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• Unified Operations Hub - Panso unifies all revenue streams—reservations, takeout, catering, events, and e-commerce—into a single, integrated platform. Designed to streamline operations, Panso provides a centralized solution for managing websites, event experiences, ticketing, reporting, and marketing. By seamlessly connecting with leading reservation, point-of-sale, and financial systems, it simplifies workflows, centralizes transactions, and delivers powerful, actionable insights.
• Website Management – Panso’s website management enables operators to have full control over their digital presence. By tracking critical data points, Panso provides the tools to make SEO improvements, drive conversions, and increase customer lifetime value (LTV). This robust feature helps operators better understand and connect with their customers while optimizing their online presence.
• Customer 360 + Data-Driven Personalization - Deliver data-driven unified guest profiles to consolidate customer interactions into a single view, an industry-first accomplishment that facilitates data-driven personalized marketing and loyalty campaigns.

A new global survey, 2025 State of Cloud Report, conducted by Rackspace Technology® (NASDAQ: RXT), a leading end-to-end, hybrid, multicloud, and AI solutions company, finds that organizations continue to shift away from a single cloud approach toward more flexible hybrid cloud environments. The survey of more than 1,400 IT decision-makers found that over 90% plan to make significant changes in their cloud strategy over the next two years. Of those respondents, 48% said that a hybrid cloud for multi-environment deployment will be critical to their IT operations over the next 12-24 months.

In addition, the results revealed 22% will accelerate hybrid cloud adoption, and 20% plan to invest in private cloud. Respondents indicated that these shifts are driven by a desire to prioritize flexibility, adaptability, and resilience amid demands for AI integrations that can improve operational efficiency and data analysis capabilities.

Despite the steady adoption of public clouds, IT teams are not preparing to abandon private clouds. Over two-thirds (69%) of respondents stated that their organizations had considered repatriating at least a portion of their workloads from public clouds back to private clouds or on-premises infrastructure, citing data security and compliance requirements (50%), better integration with existing systems (48%), and cost savings (44%) as rationales. For those that had recently repatriated workloads, nearly 80% of respondents reported that it had resolved those concerns.

Although the importance of cloud deployments is widely recognized, the survey reveals a significant gap in its full adoption among enterprises. Only 16% of respondents reported that cloud adoption is fully integrated into their business strategy and aligned with their business objectives with advanced practice areas in place. This group, identified in the report as ‘Cloud Leaders’, reported that their cloud environments exceeded expectations at 62% compared to only 37% of all survey respondents. In addition, survey responses revealed that the ‘Cloud Leaders’ are:

• More likely to use a particular cloud platform because it is well aligned with their overarching cloud strategy;
• Leading when it comes to the integration of AI initiatives, with 37% using AI-driven cloud optimization to refine their cloud strategy, compared to 25% of others;
• Likely to leverage comprehensive workload-by-workload analysis to decide where to host all their workloads.

“As AI continues to drive rapid advancements, IT leaders are reevaluating their approach to workload management. Instead of updating existing infrastructure, they are designing entirely new cloud strategies to meet evolving demands,” said Srini Koushik, President AI, Technology and Sustainability at Rackspace Technology. “To future-proof their organizations, many are transitioning from a ‘one-size-fits-all’ model in favor of a more flexible and resilient multi-strategy approach. This pivotal moment for hybrid and multi-cloud solutions empowers organizations to choose services tailored to their unique technical requirements and workloads.”

A driving force behind the desire for multi-solution approaches is the ease with which organizations can move data between different cloud environments, with 86% stating that they can transfer workloads seamlessly between the public and private cloud and 83% reporting that they can do so between multiple public cloud hyperscalers.

AI is the Catalyst for Next-Gen Cloud Developments

Development of AI initiatives remains a key focus for IT teams, with 84% of respondents reporting that they have taken steps to integrate their AI and cloud strategies. When asked about the business outcomes that were driving the integration of AI and cloud, 49% reported that their goal is to enhance operational efficiency, while 45% are leveraging AI to improve the insights generated by data analytics.

