ROBO Brief: 5G, Another Acquisition & A Conversation with Vocera's CEO

    This week, we discuss the recent acquisition of data integration leader Talend and why we believe 2021 will prove to be the year of 5G. We also spoke to Vocera Communications CEO, Brent Lang, about how the company's SmartBadge serves and protects healthcare workers in response to the pandemic.

    Please enjoy these insights from our research team.

    2021: The Year of 5G

    5G is currently being built out all around the world, working to provide a powerful broadband type of speed that we’ve never seen before. 5G is the next generation of wireless technology and represents a massive leap forward for wireless mobile communications. Its speed is close to 10 times faster than the networks we’re typically used to. The goal of 5G is to support massive density, improve bandwidth, and provide the lowest latency in history. It is able to support massive density and huge bandwidth improvements and provide lower latency.

    While the demand for data in 2020 skyrocketed, the pandemic also slowed the launch of 5G last year due to all of the unforeseeable obstacles. However, activity across 5G is showing signs of recovery, according to the GSM Association’s annual global mobile trends report. This growth is reflected by the 113 mobile carriers that have launched 5G networks across 48 countries. This massive shift serves as a substantial opportunity for those looking to invest in innovation.

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    A Conversation on Vocera’s Pandemic Response

    Vocera, a company in both our HTEC and ROBO indexes, is a communications technology company most known for its badge, which is a wearable, voice-activated device used by employees to speak with one another. What is largely overlooked is the magic behind the badge: Vocera’s integrated software platform. Using a sophisticated, rules-based engine, Vocera’s platform enables hospitals to run more efficiently, improve the quality of life for both patient and clinician, and drive significant ROI. 

    Vocera saw strong demand during the pandemic as healthcare workers increasingly utilized the badge device as PPE. In other words, Vocera enabled safe communication between healthcare workers, hands-free, without having to leave the patient bedside and come back with a fresh set of gowns and gloves. Our sr. research analyst Nina Deka sat down with Vocera CEO Brent Lang for a discussion on how the company helped aid hospitals in response to the pandemic.

    Listen to the interview

    Data Integration Leader Talend to be Acquired

    Strategics and private equity firms are in a race to acquire software companies that are benefiting from mega trends such as cloud migration and data transformation that have been accelerated by the pandemic. Talend SA, a leader in data integration, has entered into an agreement to be acquired by Thoma Bravo for $2.4 billion, representing a premium of 29% and valuing the company at seven times the value of enterprise/sales (’21). A France-based entity, Talend focuses on helping organizations move data, manage data, and use data effectively so enterprises can extract intelligent data to support important decision-making. Talend has been an index member of THNQ since its inception, and its shares have surged nearly 120% in the past 12 months with double-digit sales growth execution. 

    As the world is rapidly migrating to the cloud, requirements for getting data into the data warehouse are changing. Talend has strongly positioned itself to support hybrid cloud environments and they expect Thoma Bravo to offer resources and expertise to go after this massive opportunity. As the world focuses more on data quality and data integrity, especially in cloud environments for running projects related to artificial intelligence, solutions from Talend are poised to get greater attention than ever. The long-term prospects for data analytics are very promising as AI is playing a critical role in the data journey in the digital transformation world. 

     

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