Bridge Data Centres appoints Drew Chen as co-ceo. By Digital News Asia November 4, 2026 * Appointment comes as BDC surpasses one gigawatt of capacity in 2026 * Brings more than 20 years of private equity experience, focusing on the telco, media, tech & business services sectors Bridge Data Centres (BDC) has appointed Drew Chen as co-chief executive officer (Co-CEO), effective 1 November 2026. He will work alongside Eric Fan, BDC's Co-CEO, as part of the leadership team to accelerate the company's growth across Asia Pacific and beyond. Chen brings more than 20 years of private equity experience, focusing on the telecommunications, media, technology and business services sectors. He previously served as a senior partner at Bain Capital and was a founding member of the firm's Asia Pacific private equity team. Before joining Bain Capital, Chen worked at Bain & Company. He holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Harvard University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. "On behalf of Bridge Data Centres, we would like to welcome Drew. His appointment strengthens our leadership team at an important point in BDC's growth, as we surpass one gigawatt of capacity in 2026. Drew's experience and deep domain knowledge of the data centre sector will support our strategy as we scale BDC into a multi-gigawatt digital infrastructure platform in the coming years," Eric Fan, Co-CEO of Bridge Data Centres, said. "The Asia Pacific data centre sector is at an inflection point for growth, fuelled by surging cloud adoption and the rapid expansion of AI workloads. BDC is well positioned to capture this opportunity, backed by our world-class engineering and design team, longstanding partnerships with global clients, and a decade of experience developing and operating next-generation digital infrastructure. I am excited to partner with Eric and the leadership team to scale BDC's footprint across Asia Pacific and support our customers' ambitious growth plans," Drew Chen, Co-CEO of Bridge Data Centres, said. "Drew possesses deep expertise in the digital infrastructure space and an intimate knowledge of BDC's business, having played a pivotal role in the buildout of BDC and its sister company ChinData. We are delighted that, as the Co-CEO, Drew will continue to bring strategic foresight and robust business-building capabilities to BDC. Together, he and Eric are well positioned to lead BDC through its next chapter of growth," Jonathan Zhu, Partner and Chair of China at Bain Capital, said. Headquartered in Singapore, BDC is one of Asia Pacific's top three next-generation digital infrastructure platforms by live capacity, with a presence across Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and India. Butler takes charge of APAC as Weiner moves to lead North American business Leadership changes draw on deep regional experience as bolttech enters its next phase of growth Sep 10, 2026 Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise has announced key leadership appointments to accelerate regional growth and enhance client experiences across Asia Pacific. Mar 10, 2025 For more technology news and the latest updates, follow us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn

Insights From Essential Strategy Books: understanding Michael Porter. 2026-11-03 Competition is not about "being the best," but about "being unique." This is the most critical issue discussed when I support executive teams in their strategic reviews aimed at developing a competitive advantage. Pursuing performance through imitation or head-to-head rivalry leads to margin destruction and commoditization. A true strategy consists of designing a tailored value chain to deliver a specific type of value to a precise customer segment, generating a superior return on invested capital (ROIC). Joan Magretta's book lets Intellia Consulting Group explore Michael Porter's thinking and offers an indispensable analytical framework for value creation, enabling Intellia Consulting Group to build a defensible position against market forces. This is an essential book that I highly recommend to all leaders who want to better articulate strategic choices to build a winning competitive advantage. Joan Magretta is a former partner at Bain & Company and a former editor-in-chief at the Harvard Business Review. A long-time collaborator of Michael Porter, she worked directly with him to synthesize, clarify, and update decades of complex academic research. In her book, she translates Porter's dense concepts into operational imperatives directly applicable by executive committees. The impact for leaders. This book saves leaders valuable time through three key levers: 1. A drastic condensation of Porter's essential works (from 1,500 to 230 pages): Magretta extracts the essence to retain only the strategic levers that are directly actionable by an executive team. 2. The unification of 30 years of research into a complete logical system: Porter's major works were published over decades and are reconciled here within a coherent architecture consisting of two inseparable parts (External industry analysis and internal company architecture). 