If you own a Samsung S25 device, the free update is starting to roll out today. So, you'll want to keep your eyes peeled for an update to take full advantage of this new Visual AI feature.

Google and Samsung continue their strong partnership

“Together with Google, we are marking a bold step toward the future of mobile AI, delivering smarter interactions that are deeply in sync with how we live, work and communicate,” said Jay Kim, Executive Vice President and Head of Customer Experience Office, Mobile eXperience Business at Samsung Electronics.

The partnership between the two companies is stronger than ever, with Galaxy AI deeply intertwined with Google Gemini on S25 devices.

Kim added, "With this new visual capability, Galaxy S25 series brings next-generation AI experiences to life, setting new standards for how users engage with the world through their devices.”

I'm excited to try Visual AI, as I absolutely love the ability to ask Gemini questions about what's on my screen via text on Android.

Adding that functionality to Gemini Live will make S25 devices feel even more alive, taking a huge leap towards a future where we all have an AI voice assistant in our pockets capable of managing the mundane elements of life.

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                                                        </article>

Source: Your Samsung Galaxy S25 just got a huge free Gemini upgrade that gives your AI assistant eyes

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                            <p>Disney has unveiled the first trailer for the upcoming sequel to a legacy sequel, <em>Tron: Ares</em>.</p><p>Some 15 years since we last ventured inside the Grid, the new film "follows a highly sophisticated Program, Ares, who is sent from the digital world into the real world on a dangerous mission, marking humankind’s first encounter with AI beings". And judging by the trailer, which can be viewed below, it’s going to be a wild ride, with all the Light Cycle action fans could want after a decade and a half of waiting.</p>

The history of the Tron franchise has been a case of enduring IP, little content. The first film arrived in 1982, riding the wave of the then-new video game and arcade craze with a story that saw a fresh faced Jeff Bridges play Kevin Flynn, a game developer transported inside a computer world. Using pioneering CGI, the film introduced the iconic Light Cycles, presenting a wholly original fantasy world.

While sequels were mooted straight away, it took until 2010 for Tron: Legacy to finally hit screens, focusing on Kevin’s son Sam (Garrett Hedlund) and his investigation into his father’s disappearance, ultimately leading him into another, altogether more modern digital world.

While the film saw Jeff Bridges reprise his role and used state of the art 3D effects, a sequel failed to materialize, and it’s best remembered for the iconic soundtrack by Daft Punk.

An Animated TV series, Tron: Uprising – which you won't see ranking among the best Disney+ series – set between the two movies, aired on Disney XD in 2012, but failed to gather momentum and was cancelled after one season. Disney has kept the franchise alive via their parks however, with Tron Light Cycle Power Run serving as a flagship roller coaster attraction in both their Shanghai and Orlando resorts.

What can we expect from Tron: Ares?

Tron: Ares looks to be a big swing from Disney to keep the franchise relevant, and judging by this first trailer, could be one of the best Disney+ movies of the year.

While much of the plot is being kept under wraps for now, we do know that Jared Leto plays Ares, a sophisticated, sentient program which makes its way from the digital world to our own. The trailer’s glimpse of a neon red Light Cycle slicing a police cruiser in two while speeding down a packed highway has us very excited for what’s in store, especially if Nine Inch Nails’ full score (Daft who?) is half as thumping as the snippet we hear in the trailer.

Coming from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales director Joachim Rønning, the third installment in the saga also appears to be very much a soft reboot of the franchise, with none of the threads left hanging after Legacy’s conclusion seemingly picked up, and although we hear Jeff Bridges gravely voiceover, his role could well be cameo stuff. The new sneak peak also gives us our first glimpse of Greta Lee as Eve, Evan Peters as Julian and Gillian Anderson.

With a topical spin pitting the human race against ever-learning AI and eye-popping visuals, Tron: Ares looks like it will be well worth the wait for content starved franchise fans. We can't wait to plug back into the Grid when the threequel arrives on October 10.

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                                                        </article>

Source: Disney's cult sci-fi saga reboot is back with a Tron: Ares trailer that sees the sequel leave the Grid

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• Hackers are targeting business CRM accounts to steal mailing lists
• Emails used to send spam and trick people into setting up compromised crypto wallets
• The goal is to steal the money, so be on your guard

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Hackers are stealing mailing lists from major companies and using them to break into people’s cryptocurrency wallets and snatch their funds.

A new report from cybersecurity researchers Silent Push, who dubbed the campaign ‘PoisonSeed’, outlined how the criminals first set up spoofed landing pages for companies such as Coinbase, Ledger, Mailchimp, SendGrid, Hubspot, and others. They harvest people’s login credentials, which allow cybercriminals to log into mailing service accounts and exfiltrate any mailing lists.

