Cloud Wars Live with Bob Evans

The Big Themes:The buyer-seller relationship has changed: Customers are claiming more power than ever before, and Jonathan says that companies need to earn the title of "strategic partner," not just throw it around.Telco is transforming around 5G: While recent years have left many telcos in turmoil, the advent of 5G technology is getting the industry its "mojo" back, according to Jonathan.Banks are moving to the cloud: Recent geopolitical upheaval has raised a ton of questions for the banking industry, but at the same time, Jonathan says banks are ready for a "generational leap" in technology.The Big Quote: "I think that's quite fundamental, because that focus on enabling our customers through technology and through partnerships, is key to trust between us. And trust is the foundation of our relationships with our customers."This episode is brought to you by Oracle. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

The Big Themes:The embrace of vertical approaches is bigger than go-to-market: companies are looking to software not just to address functional problems, but to solve business challenges and transform business modelsMassive internal reorganizations are coming: in addition to new and surprising partnerships like Microsoft and Oracle on multi-cloud, Tony expects both customer and vendors to deeply evolve their structures and operationsMerger of supply and demand chains is a key example: Professor Luyi Yang in his fireside chat at Cloud Wars Expo talked about "demand distortion events," and the need to knock down silos to better serve today's customers.The Big Quote: "Oftentimes, market transitions are sort of so obvious, they're happening before your very eyes, and then you wake up and you go, 'Oh, I should have paid attention to this.'" Visit Cloud Wars for more.

The Big Themes:What CXOs need to know about hybrid cloud: Wayne walks us through a number different, equally valid hybrid cloud models and explains key security implications when moving to hybrid cloudLook out for "fake cloud" models: CXOs need to be on guard against terms like "virtualization" and "hyper-converged," tactics that might make sense for their company but which are definitely not cloudThe pros and cons of becoming a software creator: amid all the talk about co-creation models between cloud vendors and customers, Wayne offers some critical advice based on his past experience working on both sidesThe Big Quote: "If you get something listed in the Microsoft Store, or the Oracle store, or the Google Store, or the IBM store, and it is a solution for a problem others have and your software is good, your scalability of that product is almost infinite." This episode is brought to you by BMC Software. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

The Big Themes:Great software alone isn't enough: For success in a digital transformation project, choosing the right partner to help implement software is just as important as choosing the right software itself.Partner-project fit: The most important factor to consider in picking an implementation partner is project fit, and making sure that the team members assigned to work with you are well versed in the software, in your industry, etc.Why being a "preferred partner" matters: Bonnie estimates that the top 25% of software vendors get around 80% of the opportunities and projects.The Big Quote: "To the extent that you can tell them something they did not know... or you have a level of expertise or intelligence that competitively they could take advantage of, if you can be that person to them, that trusted advisor, that's really key." Visit Cloud Wars for more.

The Big Themes:Innovation inspired by disruption: From early 2020 today, the world looks completely different. Boards of directors and other leaders are responding by interrogating the way they've always done things and looking for new, more agile systems.RISE gives customers a team behind them: One of the biggest things SAP has heard is that customers love that the RISE program makes clear what everyone on the team's responsibilities are, including SAP, its hyperscaler partners, and the customers themselves.Finding differentiation thru technology: Brian says that every company needs to be a tech company, and to lean on the cloud to help them reimagine and differentiate their business to stand out from competitors.The Big Quote: "What we want to allow customers to do is focus on the build, focus on the innovation, focus on the things that are going to really differentiate themselves from the competition, as opposed to focusing on the run." This episode is sponsored by BMC Software. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

