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nextmscblog · 1 year ago

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The Rising Influence of Technology in the Configure, Price, Quote Application Suites Market

According to the study by Next Move Strategy Consulting, the global Configure, Price, Quote Application Suites Market size is predicted to reach USD 2149.5 billion with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 21.4% by 2030. This forecast underscores the increasing significance of technology in shaping the dynamics of the CPQ landscape.

Introduction

In today's fast-paced and competitive business environment, organizations are continually seeking ways to streamline their sales processes, improve operational efficiency, and enhance customer satisfaction. Amidst these objectives, Configure, Price, Quote (CPQ) application suites have emerged as indispensable tools for modern sales teams. CPQ solutions enable businesses to configure complex products, accurately price them, and generate quotes efficiently, thereby facilitating faster sales cycles and better decision-making.

However, the landscape of CPQ is not static; it is evolving rapidly, driven by advancements in technology. This article explores the various ways in which technology is influencing the CPQ market, revolutionizing how businesses configure, price, and quote their products and services.

Request for a sample, here: https://www.nextmsc.com/configure-price-quote-cpq-application-suites-market/request-sample

Technological Innovations Driving CPQ Transformation

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)

AI and ML technologies are revolutionizing the CPQ landscape by automating and optimizing various aspects of the sales process. AI-powered algorithms analyze vast datasets to identify patterns, trends, and customer preferences, thereby enabling more accurate product configurations and pricing decisions. Moreover, machine learning algorithms can continuously learn and improve over time, ensuring that CPQ solutions evolve to meet changing market demands.

For example, AI-driven recommendation engines can analyze customer interactions and past purchasing behavior to suggest personalized product configurations and pricing options. This not only enhances the customer experience but also increases sales effectiveness by aligning offerings with individual customer needs and preferences.

Dynamic Pricing Strategies

Dynamic pricing is another area where technology is making a significant impact on CPQ. By leveraging big data analytics, predictive algorithms, and real-time market insights, businesses can adjust pricing dynamically based on factors such as demand, competitor pricing, and inventory levels. This dynamic pricing approach enables companies to optimize pricing strategies to maximize profitability while remaining competitive in the market.

Additionally, dynamic pricing capabilities empower sales teams to offer personalized pricing options to customers based on their unique requirements and purchasing history. This flexibility enhances customer satisfaction and loyalty while driving revenue growth for businesses.

Cloud Computing

The adoption of cloud-based CPQ solutions is on the rise due to the numerous benefits they offer, including scalability, flexibility, and cost-efficiency. Cloud-based CPQ platforms enable businesses to access and deploy CPQ functionalities from anywhere, at any time, using only an internet connection. This flexibility is particularly advantageous for organizations with geographically dispersed sales teams or remote workforces.

Furthermore, cloud deployment ensures automatic updates and maintenance, eliminating the need for costly infrastructure investments and IT overheads. This allows businesses to focus on their core competencies while leveraging the latest CPQ features and capabilities provided by cloud service providers.

Integration with Enterprise Systems

Integration with other enterprise systems such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), and e-commerce platforms is essential for maximizing the value of CPQ solutions. Seamless integration enables data flow between different systems, ensuring consistency and accuracy throughout the quote-to-cash process.

For example, integrating CPQ with CRM systems allows sales teams to access customer data, preferences, and purchase history directly within the CPQ interface. This holistic view of the customer enables sales representatives to create more targeted and personalized quotes, leading to higher conversion rates and increased customer satisfaction.

Implications for Businesses

The rising influence of technology in the CPQ market has significant implications for businesses across industries. By embracing technological innovations, organizations can unlock several benefits, including:

Improved Sales Effectiveness: AI-driven recommendation engines and dynamic pricing algorithms enable sales teams to offer personalized solutions that align with customer needs and preferences. This enhances sales effectiveness and increases the likelihood of closing deals.

Faster Sales Cycles: Automation of manual tasks such as product configuration and pricing calculations accelerates the sales process, reducing the time it takes to generate quotes and finalize transactions.

Enhanced Customer Experience: Personalized product configurations, pricing options, and seamless interactions across channels contribute to a superior customer experience, fostering loyalty and repeat business.

Better Decision-Making: Access to real-time market insights and data-driven analytics empowers businesses to make informed decisions about pricing strategies, product offerings, and market positioning.

Challenges and Considerations

While technological advancements offer numerous benefits, businesses must also be mindful of potential challenges and considerations associated with implementing CPQ solutions:

Data Security and Privacy: Storing and processing sensitive customer data in the cloud requires robust security measures to prevent data breaches and protect customer privacy.

Integration Complexity: Integrating CPQ with existing enterprise systems can be complex and time-consuming, requiring careful planning and coordination across departments.

User Adoption: Ensuring that sales teams are trained and proficient in using CPQ solutions is essential for maximizing their effectiveness and driving ROI.

Regulatory Compliance: Compliance with data protection regulations such as GDPR and CCPA is critical to avoid legal risks and penalties associated with mishandling customer data.

Future Outlook

Looking ahead, the influence of technology on the CPQ market is poised to continue growing as new innovations emerge and businesses increasingly prioritize digital transformation initiatives. Key trends that are expected to shape the future of CPQ include:

Advancements in AI and ML: Continued advancements in AI and ML technologies will enable CPQ solutions to deliver more intelligent and personalized sales experiences, further enhancing sales effectiveness and customer satisfaction.

