Cloud Wars Live with Bob Evans

Each month, Charles Araujo joins Cloud Wars Live for a recurring segment known as “Araujo on Transformation.” Charlie is a bestselling author who has three books to his name: “The Quantum Age of IT,” “The Ecosystem Advantage,” and “Performance-driven IT.” He is also an engaging speaker who will entertain and challenge your audience. Charlie has a website called www.charlesaraujo.com, and another called “The Institute for Digital Transformation.”Charlie says from his standpoint he’s not sure of exactly how this is going to play out – and how much of this is truly long-lasting, from an economic standpoint. Uncertainty, he says, is certainly the big elephant in the room, and it’s really a debilitating factor.Charlie says the correlation he draws if you think about a sports team or an elite military unit – that strategy is the secret sauce. He says his father did work for military units and Navy SEALs and watching them drill was utterly fascinating – because they communicated so much with body language and signals that were not even verbal.Charlie says a restaurant chain in Chicago – a high-end restaurant – saw that it was not business as usual and they couldn’t do what almost every other restaurant in the country has done, which is simply try to do their existing business. But now, he says, they’re doing it all via delivery. They’ve rebuilt their menu and changed their app.Charlie says we are going to see a massive shakeout. And in the end, some will come out of this so much stronger, and some will just crash and burn.His final thought is, if you’re an enterprise leader the biggest mistake you could make would be to see this as temporary and just wait it out. He says he thinks we’re at a point now where you have a massive opportunity to use this time to experiment, to play with ideas, and to allow your humanity to flow through. There is a silver lining here if we choose to see it. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Peter Steube, managing director of Enterprise Technology Research (ETR), will join us each month to discuss enterprise-IT buying trends among big-company CIOs and IT decision-makers around the world. ETR (www.etr.plus) has developed an extensive database of IT buying tendencies over the past 10 years, and tracks whether those buyers are likely to buy more, hold steady, or buy less from specific IT vendors. Peter's monthly sessions on Cloud Wars Live will come under the handle "Steube on Spending."In this episode, Peter says he just wrapped up a survey of approximately 1,300 IT execs (CIOs) in April. He says we’re facing some very serious challenges to corporations in the future.Peter says in his conversations with technologists over the past few weeks he’s been very keen to ask the direct question, “Is there anybody who’s not tone deaf to this?” He says deferred payment plans, promotions, are increasingly being driven to consumption-based models rather than licensed-based models.Peter shares his screen to make a point about SAP. In January, SAP had effectively stabilized. But now, in April that spending intention score has come down again.He shares his screen again to make a point about Salesforce and their acquisition of Tableau over a year ago. He says you’re spending more with Tableau because at the end of the day he’s sure that that’s what Salesforce executives would like.Peter says if you’re stomach’s turning, you’re not alone. He says he wants to keep the optimism going, and encourage people to use all the resources they have available.He has a website called etr.plus, his email is ps@etr.ai. And he is also available on LinkedIn. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Each month, “Lochhead on Different” episodes explore the need to differentiate people, products, and services in a world that encourages a lot of imitation. Christopher Lochhead is a best-selling author, top podcaster, and former tech-industry CMO. He’s a student of not only business and technology and marketing but also human nature, human folly, human genius, and very human joy. Episode 12Chris says if you’re a human being, and you care about other human beings, this is hard. I tell him that you’re the guy in King Lear who said, “as long as we can say this is the worst, it ain’t the worst.” Chris quotes Churchill by saying “If you find yourself walking through hell, keep going.”He says roughly in a month, from an economic point of view, we’ve gone from the strongest economy in modern history to the worst economy since WWII. He says it’s heartbreaking to see beautiful Italian churches with caskets in them.He says it’s not a $2 trillion dollar bailout – it’s a $6 trillion dollar bailout. He says we have to have oversight and we have to have radical transparency and governance. Is the bailout going to end up being $10 trillion?He says the supply chain is an essential service, and companies like Walmart, Amazon, and Costco are stepping up to become omnichannel companies.Chris says he had Chris Fussell, a Navy SEAL on his podcast, and Stanley McChrystal, a four-star General, in a previous episode. He says they have a hundred-person consulting and training company that is working with various government agencies on the COVID-19.Chris says the internet is an essential service. Data is an essential service. Cloud is an essential service. And our mobile and wireless networks are essential services. Data saves lives in a crisis. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

