(FFIV) 2023 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to the F5, Inc. First Quarter Fiscal Year 2023 Financial Results Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

您好，歡迎參加 F5, Inc. 2023 財年第一季度財務業績電話會議。 （操作員說明）提醒一下，正在錄製此會議。

It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Suzanne DuLong. Thank you, Suzanne. You may begin.

現在我很高興向您介紹主持人 Suzanne DuLong。謝謝你，蘇珊娜。你可以開始了。

Hello, and welcome. I am Suzanne DuLong, F5's Vice President of Investor Relations. Francois Locoh-Donou, F5's President and CEO; and Frank Pelzer, F5's Executive Vice President and CFO, will be making prepared remarks on today's call. Other members of the F5 executive team are also on hand to answer questions during the Q&A session.

你好，歡迎光臨。我是 F5 投資者關係副總裁 Suzanne DuLong。 F5 總裁兼首席執行官 Francois Locoh-Donou； F5 執行副總裁兼首席財務官 Frank Pelzer 將在今天的電話會議上發表事先準備好的講話。 F5 執行團隊的其他成員也將在問答環節現場回答問題。

A copy of today's press release is available on our website at f5.com, or an archived version of today's audio will be available through April 24, 2023. Visuals accompanying today's discussion are viewable on the webcast and will be posted to our IR site at the conclusion of our call. To access the replay of today's webcast by phone, dial (877) 660-6853 or (201) 612-7415, and use meeting ID 13735357. The telephonic replay will be available through midnight Pacific Time, January 25, 2023. For additional information or follow-up questions, please reach out to me directly at s.dulong@f5.com.

今天新聞稿的副本可在我們的網站 f5.com 上獲取，或者今天音頻的存檔版本將在 2023 年 4 月 24 日之前提供。今天討論的圖片可在網絡廣播中查看，並將發佈到我們的 IR 網站：我們的通話結束。要通過電話收聽今天的網絡廣播重播，請撥打 (877) 660-6853 或 (201) 612-7415，並使用會議 ID 13735357。電話重播將在太平洋時間 2023 年 1 月 25 日午夜之前提供。有關其他信息或後續問題，請直接通過 s.dulong@f5.com 與我聯繫。

Our discussion today will contain forward-looking statements, which include words such as believe, anticipate, expect and target. These forward-looking statements involve uncertainties and risks that may cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these statements. Factors that may affect our results are summarized in the press release announcing our financial results and described in detail in our SEC filings. Please note that F5 has no duty to update any information presented in this call.

我們今天的討論將包含前瞻性陳述，其中包括相信、預期、預期和目標等詞語。這些前瞻性陳述涉及不確定性和風險，可能導致我們的實際結果與這些陳述明示或暗示的結果存在重大差異。可能影響我們結果的因素在宣布我們財務結果的新聞稿中進行了總結，並在我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中進行了詳細描述。請注意，F5 沒有義務更新此電話中提供的任何信息。

With that, I will turn the call over to Francois.

有了這個，我會把電話轉給弗朗索瓦。

Thank you, Suzanne, and hello, everyone. Thank you for joining us today. Against the backdrop of a continued tough environment, our team delivered first quarter revenue at the midpoint of our guidance range and earnings per share above the high end of our range. We came into Q1, expecting we would see deteriorating close rates and that the dynamics concentrated in EMEA and APAC in Q4 would spread to North America. In Q1, we experienced heightened budget scrutiny and more pervasive deal delays across all geographies.

謝謝你，蘇珊娜，大家好。感謝您今天加入我們。在持續艱難的環境背景下，我們的團隊在第一季度的收入處於我們指導範圍的中點，每股收益高於我們範圍的高端。我們進入第一季度，預計我們會看到收盤價惡化，第四季度集中在歐洲、中東和非洲和亞太地區的動態將蔓延到北美。在第一季度，我們在所有地區都經歷了更嚴格的預算審查和更普遍的交易延遲。

The dynamics are particularly challenging on larger transformational-type projects, which for us tend to be software focused. Like last quarter, new multiyear subscriptions were most affected. We noted last quarter that we were not planning on year-over-year growth from new software business this year. However, in Q1, it was down a double-digit percentage year-over-year.

對於較大的轉型型項目，動態尤其具有挑戰性，對我們來說，這些項目往往以軟件為中心。與上一季度一樣，新的多年期訂閱受到的影響最大。我們在上個季度指出，我們沒有計劃今年新軟件業務的同比增長。然而，在第一季度，它同比下降了兩位數百分比。

Based on customer feedback, we believe we are seeing the impact of financial decisions resulting from broader economic uncertainty, pervasive budget scrutiny and spending caution as opposed to technological, competitive or architectural decisions. In contrast to what we saw on new software business, software renewals performed largely as expected in the quarter.

根據客戶反饋，我們相信我們正在看到更廣泛的經濟不確定性、普遍的預算審查和支出謹慎導致的財務決策的影響，而不是技術、競爭或架構決策。與我們在新軟件業務上看到的情況相反，本季度軟件續訂的表現基本符合預期。

At the same time, improving supply chain conditions aided our hardware revenue, making it possible for us to ship systems to waiting customers. In addition, our Q1 maintenance renewals were particularly strong, which in the past, has correlated with customers sweating assets. Despite the environment, we continue to expect 9% to 11% revenue growth for the year, albeit with a different mix than we initially forecasted.

同時，改善供應鏈條件有助於我們的硬件收入，使我們能夠將系統運送給等待中的客戶。此外，我們第一季度的維護續約特別強勁，這在過去與客戶的資產流失相關。儘管環境不利，但我們仍預計今年的收入將增長 9% 至 11%，儘管與我們最初預測的組合不同。

Given the demand trends of the last quarter, it is challenging to call our revenue mix with precision. However, with supply chain improvements and the benefit of our system redesign efforts coming to fruition, we continue to see a second half acceleration in our systems revenue.

鑑於上個季度的需求趨勢，準確地稱呼我們的收入組合具有挑戰性。然而，隨著供應鏈的改進和我們系統重新設計工作的成果取得成果，我們繼續看到下半年系統收入的加速增長。

In addition, based on the solid maintenance renewals we experienced in Q1 and our forecast for Q2, we expect global services revenue will be stronger than we initially anticipated for the year. As a result, we expect the combination of stronger systems revenue and global services revenue to offset software headwinds in the year. We also continue to expect non-GAAP earnings growth in the low to mid-teens for FY '23. We remain committed to maintaining double-digit non-GAAP earnings growth this year and on an annual basis going forward, and we will continue to evaluate our cost base and take further action as needed to achieve this goal.

此外，根據我們在第一季度經歷的可靠維護更新和我們對第二季度的預測，我們預計今年全球服務收入將強於我們最初的預期。因此，我們預計更強勁的系統收入和全球服務收入將抵消今年的軟件逆風。我們還繼續預計 23 財年的非 GAAP 收益將在中低端增長。我們仍然致力於在今年和未來每年保持兩位數的非 GAAP 收益增長，我們將繼續評估我們的成本基礎，並根據需要採取進一步行動來實現這一目標。

In the current environment, customers are focused on minimizing their spend and optimizing their existing investments while also continuing to drive revenue. We are confident that we are well positioned to help them do exactly that. For instance, during Q1, we closed a significant multi-cloud networking win with a Tier 1 North American service provider. The customer selected F5 distributed cloud services as the core for its next-generation managed service offering based on the platform's ability to deliver a scalable, agile and dynamic infrastructure. This is the second such win for the platform. F5 distributed cloud services makes it possible for service providers to monetize their substantial network investment, including investments in 5G. The platform enables a managed service offering that solves critical challenges for enterprise customers like simplifying the deployment and operations of applications across multi-cloud and edge environments.

在當前環境下，客戶專注於最大限度地減少支出和優化現有投資，同時繼續推動收入增長。我們相信我們有能力幫助他們做到這一點。例如，在第一季度，我們與一家北美一級服務提供商取得了重大的多云網絡勝利。客戶選擇 F5 分佈式雲服務作為其下一代託管服務產品的核心，基於該平台提供可擴展、敏捷和動態基礎架構的能力。這是該平台第二次贏得此類勝利。 F5 分佈式雲服務使服務提供商能夠將其大量網絡投資（包括 5G 投資）貨幣化。該平台支持託管服務產品，可為企業客戶解決關鍵挑戰，例如簡化跨多雲和邊緣環境的應用程序部署和操作。

Customers also remain focused on application security and F5 distributed cloud services is also winning security use cases.

客戶仍然關注應用程序安全，F5 分佈式雲服務也在贏得安全用例。

In Q1, a health care customer selected our managed web application firewall and API protection solution after a proof-of-concept evaluation against both their incumbent CDN provider and a cloud-native solution. The customer selected F5 distributed cloud services because it proved more effective against threats while also being easier to manage. Our solution also met the customers' stringent regulatory requirements.

在第一季度，一位醫療保健客戶在針對其現有 CDN 提供商和雲原生解決方案進行概念驗證評估後選擇了我們的託管 Web 應用程序防火牆和 API 保護解決方案。客戶選擇了 F5 分佈式雲服務，因為事實證明它更有效地抵禦威脅，同時也更易於管理。我們的解決方案還滿足了客戶嚴格的監管要求。

Finally, customers are focused on total cost of ownership. As a result, we continue to drive good traction with our next-generation hardware platforms, rSeries and Velos. These next-generation platforms can dramatically reduce customers' total cost of ownership by offering cloud-like benefits for on-premises systems.

最後，客戶關注的是總體擁有成本。因此，我們繼續通過我們的下一代硬件平台 rSeries 和 Velos 推動良好的發展。這些下一代平台可以為本地系統提供類似雲的優勢，從而顯著降低客戶的總體擁有成本。

Clearly, the enterprise spending environment has changed from 6 months ago. That said, the breadth of our portfolio positions us well. The number of applications continues to grow, and those applications and the infrastructure needed to deliver, secure and manage them continue to get more complex. Customers need a partner like F5 who can help them simplify, reduce our cost of ownership and make the most of the budgets they have. Our broad solutions portfolio, combined with the consumption model flexibility we offer, squarely addresses these requirements.

顯然，企業支出環境與 6 個月前相比發生了變化。也就是說，我們投資組合的廣度使我們處於有利地位。應用程序的數量持續增長，而這些應用程序和交付、保護和管理它們所需的基礎設施也變得越來越複雜。客戶需要像 F5 這樣的合作夥伴來幫助他們簡化、降低我們的擁有成本並充分利用他們的預算。我們廣泛的解決方案組合與我們提供的消費模式靈活性相結合，可以直接滿足這些要求。

Now I will turn the call to Frank. Frank?

