Fontworks' team, type inventory, IP, technology, and services will join global type specialist Monotype–Monotype's first acquisition in Japan.

Acquisition to address increasing global demand for Japanese type design and deliver multiscript typefaces to Japanese creative professionals.

Type and technology specialist Monotype® has announced its planned acquisition of Tokyo-based Fontworks™, one of the most respected and best-known providers of Japanese type design, from SB Technology. The deal was also announced today by SB Technology, a listed company on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The deal is scheduled to close in Q3 of 2023.

This will be Monotype's first acquisition in Japan. Under the terms of the deal, Fontworks' renowned team of 73 designers, engineers, sales, and administrative professionals, along with its impressive type library and its LETS™, Mojimo™, and FONTPLUS™ services, will join the Monotype family.

Fontworks' extensive inventory, services and team expertise will allow Monotype to address the growing demand for premium Japanese type from creatives and customers around the world, while Monotype's multiscript and acclaimed Latin typefaces, including Helvetica Now™, Neue Frutiger™, Gotham™, FF DIN™, and Avenir Next™, will support the needs of the dynamic Japanese market.

Fontworks was established in 1993 with a focus on creating a "new culture" through type and has been recognised internationally with prestigious awards from the Tokyo Type Directors Club and International Association for Universal Design. In 2002, the foundry launched the industry's first ever font subscription service, Leading Edge Type Solution (LETS™), to make fonts more accessible for designers. 

Fontworks' type design has helped shape Japanese culture for the last thirty years. Ninety-five percent of Japanese television stations use Fontworks' fonts, and ninety-eight percent of the fonts used by Japan's top 10 video game makers are from the Fontworks' inventory. 

Fontworks' inventory includes 'new-classic' Japanese typefaces such as Tsukushi™—a family of Japanese typefaces that began with Mincho (the Japanese equivalent of serif) in the early 2000s—comprising serif, sans serif, handwritten and display fonts.

Fontworks also distributes high-quality typefaces from foundries across Asia, including Iwata, Motoya, Yoon, and Founder, through LETS™.

Fontworks' impressive inventory of 260 font styles will become part of the Monotype library, one of the world's largest and most comprehensive collections of font styles, where it will join thousands of timeless classics, hand-crafted revivals, and original designs from many of the most innovative type designers and foundries in history.

Akira Kobayashi, 2022 Type Directors Club Medal winner and Creative Type Director at Monotype, said, "We are delighted to announce that Fontworks, one of Japan's most prestigious type foundries, has joined the Monotype family. I've collaborated with Shigenobu Fujita and the Fontworks team for many years, so I know first-hand the depth of expertise and industry insight this partnership will bring to Monotype. Fontworks-designed typefaces have a special place in Japanese culture and we look forward to bringing Fontworks' type excellence to even more creative professionals in Japan and beyond." 

Ai Harada, CEO of Fontworks, said, "This acquisition marks an exciting new chapter for Fontworks, thirty years since the type studio was founded. Monotype has an unparalleled reputation as a global provider of quality type solutions, and we are excited to join a team who, like us, wake up every day thinking about type. As part of the Monotype family, Fontworks will be able to better support Japanese customers and ensure Fontworks' type designs reach new audiences internationally. The international market for Japanese type is growing rapidly – together, Monotype and Fontworks will help accelerate it further."

Shinichi Ata, President & CEO of SB Technology Corporation, said, "Fontworks is an outstanding, successful company and the team comprises a talented group of professionals. We are pleased that Fontworks will join the Monotype family—a company that truly understands and values typography, technology, and its people.  I know Monotype and Fontworks will continue to innovate, create and champion Japanese typography in Japan and across the globe to support current and future customers."

Ninan Chacko, CEO at Monotype, said, "I'm delighted that Monotype's first ever acquisition in Japan is Fontworks—a type studio that's synonymous with premium Japanese type design and innovation. We live in an increasingly interconnected world where culture and commerce reach seamlessly across borders—so it's essential that brands and creatives have access to truly global type solutions. We're going to put Fontworks' typefaces in the hands of even more creative professionals around the world and bring Monotype's multiscript and Latin typeface library to Japanese creatives. Under our stewardship, Fontworks' type designs will be continually updated to reflect the latest advances in type technology—an essential part of our mission to ensure type remains at the heart of creative culture across the world." 