3. Conceptual rigor validated by Michael Porter: Unlike third-party summaries or second-hand interpretations, this book was developed with the direct and continuous collaboration of Michael Porter, who also authored the afterword. Key elements of the book. Several key concepts enable the creation of unique value in Porter's framework: Destructive rivalry vs. Competing for uniqueness. Viewing competition as a race where only one wins drives companies to copy each other, triggering destructive price wars. Strategy is about expanding the pie by creating new forms of value. The five industry forces. A company's profitability is primarily determined by its industry structure (customers, suppliers, potential entrants, substitute products, and direct rivals). An effective strategy neutralizes or exploits these forces to capture a disproportionate share of industry profits. Competitive Advantage (relative price and relative cost). Competitive advantage translates directly into a superior return on invested capital (ROIC) relative to the industry average. It rests on two economic levers: commanding a higher relative price by delivering superior, distinctive value to the buyer (differentiation), or maintaining a lower relative cost structure through a different configuration of activities (cost leadership). The value chain. Competitive advantage does not stem from abstract "core competencies", but from performing a distinct set of operational activities (design, logistics, marketing, service) specifically configured to deliver the value proposition. The imperative of trade-offs. Choosing what not to do is the very essence of strategy. Without explicit trade-offs (deliberate incompatibilities between choices), any competitor can replicate your model without friction. Systemic Fit. The sustainability of an advantage does not rely on an isolated strength, but on the interconnection of mutually reinforcing activities. Copying an entire system is exponentially harder for a rival than copying a single practice. The foundations of Porter's thinking allow for a deeper appreciation of Roger Martin's Strategic Choice Cascade and Osterwalder & Pigneur's Business Model Canvas when crafting unique strategic choices. Why pay attention. For a leader, mastering Porter's fundamentals provides several benefits: * Clarity of trade-offs: Gives leaders the rational basis needed to say "no" to unprofitable diversification opportunities and out-of-target customer requests that erode the value proposition. * Defending profitability: Shifts managerial focus from simple market share to Return on Invested Capital (ROIC), ensuring true economic value creation. * Resistance to imitation: Provides criteria to evaluate whether company initiatives represent mere operational efficiency improvements (easily copied) or a truly sustainable strategic position. * Organizational alignment: Helps articulate a clear narrative connecting corporate vision with the day-to-day operational choices of every team. Strategy formulation. The book breaks strategy formulation down into four analytical and decision-making steps: * Mapping industry structure: Evaluate the intensity of each of the five forces to understand where economic profit accumulates across the overall industry value chain. * Defining the value proposition: Answer three mutually exclusive questions with precision: * Which customers to serve (and which to ignore)? * Which specific needs to meet (and which to forego)? * At what relative price level? * Configuring the value chain: Tailor every operational link to exclusively support this value proposition, introducing distinctive choices that break from industry standards. * Locking in through trade-offs and Fit: Identify deliberate trade-offs that prevent competitors from copying your position without degrading their own business model. Echoing Michael Porter's imperative for systemic differentiation, Larry Keeley demonstrates in "Ten Types of Innovation" that sustaining a competitive advantage requires orchestrating multiple dimensions of innovation simultaneously, making the business model nearly impossible for rivals to replicate. Key takeaways. Understanding Michael Porter is an essential book for any leader. By decoupling operational efficiency from true strategy, this work provides the tools to protect margins and secure long-term organizational viability. It is a must-read for any leadership team engaged in decision-making focused on unique value creation. Have a great week, Eric L'Heureux PS. Several leading authors have already been featured in this newsletter. Here are the references to explore their key insights: * Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works (A.G. Lafley, Roger L. Martin; 2013) - Read Key strategy books: Playing to Win - How Strategy Really Works Leadership and Strategy Management * The Execution Premium: Linking Strategy to Operations for Competitive Advantage (Robert S. Kaplan, David P. Norton, 2008) - Read Linking Strategy to Operations for Competitive Advantage * The Six Disciplines of Strategic Thinking: Leading Your Organization into the Future (Michael D. Watkins, 2024) - Read Be More Strategic! Explore "The Six Disciplines of Strategic Thinking" Innovation and Adaptation * The End of Competitive Advantage: How to Keep Your Strategy Moving as Fast as Your Business (Rita G. McGrath, 2013) - Read The End of Sustainable Competitive Advantage: Adopt These 3 Pillars for Continuous Growth * Seeing Around Corners: How to Spot Inflection Points in Business Before They Happen (R.McGrath, 2019) - Read Anticipate And See Beyond Blind Spots Every week, master the leadership system to decide, drive and adapt your strategy. More: 2026-10-27 Improve your strategic planning by integrating a deep understanding of your customers, continuous monitoring, and a rigorous audit of your decisions. 2026-10-13 Prepare your next strategy review with its list of 50 essential questions. Identify your value levers and ensure your organization's success. Insights From Essential Strategy Books: Discover how Roger Martin's Playing to Win offers a structured approach to turn your strategy into concrete choices and dominate your market.