現在我將把電話轉給弗蘭克。坦率？

Thank you, Francois, and good afternoon, everyone. I will review our Q1 results before I speak to our second quarter outlook and provide some additional color on our FY '23 expectations.

謝謝弗朗索瓦，大家下午好。在談到我們的第二季度展望之前，我將回顧我們的第一季度業績，並為我們的 23 財年預期提供一些額外的顏色。

We delivered first quarter revenue of $700 million, reflecting 2% growth year-over-year. Global Services revenue of $360 million grew a strong 5% in part due to the high maintenance renewals, Francois mentioned and also reflecting previously announced price increases. Our revenue remained roughly split between global services and product, with product revenue down slightly year-over-year reflecting softer demand across all geographies and representing 49% of total revenue in the quarter.

我們第一季度的收入為 7 億美元，同比增長 2%。 Francois 提到，全球服務收入為 3.6 億美元，強勁增長 5%，部分原因是維護更新率很高，同時也反映了之前宣布的價格上漲。我們的收入大致分為全球服務和產品，產品收入同比略有下降，反映出所有地區的需求疲軟，佔本季度總收入的 49%。

Continued supply chain improvements enabled systems revenue of $173 million, down 4% year-over-year. Q1 software revenue grew 3% to $168 million, against a tough comp last year.

持續的供應鏈改進使系統收入達到 1.73 億美元，同比下降 4%。第一季度的軟件收入增長了 3%，達到 1.68 億美元，而去年則表現不佳。

Let's take a closer look at our overall software growth. Our software revenue is comprised of subscription-based and perpetual license sales. Subscription-based revenue, which includes term subscriptions, our SaaS offerings and utility-based revenue totaled $129 million or 77% of Q1's total software revenue.

讓我們仔細看看我們的整體軟件增長。我們的軟件收入包括基於訂閱和永久許可的銷售。基於訂閱的收入（包括定期訂閱、我們的 SaaS 產品和基於實用程序的收入）總計 1.29 億美元，佔第一季度軟件總收入的 77%。

Perpetual license sales of $38 million represented 23% of Q1 software revenue. Within our subscription business, as Francois noted, new multiyear subscriptions performed significantly below plan in Q1, while renewals performed largely as expected. Revenue from recurring sources contributed 68% of Q1's revenue. This includes revenue from term subscription, SaaS and utility-based revenue as well as the maintenance portion of our services revenue.

永久許可銷售額為 3800 萬美元，佔第一季度軟件收入的 23%。正如 Francois 指出的那樣，在我們的訂閱業務中，新的多年期訂閱在第一季度的表現明顯低於計劃，而續訂的表現基本符合預期。來自經常性來源的收入佔第一季度收入的 68%。這包括來自定期訂閱、SaaS 和基於公用事業的收入以及我們服務收入的維護部分的收入。

On a regional basis, revenue from Americas was flat year-over-year, representing 57% of total revenue. EMEA grew 14%, representing 26% of revenue and APAC declined 7%, representing 16% of revenue. Enterprise customers represented 62% of product bookings in the quarter, service providers represented 21% and government customers represented 17%, including 6% from U.S. Federal.

從地區來看，來自美洲的收入同比持平，佔總收入的 57%。 EMEA 增長 14%，佔收入的 26%，亞太地區下降 7%，佔收入的 16%。企業客戶佔本季度產品預訂的 62%，服務提供商佔 21%，政府客戶佔 17%，其中 6% 來自美國聯邦。

I will now share our Q1 operating results. GAAP gross margin was 77.9%, non-GAAP gross margin was 80.4% in line with our guidance for the quarter and below where we expect to be for the year. GAAP operating expenses were $454 million, non-GAAP operating expenses were $378 million, in line with our guided range. Our GAAP operating margin was 13%. Our non-GAAP operating margin was 26.5%. Our GAAP effective tax rate for the quarter was 24.5%. Our non-GAAP effective tax rate was 21.4%. GAAP net income for the quarter was $72 million or $1.20 per share. Non-GAAP net income was $149 million or $2.47 per share, above the top end of our guided range of $2.25 to $2.37 per share. EPS was aided in part by currency gains related to a weaker U.S. dollar in the quarter.

我現在將分享我們第一季度的經營業績。 GAAP 毛利率為 77.9%，非 GAAP 毛利率為 80.4%，符合我們對本季度的指導，但低於我們對全年的預期。 GAAP 運營費用為 4.54 億美元，非 GAAP 運營費用為 3.78 億美元，符合我們的指導範圍。我們的 GAAP 營業利潤率為 13%。我們的非 GAAP 營業利潤率為 26.5%。我們本季度的 GAAP 有效稅率為 24.5%。我們的非 GAAP 有效稅率為 21.4%。本季度的 GAAP 淨收入為 7200 萬美元或每股 1.20 美元。非 GAAP 淨收入為 1.49 億美元或每股 2.47 美元，高於我們指導的每股 2.25 美元至 2.37 美元的上限。每股收益部分得益於本季度美元疲軟帶來的貨幣收益。

I will now turn to cash flow and the balance sheet. We generated $158 million in cash flow from operations in Q1. Capital expenditures for the quarter were $13 million. DSO for the quarter was 62 days. This is up from historical levels, primarily due to strong service maintenance contract renewals in the quarter and, to a lesser degree, back in shipping linearity resulting from ongoing supply chain challenges.

我現在將轉向現金流量和資產負債表。我們在第一季度的運營中產生了 1.58 億美元的現金流。本季度的資本支出為 1300 萬美元。本季度的 DSO 為 62 天。這高於歷史水平，主要是由於本季度強勁的服務維護合同續簽，以及在較小程度上由於持續的供應鏈挑戰導致航運線性回歸。

Cash and investments totaled approximately $668 million at quarter end, reflecting the paydown of approximately $350 million in term debt remaining from our Shape acquisition. During the quarter, we repurchased approximately $40 million worth of F5 shares or approximately 263,000 shares at an average price of $152 per share. Deferred revenue increased 12% year-over-year to $1.76 billion, which is up from $1.69 billion in Q4. This increase was largely driven by particularly strong service maintenance renewal sales reflecting the trend of customers sweating their existing infrastructure while recalibrating budgets. Finally, we ended the quarter with approximately 7,050 employees.

截至季度末，現金和投資總額約為 6.68 億美元，反映了我們收購 Shape 後剩餘的約 3.5 億美元定期債務的償還。本季度，我們以每股 152 美元的平均價格回購了價值約 4000 萬美元的 F5 股票或約 263,000 股。遞延收入同比增長 12% 至 17.6 億美元，高於第四季度的 16.9 億美元。這一增長主要是由特別強勁的服務維護續訂銷售推動的，反映了客戶在重新調整預算的同時耗盡現有基礎設施的趨勢。最後，我們在本季度結束時擁有大約 7,050 名員工。

I will now share our outlook for Q2. Unless otherwise stated, my guidance comments reference non-GAAP operating metrics. We expect Q2 revenue in the range of $690 million to $710 million, with gross margins of approximately 80%. We continue to expect our gross margin will improve in the second half of the year for 2 main reasons. First, we expect some of the ancillary supply chain-related costs like expedite fees will begin to abate; second, with our engineering efforts to redesign around some of the more challenged components nearing completion, we expect to be less dependent on the broker market where cost for critical parts has been exorbitant.

我現在將分享我們對第二季度的展望。除非另有說明，否則我的指導意見參考了非 GAAP 運營指標。我們預計第二季度收入在 6.9 億美元至 7.1 億美元之間，毛利率約為 80%。我們繼續預計我們的毛利率將在今年下半年有所改善，主要原因有兩個。首先，我們預計一些與供應鏈相關的輔助成本（如加急費）將開始減少；其次，隨著我們圍繞一些更具挑戰性的組件進行重新設計的工程工作即將完成，我們預計將減少對關鍵部件成本過高的經紀人市場的依賴。

We estimate Q2 operating expenses of $368 million to $380 million, and our Q2 non-GAAP earnings target is $2.36 to $2.48 per share. We expect Q2 share-based compensation expense of approximately $64 million to $66 million. Given our Q1 results and our Q2 expectations, I also want to elaborate on our FY '23 outlook. We continue to expect revenue growth of 9% to 11% for the year.

我們估計第二季度的運營費用為 3.68 億美元至 3.8 億美元，我們的第二季度非 GAAP 收益目標為每股 2.36 美元至 2.48 美元。我們預計第二季度基於股份的薪酬支出約為 6400 萬至 6600 萬美元。鑑於我們第一季度的業績和第二季度的預期，我還想詳細說明我們的 23 財年展望。我們繼續預計全年收入增長 9% 至 11%。

Given the demand trends we have seen in the last 4 months, we expect our FY '23 revenue mix will reflect revenue contribution weighted more towards hardware and services and less towards software than we expected a quarter ago.

鑑於我們在過去 4 個月中看到的需求趨勢，我們預計我們的 23 財年收入組合將反映收入貢獻比我們一個季度前預期的更多地傾向於硬件和服務，而不是軟件。

Our FY '23 software growth is likely to be lower than the 15% to 20% we initially expected due to budget scrutiny and project delays, pressuring new software contracts. This is offset by the probability of stronger systems growth given supply chain improvements and the benefit of our system redesign efforts coming to fruition.

由於預算審查和項目延遲，我們的 FY '23 軟件增長可能低於我們最初預期的 15% 到 20%，從而給新軟件合同帶來壓力。這被供應鏈改進帶來的更強勁系統增長的可能性以及我們的系統重新設計工作取得成果的好處所抵消。

In addition, based on the strong maintenance renewals we experienced in Q1 and forecast for Q2. We now expect Global Services growth of mid-single digits, which is up from low to mid-single digits growth we forecasted previously. As Francois noted, we continue to expect non-GAAP earnings growth in the low to mid-teens for FY '23. We remain committed to maintaining double-digit earnings growth this year and on an annual basis going forward. We will continue to evaluate our cost base and take further action as needed to achieve this goal.

此外，基於我們在第一季度經歷的強勁維護更新和對第二季度的預測。我們現在預計全球服務將實現中等個位數增長，這高於我們之前預測的低到中等個位數增長。正如弗朗索瓦指出的那樣，我們繼續預計 23 財年的非 GAAP 收益將在中低端增長。我們仍然致力於在今年和未來每年保持兩位數的收益增長。我們將繼續評估我們的成本基礎，並根據需要採取進一步行動來實現這一目標。

I will now turn the call back over to Francois. Francois?