Expansion of Cloud-based Solutions: The adoption of cloud-based CPQ solutions is expected to accelerate as businesses seek greater flexibility, scalability, and cost-efficiency in their sales operations.

Inquire before buying, here: https://www.nextmsc.com/configure-price-quote-cpq-application-suites-market/inquire-before-buying

Integration with Emerging Technologies: Integration with emerging technologies such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) could revolutionize the way products are configured and visualized, offering immersive and interactive experiences for customers.

Focus on Sustainability and Ethical Practices: With increasing awareness of environmental and social issues, businesses are likely to prioritize sustainability and ethical practices in their CPQ strategies, ensuring that products are configured and priced in a socially responsible manner.

In conclusion, the rising influence of technology in the Configure, Price, Quote Application Suites Market is reshaping how businesses approach sales and pricing strategies. By embracing technological innovations and overcoming associated challenges, organizations can unlock new opportunities for growth, differentiation, and competitive advantage in the digital age. As the CPQ landscape continues to evolve, businesses must remain agile and adaptable to harness the full potential of technology and stay ahead of the curve in an increasingly competitive market.

#Configure #Price #Quote Application Suites Market

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jcmarchi · 2 years ago

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What Is Configuration as Code and Why DevOps Will Never Be the Same - Technology Org

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/what-is-configuration-as-code-and-why-devops-will-never-be-the-same-technology-org/

What Is Configuration as Code and Why DevOps Will Never Be the Same - Technology Org

What Is Configuration as Code?

Configuration as Code (CaC) is a design approach in software engineering where infrastructure management and configuration processes are codified. This means that the environment setup is automated, repeatable and can be versioned and tested just like any other piece of code. With CaC, the infrastructure setup is no longer manual, error-prone, and time-consuming. Instead, it’s agile, reliable, and seamlessly integrated into the software development process.

This shift to treating infrastructure as code is part of the broader movement towards DevOps, where developers and operations teams collaborate to deliver software faster and more reliably. Configuration as Code is a key enabler for Infrastructure as Code (IaC), where every aspect of the operational environment, from servers and storage to networking and security, is managed as code.

Configuration as Code is about applying the same principles that have proven successful in software development—version control, code review, continuous integration, and automation—to infrastructure management.

Traditional Configuration Management vs. Configuration as Code

In traditional configuration management, system administrators manually set up servers, install software, and configure systems. This process is time-consuming, error-prone, and hard to replicate exactly. Moreover, it lacks transparency, making it difficult to track changes over time and understand the current state of the system.

Configuration as Code represents the new way of managing infrastructure. In this model, the configuration is defined in code and managed just like any other piece of software. This means that it can be versioned, reviewed, tested, and deployed automatically. The result is a process that is faster, more reliable, and transparent.

The benefits of Configuration as Code over traditional configuration management include:

Reducing the time and effort required to set up and manage infrastructure. This is especially important in agile environments where teams need to be able to adapt quickly to changing requirements.

Eliminating the risk of human error, ensuring that the configuration is consistent and correct.

Providing a clear audit trail, making it easier to track changes over time and troubleshoot issues.

Impact of Configuration as Code on DevOps Teams

Configuration as Code can significantly improve the work of DevOps teams:

Enhanced Efficiency and Speed

By automating the configuration process, teams can save valuable time and resources that would otherwise be spent on manual tasks. This not only speeds up the development cycle but also allows teams to respond more quickly to changes in requirements or issues that arise during development or production.

Moreover, because the configuration is defined in code, it can be managed as part of the codebase. This means that changes to the configuration can be made in parallel with changes to the application code, further speeding up the development process.

Improved Accuracy and Consistency

Another major advantage of Configuration as Code is the improved accuracy and consistency it provides. In traditional configuration management, errors can easily creep in due to manual processes and lack of oversight. With Configuration as Code, however, the configuration is defined in code and managed through version control. This ensures that the configuration is always accurate and consistent, regardless of the size or complexity of the infrastructure.

Furthermore, because the configuration is managed as code, it can be tested just like any other piece of software. This means that any issues with the configuration can be caught and fixed before they cause problems in production.

Easier Tracking and Auditing

Configuration as Code also makes it much easier to manage and track changes to the configuration over time. In traditional configuration management, tracking changes can be difficult, if not impossible. With Configuration as Code, however, the configuration is stored in a version control system, just like any other piece of code.

This means that every change to the configuration is logged and can be traced back to the individual who made it. This makes it much easier to understand the history of the configuration and to pinpoint the cause of any issues that arise.

Moreover, because the configuration is stored in version control, it’s easy to roll back to a previous version if something goes wrong. This provides a safety net that’s invaluable in complex, fast-paced development environments.

Facilitating Infrastructure as Code

Finally, Configuration as Code is a key enabler of Infrastructure as Code (IaC), a wider approach to managing infrastructure that extends the benefits of Configuration as Code to all aspects of the operational environment.

With IaC, every part of the infrastructure—from servers and storage to networking and security—is defined in code. This makes it possible to automate the entire process of setting up, managing, and tearing down infrastructure.

