News Briefs

Shift4 has acquired a majority stake in Vectron Systems AG, a European suppliers of point-of-sale (POS) systems to the restaurant and hospitality verticals. 

Based in Germany, Vectron has 65,000 POS locations across Europe, representing. Shift4 is expected to acquire additional ownership of Vectron through a public tender offer that is expected to conclude within the next month, with a de-listing and formal integration process to occur shortly thereafter.

The acquisition is expected to provide Shift4 with an expansive customer footprint across Europe as well as a distribution network of ~300 POS resellers. As a result of the acquisition, Shift4 believes it will be able to add its integrated payment services to current Vectron customers and products, while also empowering the sales force with a compelling all-in-one POS and payments solution unrivaled in Europe.

“Shift4 was at the forefront of the convergence between software and payments in the restaurant and hospitality verticals in the US. We see an incredible amount of demand for a similar all-in-one solution across Europe,” states Shift4 CEO Jared Isaacman. “With our integrated payments and SkyTab offering, we believe we have the best solution at the right price point. Vectron will provide valuable local expertise, infrastructure, and the distribution necessary to meet the demand. This acquisition is right out of the Shift4 playbook – enabling us to unlock synergies, expand our distribution, and monetize payments for a large existing install base.”

Completes Revel Systems Acquistion

In addition to the acquisition of Vectron, Shift4 has also completed its previously announced acquisition of Revel Systems. Revel has over 18,000 merchant locations across the United States and internationally which Shift4 estimates represents a $17B+ payment opportunity. Revel also has a direct sales and dealer distribution network which Shift4 believes can be leveraged to accelerate SkyTab distribution both domestically and abroad. 

Shift4 has signed a definitive arrangement agreement to acquire Givex Corp., a global provider of gift cards, loyalty programs and point-of-sale solutions. 

The Arrangement Agreement is subject to customary closing conditions and the transaction is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year. 

With across more than 100 countries, Givex serves a wide range of businesses in various industries, including 7-Eleven, Wendy’s, Best Western, Texas Roadhouse. 

The company offers robust gift card and e-gift solutions as well as customizable loyalty programs, and a point-of-sale (POS) system for various business types, among other value-added services.

 “Givex has a considerable footprint around the world which will dramatically increase Shift4’s overall customer base,” states Shift4 President Taylor Lauber. “At the same time, their gift card and loyalty solutions are second to none and will add significant value for our current customers, creating stickier relationships andh 130,000+ active locations enhancing our overall value proposition. Similar to other deals we have recently completed, this acquisition aligns perfectly with how we like to deploy capital – adding blue-chip merchants at a low customer acquisition cost while delivering additional benefits to our customer base.” 

“The Givex team looks forward to joining the Shift4 family and bring our enterprise gift card capabilities and loyalty programs to hundreds of thousands of new customers,” says Don Gray, CEO of Givex. “By combining Shift4’s end-to-end payment solution with our value-added engagement services, we can deliver an unparalleled package to both of our customer bases.”  

HARMAN, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., announced that its HARMAN Digital Transformation Solutions business unit will launch HARMAN ConnectIQ, an AI-powered retail frontline workforce productivity solution at NRF Big Show 2025.

The latest U.S. Department of Labor BLS report reveals a staggering 60% average turnover rate for retail employees*. This is coupled with escalating costs of hiring, training and retention. In response, nearly 40% of retail tech executives plan to boost investments in frontline worker experience technology in 2025. #

HARMAN ConnectIQ tackles these challenges by enhancing worker collaboration, delivering personalized training, streamlining onboarding and simplifying task management for store managers and associates. Powered by AI, it integrates multiple retail systems through prebuilt connectors, offering a unified digital experience for frontline workers. This improves productivity by up to 30%, boosting in-store customer experience.

[A spokesperson for the brand confirmed that HARMAN ConnectIQ will also be available to hotels and restaurants.]

HARMAN ConnectIQ uses market-leading technologies such as Microsoft Teams for collaboration, Microsoft Copilot for enhanced productivity and Samsung Knox for secure communication across channels

"HARMAN ConnectIQ is an AI-driven solution transforming retail operations by boosting frontline worker productivity and addressing labor shortages," said Nicholas Parrotta, President - Digital Transformation Solutions and Chief Digital & Information Officer at HARMAN. "By unifying various systems into a single digital experience and incorporating AI, we enhance workforce efficiency and elevate customer experiences. We're excited to showcase how this cutting-edge technology empowers retailers to stay competitive and drive innovation at NRF Big Show 2025."

HARMAN ConnectIQ will be showcased in the Samsung booth #5303 at the NRF Big Show. For more information on HARMAN Digital Transformation Solutions and HARMAN ConnectIQ, visit Retail Digital Transformation Solutions and Contactless Shopping | HARMAN.

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."