我現在將把電話轉回給 Francois。弗朗索瓦？

Thank you, Frank. In closing, I would ask you to take away 3 things from this call: Number one, that despite the environment, we remain committed to delivering double-digit earnings per share growth this year and on an annual basis going forward; number two, while we believe 9% to 11% revenue growth for the year is achievable. If we get demand signals that tell us it is not, we will exercise operating discipline and adjust our cost base in order to achieve our earnings goals. And number three, we have built a strong business model with nearly 70% recurring revenue, product revenue that is split 50-50 between hardware and software and global services revenue that has proven durable.

謝謝你，弗蘭克。最後，我想請您從本次電話會議中總結三點：第一，儘管環境惡劣，我們仍然致力於在今年和未來每年實現兩位數的每股收益增長；第二，我們相信今年的收入增長 9% 到 11% 是可以實現的。如果我們收到的需求信號告訴我們情況並非如此，我們將遵守經營紀律並調整我們的成本基礎，以實現我們的盈利目標。第三，我們已經建立了一個強大的商業模式，有近 70% 的經常性收入，產品收入在硬件和軟件之間分配 50-50，全球服務收入已被證明是持久的。

The result is a diversified and resilient revenue base, which when combined with operating discipline enables us to drive revenue and earnings growth in this environment.

結果是多元化和有彈性的收入基礎，與運營紀律相結合，使我們能夠在這種環境下推動收入和盈利增長。

Operator, please open the call to questions.

接線員，請打開問題電話。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question is from Sami Badri with Credit Suisse.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自瑞士信貸的 Sami Badri。

All right. Thank you very much for the question -- or at least opportunity to ask questions. I have 2. First one is, could we just decompose the services revenue growth? You mentioned price increases and then maintenance renewals. Could you kind of split that reported number into each -- like what was stronger? Was it more renewals, et cetera, if you can just decompose that.

好的。非常感謝你提出這個問題——或者至少是提問的機會。我有 2. 第一個是，我們可以分解服務收入增長嗎？你提到了價格上漲，然後是維護更新。您能否將報告的數字拆分成每一個——比如哪個更強？如果你能分解它，是否有更多的更新等等。

The other question I have is, clearly, the IT landscape has shifted. And I think the big question myself and other investors are asking ourselves is, if there is incremental risk through the year as far as demand or demand signals changing unless just say they get worse, how will those signals manifest themselves into F5's business and results? And a good example, a question we get is, if things decay or deteriorates, does that mean that product orders sitting on your backlog get canceled? Is that the -- is that kind of the deterioration that would yield that kind of output? And then to get your comments on those 2 questions.

我的另一個問題是，很明顯，IT 格局已經發生了變化。我認為我自己和其他投資者問自己的一個大問題是，如果一年中需求或需求信號發生變化時存在增量風險，除非只是說它們變得更糟，那麼這些信號將如何體現在 F5 的業務和結果中？一個很好的例子，我們得到的一個問題是，如果情況惡化或惡化，這是否意味著積壓的產品訂單被取消了？那是——會產生那種產出的那種惡化嗎？然後徵求您對這兩個問題的意見。

Sure, Sami. So I'm going to start with your first question, and then I'll let Francois take the second. It's Frank. So we didn't give an exact split out, but I would say it's roughly even between the 2. I think the renewal rates continue to go up, particularly on those services business, and we've seen less discounting, given the environment that we see of people continuing to sweat assets putting focus on that, and taking the price increases that were put in place a couple of quarters ago, and we're starting to see the benefits of that come through to the services revenue. So I'm not going to give you the exact split, but I would think of them as roughly equal between the 2. And I'll let Francois refer to your second question.

當然，薩米。所以我將從你的第一個問題開始，然後讓 Francois 回答第二個問題。是弗蘭克。所以我們沒有給出確切的拆分，但我想說這兩者之間大致持平。我認為續訂率繼續上升，特別是在那些服務業務上，而且我們看到的折扣減少了，因為環境我們看到人們繼續將注意力集中在資產上，並採取幾個季度前實施的價格上漲，我們開始看到服務收入帶來的好處。所以我不會給你確切的分配，但我認為它們在 2 之間大致相等。我會讓 Francois 參考你的第二個問題。

I mean in terms of the overall environment, yes, the overall IT spending environment has deteriorated quite meaningfully over the last 6 months. And we're seeing that mainly in terms of softer demand than clearly what we were seeing 6 months ago.

我的意思是就整體環境而言，是的，在過去 6 個月中，整體 IT 支出環境已經顯著惡化。我們看到的主要是需求疲軟，而不是我們 6 個月前看到的情況。

Now the way you would see that in our results, it's not in order cancellations because the appliances that our customers buy from us are typically mission-critical to deliver on applications that actually need the capacity. So we haven't seen any trend in order cancellations nor do we expect to see any of that. In fact, our customers have been pressing us to ship to them the backlog that we have built over the last couple of years and a lot of the orders that displaced that we haven't delivered on.

現在你會在我們的結果中看到，這不是訂單取消，因為我們的客戶從我們這裡購買的設備通常對交付實際需要容量的應用程序至關重要。因此，我們沒有看到任何取消訂單的趨勢，也不希望看到任何取消訂單的趨勢。事實上，我們的客戶一直在敦促我們向他們運送我們在過去幾年積累的積壓訂單以及我們尚未交付的大量訂單。

And so we continue to work hard on our improvements in supply chain in order to be able to meet that.

因此，我們繼續努力改進供應鏈，以實現這一目標。

Where you are seeing this different environment in our results. And clearly, we're seeing a number of software projects that have been delayed, a lot more scrutiny on deals and that is actually affecting our software growth rate and you're seeing that in the results. And we've seen it, frankly, across the board in terms of softer demand in software, but also softer demand in hardware this quarter than we had a quarter a year ago.

您在我們的結果中看到了這種不同的環境。很明顯，我們看到許多軟件項目被推遲，對交易進行更多審查，這實際上影響了我們的軟件增長率，你在結果中看到了這一點。坦率地說，我們在軟件需求疲軟方面全面看到了這一點，但本季度硬件需求也比一年前的一個季度疲軟。

Our next question is from Tim Long with Barclays.

我們的下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的 Tim Long。

Two, if I could, sorry. Could you talk a little bit about the other software businesses kind of which pieces of it you're maybe seeing more of an impact than others? Is it some of the SaaS businesses or it sounds like a lot of the term deals? But anything you can split apart there to let us know on that. And then related to that, what -- why are we still talking about the distinction between hardware and software? I don't think you guys really sell the solutions that way. So could you just give us an update why we still need to look at that distinction?

第二，如果可以的話，對不起。您能否談談其他軟件業務，您可能會看到其中的哪些部分比其他部分產生更大的影響？它是一些 SaaS 業務還是聽起來像很多術語交易？但是您可以在那里分開的任何內容讓我們知道。然後與此相關的是——為什麼我們仍在談論硬件和軟件之間的區別？我不認為你們真的以這種方式銷售解決方案。那麼，您能否告訴我們為什麼我們仍然需要研究這種區別的最新情況？

Thank you, Tim. I will take your 2 questions. So let me start on the question on what -- where are we seeing the softer demand on software. I think if we split the software between existing contracts that have renewals or to forward or expansion versus new contracts, the renewal business on existing contracts largely performed as expected and where we saw most of the softer demand was on new contracts and new projects, which we had said, we expected this year in the past 3 years, new software business had grown pretty significantly year-on-year. We expect it coming in the year that new software project would be flat year-on-year. And what we saw in the first quarter was more of a -- it was down double digits relative to last Q1. So this is where we saw more of the pressure. Whether it affected more of the SaaS business or the term subscription business, I would say, it was quite indiscriminate across product lines, what we saw. But of course, the most significant impact in terms of in-quarter revenue was really in this multiyear term subscription deals. That's really what was a bigger impact on Q1 revenue.

謝謝你，蒂姆。我會回答你的兩個問題。因此，讓我開始討論什麼問題——我們在哪裡看到對軟件的軟需求。我認為，如果我們將軟件分為具有續籤或轉發或擴展與新合同的現有合同，則現有合同的續簽業務基本上按預期執行，並且我們看到大部分需求疲軟的地方是新合同和新項目，這我們曾說過，我們預計今年在過去 3 年中，新軟件業務同比增長非常顯著。我們預計今年新軟件項目將同比持平。我們在第一季度看到的更多是 - 與上一季度相比下降了兩位數。所以這是我們看到更多壓力的地方。無論它是影響更多的 SaaS 業務還是術語訂閱業務，我想說，我們所看到的，它在各個產品線中都是不分青紅皂白的。但當然，就季度收入而言，最重要的影響實際上是在這項多年期訂閱交易中。這確實對第一季度收入產生了更大的影響。

In terms of the hardware software distinction, Tim, it's a good question. Look, I think this year, certainly, and there was also that effect last year that there is a dynamic around hardware where last year, we had a lot of demand that we couldn't really ship because of supply chain issues. And this year, we're looking to improve on our supply chain and be able to ship all the orders that we've had in our backlog. And we've made a lot of progress on the supply chain to be able to do that.

就硬件軟件的區別而言，蒂姆，這是一個很好的問題。看，我認為今年當然如此，去年也有這種影響，即去年硬件方面存在動態，由於供應鏈問題，我們有很多需求無法真正發貨。今年，我們希望改善我們的供應鏈，並能夠運送我們積壓的所有訂單。我們已經在供應鏈上取得了很多進展才能做到這一點。

But it's true that a lot of our customers consume both hardware and software. We think that's going to continue to be a trend from our customers towards more software-first environment. And that's because of the way they want to consume the technology ultimately.

但我們的很多客戶確實同時使用硬件和軟件。我們認為這將繼續成為我們的客戶轉向更多軟件優先環境的趨勢。那是因為他們最終想要使用技術的方式。

But when we look at the total performance of the company, we focus less on that distinction than driving earnings growth and specifically double-digit earnings growth, and we're absolutely committed to driving that regardless of the dynamics between hardware and software.

但當我們審視公司的整體業績時，我們關注的不是這種區別，而是推動盈利增長，特別是兩位數的盈利增長，我們絕對致力於推動這一點，無論硬件和軟件之間的動態如何。

Our next question is from Alex Henderson with Needham.