By facilitating IaC, Configuration as Code helps DevOps teams achieve unprecedented levels of speed, reliability, and transparency in their infrastructure management. This not only improves the efficiency and quality of software delivery but also enables teams to respond more quickly and effectively to changes in requirements or issues that arise during development and production.

Best Practices for Adopting CaC

Here are a few ways your team can more effectively adopt Configuration as Code practices.

Design Your Configurations in a Modular Fashion

The first step in implementing Configuration as Code is to design your configurations in a modular fashion. This practice allows for better code organization, easier debugging, and improved reusability.

A modular configuration design is one where each configuration is divided into smaller, self-contained parts or modules. Each module represents a specific feature or component of the system, such as a database, a web server, or a network configuration. This approach allows developers to work on separate modules without affecting the entire configuration, making the configuration process more manageable and efficient.

Furthermore, a modular configuration design enhances the reusability of code. With this design, developers can reuse certain configuration modules across different systems or projects, reducing redundant code and saving time. It also makes debugging easier as you can isolate and test individual modules, quickly identifying and fixing any issues.

Securely Manage Sensitive Data

In a CaC environment, sensitive data elements like passwords, keys, and tokens, are often necessary to authenticate services and applications, and they must be managed securely to prevent unauthorized access.

One of the ways to securely manage sensitive data in your configurations is by using secret management tools. These tools securely store and manage sensitive data, providing them to applications and services as needed. They often use encryption to protect the stored data, ensuring that even if a data breach occurs, the sensitive data remains unreadable.

Another way to manage sensitive data securely is through the use of environment variables. This technique involves storing sensitive data as variables in the environment where the application or service is running. This approach keeps the data out of the configuration files, reducing the risk of exposure. However, it’s important to ensure that these environment variables are also protected and not exposed in logs or error messages.

Avoid Hard-Coding Secrets into Configuration Files

Hard-coding secrets refer to the practice of embedding sensitive data like passwords, tokens, and keys directly into the source code. This practice is dangerous as it exposes sensitive data to anyone who has access to the source code.

Instead of hard-coding secrets, use secret management tools or environment variables, as mentioned in the previous section. These methods allow you to keep sensitive data separate from the configuration code, reducing the risk of exposure.

Moreover, it’s also essential to regularly rotate your secrets. This practice involves changing your passwords, tokens, and keys periodically to limit the damage if they are compromised. Regular rotation of secrets, combined with not hard-coding them into your configuration files, significantly enhances the security of your configurations.

Ensure That Your Configurations Are Idempotent

Idempotency refers to the property of certain operations in mathematics and computer science, where you can apply the same operation multiple times without changing the result beyond the initial application.

In the context of Configuration as Code, idempotency means that you can apply the same configuration code multiple times to a system without changing the final state beyond the initial application. This property is crucial for maintaining consistency and reliability in a CaC environment.

Ensuring idempotency in your configurations allows you to repeatedly apply the same configuration without worrying about causing unexpected changes or errors. It also makes it easier to recover from failures. If a configuration fails midway, you can simply rerun the same configuration to bring the system back to the desired state.

Implement Automated Testing for Your Configurations

Automated testing involves using software tools to automatically execute tests that check whether your configurations are correct and produce the desired results.

Implementing automated testing for your configurations offers numerous benefits. It helps you catch errors and inconsistencies early in the development process, reducing the time and effort required for debugging. It also ensures that your configurations are always in a known good state, increasing the reliability of your systems.

There are various tools available for automated testing of configurations. These tools allow you to define test cases that check whether your configurations meet certain criteria or produce certain outcomes. By integrating these tools into your development workflow, you can continuously test your configurations and ensure their correctness and reliability.

Establish and Enforce Coding Standards for Configuration Scripts

Coding standards are a set of guidelines or rules that dictate how to write and format your code. They aim to ensure that your code is clean, consistent, and easy to understand.

Establishing and enforcing coding standards for your configuration scripts is essential for maintaining code quality and readability. It ensures that all developers follow the same conventions and styles, making the code easier to read and understand. It also reduces the likelihood of errors and bugs, as many coding standards are designed to prevent common coding mistakes.

Enforcing coding standards can be done through code reviews or automated tools. Code reviews involve having another developer review your code to check for errors and adherence to standards. Automated tools, on the other hand, can automatically check your code for adherence to standards and report any violations.

Conclusion

In conclusion, adopting Configuration as Code is a powerful strategy for managing and deploying software applications. However, it requires careful planning and adherence to best practices. By designing your configurations in a modular fashion, securely managing sensitive data, avoiding hard-coding secrets, ensuring idempotency, implementing automated testing, and establishing coding standards, you can successfully implement Configuration as Code and reap its many benefits.

Author Bio: Gilad David Maayan

Gilad David Maayan is a technology writer who has worked with over 150 technology companies including SAP, Imperva, Samsung NEXT, NetApp and Check Point, producing technical and thought leadership content that elucidates technical solutions for developers and IT leadership. Today he heads Agile SEO, the leading marketing agency in the technology industry.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/giladdavidmaayan/

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cressidagrey · 21 days ago

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Formidable

Pairing: Oscar Piastri x Felicity Leong-Piastri (Original Character)

Summary: Andrea Stella figures out that Felicity Piastri is more than “just” Oscar’s wife.