“Sadin on Digital” episodes explore the fast-changing and high-stakes world of digital business. Wayne Sadin and I focus in particular on what CEOs and boards must do to lead their companies successfully into the Digital Age. Today, we look at Wayne’s suggestions for how businesses should be preparing for COVID-19 and an extended work-from-home period.Episode 14The world has changed, Wayne says. We’re going to see this as pre-Covid and post-Covid worlds. He says are we going to want to shake hands? Are we going to get on that airplane? Or are we going to want to meet in person versus meeting virtual?He then turns to technical debt – and he says you’re not fixing this in the middle of this crisis. He says the worst time to acquire a new skill is in the middle of a gunfight – and we’re in the middle of a gunfight. This is not the time to be putting in a brand-new system this week.Wayne says that the “patch, polish, and perfect.” It’s broken, it doesn’t work so let’s figure out how to keep it running for the next day, week, month. Then we can polish it and perfect it.Wayne says with the freemium model, you can use either the full system for a limited time, or the full system for a limited number of users. He says you could pay Microsoft a couple of hundred dollars a seat per month – or you could go pay somebody else $15 or $25 a seat and get 80% of the features – features you probably don’t need. He says his bill from Zoho is $0 a month. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Each month, “Ammirati on Innovation” episodes will look at ways that the disruptive-startup mentality is spreading beyond young entrepreneurs to big established corporations. Serial entrepreneur, venture capitalist and Carnegie Mellon B-school professor Sean Ammirati, who sits at the intersection of these high-change dynamics, provides insight.Episode 11In this episode, Sean says he hasn’t been on a plane for almost four weeks – and that’s unusual because he is always on a plane to somewhere. So he has been able to have dinner with his wife and kids, and it’s been incredible. He says it puts life in perspective, and that’s the most important thing.Sean says that his roughly 30 companies are negatively impacted by COVID-19 – but he says that’s secondary to health and safety. He says everyone is working from home. Sean says he authored a book called “The Science of Growth,” where he looked at pairs of companies and asked, why did one company take off and the other one didn’t. Why is a third of the internet running on top of WordPress? Why are people driving Teslas and not Fiskars? Why do people have a Facebook account and not a Friendster account? Sean says he wouldn’t want to be in the hospitality business today – or the travel business. He quotes Warren Buffett as saying, “Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked.” Sean says he typically uses that in board meetings when it feels like companies are swimming to close to the knife’s edge. He says it’s true of a global company, and it’s also true inside a 10 person company. He says he’s pretty proud that his portfolio companies are doing a pretty good job of making sure that they’re doing the right thing. Sean says what some companies are doing over the last five years in terms of share buybacks to inflate their stock. He says there are companies who had really good offers to raise money three months ago and held out to try to get a 5% higher valuation. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Each month, “Lochhead on Different” episodes will explore the need to differentiate people, products, and services in a world that encourages a lot of imitation. A best-selling author, top podcaster, and former tech-industry CMO, Christopher Lochhead is a student of not only business and technology and marketing but also human nature, human folly, human genius, and very human joy.Episode 11In this episode: Chris says if you turn on your TV or fire up your browser, you’ll see don’t go to anything with more than 250 people…don’t go to anything with more than 100 people…and now we’re down to 10.Chris says we’re on Zoom right now, and Zoom was started by Eric Yuan. Zoom has given their technology to all the schools in America – K through 12. Google, too, has stepped up to build a website, and Microsoft as well.He says there was a deep connection with people after 9/11 – and it didn’t matter what political, racial, or whatever differences – we all seemed to melt away, and stood as one. He says that’s what’s beginning to happen here.Chris says that