Joint sales and marketing initiatives and deep technical integrations to drive accelerated, global adoption of the Dynatrace platform native on Microsoft Azure

Dynatrace, the leader in unified observability and security, today announced an expanded multi-year consumption commitment and go-to-market (GTM) partnership with Microsoft, with joint sales enablement and marketing, including campaigns, events, webinars, and customer solution workshops and hands-on labs. The goal is to meet the growing demand from joint customers worldwide for the Dynatrace® platform on Microsoft Azure to accelerate cloud migration and optimization initiatives.

“Hybrid, multicloud, and cloud-native technologies offer the speed, scale, and cost efficiencies essential for digital transformation in large-size organizations,” said Stephen Elliot, Group Vice President at IDC. “Managing these environments and unlocking business value from the tremendous volume of data they produce requires deep observability, application security, and extensive automation. With enterprise-class cloud services and industry-leading analytics and automation, partnerships like this are well positioned to deliver these benefits to organizations worldwide.”

This announcement builds on an existing strategic partnership between Dynatrace and Microsoft, which provides customers with the following:

• The Dynatrace platform is now available as an Azure-native service in regions around the world and easily accessible to Microsoft customers through the Azure Portal.
• Customers can use their Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment (MACC) to purchase the Dynatrace platform through the Azure Marketplace, simplifying purchasing and contract management.
• Dynatrace supports all Azure Services, including Azure Spring Cloud, Azure Kubernetes Service, Azure Cosmos DB, Azure Linux, and Azure Functions, enabling customers to monitor their entire hybrid and multicloud environment, including all dependencies, in near real-time.

“Our platform is purpose-built for cloud environments like Azure, with its foundation rooted in AI and intelligent automation to enable the world’s largest organizations to deliver flawless and secure digital interactions,” said Rick McConnell, Chief Executive Officer of Dynatrace. “We are committed to expanding the value of Dynatrace on Azure to customers around the world. Through this enhanced partnership with Microsoft, we can better help our customers migrate more workloads to the cloud, optimize existing cloud deployments, and deliver consistently amazing experiences for their end users.”

“The rapid pace and scale of cloud-enabled innovation happening today presents a unique opportunity for global enterprises. By using the combined power of Microsoft Azure and the Dynatrace platform, organizations are well-positioned to accelerate their digital transformation through unified observability,” said Nicole Dezen, Chief Partner Officer and Corporate Vice President, Global Partner Solutions, Microsoft. “Through our partnership, customers will realize deep insights and automation across their technology stack, enhancing operational efficiencies and digital experiences. Our expanded collaboration will extend these benefits to more organizations globally with ease.”

Gain insights from experts with real-world experience on some of the most common topics in composable architecture

Orium, the leading composable commerce specialist in North America, today announced a series of masterclasses on Composable.com. Led by industry experts from commercetools, Elastic Path, Google Cloud, Orium, Vercel, and more, these courses are designed to provide real-world insights on some of the most common topics companies are grappling with in adopting composable architecture.

Leveraging MACH technology principles, a composable architecture promises greater operational efficiency, helps IT lower total infrastructure costs, and provides flexibility and faster time-to-market for customer-facing service applications. These masterclasses will help inform and inspire retail and commerce business leaders and tech practitioners alike with content focused on specific aspects of the journey to successfully transitioning to composable commerce.

The content is structured across three primary tracks—Managing Business Complexity, Structuring a Composable Architecture, and Orchestrating Customer Journeys—but students can dive into any of the content, mixing and matching to suit their needs, as they learn how to create the solutions that work best for their organization.