Notes: Big thanks to @llirawolf , who listens to me ramble and checks my science-y mumbo jumbo 😂

(divider thanks to @saradika-graphics )

It started the way most breakthroughs did—not with a groundbreaking discovery, but with a tired engineer holding a half-wrinkled printout and a hopeful expression.

“Boss,” James said, hovering just inside the doorway of Andrea’s office. “I think you should read this.”

Andrea looked up from his laptop. “If it’s another CFD model from that Reddit forum, I swear—”

“It’s not. It’s from a paper. Academic. Legit. Published in Race Systems & Applied Motion last month.”

Andrea raised an eyebrow. “Obscure.”

“Very. It has like 20 readers,” the engineer agreed. “But I think it’s real. It’s clean. It’s sharp. It’s…” He hesitated. “We might want to test it.”

That got Andrea’s attention.

He took the paper and began to skim.

Title: Redefining Compliance: Adaptive Suspension Geometry Under Load-Sensitive Parameters for Mid-Field Chassis Configurations.

Andrea kept reading. It was dense—academic, yes—but it was also practical. It spoke the language of someone who knew exactly what they were doing. There were no ego traps. No unnecessary complexity. Just hard math and hard-earned insight.

Andrea flipped the page. Then another. His eyes caught a note referencing flex dynamics in chassis response curves and passive recovery lag.

It was correct. More than correct. It was insightful.

The author wasn’t spitballing ideas from afar—this was the work of someone who had lived in the theory and understood the application. Who referenced real-world tolerances. Racing examples. The math was sound. The diagrams were better than half the ones their CFD team managed.

Andrea flipped back to the byline.

Dr. F. Piastri.

Piastri.

James grinned. “Fun coincidence in the name, right? He’s smart.”

Andrea didn’t correct him.

Because yes—coincidence. Probably. But something about it stuck in his brain, like a whisper he couldn’t quite place.

He read the essay in full that night—twice. It was elegant, sharp, and frustratingly precise in the way only truly experienced voices ever were. The type of clarity that came from years of not just understanding a concept, but translating it into reality.

The next morning, Andrea sent out an internal email.

Subject: Additional Works by Dr. F. Piastri If anyone has access to prior publications by this author, please forward them to me.

By the end of the week, his inbox was full.

One essay became three. Three became eleven. Eleven became twenty.

Each one published under the name F.Piastri, buried in obscure journals and small-circulation engineering reviews that didn’t get traffic unless someone was either deeply curious or incredibly desperate.

Andrea was both.

Each article was smarter than the last—strange, elegant engineering thought-pieces published across the most obscure academic mechanical journals Andrea had ever encountered. Niche ones. The kind that only the most obsessive minds contributed to, with names like Thermoelasticity in Microstructured Materials and Lateral Load Adaptation Quarterly.

F.Piastri had written:

An article about Load-dependent understeer in transitional corners (with math that Andrea double-checked twice because it was too clean).

A 2019 think-piece on long-run stability under thermal degradation.

An essay about Aerodynamic oscillation buffering for short-track endurance vehicles.

An article about the economic viability of 3D printed carbon struts under rotational shear (he actually flagged that one for McLaren Applied).

A thesis that corrected a widely accepted torque model—buried in a conference archive.

A published rebuttal in Journal of Vehicle Design so politely worded it read like a love letter—until you realized she’d rewritten the reviewer’s assumptions line by line.

There was even one article on fluid dynamics that had been cited in a grad-level textbook from ETH Zurich.

Andrea devoured them all.

He—She?—wrote like someone who saw the car before it was built. Who understood not just how suspension worked, but how it felt. How energy passed through a chassis not as force but as intent.

The writing style was sharp. Practical. Absolutely ruthless in its logic. There was clarity there—an elegance—that reminded him of only a few people he’d ever worked with.

It was revolutionary. It was poetic.

By the time he tracked down the doctoral thesis from Oxford, Andrea wasn’t breathing properly.

Reinforcement Through Flexibility: Dynamic Adaptation in Composite- Structured Performance Environments.

By: F. Piastri.

Submitted: December 2022

Andrea stared at the name.

F. Piastri.

He stared for so long his tea went cold beside him.

His hands were shaking—not because of nerves, but because he already knew.

He opened the PDF. Skimmed past the table of contents. Scrolled through diagrams that made his heart stutter.

There was no photo. No biographical section. Just a clean Oxford University seal, 284 pages of dense, brilliant theory, and then—

A dedication.

To Oscar: For believing in a future that didn’t exist yet, and building it with me anyway. Every lap, every choice, every time—you’ve been my constant.

And to Bee: For reminding me that softness and strength aren’t opposites. You are the best thing I’ve ever helped create.

Andrea sat back in his chair like he’d been physically shoved.

Bee.

Oscar.

F. Piastri.

Felicity Piastri.

Felicity.

Oscar’s wife.

Dr. F. Piastri wasn’t some reclusive academic or distant uncle with a gift for simulation modeling.

She lived in Oscar’s house.

She packed his lunchbox.

She raised their daughter.

And she had published papers on suspension theory that half of F1 would kill to understand. Quietly. Efficiently. Correctly.

Andrea leaned back in his chair, stared at the ceiling for a long moment, and whispered:

“…Of course it’s his wife.”

