As I reflect on the closing chapters of this year, anticipating a well-deserved break for our hardworking team during the upcoming holiday season, I am reminded of the year’s achievements. We’ve seen outstanding product deliveries, received accolades for exemplary client service (based not on my opinion, but the feedback consistently provided during regular client review sessions), and maintained strong financial discipline and management amidst the volatility of our world. Additionally, our excellent sales pipeline execution positions us to sustain our high growth trend.
I hope our clients, friends, and partners can also enjoy a restful holiday season.
A new year gives a moment of pause to think about what has shaped the past and what might be coming ahead. In last year’s note, I mentioned how 2022 was shaken by geo-political tension, worsening supply chain dynamics and unleashing inflation on the global economy which led to considerable spikes in volatility and central bank measures to calm the outcome. 2023 was more of the same. On top of the ongoing situation in Ukraine, we now have a fresh bout of middle eastern tension. It’s crucial to acknowledge that these words only scratch the surface and fail to capture the profound human toll on those affected—a reality that is both vast and heart-breaking.
The present-day financial world is very different to what we have known for a very long period of time. The great financial crisis is now 15 years in the rear-view mirror. During that time we had such loose monetary conditions, near zero rates and ‘free’ money to sustain a very long bull market across all asset types. It has come as somewhat of a shock to feel a new normal of slightly elevated rates (for those of us old enough to remember much higher rates, it’s the right description). It feels like inflation has somewhat slowed across the world’s major economies—however, it is still not close to Central Bank targets, so we will live with rates in this elevated state for quite a while longer is my best guess.
It almost feels like I have forgotten the SVB weekend in amongst all of this. One of the major black swan bank failure events of 2023 that had the opportunity to be catastrophic to vast numbers of tech companies as that sector’s banker of choice. It reinforced the lessons that we all may have forgotten due to that 15-year period of stability: that you must ensure you have a hedged treasury strategy. Which we do!
And so, as this volatile and unpredictable year ends and all of this speculation for the future starts to reveal itself, I feel extremely lucky to be in a position where I am hugely positive about where CloudMargin is going.
Through a combination of our modern technology and targeted feature functionality, our platform is helping clients directly navigate these volatile periods quickly and easily. I cannot underestimate the satisfaction I get when I see the measurable improvements in efficiency and resilience, we are able to deliver as a result. I’m also hugely proud to see the strong culture we have fostered. We see clients as true partners in what we do. We want to share thoughts, ideas, challenges, improvements, innovation and ultimately friendship and great camaraderie. We don’t ever think about day one and done. We think about how we will continue to improve and evolve so our clients can keep benefitting long into the relationship.
Businesses are ultimately about people. Technology and software provide a needed solution, but the very best part of business is the people and relationships we build.
So onwards and upwards from here for CM, and I hope sincerely, for all of you too. Wishing you all a happy holiday season and a healthy and prosperous new year.