Major Hurdles Remain to Full Implementation of Cloud & AI Strategies

Although IT leaders are bullish on the prospect of cloud and AI integrations, talent and resource shortages remain major pitfalls that could limit their ability to fulfill these goals. 40% of respondents cited a lack of skilled cloud professionals as being a constraint, while 37% said that insufficient budgets are limiting their ability to meet business demands. This trend is consistent with insights from Forrester’s 2024 State of Cloud in the US Report. Their research found that U.S. enterprise cloud decision-makers saw AI/ML as the most critical cloud technology area, with 24% looking to hire new staff skilled in these areas and an additional 25% planning to retrain existing staff to meet these needs.

“As organizations continue to advance their cloud infrastructure and leverage more complex environments such as hybrid and multicloud, the demand for skilled professionals is outstripping the supply,” said Ben Blanquera, Vice President, Technology and Sustainability at Rackspace. "Enterprises must prioritize upskilling their teams to effectively leverage the advanced tools essential for modern IT management. In addition, they can partner with cloud experts like Rackspace. Based on the survey findings, as well as insights from our customers and partners, it's clear that there is strong, continued demand in the market for professionals with expertise in key areas such as Kubernetes, serverless architectures, and cloud security."

Looking Ahead: New Innovations Are Coming, but Security Remains Key Focus

According to the survey, enterprises remain bullish on their efforts to integrate AI and more advanced cloud strategies. Half of respondents listed Cloud Enabled 5G services as one of their top priorities, followed by Cloud Native AI/ML Services (47%), Cloud Based Robotics (40%), and Cloud Based Sustainable Computing (34%).

Data security and compliance remain a key focus with an overwhelming majority (96%) of organizations surveyed having established procedures and policies for data privacy and compliance in cloud environments. 42% of respondents also report that they are leveraging AI for advanced security and threat detection.

Click here for the full 2025 State of Cloud Report white paper.  

Survey Methodology

Commissioned by Rackspace Technology, the survey was conducted by Coleman Parkes Research in October and November 2024. Findings are based on the responses of 1,420 IT decision-makers across manufacturing/logistics, retail, hospitality/travel, energy, healthcare/pharma/biomedical, government, media/entertainment, and financial service sectors in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Most companies/organizations polled have from 1,000 to 10,000+ employees and annual revenue between $50m and $15b.

La Madeleine, a beloved, French-founded neighborhood café and bakery, has appointed seasoned restaurant and franchise industry executive John Dillon as its new president, further strengthening its next-level growth leadership and aggressive expansion plans under Groupe Le Duff.

Dillon most recently served as founder and principal lead at HMS Growth Partners, an advisory firm supporting leaders and companies across diverse industries, including restaurants, hospitality, retail, education and franchising. Prior to HMS, he spent over 16 years at Denny's, where he held a succession of senior leadership roles, including EVP chief marketing officer, EVP chief brand officer and, ultimately, president of the nearly 1,600-unit chain. During his tenure, he and his team successfully revitalized the iconic brand, earning widespread acclaim and business results. Additionally, Dillon has held senior leadership roles at Yum! Brands, Omnicom Group and the National Basketball Association, honing his expertise in developing strategies and aligning teams to achieve outstanding growth.

"John's extensive experience in the franchise restaurant industry brings exceptional leadership, strategic vision and a talent for driving authentic and aggressive transformation, which are all key qualities to guide la Madeleine into its next phase of expansion," said Groupe LeDuff Worldwide Café Bakery Chief Executive Officer Lionel Ladouceur. "We have big plans, and his proven ability to deliver results, foster innovation and connect with team members at every level, combined with his passion for the industry and our brand, makes him the ideal leader to build on our strong foundation and shape a bright future for la Madeleine."

At la Madeleine, Dillon will be responsible for creating a dynamic strategy to drive sales, increase the number of franchise partners, expand the brand's market presence and further enhance plans around store-level profitability, operational efficiency, restaurant design, guest experience, marketing and menu innovation. 

"La Madeleine has long had a passionate following of very loyal guests, and I've long been part of that club. Now, I look forward to helping the brand amplify its story and aggressively expand its growth," said Dillon. "In a time when so many brands are trying to push for what makes them different from the others, la Madeleine inherently has an authentically powerful differentiation with its unique 'joie de vivre' French café experience and reputation for craveable, quality French-inspired menu items. It's time to make some more noise, share our story more boldly and deliver exceptional results for our guests and growing family of franchise partners as we introduce the la Madeleine experience to even more neighborhoods across America and beyond."