megacompanies like Target, Walmart, or CVC – and of course Amazon – are delivering essential services. Chris says if you think about all the major food retailers now, America would be in a very difficult place.I tell Chris that there are people immigrating to the US from Russia – mostly for religious reasons – and they would stand in the aisles dumbfounded, “How is this possible?” The essential services these supply chains deliver are remarkable.Chris says it’s likely corporations are going to miss their next quarter’s numbers by 100%. Pipelines, revenues, and guidance on earnings are all going down.He says a panel of experts at UCSF says 40% to 70% of us are going to get it. That’s 150 million Americans. If one percent of us die, that’s 1.5 million people.Chris says what can we do to drive revenue for our business – if our business is still functioning. He says in the tech industry, there is something called “whitespace analysis.” Chris says this is where companies sell to an existing consumer, rather than selling to a brand-new customer.He says the average commute in America is roughly 45 minutes. That’s an hour and a half a day. And he says that’s an hour and a half a day back. You can transform their lives, because in that hour they can workout, invest time with their family, and keep healthy.Chris says he’s working on a book with Eddie Yoon, and it’s about “radical generosity.” Walmart and Target, etc. are giving away their parking lots for drive-thru testing. Tech companies are giving away their technology. He says as a company what can we do that’s radically generous? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Each month, Tony Uphoff, visionary CEO of Thomasnet.com, joins Cloud Wars Live for a recurring segment. “Uphoff on Industry” will explore the innovations, upheavals, and breakthroughs reshaping the world of manufacturing and industrial markets. Join Tony and me as we discuss disruptive new trends in the digital-industrial world. These include how we design, source and manufacture products. And also the new ways in which industrial companies are getting up to speed on marketing, sales and customer experience.Episode 12In this episode: Tony says about 350 of Thomas are now working remotely – and 75 independent sales reps that they call certified Thomas Partners. He says he’s been amazed to watch his company make that transition and he is proud of his people that got him there. He says these are anxiety producing times, and he’s amazed at how calm people stayed.Tony says that Thomas started to produce some surveys. The first wave Thomas sampled 750 companies, and the second wave they sampled 1,400. The first wave of the study 60% of respondents said they were seeing an impact on the virus in the near future. Second wave, 45% of respondents said they were seeing an impact. That means that some sources in China are coming back online.Tony says that auto companies, electronics companies, aerospace companies, and others have their supply chains disrupted. He says you may see an acceleration of re-shoring in the U.S.I tell Tony that when I was in ninth grade I had a coach that told us, “adversity builds character.” But he said no, “adversity reveals character.”Tony says there’s a lot of people that understand that they can be very productive and live a high quality of life without the strain of commuting. He says that it’s pretty easy to draw a vector point and to see a higher percentage of remote workers. Which means empty offices.Tony says to stay calm while we fly through some turbulence. He says we’re watching how customers and prospects are reaching out to Thomas and looking at the dashboard of their products and services. Tony says they were chatting via Slack today, and seeing users request a feature where a supplier would show lead times for products and services – right on the supplier profile.Tony’s podcast is on all the major platforms as well as https://ThomasNet.com. You can also subscribe to Thomas’ daily email newsletter at https://www.thomasnet.com/insights/. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

“Sadin on Digital” episodes explore the fast-changing and high-stakes world of digital business. Wayne Sadin and I focus in particular on what CEOs and boards must do to lead their companies successfully into the Digital Age. Today, we talk coronavirus and why it’s a number one priority.Episode 13In this episode: Wayne begins by saying the world divides up into the digital haves and the digital have nots. He says if you’re Google, every Googler has a mobile device and they carry it with them everywhere they go. Their network has the ability to handle more than 100,000 people working at home. But he says with construction companies and manufacturing companies, 90% of your staff works in the office – and that’s an abrupt transition.He says meanwhile, you’ve got people quarantined and locked down out of a sense of prudence – and you may want more and more people to work from home.Wayne says people laugh when he comes into a