我們的下一個問題來自 Alex Henderson 和 Needham。

Great. Hoping you could address a little bit about what your backlog in systems looks like. I think it was running 40% to 50% of 4-quarter product sales in systems. And I was hoping you could give us some insights there in terms of what the backlog is at?

偉大的。希望您能稍微說明一下系統中的積壓情況。我認為它在系統中運行了 4 季度產品銷售額的 40% 到 50%。我希望您能就積壓情況向我們提供一些見解？

And then second, obviously, getting the rSeries out is in March of last year was an important milestone, but there was a lot of application functionality that you needed to get built into it in order to solve individual customers needs in order to replace the iSeries. And I was hoping you could give us an update on where you are on that? And do you think that, that then creates post, say, the June quarter, a refresh cycle on the large installed base of iSeries?

其次，很明顯，去年 3 月推出 rSeries 是一個重要的里程碑，但是您需要將許多應用程序功能內置到其中，以解決個別客戶的需求，從而取代 iSeries .我希望你能告訴我們你在這方面的最新進展？你認為那會在 iSeries 的大型安裝基礎上創建 6 月季度之後的更新周期嗎？

Yes. Alex, let me start with the backlog question. I'm going to turn it over to Francois for your second question. So on backlog, what we've talked about is that we will disclose that once a year if it's material, meaning more than 10%, but we weren't going to talk specifics in any 1 given quarter. I will say similar to Q1 last year, where we talked about percent move up, we were down a bit more than 10% this quarter in backlog from where we ended in Q4. And that was largely a result of our ability to ship based off of some of the product redesigns that we were able to achieve.

是的。亞歷克斯，讓我從積壓問題開始。我將把它交給 Francois 來回答你的第二個問題。因此，關於積壓，我們所討論的是，如果它很重要，我們將每年披露一次，這意味著超過 10%，但我們不會在任何一個給定的季度討論具體細節。我會說與去年第一季度類似，我們談到百分比上升，本季度我們的積壓比第四季度結束時下降了 10% 以上。這在很大程度上是因為我們能夠根據我們能夠實現的一些產品重新設計來發貨。

And so we were quite happy with seeing that reduction in backlog from a customer satisfaction standpoint. And then Francois, I think will talk to your second question.

因此，從客戶滿意度的角度來看，我們很高興看到積壓減少。然後 Francois，我想會談談你的第二個問題。

So Alex, on the rSeries, there were -- there have been 2 factors that have sort of gated the ramp and growth of the rSeries over the last several quarters since we launched it. First is what you mentioned. The number of use cases and applications that rSeries could cover relative to the iSeries. And second was our ability to build and ship rSeries, which has been significantly constrained with some of the components.

所以亞歷克斯，在 rSeries 上，有兩個因素在我們推出 rSeries 的過去幾個季度裡限制了 rSeries 的增長和增長。首先是你提到的。 rSeries 相對於 iSeries 可以涵蓋的用例和應用程序的數量。其次是我們構建和發布 rSeries 的能力，它受到某些組件的嚴重限制。

The good news is both of these factors are going away over the next couple of quarters. So on the supply chain factors, we are seeing better component availability and also access to broker markets where we are still constrained. We still have constraints on rSeries. We still had in Q1, and we'll still (inaudible). But a lot of the redesigned efforts that we have already done will be complete by the end of our second quarter. And so we are seeing lead times on rSeries will be improving in our second quarter and beyond. And then the second aspect in terms of the application, the number of use case that rSeries can cover will pretty much be at parity with iSeries, if not in the June quarter, in the September quarter. So in both cases, there's a lot of progress. There is a lot of demand for rSeries. And I think you should expect that rSeries will certainly grow into FY '24 to become the vast majority of what we ship in terms of appliances.

好消息是這兩個因素在接下來的幾個季度都會消失。因此，在供應鏈因素上，我們看到了更好的組件可用性以及進入我們仍然受限的經紀人市場的機會。我們仍然對 rSeries 有限制。我們在第一季度仍然有，我們仍然會（聽不清）。但我們已經完成的許多重新設計工作將在第二季度末完成。因此，我們看到 rSeries 的交貨時間將在第二季度及以後有所改善。然後是應用程序方面的第二個方面，rSeries 可以覆蓋的用例數量將與 iSeries 相當，如果不是在 6 月季度，在 9 月季度。所以在這兩種情況下，都有很大的進步。 rSeries 有很多需求。而且我認為您應該期望 rSeries 肯定會發展到 FY '24，成為我們在設備方面出貨的絕大多數。

Our next question is from Samik Chatterjee with JPMorgan.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根大通的 Samik Chatterjee。

I guess for the first one, if I can, Francois, ask you to share a bit more color on in terms of budget scrutiny, which regions as well as customer work...

我想對於第一個，如果可以的話，弗朗索瓦，請你在預算審查、哪些地區以及客戶工作方面分享更多的顏色......

Samik, we're having a hard time hearing you. You may want to speak up.

Samik，我們很難聽到你的聲音。你可能想說出來。

Can you hear me now?

你能聽到我嗎？

Yes, much better.

是的，好多了。

Yes. So first question was really more about sort of Francois' comments on the budget scrutiny that you're seeing, which regions and maybe customer verticals as well, are you seeing the most sort of scrutiny from? And where do you stand in relation to like as you sort of are in the early days of fiscal 2Q in terms of either quantifying it in terms of a sales cycle or conversion cycle? Are you continuing to see those sort of conversion cycles get extended or time line get extended? Or are you starting to find a sort of levels set to a longer duration in terms of the conversion cycle? And I have a follow-up.

是的。所以第一個問題實際上更多是關於弗朗索瓦對你所看到的預算審查的評論，哪些地區，可能還有垂直客戶，你看到的審查最多嗎？就銷售週期或轉化週期進行量化而言，在第二財季初期，您與喜歡的關係如何？您是否繼續看到這種轉換週期延長或時間線延長？或者，您是否開始發現某種級別在轉換週期方面設置為更長的持續時間？我有一個後續行動。

Thank you, Samik. So in terms of where we saw softer demand in software, it was across the board in terms of verticals and geographies. So if you remember in Q4, I said the international EMEA and Asia Pacific, in particular, were quite affected we actually did see that clearly in North America as well this quarter. And it was also, I would say, across most of our verticals. I think it was more pronounced in the technology sector, large tech companies going through substantial revisions of their budget and to some extent, I would say, financial services. These are perhaps where the effects were more pronounced. In terms of the rest of the year, it's too early to have full visibility on the rest of the year.

謝謝你，薩米克。因此，就我們看到軟件需求疲軟的地方而言，它在垂直領域和地域方面都是全面的。因此，如果您還記得在第四季度，我說過國際 EMEA 和亞太地區尤其受到很大影響，我們實際上在本季度也確實在北美清楚地看到了這一點。我想說的是，它也橫跨我們的大部分垂直行業。我認為這在科技領域更為明顯，大型科技公司正在對其預算進行大幅修改，在某種程度上，我想說，金融服務。這些可能是效果更為明顯的地方。就今年剩餘時間而言，現在全面了解今年剩餘時間還為時過早。

I would say our expectation is that the dynamics that we have seen in our first fiscal quarter as it relates to software will largely continue in our second fiscal quarter. But beyond that, it's too early to speak to the visibility.

我想說的是，我們的預期是，我們在第一財季看到的與軟件相關的動態將在第二財季基本延續。但除此之外，現在談論能見度還為時過早。

Got it. And for the follow-up, I mean, you mentioned customers are sweating the assets a bit more, which is sort of you're recapturing some of that on the services side. But in terms of the systems demand, and there is obviously a supply chain piece here. But what -- how are you thinking about sort of the upside to system demand as some of the maybe software transformation projects get delayed and drives some level of sort of utilization of hardware appliances, which always had sort of great performance? So how are you sort of looking at the upside on the system side from that delay as well? What -- how would you quantify that?

知道了。對於後續行動，我的意思是，你提到客戶正在為資產付出更多的努力，這有點像你在服務方面重新奪回了一些資產。但就係統需求而言，這裡顯然有一個供應鏈部分。但是 - 你如何考慮系統需求的某種好處，因為一些可能的軟件轉換項目被延遲並推動了某種程度的硬件設備利用率，這些硬件設備總是具有很好的性能？那麼，您如何看待這種延遲對系統方面的好處呢？什麼——你如何量化它？

I think, Samik, the -- in terms of the system demand, as we said earlier, we also saw softness in systems demand this quarter. So this effect on budgets and scrutiny from our customers at large affected both the software and the hardware demand to an extent. The upside in demand, frankly, is -- sorry, in hardware revenue for the year is we said at the beginning of the year, we felt our hardware revenue forecast was really a shipping forecast. And the upside and the stronger second half that we see in hardware is really driven by ability to ship more hardware. So you should see a step increase in our hardware revenue in Q3 and Q4 from the first half of the year because of the improvements we've made on supply chain.

我認為，Samik，就係統需求而言，正如我們之前所說，本季度我們也看到了系統需求的疲軟。因此，這種對預算的影響和廣大客戶的審查在一定程度上影響了軟件和硬件需求。坦率地說，需求的上行空間是 - 抱歉，我們在今年年初說過，今年的硬件收入，我們認為我們的硬件收入預測實際上是出貨預測。我們在硬件中看到的上行和下半年更強勁的增長實際上是由交付更多硬件的能力推動的。因此，由於我們對供應鏈進行了改進，您應該會看到我們在今年上半年的第三季度和第四季度的硬件收入有所增加。

In terms of demand specifically, I don't think the pressures on software would necessarily create stronger demand on hardware at this point in time in the environment because I think our customers are really trying to sweat their assets and try and limit the utilization to not exceed the capacity that they already have in place to the extent they can. I think that can only go on for so long, at which point they will have to buy and add capacity. But I do think that -- the improvement in supply chains and as lead times improve, we will see some demand that is latent that has been gated by the fact that we're not able to ship. So a lot of customers because we haven't been able to ship orders that they place 2, 3, 4, 5 months ago, and they haven't been able to project or implement our solution or not able to place the next order. And I think as we resolve that, we should see some improvement there in demand from these customers.

具體在需求方面，我認為軟件的壓力不一定會在環境中的這個時間點對硬件產生更強烈的需求，因為我認為我們的客戶真的在努力消耗他們的資產並試圖將利用率限制在不盡其所能超出他們已有的能力。我認為這種情況只能持續很長時間，屆時他們將不得不購買和增加容量。但我確實認為 - 供應鏈的改善和交貨時間的改善，我們將看到一些潛在的需求因我們無法發貨而受到限制。所以很多客戶因為我們無法運送他們在 2、3、4、5 個月前下達的訂單，他們無法規劃或實施我們的解決方案或無法下下一個訂單。我認為，當我們解決這個問題時，我們應該會看到這些客戶的需求有所改善。

Our next question is from Amit Daryanani with Evercore.