Of course the quiet, composed driver who rarely raised his voice and always had one hand on the bigger picture had married someone brilliant. Of course she wasn’t just talented—she was a published expert with a doctorate from Oxford.

Not a coincidence.

Not a mystery engineer.

Not some guy.

But Oscar’s wife.

Oscar Piastri—quiet, methodical Oscar—had married a genius.

A doctor of mechanical engineering from Oxford who wrote better technical documentation in a margin note than most engineers did in a year. Who published under initials. Who could probably solve half their handling inconsistencies while holding a toddler on her hip.

Andrea sat in silence for a full minute.

Then he exhaled. “...of course he did.”

He opened a new tab.

Email draft:

To: Technical Team

Subject: URGENT – Reference Reading Required Attached: Every single thing Dr. F. Piastri had ever published.

***

The meeting was meant to be quick.

Just a routine Monday touchpoint—debrief, run through media notes with Sophie, talk sponsor appearances, maybe discuss Oscar’s upcoming comms obligations.

Zak had rolled in with a protein shake.

Lando was lounging sideways in a chair like he’d melted into it.

Oscar had a protein bar and an expression of polite mildness, as usual.

Andrea, meanwhile, had not slept.

Not because of the race.

Because he’d spent the entire weekend reading Dr. Felicity Piastri’s entire body of work. Every published paper. Every obscenely niche journal article.

And her doctoral thesis.

He hadn’t meant to do it all in one sitting. He just couldn’t stop.

By 2 a.m. he was muttering things like “Of course she used Euler-Bernoulli assumptions, she’s too smart for non-parametric bullshit.”

By 4 a.m., he’d highlighted her proposed solution to dampen micro-vibration load in corner exits.

By 6 a.m., he had a headache, an existential crisis, and a desperate need to know: Why had Oscar Piastri never mentioned this?!

So at the end of the meeting—just as Sophie was wrapping up and Lando was aimlessly spinning a pen like a propeller—Andrea set down a file on the table.

Calmly. Casually. Like he hadn’t just had his entire mechanical worldview rattled by a woman who wasn’t even on the payroll.

“Oscar,” Andrea said, voice deceptively neutral. “Why didn’t you ever mention that your wife holds a doctorate in mechanical engineering?”

Oscar, halfway through eating his protein bar, blinked. “What?”

Andrea gestured vaguely, as if the thesis were still radiating brilliance from his desk. “Felicity. Doctorate. Thesis. Dozens of published papers. Half of them useful to our current car design issues. Why didn’t you say anything?”

Oscar blinked once. “Oh. Yeah. She gets bored sometimes.”

Andrea blinked back.

Lando stared like he’d been smacked with a front wing. “Wait—she got a doctorate?!”

Oscar nodded, chewing. “Yeah. Finished it in 2022. She was stuck in that horrible flat in Enstone while I was back and forth with Alpine, and she got bored. Wrote most of it at the kitchen table while Bee napped.”

Andrea just… stared.

He had read the thesis. Studied it. The mathematical modeling alone had kept him awake at night—and she had apparently written it during toddler nap times, while stuck in a damp shoebox flat in Oxfordshire.

Zak looked up slowly from his tablet. “Your wife was bored. So she got a PhD in mechanical engineering.”

Oscar shrugged. “She already had the research mostly done before Bee was even born in 2020. She just had to write it up. Bee was napping a lot anyway.”

Sophie blinked. “She wrote a 200-page dissertation with a toddler in the house?”

Oscar just shrugged. “It helped that Bee liked the sound of the keyboard.”

Andrea turned to Zak, still stunned. “She predicted the kind of high-frequency oscillation we’re seeing this season. Two years ago. In a footnote.”

Lando leaned forward like he was watching a live feed of someone discovering aliens. “She’s just, like, a genius?” he asked, voice too loud, too incredulous. “And you never brought it up?”

Oscar just sighed. “She hates that word.”

Andrea just stared at him. “Oscar, she’s not just good. She’s formidable. Has she ever applied anywhere formally?”

Oscar looked genuinely confused. “Why would she apply anywhere?”

Andrea stared. “To work. In engineering. In motorsport. Academia.”

Oscar blinked. “She does work. She manages our lives, Bee, the house, and the chickens.”

Lando leaned toward Andrea, wide-eyed: “I’ve never felt dumber in my entire life.”

Andrea sighed. “Join the club.”

***

The kitchen smelled like vanilla and wood polish and faintly like chicken coop — which meant Felicity had mopped and baked and wrangled Mansell, the escape artist hen, all while probably rebalancing one of their stock portfolios.

Oscar dropped his bag by the door and leaned against the kitchen entryway.

Felicity was sitting at the table in her old university hoodie, feet bare, Bee curled up under her arm asleep with Button the frog as a pillow. There were spreadsheets open on one side of her laptop screen, a half-watched nature documentary on the other, and one of Bee’s plastic toy bulls standing solemnly in the middle of the table for reasons unknown.

He smiled.

God, he loved her.

“Hey,” he said softly.

Felicity glanced up. “Hey. Dinner’s in the oven. Bee passed out mid-pie crust.”

“Excellent,” Oscar said, dropping into the chair beside her. “Because I need carbs.”

She raised an eyebrow, equal parts amusement and curiosity. “Bad day?”

“No. Just... intellectually humbling.”