The Commit Partnership celebrates 15 Years at Dallas County Economic Mobility Summit. An evening of special performances and awards honors the people and schools making a difference for North Texas students. On a recent fall evening, more than 400 community, business, education, and philanthropic leaders gathered at the gorgeous Moody Performance Hall in the Dallas Arts District for The Commit Partnership's annual Dallas County Economic Mobility Summit, presented in partnership with Bain & Company, the Catalyst Sponsor of the event. The event celebrated the organization's 15th anniversary and its work with school districts, colleges and universities, employers, policymakers, nonprofits, and philanthropic partners to improve educational outcomes and expand economic opportunity across Dallas. The Commit Partnership's long-term work includes Opportunity 2040, a community investment plan designed to place 150,000 more Dallas County students on a path toward economic mobility while reducing childhood poverty. Inside the Dallas County Economic Mobility Summit. The Dallas County Economic Mobility Summit opened with remarks from Commit's Founder, Chairman, and CEO, Todd Williams. It then moved into a fireside chat between the President of Dallas County Impact at Commit, Miguel Solis, and special guest Jim Shelton, CEO of Blue Meridian Partners. Blue Meridian Partners is a leading philanthropic organization focused on identifying and scaling solutions that address poverty and expand opportunity. Shelton, a nationally recognized leader in education and philanthropy, previously served as Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, overseeing a broad range of management, policy, and education programs. His experience brought a national perspective to the Summit's discussions. The evening also featured special performances by the North Mesquite High School, Solar Preparatory School for Girls, Lakeview Centennial High School, and Duncanville High School, showcasing North Texas talent. "The work of creating economic mobility requires all of us - educators, businesses, nonprofits, policymakers, philanthropists, and community leaders - to work together," said Solis. "For 15 years, Commit has brought people together around a shared vision for improving outcomes for students and families across Dallas County. The Economic Mobility Summit is an opportunity to celebrate how far we have come while recommitting ourselves to the work ahead." Celebrating 15 Years of making a difference. The Dallas County Economic Mobility Summit also recognized individuals and organizations making a meaningful impact through education with numerous awards. Chelsea Jeffery, Commit Partnership's Vice President and COO, presented awards recognizing achievement across several local independent school districts. DeSoto ISD won the Early Learning Momentum Award, Dallas ISD was the proud recipient of the Literary Momentum Award, Garland ISD took home the Third Grade Momentum Award, and Richardson ISD soared with the Math Momentum Award. Dr. Eric Ban, founder, and Megan Aghazdin, CEO, with the Economic Mobility Center, also recognized schools for their achievements. Superintendent-in-Residence at Commit Partnership, Dr. Jeannie Stone, recognized Cedar Hill ISD, Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD, and Grand Prairie ISD with the Commit Leadership Award. Solis presented Dallas ISD with a recognition for 15 Years of Systems Leadership and Partnership, while Williams presented JPMorgan Chase with a Partnership Award. The Dallas County Economic Mobility Summit marked 15 years of progress for the Commit Partnership and renewed its commitment to expanding opportunity for Dallas County students and families. PC Seen: Abigail Williams, Belen Garren, Gay Donnell Willis, Ken Malcolmson, Jeff Netzer, Lynn McBee, Eric Meadows, Wayne White, and Pedro Correa.