我們的下一個問題來自 Evercore 的 Amit Daryanani。

I guess I have 2 as well. Francois, maybe just going back to this product systems discussion a little bit. Yes, the risk of the fear folks would have is listen, if the macro remains soft and IT budgets remain under pressure, why wouldn't customers push out or set the appliances more. And so then maybe just about how do you have confidence that this appliance or systems business recovers in the back half if the macro remains challenging and the backlog can remain strong.

我想我也有2個。 Francois，也許只是稍微回到這個產品系統討論。是的，人們擔心的風險是傾聽，如果宏觀經濟仍然疲軟並且 IT 預算仍然承受壓力，那麼客戶為什麼不推出或設置更多設備。因此，如果宏觀仍然具有挑戰性並且積壓訂單可以保持強勁，那麼您如何相信該設備或系統業務會在後半段恢復。

Well, I would say, look, where we have strong visibility is for us to achieve the revenue forecast we have in hardware. We don't necessarily need a very strong fundamental recovery in hardware demand than we have today because of the visibility we have on revenue and our ability to ship, including our backlog.

好吧，我會說，看，我們有很強的知名度是為了實現我們在硬件方面的收入預測。由於我們對收入和出貨能力的可見性，包括積壓訂單，我們不一定需要比今天更強勁的硬件需求基本複蘇。

In terms of what I think -- there's a real question as to when do I think this recovers and demand picks up again. It's difficult to predict. But what I can tell you is that the fundamental drivers of what gets customers to buy hardware or software are still there. They are tied to the growth in applications and applications continue to grow the complexity of these applications. And the deployment models, the fact that these applications increasingly live in hybrid and multi-cloud environments. All of these drivers are fundamentally there.

就我的想法而言——我認為這種情況何時會恢復並且需求會再次回升，這是一個真正的問題。很難預測。但我可以告訴你的是，促使客戶購買硬件或軟件的根本驅動因素仍然存在。它們與應用程序的增長緊密相關，而應用程序的複雜性不斷增加。以及部署模型，這些應用程序越來越多地生活在混合和多雲環境中。所有這些驅動因素基本上都存在。

So demand can be suppressed for a period of time, a couple of quarters, 3 quarters, 4 quarters. But where we have a ton of confidence is that it is going to come back because the fundamental drivers of our business and what our customer is doing are still there and will continue, including, I should say, attacks on applications that drive demand for security for applications.

所以需求可以被抑制一段時間，幾個季度，三個季度，四個季度。但我們非常有信心的是，它會捲土重來，因為我們業務的基本驅動力和我們的客戶正在做的事情仍然存在並將繼續下去，包括，我應該說，對推動安全需求的應用程序的攻擊對於應用程序。

So all of those things are part of what gives us a lot of confidence that it's going to come back. In this current environment, the fact that we've built the flexibility that we have built around our consumption models and our deployment models, plays very well because some customers have pressures on CapEx, others on OpEx and our ability to serve them one way or the other is one mitigant, if you will. And it's one of the aspects that we think provides the resilience that you're seeing in our business and operating model.

所以所有這些都是讓我們對它會回來充滿信心的一部分。在當前的環境中，我們已經建立了我們圍繞我們的消費模型和我們的部署模型建立的靈活性，這一事實發揮了很好的作用，因為一些客戶對資本支出有壓力，其他人對運營支出有壓力，我們有能力以一種或多種方式為他們提供服務另一個是緩解劑，如果你願意的話。這是我們認為提供您在我們的業務和運營模式中看到的彈性的方面之一。

Got it. That's really helpful. And then if I just touch on the software side. I know you folks talked about in the ability -- the growth will be sub the 15% to 20% range that you talked about previously. Is there anything about what the new range would be? Or what does the trajectory of software look through fiscal '23? And then does this alter at all what you're seeing your longer-term expectations you've had from the software business beyond just this year?

知道了。這真的很有幫助。然後，如果我只涉及軟件方面。我知道你們談到了能力——增長將低於你們之前談到的 15% 到 20% 的範圍。有沒有關於新範圍的內容？或者軟件在 23 財年的發展軌跡如何？然後，這是否會改變您對今年以來對軟件業務的長期期望？

Let me start with the last part. It does not alter our long-term view, Amit, because of the drivers that I've just taking you through. We think our customers will continue to deploy software in -- sorry, we'll continue to deploy our software in cloud and hybrid cloud environment. We think that the architectures are evolving to be multi-cloud architectures, and that absolutely favors F5. If I go back to where we were 5 years ago when we were hearing customers and why everything is going to go to a single cloud location, and we're not sure we're going to need a F5 ADC.

讓我從最後一部分開始。這不會改變我們的長期觀點，阿米特，因為我剛剛帶你了解的驅動因素。我們認為我們的客戶將繼續在 - 抱歉，我們將繼續在雲和混合雲環境中部署我們的軟件。我們認為架構正在演變成多雲架構，這絕對有利於 F5。如果我回到 5 年前的狀態，當時我們聽取了客戶的意見，以及為什麼一切都將轉到一個雲位置，我們不確定我們是否需要 F5 ADC。

Today, we are positioned where the architectures are going. They're going to multi-cloud. We're very well positioned in these architectural conversations. And so what we're not seeing is the shift away from F5 from an architecture perspective, we're seeing just financial decisions and pressure. So we're very confident that the drivers of long-term software growth for F5, security, modern applications and multi-cloud environment are going to be there and drive the 20% plus growth that we've talked about in the long term -- in the shorter term.

今天，我們定位於架構的發展方向。他們將採用多雲。我們在這些架構對話中處於非常有利的位置。因此，我們沒有看到從架構角度來看 F5 的轉變，我們看到的只是財務決策和壓力。因此，我們非常有信心，F5、安全、現代應用程序和多雲環境的長期軟件增長驅動因素將會存在，並推動我們在長期內談到的超過 20% 的增長 - - 在短期內。

Yes, we have said it's less likely that we will be in the 15% to 20% range we've mentioned. There is a path to get there. It's a narrower path than it was a quarter ago. Because it would imply a change in the second half in terms of the demand patterns that we have seen on software. And so whether things would rebound this quickly for us to be able to see that. That's unclear, and that's why we're saying that it's less likely that we would deliver 15% to 20% growth.

是的，我們說過我們不太可能在我們提到的 15% 到 20% 的範圍內。有一條路可以到達那裡。這是一條比一個季度前更窄的路徑。因為這意味著我們在軟件上看到的需求模式將在下半年發生變化。因此，事情是否會迅速反彈，讓我們能夠看到這一點。這還不清楚，這就是為什麼我們說我們不太可能實現 15% 到 20% 的增長。

You will note, however, Amit, that the -- I mentioned our business and operating model earlier. Part of the benefit of the balanced model that we have built is you're seeing the improvements we've made on supply chain allow us to have perhaps upside on the hardware revenue and also upside on the services revenue. So on balance, we feel our 9% to 11% revenue range is still achievable.

但是，阿米特，你會注意到——我之前提到過我們的業務和運營模式。我們建立的平衡模型的部分好處是您會看到我們在供應鏈上所做的改進使我們可能在硬件收入和服務收入方面都有優勢。因此，總的來說，我們認為 9% 到 11% 的收入範圍仍然可以實現。

Our next question is from Meta Marshall with Morgan Stanley.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的 Meta Marshall。

Maybe 2 questions for me. One, if you could just kind of lay out maybe most often what some of these larger new software deals are associated with. Are they tied to kind of cloud migrations or security upgrades or kind of thinking about hybrid architectures, that would just be helpful to kind of figure out what other indicators we could be looking at when thinking about the software -- new software growth coming back?

也許我有 2 個問題。第一，如果你能簡單地列出這些更大的新軟件交易中最常見的是什麼。它們是否與某種雲遷移或安全升級或某種對混合架構的思考有關，這將有助於弄清楚我們在考慮軟件時可以查看哪些其他指標——新的軟件增長回歸？

And then maybe just on the second question. Product gross margins are staying depressed for a little bit longer. Just how are you guys thinking about kind of the progression of getting rid of some of these supply chain costs or broker fees throughout the year just to the time that it might take to get back to some of the product gross margins we've seen in the past?

然後也許只是關於第二個問題。產品毛利率低迷的時間會更長一些。你們是如何考慮在全年中擺脫其中一些供應鏈成本或經紀人費用的進展，直到可能需要回到我們已經看到的一些產品毛利率的時間過去？

Meta, I'll take the first one, Frank will take the second one on gross margins. The -- so the large software projects that are tied to all of the factors you mentioned, but typically infrastructure modernization or application modernization. So these would be companies that are -- that have had, say, our hardware in their environment, and they're deciding to move in a partially or wholly to a software-first environment. This could be a private cloud or it could be a public cloud implementation with lift and shift.

Meta，我會拿第一個，Frank 會拿第二個毛利率。 - 因此與您提到的所有因素相關的大型軟件項目，但通常是基礎設施現代化或應用程序現代化。因此，這些公司將是 - 比如說，在他們的環境中擁有我們的硬件，並且他們決定部分或全部轉向軟件優先的環境。這可以是私有云，也可以是具有提升和轉移功能的公共雲實施。

More often than not, they are actually setting up the software environments whilst keeping part of their application estates on hardware. So they will pick a set of applications that they really want to modernize and move to an environment that's more automated, whether it's in a public cloud or even in their own private cloud whether it's higher levels of the automation that gives them faster time to market, better deployment time frames et cetera, et cetera. So that's the type of project for the large kind of multiyear subscription.

通常情況下，他們實際上是在設置軟件環境，同時將部分應用程序資產保留在硬件上。因此，他們將選擇一組他們真正想要實現現代化的應用程序，並遷移到一個自動化程度更高的環境中，無論是在公共雲中還是在他們自己的私有云中，無論是更高級別的自動化讓他們更快地進入市場，更好的部署時間框架等等，等等。這就是大型多年訂閱的項目類型。

We have also a number of other projects that are now with NGINX. There are just typically new applications, new modern applications that have been in test and development, and they're moving into production. And when they move into production, there is a need for strong networking and security capabilities that NGINX brings as a complement to, for example, Kubernetes orchestration. So we're seeing a lot of these projects.