The initial masterclass offerings include:

• Evaluating the Total Cost of Ownership, led by Michael Scholz of commercetools and Becky Parisotto of Orium
• Omnichannel Personalization: From In-store to Online and Everything In-Between, led by Brian Walker of Bloomreach and Amy Cannon and Tiiu Vaartnou from Orium
• Progressive Web Applications and Deploying High-Performance Headless Commerce Frontends, led by Alex Hawley of Vercel and Nik Shenoy of Orium
• The "Multi" Problem in Omnichannel Commerce, led by Julie Mall of Elastic Path and Thomas Mulreid of Orium

More courses will be added monthly, and students can register in advance to be notified when the courses go live, or view the pre-recorded videos anytime post-launch. Each masterclass is 20-40 minutes long and students are welcome to take as many courses as they like free of charge.

"Right now, companies are looking to optimize and improve operational excellence, and composable architectures are ideal for achieving the agility and flexibility needed to realize those gains," said Jason Cottrell, founder and CEO of Orium. "To help accelerate the transition to composable, we've partnered with some of the top experts across the industry with direct experience and insight to dig in deeper on some of the most common topics of concern when it comes to moving to a composable architecture. We'll give you the information you need to successfully navigate the transition and take your business to the next level."

Sugar’s AI-Driven CRM Platform is Honored for Excellence and Innovation

SugarCRM, provider of the award-winning AI-driven CRM platform, has been named “Product of the Year” by Business Intelligence Group in the 2023 Sales and Marketing Technology Awards program, also known as The Sammys. The awards honor excellence in helping to solve the everyday challenges organizations have connecting and collaborating with their prospects and customers.

This is Sugar’s third straight Sammy award; the company previously won “Organization of the Year” honors in 2022, and also was recognized as the “Product of the Year” in 2021.

“We are incredibly honored to win a Sammy Award for the third year running,” said Clare Dorrian, Chief Marketing Officer, SugarCRM. “We’re proud that Business Intelligence Group has recognized the Sugar platform for doing the work to make the hard things easier for sales, marketing and service professionals worldwide.”

Sugar investments in AI, machine learning, and predictive analytics are helping customers become more forward-looking by spotting actionable insights earlier. The AI-driven cloud platform enables businesses to create profitable customer relationships by delivering highly relevant and personalized experiences throughout the customer journey.

In use by organizations in sectors ranging from manufacturers to universities, to banks and global technology companies, Sugar’s pre-configured, intelligent CRM platform puts the power of AI in the hands of every business, no matter the size, business maturity, or technical sophistication – pioneering AI for all.

“We are proud to reward and recognize SugarCRM for its innovation and dedication to helping both the organization using their technology and the ultimate consumer,” said Maria Jimenez, Chief Nominations Officer, Business Intelligence Group. “It was clear to our judges that SugarCRM’s efforts will improve how we all connect with the brands we love for years to come.”

The most highly decorated CRM platform worldwide, Sugar’s Sammy Award win is the latest in a string of accolades and award excellence for Sugar, including CX Today’s Best CRM Platform for two consecutive years, back-to-back Sales & Customer Service Stevie award wins, and 2023 CRM Excellence Awards by CUSTOMER magazine and TMC for the third year running.

Sugar was also named a leader in the Nucleus Research CRM Technology Value Matrix 2023 for the third consecutive year, and awarded exemplary in this year’s Ventana Research Customer Experience Management Value Index, among many other industry analyst evaluations and recognitions.

As organizations continue to shift business operations to hybrid, single cloud or multi-cloud environments, it’s important for auditors to assess risk across different deployment models and platforms. ISACA’s new Google Cloud Platform Audit Program assists auditors in understanding the uniqueness of the Google Cloud Platform (GCP) while effectively assessing an enterprise cloud environment for adherence to organizational risk and compliance objectives.