Felicity made a low amused noise and went back to her laptop. “Did Lando try to explain crypto again?”

Oscar snorted and reached over to carefully lift Bee into his lap, her curls warm against his hoodie. She barely stirred.

He could have let it sit. Saved it for later. But it was buzzing under his skin.

“Stella read your papers.”

That got her attention.

Felicity paused, her fingers stilled mid-scroll. “Which one?”

“All of them,” Oscar said. “Apparently it started with one of the engineers, who brought an article in from Race Systems & Applied Motion. Then he spiraled.”

“Ah,” Felicity murmured, unsurprised. “That one had a good diagram.”

“He found your thesis,” Oscar added.

This time she didn’t answer right away.

He reached for one of Bee’s crayons and twirled it idly in his fingers, watching her.

“He read the dedication,” he said, voice quieter now.

Felicity’s eyes softened in that way that always undid him a little. Always had.

“Did he say anything?” she asked.

Oscar smiled faintly. “He said you’re formidable.”

There was a beat of silence.

Then Felicity laughed—not loud, not startled, just warm and wry and a little disbelieving.

“God help the man,” she said. “He must have hit the rebuttal piece from the Vehicle Design Journal. That one made a few engineers cry.”

Oscar grinned. “Yeah, well. He was halfway to building you a shrine by the end of the meeting. I also told him you got bored in Enstone and wrote your PhD while Bee was napping.”

Felicity gave him a look. “You make it sound like I was scrapbooking.”

“Weren’t you also doing that at the time?”

Felicity blinked. “...Okay, fair.”

Bee stirred slightly in his lap, a tiny sigh escaping her lips as she nuzzled deeper into his hoodie sleeve.

Oscar looked down at her—this tiny human they somehow made and raised—and then back at the woman across the table.

Her hair was messier than usual, strands escaping her braid, and there was a faint flour smudge near her temple. She hadn’t bought herself a new pair of jeans in two years. She sometimes forgot to eat when she was buried in simulations. She once fixed the bathroom plumbing at midnight because she didn’t like how the guy from the hardware store spoke to her.

She was the smartest person he knew.

Oscar knew most people wouldn’t think it when they first met her. She smiled too easily. She didn’t correct anyone. She let others assume things—that she was just the girlfriend, just the wife, just the mother.

But she had a doctorate from Oxford, and more published academic papers than most career professors. She could hold court with race engineers and theoretical physicists in the same breath, then go home and teach Bee how to build a pulley system out of Lego and twine. She spoke in quiet, exact terms, and when she challenged people, she did it so gently they sometimes didn’t notice until it was too late.

He’d long since stopped being surprised by her. He’d just—normalized it. Integrated it. Felicity being a genius was like oxygen to him: invisible, essential, and easy to take for granted until someone else nearly passed out from the realization.

She was just Fliss to him.

The woman who sold her designer bags to pay rent when her family cut her off. The mother of his child. His fiercest critic and his most devoted supporter. The one person he trusted without hesitation.

She didn’t want headlines or praise. She wanted quiet mornings and clever puzzles. She wanted Bee to grow up confident. She wanted Oscar to remember to eat something green.

She was the smartest person he knew — and she hated being called smart. So he didn’t. He just came home.

“He called you formidable,” he repeated. “And I agree. For what it’s worth.”

Felicity smiled then—slow and quiet, the kind that reached all the way to her eyes.

She leaned across the table and kissed his temple. “Thanks,” she said. “But if he asks me to consult, I’m charging him triple.”

Oscar laughed softly and ran a hand through Bee’s curls. “Deal.”

And he meant it. Because maybe it was easy for him to forget sometimes, tucked into the quiet rhythm of their life, that the world hadn’t caught up to how brilliant she was.

But he never stopped being proud of her.

Not for a second.

#formula 1 #f1 fanfiction #formula 1 fanfiction #f1 smau #f1 x reader #formula 1 x reader #f1 grid x reader #f1 grid fanfiction #oscar piastri fanfic #oscar piastri #Oscar Piastri fic #oscar piastri x reader #oscar piastri imagine #op81 fic #op81 imagine

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questionsthatclearlyneedanswers · 2 years ago

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(Google Chrome) The application has failed to start because it's side-by-side configuration is incorrect.

Right clicking on the Chrome and selecting "Run as administrator" is known to fix the problems without having to uninstall Chrome.

#chrome #The application has failed to start because it's side-by-side configuration is incorrect.

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celestial-moths · 2 years ago

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All day I have no energy to draw, but for some reason, around 3 AM, I always get hit with the "GOTTA DRAW" bug

#I mean today I was at the MTG prerelease event so that's why I wasn't drawing then #But still idk why I can't get my head in the right configuration #probably because I've been off my meds for almost a week now since my pharmacy is slacking off on contacting my doctor #but either way I still need to do a ton of art for my application to college on the 20th

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techdirectarchive · 10 months ago

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Fix unable to start the Application Identity Service

#AppIDSVC #Application Identity Service #AppLocker #AppLocker Service #Configure AppLocker Rules #Microsoft Windows #Windows #Windows 10 #Windows 11 #Windows Server #Windows Server 2012 #Windows Server 2019 #Windows Server 2022

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technicalfika · 2 years ago

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Overcoming Common Challenges in SharePoint Server Installation

SharePoint Server, a powerful collaboration and content management platform, provides organizations with robust functionalities. However, the installation process can present various challenges that may hinder a seamless deployment. In this article, we will explore common issues faced during SharePoint Server installation and provide probable solutions to overcome them. “The tool was unable to…

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byuno-o · 11 months ago

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RETROGRADE PLANETS IN NATAL CHARTS.