我們還有許多其他項目現在使用 NGINX。通常只有新的應用程序，新的現代應用程序已經過測試和開發，並且正在投入生產。當他們投入生產時，需要強大的網絡和安全功能，NGINX 可以作為對 Kubernetes 編排等功能的補充。所以我們看到了很多這樣的項目。

And now with our distributed cloud offerings, we're also offering SaaS solution, and that is, I would say, a missing part of our business, but it's a different model of deployment where typically, a long tail of applications that would not have had a traditional ADC in front of them in the past, customers are choosing to protect them with a SaaS security solution for F5. So those are, I would say, the 3 types of implementations. But of course, the multiyear sort of subscription are more anchored on the first model that I mentioned.

現在，通過我們的分佈式雲產品，我們還提供 SaaS 解決方案，我想說，這是我們業務中缺失的一部分，但它是一種不同的部署模型，通常情況下，長尾應用程序不會有過去他們面前有一個傳統的 ADC，客戶選擇使用 F5 的 SaaS 安全解決方案來保護他們。因此，我想說的是 3 種類型的實施。但是，當然，多年訂閱更依賴於我提到的第一種模式。

Meta, in relation to gross margins, particularly product gross margins, our view of that for the year has not changed. And we talked about the supply chain improvements starting to benefit our product gross margins really in the latter half of this year, even all the way up into Q4.

Meta，關於毛利率，特別是產品毛利率，我們對這一年的看法沒有改變。我們談到供應鏈的改善在今年下半年開始真正有利於我們的產品毛利率，甚至一直到第四季度。

But the real benefit that we're going to see is going to be in FY '24 in terms of product gross margin improvement. We still had the purchase price variance and expedite fees that we're working through the components that make up our box builds through this year, and we still have got a few critical components where we are having to go in the broker market. So largely, we will start to see improvement in Q4, but more of it you will see in FY '24.

但我們將看到的真正好處是在 24 財年的產品毛利率提高方面。我們仍然有購買價格差異和加速費用，我們正在通過今年構建我們的盒子構建的組件來處理，我們仍然有一些關鍵組件，我們必須進入經紀人市場。因此，在很大程度上，我們將在第四季度開始看到改善，但您將在 24 財年看到更多改善。

Our next question is from James Fish with Piper Sandler.

我們的下一個問題來自 James Fish 和 Piper Sandler。

On the software number, I don't get the reluctance to not give a number at this point. I get -- we're kind of missing the 15% to 20%, but it's the main question we're getting after hours. So any clarity on that would be helpful, Frank. And should we be assuming the kind of net new business, double-digit decline in new recurring software should continue for the remainder of the year? Or are you expecting this to kind of improve as that new business comp gets easier in the second half of the year? And just I have a quick follow-up after.

關於軟件編號，此時我不情願不給出編號。我明白了——我們有點錯過了 15% 到 20%，但這是我們在下班後得到的主要問題。弗蘭克，任何對此的澄清都會有所幫助。我們是否應該假設這種淨新業務，新經常性軟件的兩位數下降應該在今年剩餘時間繼續？或者您是否希望隨著今年下半年新業務變得更容易，這種情況會有所改善？之後我會進行快速跟進。

Sure. And I appreciate the question, Jim. We -- again, as Francois mentioned, a second ago, we are not updating our 15% to 20% guidance because we do still see a path to get there. Again, it's harder path. I think that we're not necessarily expecting to change in environment. And part of the reason why we're not updating the back half is because the visibility is cloudy right now in terms of demand.

當然。我很欣賞這個問題，吉姆。我們 - 再次，正如 Francois 提到的那樣，一秒鐘前，我們沒有更新我們的 15% 到 20% 的指導，因為我們仍然看到了實現目標的途徑。同樣，這是一條更難的路。我認為我們不一定期望環境發生變化。我們不更新後半部分的部分原因是因為目前需求方面的能見度不明朗。

And with -- when we came into the year, we talked about over 50% of the revenue that we expected as part of that 15% to 20% growth was going to come from new business activity. And that we didn't expect that to grow, but we didn't expect to see the types of percentage declines that we saw in Q1. And so just with the lack of visibility that we've got right now, we don't have a new range to offer to you today. But we do feel like it's less likely that we will be in that range.

並且 - 當我們進入這一年時，我們談到了我們預期的超過 50% 的收入，作為 15% 到 20% 增長的一部分將來自新的業務活動。而且我們沒想到會增長，但我們沒想到會看到我們在第一季度看到的百分比下降類型。因此，由於我們現在缺乏知名度，我們今天沒有新的產品系列可以提供給您。但我們確實覺得我們不太可能在那個範圍內。

Okay. And then Francois, I'm surprised no one's asked about it at this point, but on the strategy side with this Lilac deal. Why Lilac? What's the competitive advantage? And is it the more to align with product overlap against some of your kind of newer competitors like an Akamai or CloudFlare is it more to be able to offer that SaaS-like experience inside a customer's environment? And just trying to understand why couldn't this get done with NGINX and Volterra already.

好的。然後是 Francois，令我驚訝的是，目前還沒有人問過這個問題，而是在與 Lilac 交易的戰略方面。為什麼是紫丁香？有什麼競爭優勢？與 Akamai 或 CloudFlare 等一些較新的競爭對手的產品重疊是否更符合能夠在客戶環境中提供類似 SaaS 的體驗？只是想了解為什麼不能用 NGINX 和 Volterra 來完成這件事。

Thank you, Jim. So yes. On the Lilac, let me start with -- we acquired Volterra a couple of years ago, and really launched the platform with our security offering about a year ago. And we've seen a very, very good traction with distributed cloud services over the last 10 months. And so we want to build on that traction. We recently started with a CDN offering in the distributed cloud services platform. That was based on an OEM agreement with Lilac.

謝謝你，吉姆。所以是的。關於 Lilac，讓我先說——我們在幾年前收購了 Volterra，並在大約一年前真正推出了帶有我們安全產品的平台。在過去的 10 個月裡，我們看到了分佈式雲服務非常非常好的吸引力。因此，我們希望在這種牽引力的基礎上再接再厲。我們最近開始在分佈式雲服務平台中提供 CDN。這是基於與 Lilac 的 OEM 協議。

And this was essentially a talked acquisition to in-source that technology and the team, in order to be able to secure the offering for the longer term. and also work with this team to continue to improve on the offering and deliver increasingly innovative edge services on the Volterra platform. So we're pretty excited about the team joining us and being able to accelerate our innovation on that front. And it completes our offering in terms of web application firewalls, API security, DDoS protection, Anti-Bot and now CDN into the -- into the bouquet of services that we offer on distributed cloud.

這本質上是一項談判收購，以內包該技術和團隊，以便能夠長期確保產品的安全。並與該團隊合作，繼續改進產品並在 Volterra 平台上提供越來越創新的邊緣服務。因此，我們對團隊加入我們並能夠加速我們在這方面的創新感到非常興奮。它完善了我們在 Web 應用程序防火牆、API 安全、DDoS 保護、反殭屍網絡和現在的 CDN 方面的產品，進入了我們在分佈式雲上提供的一系列服務。

Our next question is from Simon Leopold with Raymond James.

我們的下一個問題來自 Simon Leopold 和 Raymond James。

This is Victor Chiu in for Simon Leopold. You noted that the fundamental demand around F5 software is still largely intact. But are there specific factors that you can point to that gives you confidence that the slowing isn't a reflection of more secular headwinds like cloud migration versus the cyclical slowing that you're noting?

這是 Simon Leopold 的 Victor Chiu。您注意到圍繞 F5 軟件的基本需求仍然基本完好。但是，您是否可以指出一些具體因素，讓您相信這種放緩並不是雲遷移等長期逆風與您注意到的周期性放緩的反映？

Yes, Victor, I think it's interesting because I would say that migrations to the public cloud, if you want to call them like lift and shift tech migrations, we have seen that to be more of a tailwind to F5 than a headwind. But even more than that, what we have seen over the last couple of years is that customers are not migrating applications to a single cloud. Increasingly, customers are leveraging multiple different environments for their applications, multiple public clouds, private cloud and on-premise.

是的，維克多，我認為這很有趣，因為我會說遷移到公共雲，如果你想稱它們為提升和轉移技術遷移，我們已經看到這對 F5 來說更像是順風而不是逆風。但更重要的是，我們在過去幾年中看到的是，客戶並未將應用程序遷移到單一云。越來越多的客戶正在為他們的應用程序、多個公共雲、私有云和內部部署利用多個不同的環境。

And that actually is an architectural model that is ideally suited for the portfolio that we have built, which is essentially an infrastructure agnostic portfolio of application security and delivery services. And so we feel very strongly that as that trend accelerates in large enterprises and that multi-cloud and hybrid cloud becomes more and more the mainstream deployment way of that enterprises deploy their application portfolio.

這實際上是一個非常適合我們構建的產品組合的架構模型，它本質上是一個與基礎設施無關的應用程序安全和交付服務產品組合。因此，我們非常強烈地感覺到，隨著這種趨勢在大型企業中加速，多雲和混合雲越來越成為企業部署其應用程序組合的主流部署方式。

It is going to drive growth for F5 and specifically, for F5 software and SaaS services. So that's where our confidence comes and I mentioned those drivers earlier, multi-cloud environments, security, modern applications. All 3 will contribute to the long-term growth of our software, which is why we feel our views on that are absolutely intact. What we are seeing right now, again, it's not an architectural or a competitive issue. It is largely a macro-driven very cautious spending environment that is kind of indiscriminate across product lines.

它將推動 F5 的增長，特別是 F5 軟件和 SaaS 服務的增長。這就是我們信心的來源，我之前提到過那些驅動因素、多雲環境、安全性和現代應用程序。這三者都將有助於我們軟件的長期發展，這就是為什麼我們認為我們對此的看法是絕對完整的。我們現在再次看到，這不是架構或競爭問題。這在很大程度上是一個宏觀驅動的非常謹慎的支出環境，在產品線之間有點不分青紅皂白。

I mean so prior to the kind of macro headwinds that we started seeing. Do you see -- did you observe any of those trends that you mentioned regarding multi-hybrid cloud trends. And did you see -- you observed those trends and that kind of gives you the confidence that will resume when things normalize?