ISACA’s Google Cloud Platform Audit Program includes a spreadsheet file for guidance on testing GCP services and covers the following areas:

• Governance
• Network configuration and management
• Resource configuration and management
• Data security and integrity
• Security incident response
• Business continuity and resiliency
• Security logging and monitoring
• Identity and access management

The audit program notes that as enterprises tailor and scale services to meet the needs of their operations, one of the most significant areas of risk within a cloud environment is the prevalence of misconfigurations and misunderstandings about shared cloud responsibilities. Particularly, for the GCP, auditors need to understand:

• Concepts around identity and access management
• The Organization/Project/Folder structure
• The impacts of inheritance and hierarchy on access and permissions
• The enablement/disablement of logging options

Without a solid understanding of these, there is an increased likelihood that risk goes undetected until an incident occurs.

“With Google Cloud Platform now being the third-largest provider of cloud services, auditors need to make sure they have the necessary tools to assess the adequacy and effectiveness of the platform,” says Robin Lyons, IT Audit Professional Practices Principal at ISACA. “ISACA’s new audit program provides this support to audit professionals, allowing auditors to understand the types of services the GCP provides, the terminology it uses, and the enhancements and innovations offered.”

Optmyzr Inc, a leading provider of digital marketing automation solutions, is thrilled to announce that it has been awarded the prestigious Global Search Awards 2023 for Best PPC Management Software Platform. This recognition celebrates Optmyzr's exceptional contributions to the industry, revolutionizing the way in-house and agency advertisers optimize and manage their pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns.

The Global Search Awards recognize excellence in the digital advertising industry, honoring the most innovative and impactful companies that drive outstanding results and provide exceptional value to advertisers. Optmyzr's win in the Best PPC Management Software Platform category is a testament to its commitment to automation-forward tools and dedication to empowering advertisers worldwide.

Optmyzr's comprehensive suite of automation-forward tools has revolutionized the way advertisers optimize PPC campaigns. The platform enables transparency in reporting beyond what is available in native ad platforms, provides accessible scripts and rules that bring enterprise-level PPC management to all accounts, delivers exportable and white-label reporting across all channels, and caters to diverse advertiser types, including e-commerce, and lead gen advertisers.

"We are honored to receive the Global Search Awards 2023 for Best PPC Management Software Platform," said Frederick Vallaeys, CEO at Optmyzr Inc. "This recognition highlights our continuous commitment to delivering innovative solutions that empower advertisers of all sizes and industries. We are proud of the value our automation-forward tool suite brings to advertisers worldwide, enabling them to optimize their PPC campaigns effectively and achieve remarkable results."

Among the specific innovations that Optmyzr is proud to have developed are:

Optmyzr Rule Engine: Unlike the average advertiser's access to rules and scripts in native ad platforms, Optmyzr brings API-based strategies to those who may not have coding capabilities. Optmyzr Rules include search term transparency, PMax by network transparency, keyword and negative suggestions based on industry insights, and more.

• Shopping Ad Optimization: Optmyzr empowers customers to optimize shopping ads across multiple marketplaces, including Google, Microsoft, and Amazon. This capability enabled advertisers to expand the reach of their products confidently while leveraging Optmyzr's robust tool suite.
• Ad Network Quality of Life Improvements: Optmyzr simplifies advertising across supported ad networks, offering features such as the PMax audience builder, Microsoft Ads match type converter, and change history reports. These enhancements streamline account management, boost efficiency, and facilitate profitability.
• Smart Exclusion Tool: With changing Google targeting requirements, advertisers must proactively manage their display and YouTube placements. Optmyzr's Smart Exclusion Tool leverages customer data and advertiser goals to create intelligent placement exclusions and targets, allowing for fully automated or human-guided optimization.

"We extend our gratitude to the Global Search Awards judges for recognizing our commitment to driving innovation and excellence in PPC management software," added Frederick Vallaeys. "This accolade is a testament to our talented team and their relentless pursuit of delivering solutions that make a real difference for our customers."

Optmyzr's award-winning platform encompasses a rule engine that enables API-dependent optimizations across all supported ad channels. Additionally, Account Blueprints streamline workflows, saving time for teams, and fully white-label reporting combined with creative asset previews facilitate efficient client conversations. The platform also offers robust e-commerce support across Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Facebook, empowering advertisers to expand their reach and maximize campaign performance