Then they would send emails, impersonating those companies, and urging users to set up a new Coinbase Wallet, using the seed phrase embedded in the email. A seed phrase is a series of 12 to 24 words generated by the wallet that gives access to the funds inside. It acts as a master key, so anyone who has it can restore the wallet and control the cryptocurrencies inside.

Seed phrase poisoning attack

"Recipients of the bulk spam are targeted with a cryptocurrency seed phrase poisoning attack," Silent Push explained.

"As part of the attack, PoisonSeed provides security seed phrases to get potential victims to copy and paste them into new cryptocurrency wallets for future compromising."

Once users set up new wallets, and top them up with their funds, the criminals can simply send the money elsewhere, which is a permanent loss for the victims.

The researchers believe the campaign is the work of two “loosely aligned” threat actors, called Scattered Spider, and CryptoChameleon, both of which are reportedly part of a broader cybercrime ecosystem called The Com.

Since cryptocurrency is permissionless and decentralized, once the funds are sent from one wallet to another, the only way to retrieve them is to have the other side send the money back.

In 2024, the US government has seized tens of millions of dollars' worth of crypto, as part of a broader investigation into market manipulation, theft, fraud, and more.

Via The Hacker News

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Source: PoisonSeed campaign hijacks business CRM and email accounts to send out huge amounts of spam

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• Microsoft looks to be mulling a redesign for the Start menu
• We saw that last week, hidden in testing, and now we’ve caught a glimpse of what it looks like with the Phone Link side panel enabled
• This configuration of the Start menu takes up most of the desktop, but there’s a switch you can flick to change this

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If you saw the major revamp that could be in the works for Windows 11’s Start menu – though note it’s still only hidden in testing – we’ve caught another look at it, this time with the Phone Link side panel active.

As a quick refresher, Phone Link is Microsoft’s app that hooks up your Android smartphone so you can use the device for various functions (texts, notifications, or even some apps) on the Windows 11 desktop. The mentioned side panel puts all the relevant details relating to your phone in a box, floating off to the right of the Start menu.

As you can see below, known leaker PhantomOfEarth on X has shown us what the Start menu redesign will look like with that side panel active (as highlighted by Windows Latest).

The key point to remember here is that Microsoft’s proposed redesign makes the Start menu wider, which is part of a move to condense the layout from two separate sections to one, and accommodate this (all of this is in theory, of course).

Not only is the Start menu wider, as PhantomOfEarth makes clear, but the Phone Link panel is also a bit wider here, meaning that 75% (maybe even slightly more) of the desktop is obscured by this configuration of the Start menu. That’s pretty much the entire screen eaten up, in other words.

However, as PhantomOfEarth also points out in the above post (watch the video clip), there’s a button you can click to hide (or show) the companion panel. Meaning it only takes a click to retract this additional piece of the interface, and trim down the Start menu (although it’s still notably more expansive than it was before).

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Analysis: Windows 8 flashbacks aside, the overall direction Microsoft is heading in feels positive

Does this bother me at all? No, in a word. As noted, you don’t need to have the side panel for the Phone Link app active. And, of course, there are a good deal more folks who don’t use this Android smartphone hookup than the people who do use it – actually, I’d like to know what kind of percentage usage Phone Link has. I don’t have this app set up for now, but I’m mulling it over and will likely take the plunge in the future.

Still, for those who are in this scenario where the Start menu unfurls to cover most of the desktop, is that even a problem? Again, not for me. I guess the unfortunate aspect here is that it sort of feels like a full-screen Start menu in some ways, and that might give some users flashbacks to the days of Windows 8 (which had an actual full-screen Start menu – well, technically it was a Start screen, one that nobody really used or liked).

But again, you can just disable the Phone Link panel if the new layout bugs you that much. Besides, I must underline (strongly, in bold red pen) that this work on the Start menu redesign – which also comes with a huge, red tick, in the form of an option to turn off Microsoft’s recommendations – is not even in testing yet. It’s hidden in the background of preview builds, so nothing may happen with all these concepts. Or, if they are realized, Microsoft might implement them differently from what we see here.

All that said, the changes happening hidden away in the background do seem to be relatively polished – given their totally unofficial status – and this is one to keep an eye on.

Rest assured, though, that the idea very much appears to be to give Windows 11 users more control over what they see in their Start menu, including taming it from any excesses of expanding across the whole desktop in certain scenarios. And that has to get a big thumbs-up, surely?

You may also like...