我的意思是，在我們開始看到的那種宏觀逆風之前。你看到了嗎 - 你是否觀察到你提到的關於多混合雲趨勢的任何趨勢。你有沒有看到——你觀察到了這些趨勢，這給了你信心，當事情恢復正常時，這種信心會恢復嗎？

Yes, Victor. I mean, we saw them, which is why if you look at our software growth in 2021, I think it was in was around 37%. And if you look at our software growth in 2022 -- the first 3 quarters of '22 prior to the change in the environment, our software growth was also close to 40%. So we -- and it came from these 3 drivers, more deployment of modern applications that we serve with NGINX now with distributed cloud services, more need for security in front of applications that we serve with all security solutions, shape distributor cloud, BIG-IP and more deployments in multi-cloud environments with our large customers.

是的，維克多。我的意思是，我們看到了它們，這就是為什麼如果你看看我們 2021 年的軟件增長，我認為它在 37% 左右。如果你看看我們在 2022 年的軟件增長——在環境發生變化之前的 22 年的前 3 個季度，我們的軟件增長也接近 40%。所以我們 - 它來自這 3 個驅動程序，我們現在使用 NGINX 服務的現代應用程序的更多部署與分佈式雲服務，在我們使用所有安全解決方案服務的應用程序前面對安全性的更多需求，塑造分佈式雲，BIG-與我們的大客戶一起在多雲環境中進行 IP 和更多部署。

Our next question is from Tom Blakey with KeyBanc Capital Markets.

我們的下一個問題來自 KeyBanc Capital Markets 的 Tom Blakey。

I guess my first question is also -- both questions are on software as well. The numbers you've given for us here are -- you can kind of back into, I believe, strong double-digit growth in the renewal kind of true-up business in the quarter. Is there anything onetime in that number? Or anything that kind of would lead us to believe that, that can't -- you don't have any visibility into that -- into fiscal '23, that growth kind of remaining?

我想我的第一個問題也是——這兩個問題也都是關於軟件的。你在這里為我們提供的數字是——我相信你可以在某種程度上回到本季度續訂業務的強勁兩位數增長。那個數字中有一次嗎？或者任何會讓我們相信，那不能 - 你對此沒有任何可見性 - 進入 23 財年，這種增長仍然存在？

Yes. We did not experience any sort of onetime benefits. I think the (inaudible) however you want to think about the perpetual business versus the subscription business, but there was nothing unusual in the quarter.

是的。我們沒有體驗過任何形式的一次性福利。我認為（聽不清）但是你想考慮永久業務與訂閱業務，但本季度沒有任何異常。

Yes. I'm sorry, I'm just focusing on the subscription business with regard to renewals and trust. And then as you mentioned sorry, Frank, go ahead.

是的。抱歉，我只關注與續訂和信任相關的訂閱業務。然後正如你提到的那樣，抱歉，弗蘭克，請繼續。

No, no, no. Absolutely, Tom.

不不不。當然，湯姆。

Okay. And then just on the perpetual side, you've been a little bit above trend line in the last couple of years -- the trend line over the last couple of years, where -- what kind of visibility do you have into this perpetual business line in a pipeline there, comments from Francois, maybe -- and maybe if you could (inaudible) that with your comments about pause and a slowdown in spending just doesn't really jive with your kind of like beating the last couple of quarters pretty handily from a perpetual license perspective, that would be helpful.

好的。然後就永久性方面而言，你在過去幾年中略高於趨勢線 - 過去幾年的趨勢線 - 你對這個永久性業務有什麼樣的可見性在那裡的管道中，弗朗索瓦的評論，也許 - 也許如果你可以（聽不清）你關於暫停和支出放緩的評論與你在過去幾個季度中表現出色的情況並不一致從永久許可的角度來看，這會很有幫助。

Yes. Tom, let me start with that, and Francois wants to add, he certainly can. Again, we think some of the power of our model is the flexibility of the way customers want to consume. And in some cases, people have OpEx budgets and in other cases, they have CapEx budgets. And so in certain instances, I think they'd rather consume on a CapEx basis, and some of that will come through perpetual.

是的。湯姆，讓我從這個開始，弗朗索瓦想補充一點，他當然可以。同樣，我們認為我們模型的部分優勢在於客戶消費方式的靈活性。在某些情況下，人們有 OpEx 預算，而在其他情況下，他們有 CapEx 預算。因此，在某些情況下，我認為他們寧願在資本支出的基礎上消費，其中一些將永遠存在。

It's not something that we try to spend a ton of time forecasting the split between the two. We're happy when revenue falls in either. And so for the last couple of quarters, you may have seen that tick up from what was sort of a low $30-ish million a quarter business to the upper $30 million, low $40 million. But generally, those are customer preferences and how they want to consume our solutions.

這不是我們試圖花大量時間預測兩者之間分裂的事情。當收入下降時，我們很高興。因此，在過去的幾個季度中，您可能已經看到從每季度 3000 萬美元的低位業務上升到 3000 萬美元的高位，低位 4000 萬美元。但總的來說，這些是客戶偏好以及他們希望如何使用我們的解決方案。

Okay. So just same type of visibility but always have in perpetual software.

好的。因此，只有相同類型的可見性，但始終存在於永久軟件中。

Our next question is from Jim Suva with Citigroup.

我們的下一個問題來自花旗集團的 Jim Suva。

Your commentary about the hardware being stronger especially with your outlook and such and the mix shift to more towards that, which will impact things. I understand it all, but the question is, is that impacted at all due to the supply chain issues during the past year or 2 in that maybe customers are absorbing some of the orders that they did and then this is going to face a headwind? Because normally, I would think about customers buying both the hardware and software kind of together.

你對硬件的評論更強大，尤其是你的前景等等，並且混合轉向更多，這將影響事情。我明白這一切，但問題是，由於過去一年或兩年的供應鏈問題，這是否會受到影響，因為客戶可能正在吸收他們所做的一些訂單，然後這將面臨逆風？因為通常情況下，我會考慮客戶同時購買硬件和軟件。

Jim, is it affected by the supply chain? The answer to that is yes, because we have a lot of orders that we were not able to ship last year, and we have made a lot of improvements in supply chain, both from our suppliers in the general environment and our own redesign of our platforms that give us better visibility on what we're going to be able to ship to customers over the next 3 quarters.

吉姆，它是否受到供應鏈的影響？答案是肯定的，因為去年我們有很多訂單無法發貨，我們在供應鏈方面做了很多改進，無論是來自我們在一般環境中的供應商還是我們自己重新設計的我們的平台讓我們更好地了解我們將在未來 3 個季度向客戶交付的產品。

And we've always said we wanted to be able to get all this these orders to our customers as soon as possible and reduce our lead times, which we believe actually will be a tailwind to demand when we're sale to reduce our demand. So yes, it is affected by that. But it is -- that's part of why we see the soft side in the hardware for the year. It's because our view today of what we'll be able to ship has actually improved from where it was 3 months ago.

而且我們一直說我們希望能夠盡快將所有這些訂單交付給我們的客戶並減少我們的交貨時間，我們相信這實際上會在我們銷售以減少我們的需求時成為需求的順風。所以是的，它受此影響。但它是 - 這就是為什麼我們看到今年硬件軟性的部分原因。這是因為我們今天對能夠交付的產品的看法實際上比 3 個月前有所改善。

Okay. That makes a lot of sense. And then just given the macro cautiousness, how should we think about capital deployment stock buyback, M&A, has any changes there? Are you kind of holding -- not holding up, reserving a little more for organic functions? Or how should we think about capital deployment versus maybe 6, 12 months ago?

好的。這很有意義。然後在宏觀審慎的情況下，我們應該如何看待資金配置，股票回購，併購，有什麼變化嗎？你是不是有點堅持——而不是堅持，為有機功能多保留一點？或者，與 6 個月、12 個月前相比，我們應該如何考慮資本部署？

Yes, Jim. So it really hasn't -- our outlook on capital deployment has not changed. We still expect to spend 50% of our free cash flow on share repurchase this year. And as you -- as we mentioned earlier, we did pay down the term loan debt associated with the Shape acquisition, which was a little over $350 million use of cash in the quarter.

是的，吉姆。所以它真的沒有——我們對資本部署的看法沒有改變。我們仍預計今年將 50% 的自由現金流用於股票回購。正如你——正如我們之前提到的，我們確實償還了與 Shape 收購相關的定期貸款債務，該季度使用的現金略高於 3.5 億美元。

And so that reflects the change in our cash balance and the $40 million share repurchase we did in Q1. And we obviously announced Lilac, which was an undisclosed sum. It was a small acquisition that we did today. And so the balance of the activities and how we said we're going to use our capital has not changed, and we don't anticipate that it will change going forward.

因此，這反映了我們現金餘額的變化以及我們在第一季度進行的 4000 萬美元股票回購。我們顯然宣布了 Lilac，這是一筆未公開的金額。這是我們今天進行的一次小型收購。因此，活動的平衡以及我們所說的我們將如何使用我們的資本沒有改變，我們預計它不會改變。

Our next question is from Fahad Najam with Loop Capital.

我們的下一個問題來自 Loop Capital 的 Fahad Najam。

I want to revisit the software issues again. If you look at perpetual, it's growing fairly steadily. So can you maybe help us understand in terms of the renewals, what the net retention rate saw maybe anything cohort analysis that you said it was in line. So maybe if you can just elaborate a little bit more?

我想再次重溫軟件問題。如果你看一下 perpetual，它的增長相當穩定。那麼，您能否幫助我們了解續訂方面的情況，淨保留率看到的可能是您所說的任何隊列分析。那麼也許您可以再詳細說明一下？

And then furthermore, I guess the question also is how should we be thinking about your exposure to legacy applications versus new modern applications? And if there's anything you can share with us on how that mix is trending.

此外，我想問題還在於我們應該如何考慮您對遺留應用程序和新的現代應用程序的接觸？如果有什麼可以與我們分享這種組合的趨勢。

All right. Let me start with the legacy and modern applications and how the mix is trending. I would say it's actually trending in line with the population of applications overall, which is that legacy applications are growing, I would say, in the single-digit percentage range in terms of the number of these applications out there deployed in the world, whereas modern applications, we think are growing in the 30% range in terms of the number of them that are going into production on an annual basis.

好的。讓我從遺留應用程序和現代應用程序以及混合趨勢如何開始。我想說它實際上與整體應用程序的數量呈趨勢一致，即遺留應用程序正在增長，我想說，就這些應用程序在世界上部署的數量而言，在個位數百分比範圍內增長，而我們認為，就每年投入生產的數量而言，現代應用程序正在以 30% 的速度增長。

And so over time, there will be a lot more of the more than applications than the legacy applications. But where this gets blurred though, is that we're also seeing a number of legacy applications get modernized where folks are adding modern component to an application that is already in production has already been generating revenue.