NOTE: PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS. HENCE, MIGHT NOT BE APPLICABLE FOR EVERYONE. ONLY FOR ENTERTAINMENT. HENCE, DISCRETION IS ADVISED. DO PROVIDE FEEDBACKS, I LOVE IT. :)

MERCURY IN RETROGRADE

If you have mercury in retrograde in your natal chart, you might deal with aversion when it comes to verbal, direct communication. Putting your ideas and thoughts into clear sentences might not be your forte. However, I've read somewhere that people with Mercury Rx, have really good intuition. I can vouch for this since my brother has this in his 11th house, and boy has he saved himself from bad influences countless times purely because he could sense BS right away. People with Mercury Rx, however, possess a unique way of communicating their ideas and thoughts. They don't necessarily use art, but just different words and their brains are often configured differently. They might see logic in things that others can't, and somehow, everything works fine for them. These people also tend to be profound thinkers and internalize their life philosophies instead of using those philosophies for other, unlike forward mercuries. People with forward mercuries-even the ones with debilitated mercuries use their words and ideas in order to help others. while retrograde mercuries wants the betterment of self. Hence, seeing other perspectives can be difficult for them, and finding balance between conscious and callous communication can be hard. Retrograde mercuries have hard-hitting sense of humour which can be the result of unique communication style. Forward mercuries can choose their words carefully, but retrograde mercuries often cannot, for this is their lesson for their present life.

2) VENUS RETROGRADE

I see people with venus in retrograde having issues with their sense of self, which can be seen in their communication style and sense of humour. Overcompensating outwardly for lack of sensing lack of style and panache that forward Venus tend to possess, even the debilitated ones. yet they can't see their own unique flavour which goes against the conventions. A friend whose venus is in retrograde has the wildest love life in my group. Her standards are high, which stemmed from dealing with problematic, almost karmic relationships. There can be confusions regarding one's own opinion about self, likes, dislikes, and there can be a tendency to see oneself through other's judgements. Finance can be a hard to deal with, overspending can be a problem. Their lesson for their present life is to accept themselves the way they are, and love themselves before looking for love and validation elsewhere. The root cause of almost all of their problems is the lack of sense of strong self and self-validation which come first and foremost. That is the only one they can see their own uniqueness, and leverage it for their benefits.

3) MARS RETROGRADE

These people can deal with heavy procrastination, and lacks efforts when it comes to their dreams and goals. There can be a push and pull effect regarding their individuality. A cousin of mine has mars retrograde, and despite having his mars in Scorpio, he loathes adventures, and risks--and you can also add changes. while people with forward mars can be very courageous--even the debilitated ones, although they need immense pressure to make them feel agitated, people with mars retrograde rather suffer in silence than assert themselves. For them, action-orientation, and assertion can be the lessons for their present lives. However, I also think Mars in retrograde can make one very diplomatic and can make the person possess mercurial qualities. That same cousin have debilitated mercury, yet he sounds the most critical and logical among us when we have to fight for our food rights (jokes) against our grandparents. Rather than have a individualistic nature, these people can harness excellent group qualities. They can suffer through sex related traumas.

4) JUPITER RETROGRADE

People with Jupiter in retrograde may be raised with issues regarding self, religion and higher knowledge. Their viewpoints are very different, and may often come off as illogical. They care very cautious when it comes to voicing their opinions. However, they can possess a very twisted kind of luck. Since I have this, I can vouch for this. I may never get what I want, but what I need always finds me, Unlike people with forward Jupiter who may get what they want just like that. my brother has forward Jupiter in Cancer, and I have never seen a person as lucky as him. Brotha is protected by angels and our family. One order, and the whole family scrambles to obey him. While in my case, I just work hard and get the bare minimum, but the things I get always helps me at times. Getting higher knowledge is especially harder for people with Jupiter in Rx, and may deal with confusion regarding the validity of knowledge. People with jupiter in Rx also deal with lack of mentors and teachers needed to shape their personality and inner world, hence they become vagabonds when it comes to knowledge. It is only them they can rely on for a strong sense of self, hence they may go through hard time alone. It is not like they don't look for help, it's just help never comes, but rewards are worth the pain. There's always a tendency to question everything which may lead to paranoia and overthinking. Yet, they are overly self-righteous, causing relationships to falter. Their main lessons are to have faith in them, and build their unique perspectives.

5) SATURN RETROGRADE

People with saturn in retrograde tends to introspect a lot. The limitations they bear are often internalised. they tend to have problems with authority and authoritative figures, such as father and teachers and boss, yet there is a deep sense of responsibility and lack of discipline. I also have saturn retrograde in my natal chart and well, it is a blessing in disguise. to be honest. I do tend to disregard authority, but there were times when I was asked for help by some authoritative figures. Although I have a deep sense of responsibity, I lack the courage, the strategic mind and the general effort I need to fulfil my dreams, which is why this saturn retrograde is proving to be immensely helpful. There is a strong fear of failure, and the person's success is always delayed. Trust me, I know. While I work twice as hard as my friends, I am often the last person to taste any success. Same is happening with job hunt. I have read that this retrograde is strongly related to past life karma, and I think I might be deal with lessons regarding finance and material gain since I have Saturn in Taurus in 2nd house. These people often deal with loneliness, and the lack of communication from their side only add salt to injury.