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• Windows 11’s latest patch declares war on BIOS updates for some Lenovo laptops, blocking them as a security risk in a bizarre turn of events

                                                        </article>

Source: Windows 11’s rumored Start menu redesign could mean it eats up a huge chunk of desktop space for some users – although it can be tamed

                        <article>
                            <p><a data-analytics-id="inline-link" href="https://www.techradar.com/best/best-cloud-computing-services">Cloud</a> adoption is a crucial business strategy to achieve success and unlock value in today's digital landscape. As per a recent survey, 95 percent of European companies claim to capture value from the cloud. However, what really needs to be considered is whether the value realized is merely from improvements to IT and resultant cost savings, or whether it is based on higher-value cloud use cases that leverage new age technologies.</p><p>The research also indicates that companies that have effectively integrated gen <a data-analytics-id="inline-link" href="https://www.techradar.com/best/best-ai-tools">AI</a> (generative AI) in their transformations, could achieve up to seven times the ROI (Return on Investment) of their peers for each migrated business domain. Therefore, successful cloud adoption must extend beyond technology and should involve accomplishing specific business objectives.</p>

Metrics for a robust cloud strategy

A well-planned cloud strategy is one that emphasizes elements like strategic management, cost optimization, business agility, resilience, business domain adoption and foundational capabilities.

Strategic management involves aligning cloud adoption with business goals and establishing governance frameworks, where technical decisions are directly tied to business outcomes. The next metric of cost optimization is realized by shifting from capital to operational expenses, ensuring scalable resource allocation, and faster solution delivery. It involves monitoring metrics like cost per usage to maximize returns on cloud investments.

This ideally leads to decreased IT expenses and frees up resources for strategic endeavors. The third metric of business agility assesses the organization's adaptability to dynamic market changes. Cloud services can play a pivotal role in accelerating time-to-market for new product showcases, thereby fostering innovation. Performance and scalability of cloud infrastructures can be evaluated through application uptime and the ability to scale on demand, towards seamless operations and enhanced customer experiences.

The next component of a comprehensive cloud strategy is resilience, which essentially refers to the ability of the cloud infrastructure to bounce back from setbacks seamlessly. In the new era of cloud resiliency, security is prioritized from the outset, through continuous operations and formidable security measures against cyber threats. This includes implementing robust access controls, data encryption, threat detection measures and tracking security incidents through audits to uphold data security and compliance.

Building resilience also involves modernizing IT infrastructure, automating infrastructure management, and implementing modern networking solutions. Technologies that enable flexible workloads and optimize resource utilization can significantly enhance operational efficiency. Automation and infrastructure modernization further streamlines operations and unlocks new possibilities for innovation and growth.

Business domain adoption, another element of an effective cloud strategy, focuses on integrating cloud technologies to drive innovation and enhance customer experiences. Cloud adoption drives revenue growth through new offerings, elevates customer satisfaction via quicker interactions, and empowers the workforce with superior collaboration tools. Lastly, focus must be laid on building foundational capabilities by developing technical skills, adopting agile methodologies, and modernizing IT infrastructure to support seamless integration with cloud services.

Skill building also needs to be considered for successful cloud adoption. Skills such as automating infrastructure configurations and managing APIs can be developed as the cloud environment matures. DevOps principles and automated deployments can nurture collaboration, facilitated by continuous integration and delivery pipelines. By prioritizing these metrics, organizations can gain a strategic edge and foster long-term success.

Challenges to realizing cloud value

Transitioning to a cloud-based operation involves a dual-pronged strategy. While cost optimization, requires right-sizing resources, leveraging discounted instances, and implementing auto-scaling based on demand, accurately forecasting demand and navigating complex cloud pricing structures can be difficult. Likewise, while scalability is enabled by containerization, serverless computing, and infrastructure automation, managing complex applications, ensuring security during scaling, and avoiding vendor lock-in present additional challenges. Therefore, organizations must continuously monitor and adapt their strategies while addressing these challenges.

Developing a cloud governance framework

An effective cloud strategy aligns business goals through a strong governance framework that prioritizes security, compliance, and cost optimization, while being flexible to accommodate growth. Piloting non-critical applications can help refine this strategy before larger migrations. Cloud optimization is an iterative journey, requiring ongoing refinement to sustain benefits.

Companies must first assess their maturity model to identify areas for improvement. This includes optimizing their cloud mix by exploring different cloud providers or cost structures, providing regular policy updates for compliance, cultivating a continuous improvement culture, proactively addressing challenges, and having active leadership involvement in the cloud vision for stakeholder buy-in.

Today, cloud technology has transformed the way businesses provide customer services, offering them a personalized, scalable, real-time interaction experience. Companies can offer their customers seamless experiences across multiple channels, ensuring the same level of service whether their customers interact online, through mobile apps, or in-store. Cloud-based data analytics helps businesses gain valuable insights into customer behavior and preferences, allowing them to provide proactive support, and fostering long-term loyalty.

Conclusion

The merits of cloud computing are well established and European companies have shifted focus on deriving business value such as increased operational efficiency, faster time-to-market for products and services, enhanced customer satisfaction, and improved bottom-line results. By aligning their business goals and cloud strategies, these companies will realize tangible results to unlock even more business value in future.

We've featured the best cloud database.

This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro's Expert Insights channel where we feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today. The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro

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Source: Strategies for measuring success and unlocking business value in cloud adoption