The Big Themes:Retail supply chains and OODA loops: Fighter pilots are trained to Observe, Orient, Decide, and Act when engaged in fast-moving environments. Retail business leaders should adopt the OODA approach for supply chain planning.Sustainability is key to supply & demand chains: We should not be looking at sustainability in a vacuum, but rather as integral to the efficient production of goods.Invest in connecting IT and OT: Let's talk less about carbon-neutral data centers and more about optimizing physical processes, which improves quality, saves money, and lowers emissions. (NB: keep an eye on strong cybersecurity!)The Big Quote: "If I've observed and oriented and have the tools to decide, then in a supply chain environment, I can act. I can take the shot and I can win the engagement. And that's what companies have to be thinking about in the modern supply chain." This episode is brought to you by BMC Software. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

The Big Themes:Differentiate in the market: Reflect on business operations. Make decisive moves and decisions, and act in an agile fashion for the future.Supply chain transparency is essential to stay ahead of the curve: Integrated processes from the quotation down to cash management to facilitate those processes are crucial. Companies need to be able to explain the delay and provide alternative solutions to deliver quality outcomes to customers.Sustainability and getting to a circular economy: Embed sustainability throughout the processes and data models natively. Infrastructure complemented with additional applications, like the sustainability control tower, brings all of the ESG KPIs together to measure the progress, product footprint management, and carbon footprint into an auditable session.The foundation of success for the future: Bring together vertical and horizontal integration to how companies solve problems and establish industry networks to optimize supply chain and for sustainability purposes.The Big Quote: "The new normal is about constant crisis management. That’s the reality we need to face, and you need to be prepared. That’s the reason why an agile enterprise architecture is essential – software is a key ingredient to succeed."Connect with Thomas on more ways to drive sustainable supply change in the digital revolution. This episode is sponsored by BMC Software. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

The Big Themes:The Yext promise: Josh describes the platform as a place for "ingesting data, structuring it, and then delivering it as in the form of answers everywhere that it's needed."Keeping public data in sync: Yext customers want to help their consumers easily find information like hours of operation, product availability, and more, wherever they're searching. Yext helps structure that data, then automatically syncs it across various websites.Working across multiple clouds: Part of the reason that Yext and Redis work so well together is that both can operate in multiple clouds. Redis serves as a back-end system for Yext anywhere it has a point of presence.The Big Quote: "As a SaaS platform, we're continually evolving. If a new place appears where consumers are looking for data, we will build an integration with them. If a new use case comes up, we will be able to satisfy it. And we're always adding new features." This episode is sponsored by Redis. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

The Big Themes:The stats, yet with so little scrutiny: Machine, also referred to as bot-related ad revenue, was $81 billion in 2022 with projections to increase to 100 billion in 2023.Machine or bot accounts inflate financials: If Twitter or Facebook decided to take down all of the fake accounts, they would have to restate their earnings.Dealing with a completely different mindset: Companies and executives realize they will be judged by their ability to harness technology to transform their businesses.Thought of the day: We are now hitting an inflection point based on the unbelievable power of cloud infrastructure, applications and tools and the agility that it gives these companies. What is technology enabling us to do to dazzle the customers and make more money?The Big Quote: "I think the part that analysts are probably missing that links directly to the market is, I think you need to go upstream as an analyst and understand how companies are deploying modern technology today, as a part of your analysis of their financial performance." This episode is sponsored by BMC Software. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

The Big Themes:Three tips for the precarious present: As the coronavirus continues to evolve and spread, Wayne says that business leaders need to be realistic about people returning to work (or not) and think creatively about how best to move forward.The CXO Lounge at Cloud Wars Expo: Wayne previews this unique feature of next month's conference, a dedicated space for conversations, debates, and jam sessions between and among C-level execs and Acceleration Economy Analysts.Looking beyond a potential recession: This year, the tech industry is going to invest $20 or $30 billion just in innovation. So while it's good to think about a downturn in spending, leaders need to have courage to make key investments now.The Big Quote: "Have the courage to invest in technology. Invest in your manufacturing, your supply chain, your fulfillment, your customer during a slowdown... There's going to be opportunities at the end of that that we can't even envision today. Be ready to seize them. And the cloud gives you that opportunity."This episode is sponsored by BMC Software. Visit Cloud Wars for more.