6) URANUS RETROGRADE

While Uranus deals with rebellion and one's uniqueness, Retrograding Uranus may often lead to these aspects being internalised by the person. There may be a strong sense for rebellion and forging one's own path, but the person may lack the spine to do so--often relying on others to validate their uniqueness. Changes may come like tornados, ruining their very sense of being, and forcing them to refine everything again and again, until there no sense of old self is there. Unlike Pluto, Uranus retrograde often forces the person's outer world, and outer relationships to change. These people have heightened intuition which not only scares the outer world, but also force it to alienate the person. There is a strong need for rejecting tradition which might stop them from becoming the eccentric person they can be. Note, I am not using 'eccentric' in a negative way. I just think, people with Uranus Rx need to learn showcase their eccentric side to the world. so that innovation can be made. There's a huge between one accepting their eccentricity and showing the world who they actually are. If anything, I think Uranus in Rx is one of the best placements one can have for the sheer creativity it can bestow. These people must have been destined to become pioneers, but their fears of outer rejection had stopped them, hence they ended up with Uranus in retrograde in their present life. They are supposed to let go of the fear in order to fulfil their purpose.

7) NEPTUNE RETROGRADE

So, my other brother has mars, Uranus and Neptune in retrograde. And I kid you not, I have never seen someone so eccentric, so prideful yet so fearful, so disillusioned yet so full of himself till date.

For me, Neptune Retrograde is one of the worst placement one can have. This placement is not about the outer world, but breaking oneself to fill the world with happiness. people with Neptune Rx has to go through a whole journey of living in a illusionary world to become disillusioned and hate the real world, only to realise that there's more than pain and suffering in the world and it is not a utopia. these people have heightened intuition, only to never master it. They get fed with escapism illusion by the universe time and time again, for them to learn to exercise their intuition yet the fog in their mind becomes the biggest obstacle. For a long time, these people believe in, "my way or highway" and "all or nothing." Hence, when faced with failure and pain, they crumble and become disillusioned. Once they see the world as it is, they go through the spiritual quest of learning and unlearning the ways of the world. And acceptance of the worldy woes, and understanding that one can never change the ways of the world but the ways of human minds are the lessons these people have to learn. They have to make peace with the fact that there will pain and suffering, and this is what feels like to be humans. They have to learn to avoid escapism, and grab life by the balls and open their arms to the gifts of intuitions, detachment, art and healing.

8) PLUTO RETROGRADE

I see Pluto retrograde as an eagle which keeps gnawing onto one's guts while the person can do nothing but accept the eagle. The pain never goes aways. People with pluto Rx in their chart internalises every thought, every little or big change, causing them to go through intense overthinking and traumatic relationship changes. The world is never these people's friends. If you think having Pluto placements are tough, look at pluto Retrograde people. Another cousin of mine has this. And she is a control freak, with really great psychological insights. There's obssesion with every little thing, and fear of betrayal and others breaking their walls and trusts. These people live an intense karmic life. If they badmouth someone, they get tenfold of it. If they wish someone bad luck, they get ten fold of it. These people must have done something great or something very loathsome which needs heavy penance and great patience. These people are bound to become great. These people are supposed to learn the ways of the world and help change the world, but on a ground level. What I mean by that is, these people need to learn to accept their shadow side in order to help the ones who have lost their paths to attain goodness. I see people with Pluto retrograde as the ones who has to break a piece of themselves in order to fix others, since they constantly get their heart broken, and trust broken, and fears spitting on their faces until they overcome those fears, and they are constantly forced by the universe to bare themselves naked in order for the world to use their vulnerabilities. Yet, these people rise like phoenix, and continue the cycle until they realise that their higher purpose is to have faith in the ways of the universe and let it run its magic. Good things may take time, but are always worth the wait.

NOTE: I SEE RETROGRADES AS BLESSINGS IN DISGUISE. ALTHOUGH RETROGRADE PLANETS MAKE THINGS HARD, AND ALMOST UNATTAINABLE, HARD TIMES MAKE GREAT PEOPLE. THE TWISTS UNIVERSE PLAYS ON PEOPLE WITH NATAL RETROGRADE PLANETS ARE SUPPOSED TO PUSH THESE PEOPLE TO THEIR EDGES UNTIL THERE'S NOTHING THEY CAN BE FEARFUL OF. FOR GREAT CHANGES NEED GREATER HANDS.

ALRIGHT, DO LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT THIS. AND I WELCOME CRITICISM AND HARD HITTING FEEDBACKS WITH OPEN ARMS. JUST MAKE SURE I DON'T HAVE TO SHOW MY FANGS, TOO. :) I LOVE GATHERING NEW INFORMATION, SO UNTIL THEN, MAY GOD BLESS YOU.

#astro community #astro notes #astro observations #astro thoughts #rising signs #moon signs #astro tumblr #astrology #retrograde planets #natal retrograde

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