Paytronix, the leader in guest engagement for restaurants and convenience stores, announced that Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux, the nationally renowned restaurant and sports bar, will be relaunching its guest engagement platform with Paytronix Loyalty. The new Walk-On’s Rewards loyalty program is being deployed to help the brand support its franchisee community as it seeks to increase growth in the coming years.

Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux selected Paytronix as the loyalty program best suited to round out its approach to guest engagement, particularly for its best-in-class platform. Paytronix will support the brand’s inherent belief in Southern hospitality while also growing loyalty sales to double digits across all locations.

“We want to better establish the foundation of our brand through loyalty, and Paytronix is the perfect fit to support our fast-growing franchisee community,” said Mark Foulds, Vice President of Digital Media and Consumer Engagement at Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux. “Its rich feature set includes the data-driven measurement and reporting necessary to give our franchisees greater visibility into how our loyalty program is performing. It’s a one-stop shop for SMS push and pull marketing campaigns.”

Designed to scale to the needs of the brand, the Paytronix loyalty program will enable Walk-On’s franchisees to capture guest data, make data-driven decisions and optimize their programs using real-time ROI analysis and reports. All while delivering the rewards and experiences that lead to more visits, higher spend per visit, and an increase in the value of each customer.

“Our franchisees are asking for a loyalty platform with more personalization that will help them build deeper relationships with their guests,” said Mike Lester, CEO of Walking Tall Brands and a member of the Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux Franchise Advisory Council. “Through enabling greater personalization via segmentation, targeting, and offers based on guest transactions, Paytronix Loyalty will provide both convenience and access to the data and information necessary to learn what our guest journey is and how to increase their visit frequency.”

“Paytronix is incredibly pleased to play a key role in Walk On’s growth plans,” said Paytronix Chief Customer Officer, Andrea Mulligan. “We’ll be working closely with their franchisees and marketers to get the best of their loyalty program. Walk On’s is a highly respected institution in the South, and the greater hospitality industry. We look forward to collaborating and finding new ways to leverage their belief in Southern hospitality to create value for their customers and new growth opportunities for their franchisees.”

Motorola Solutions entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Theatro Labs, Inc. (“Theatro”), maker of AI and voice-powered communication and digital workflow software for frontline workers, based in Richardson, Texas.

Theatro’s software-as-a-service platform, purposefully designed for frontline workers, provides a suite of collaboration applications that deliver information in real time to help improve their productivity and physical safety. Using conversational language through a wearable device, users can ask Theatro’s AI voice assistant for guidance to assist customers, check inventory and pricing, and communicate with other team members. The technology can help accelerate employees’ work processes and product knowledge.

Additionally, with frontline employee safety threats and theft incidents continuing to rise, Theatro enables employees to discreetly alert management and security teams when they feel unsafe directly through the wearable device, while the AI voice assistant can issue step-by-step safety and incident protocol guidance to help manage a response. Theatro’s software also integrates with video security cameras to identify potential theft or safety threats, and proactively alert employees on the store floor.

“Theatro is designed to prioritize both safety and operational efficiency, which are essential for all frontline workers,” said Mahesh Saptharishi, executive vice president and chief technology officer, Motorola Solutions. “With Theatro, we are continuing to invest in innovative technologies that purposefully apply AI to protect employees while automating how they work and improving their service to customers.”

Theatro serves well-known U.S. retailers across a broad range of merchant categories. Motorola Solutions and Theatro expect to integrate complementary workflows across Motorola Solutions’ portfolio of technologies, including body cameras, fixed video, panic buttons and radios, to provide new value-added services to existing customers while expanding growth opportunities in industries such as hospitality, healthcare, manufacturing and education.

“For more than a decade, we have been passionate about innovating for frontline workers,” said Chris Todd, President & CEO, Theatro. “We’re thrilled to be joining Motorola Solutions to enable even more capabilities that help team members remain safe while delivering their best work every day.”

Both Motorola Solutions and Theatro will be exhibiting at NRF '25 - Retail's Big Show from Jan. 12-14 in New York City. Motorola Solutions will be located at booth #706 and Theatro at booth #807.

The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2025, following receipt of regulatory approvals and satisfaction of customary closing conditions. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.