因此，隨著時間的推移，將會有比遺留應用程序更多的應用程序。但是，儘管這變得模糊，但我們還看到許多遺留應用程序進行了現代化改造，人們將現代組件添加到已經投入生產的應用程序中，這些應用程序已經產生了收入。

And this is where I think F5 has a specific advantage is that, yes, we play in modern applications with components like NGINX and excluding our distributed cloud services. Yes, we play in legacy or traditional applications with platforms like BIG-IP. But for a lot of our customers, they want to have implementations that involve modernizing a legacy (inaudible) application and especially in an environment where customers are looking to consolidate vendors to simplify their operations, our ability to deliver on both of these requirements and actually deliver a single commercial vehicle where you can have both your modern and legacy application services is critical.

這就是我認為 F5 具有特定優勢的地方，是的，我們在使用 NGINX 等組件的現代應用程序中發揮作用，但不包括我們的分佈式雲服務。是的，我們在使用 BIG-IP 等平台的遺留或傳統應用程序中發揮作用。但對於我們的許多客戶而言，他們希望實施涉及對遺留（聽不清）應用程序進行現代化改造的實施，尤其是在客戶希望整合供應商以簡化其運營的環境中，我們有能力滿足這兩個要求並且實際上交付單一的商用車輛，您可以在其中同時擁有現代和傳統應用程序服務，這一點至關重要。

And so that's one of the ways that we've positioned the company to be able to serve both needs. Over time, it will skew more towards modern applications as they grow faster.

因此，這是我們將公司定位為能夠滿足這兩種需求的方式之一。隨著時間的推移，它將更傾向於現代應用程序，因為它們增長得更快。

And we're not offering any new metrics on software like net retention rates. I will say that as we mentioned for the renewal side of the business, which includes the SaaS business is the true forwards associated with the business and some of the second terms of our multiyear subscription agreements as largely came in as we expected.

而且我們不會提供任何新的軟件指標，例如淨保留率。我要說的是，正如我們提到的業務續訂方面，其中包括 SaaS 業務是與該業務相關的真正前瞻性，我們多年訂閱協議的一些第二條款基本上如我們預期的那樣出現。

The shortfall that we experienced was largely due to the new software business that just didn't drive growth in the way that we would have expected it in Q1.

我們遇到的不足主要是由於新的軟件業務沒有以我們在第一季度預期的方式推動增長。

I have one more follow-up. Francois, now that you've had a few years post NGINX, Shape acquisitions under your belt. Can you maybe give us an update on how the progress is in integrating these acquisitions into F5? Is it -- are you able to sell and integrate these acquisitions and upsell your solutions? Any update on how the integration of these assets have gone? And how do we think about next year -- sorry, fiscal '23?

我還有一個跟進。 Francois，既然你在 NGINX 之後已經有幾年了，Shape 收購就在你的腰帶之下。您能否向我們介紹一下將這些收購整合到 F5 中的進展情況？是嗎 - 您是否能夠出售和整合這些收購併追加銷售您的解決方案？關於這些資產的整合進展如何的任何更新？我們如何看待明年——抱歉，23 財年？

Yes, absolutely. So let me take them quickly in order. I would say on NGINX and Shape integrations are largely complete. And so on NGINX, you've already -- so they're complete both from a, if you will, product perspective in terms of capabilities, we have ported from F5 or BIG-IP onto NGINX, so we can offer, for example, security on NGINX.

是的，一點沒錯。所以讓我快速整理一下。我想說 NGINX 和 Shape 的集成已經基本完成。在 NGINX 上，你已經——如果你願意的話，從產品的角度來看，它們在功能方面都是完整的，我們已經從 F5 或 BIG-IP 移植到 NGINX 上，所以我們可以提供，例如, NGINX 的安全性。

And increasingly, we're offering our customers a single pane of glass to be able to get visibility on both NGINX and BIG-IP deployments. And they're also complete from a go-to-market perspective whereby we have now enabled our mainstream go-to-market marketing and sales resources to be able to promote and engage customers on NGINX.

而且，我們越來越多地為客戶提供單一管理平台，以便能夠了解 NGINX 和 BIG-IP 部署。從上市的角度來看，它們也是完整的，我們現在已經使我們的主流上市營銷和銷售資源能夠在 NGINX 上推廣和吸引客戶。

We've done the large thing on ship. We're a little behind that, but I would say almost 80% there, where we now have the integration complete shape is available in BIG-IP. Our customers who have BIG-IP can turn on Shape Anti-Bot capabilities quickly. Shape is also available in our distributed cloud platform as a standard Anti-Bot defense offering. And we've also done a lot of the go-to-market integration.

我們在船上完成了大事。我們落後了一點，但我想說差不多有 80%，我們現在在 BIG-IP 中提供了集成完整的形狀。我們擁有 BIG-IP 的客戶可以快速開啟 Shape Anti-Bot 功能。 Shape 也作為標準的反機器人防禦產品在我們的分佈式雲平台中提供。我們還做了很多上市整合工作。

By the way, those integrations from -- when I say from a go-to-market they are quite critical because they have allowed us to continue to drive better operating leverage from a sales and marketing perspective. So if you look at our sales and marketing expense, I think it was 31% or so of revenue in 2020, and it's 29% in 2022 despite the revenue pressures we had because of supply chain. So you see operating leverage there and you look at our overall OpEx as a percentage of revenue has gone from roughly 54.5% in 2020, down to 50% to 51% implied in our FY '23 guidance. So the integrations have also enabled us to drive the right synergies and operating leverage.

順便說一句，當我說從進入市場的角度來看，這些整合非常關鍵，因為它們使我們能夠繼續從銷售和營銷的角度推動更好的運營槓桿。因此，如果你看看我們的銷售和營銷費用，我認為它在 2020 年佔收入的 31% 左右，而在 2022 年佔 29%，儘管我們因供應鏈而面臨收入壓力。因此，您會看到那裡的運營槓桿，並且您會看到我們的整體運營支出佔收入的百分比已經從 2020 年的大約 54.5% 下降到我們 23 財年指導中隱含的 50% 至 51%。因此，整合也使我們能夠推動正確的協同效應和運營槓桿。

And then in terms of the -- I don't know if you asked about Volterra, of course, is newer. And so we're still going through that, but we've already done a chunk of the integrations by deploying all of our security capabilities onto that platform that we call now distributed cloud, and we're getting quite a bit of traction. Where all of that is going, is that ultimately, we are going to offer our customers a single console and a single pane of glass from which they can manage all their security policies from which they can get visibility to all their deployment with F5, whether it's hardware, software or SaaS and whether it's in legacy or model environment. And in that regard, we're positioning to be quite a unique player that can cover all these models in a way that's agnostic to the underlying infrastructure.

然後就——我不知道你是否問過 Volterra，當然，它是更新的。所以我們仍在經歷這個過程，但是我們已經通過將我們所有的安全功能部署到我們現在稱為分佈式雲的平台上來完成大部分集成，並且我們獲得了相當大的牽引力。所有這一切的最終目標是，我們將為我們的客戶提供一個單一的控制台和一個單一的管理平台，他們可以從中管理他們的所有安全策略，從中他們可以通過 F5 獲得對所有部署的可見性，無論是它是硬件、軟件還是 SaaS，無論是在遺留環境還是模型環境中。在這方面，我們定位為一個非常獨特的參與者，可以以一種與底層基礎設施無關的方式涵蓋所有這些模型。

Due to time constraints, we will be taking our last question from Ray McDonough with Guggenheim.

由於時間限制，我們將與古根海姆一起回答 Ray McDonough 的最後一個問題。

Just 2, if I could. I understand you're not giving any new software metrics right now. But can you talk about how contract duration trended on renewals? I understand you were selling 3-year term license deals in that cohort. It's really the first cohort of renewals that you're seeing this year. Are you seeing any contraction of contract duration?

如果可以的話，只有 2 個。我知道您現在不提供任何新的軟件指標。但是你能談談合同期限在續約方面的趨勢嗎？我了解到您在該隊列中銷售 3 年期許可交易。這確實是您今年看到的第一批續訂。您是否看到合同期限有任何縮短？

And then the second question would be I appreciate the comment around double-digit EPS growth and the commitment there. But how should we think about cash flow growth and cash flow margins normalizing as you kind of lap the change towards more annual invoicing terms this year?

然後第二個問題是，我很欣賞關於每股收益兩位數增長的評論和那裡的承諾。但是我們應該如何考慮現金流量增長和現金流量利潤率正常化，因為你今年有點轉向更多年度發票條款的變化？

Sure. Ray, why don't I take both of those. The first in terms of changes in duration of the contracts, we are certainly sensitive in monitoring that, but we have not seen any discernible change in contract duration on the second term renewals or on the primary contracts that we are putting in place, and so that has not impacted us at this stage.

當然。雷，為什麼我不把這兩個都拿走。首先，就合同期限的變化而言，我們當然很敏感地對其進行監控，但我們沒有看到第二個續簽合同或我們正在製定的主要合同的合同期限有任何明顯變化，因此這在現階段對我們沒有影響。

In terms of the commitment to our double-digit EPS growth and cash flow, we are -- we will see the benefits of some of the slowdown in the new flexible consumption programs that will then yield more actual cash in the back half because we're not adding on as much of the upfront revenue recognition in relation to the cash that we are receiving. So we will start to see the benefit of that and see that normalize out a bit.

就我們對兩位數每股收益增長和現金流的承諾而言，我們將看到新的靈活消費計劃的一些放緩帶來的好處，這些計劃將在後半部分產生更多的實際現金，因為我們'我們沒有增加與我們收到的現金相關的前期收入確認。所以我們將開始看到它的好處，並看到它稍微正常化。

Part of the other benefit that we're going to see for cash flow is that the supply chain issues that we've had and the extra purchase price variance and expedite fees those will largely come out, and those will help our cash flow from operations. So both of those, I think, will start to see a normalization, but it is one of the more difficult areas to predict in the model going forward.

我們將看到的現金流的另一個好處是，我們遇到的供應鏈問題以及額外的採購價格差異和加速費用將在很大程度上出現，這將有助於我們的運營現金流.因此，我認為這兩者都將開始正常化，但這是未來模型中更難預測的領域之一。

Thank you. This concludes today's question-and-answer session. This is the end of today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

謝謝你。今天的問答環節到此結束。今天的會議到此結束。此時您可以斷開線路。感謝您的參與。