client’s office, because has a power supply, a spare screen, charging bricks, a battery, and two headsets in the bag. But he says, it’s naïve to say everybody’s got a laptop, because that’s not the case. For example, you don’t need a laptop when you’re an accounts payable person. And he says you probably have collaboration tools. On the business side, he says, are your people aware of how to log in? How about printers? Do they have a printer at home?He says the coronavirus is number one priority. Staying home and staying healthy is something he wouldn’t prioritize over corporate profits. He says there are going to be companies that emerge from this crisis in better shape. And there are companies that are just going to fall apart because they can’t operate in a different model.Wayne says the crisis may be over in a couple of weeks, but he says the infection rate is going to overload the healthcare environment. He says what if we had a rolling problem for six months to 12 months. He says that’s his message to IT – don’t assume it’s over. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

For the past 35 years, Ben Rewis has been a leader in the development and deployment of cutting-edge enterprise technology within large financial-services companies. With a renewed passion for AI, Ben is now advising companies ranging from startups to global corporations on digital transformation and the massive opportunities around innovative uses of AI. A surfer buddy of Cloud Wars Live monthly guest Christopher Lochhead, Ben joins us today to share some compelling ideas on AI's vast potential for both good and evil.Ben starts out by saying he got into working for a big insurance company, but he eventually relocated from Maine to California to join VISA – where he ran internet eCommerce services. Then, he moved to JPMorgan Chase and started looking at the fraud algorithms associated with real-time transaction processing.He says as a student of tech, he already sees AI making a big difference in lots of industries – including healthcare, automotive, financial services, retail, telecommunications, manufacturing, etc. He says there are going to be 41 billion devices and 79 zettabytes by 2025 – and they are all benefiting from AI.Ben says he does consulting work for the ag-tech industry. He says an apple tree has 2,000 blossoms and farmers want to cut it from 150 – so you don’t get the little golf-ball sized apples, you get the big, juicy ones. That’s 1,000X transformation – or 10,000X transformation.Ben says things like miniature drones can be weaponized – and just like nukes they could get into the wrong hands. He says this is the most pressing ethical issue we face around safety, and particularly what war represents for our planet. Ben says there’s a ton of benefit for humankind, but also a ton of risk.I tell Ben that an IBM executive, John Kelly, visited the Vatican – and the Pope – and he spent most of the time discussing the notion of bias. Ben says that there’s a challenge with ML systems. They’re not like traditional products and can’t be conjoined with another dataset. For example, a computer vision camera producing class one, and another set of cameras producing class two won’t be the same algorithm.Ben says he loves working with teams that are doing digital transformation – whether it’s a Fortune 100 or a startup. He says he helps teams think through their products and business strategies, and if it’s a big company looking for transformation he is happy to do that too.He says he found technology and wilderness at the age of 17. He says he found nature to be a really great teacher. Ben says pay attention to what it means for your kids’ kids, and try to the leave the world a better place.His website is benrewis.com. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Each month, Charles Araujo joins Cloud Wars Live for a recurring segment known as “Araujo on Transformation.” Charlie is a bestselling author who has three books to his name: “The Quantum Age of IT,” “The Ecosystem Advantage,” and “Performance-driven IT.” He is also an engaging speaker who will entertain and challenge your audience. Charlie has a website called www.charlesaraujo.com, and another called “The Institute for Digital Transformation.”Charlie says at his core, he’s an IT guy who ran technical operations for a billion-dollar healthcare firm – and then spent his career as a consultant for executives who were engaged in large-scale transformational programs – things like organizational design, operational optimization, and process improvement.He says throughout the Industrial Age, it was all about producing a mass product for a mass market. The industrial barons of their time didn’t have robots – they had human beings. But they were basically robots. They trained us to show up on time, every day, and repeatedly do the same thing over, and over again.Charlie says he launched a new digital journal called “Your Digital Future,” and it’s specifically aimed at answering the question of how do digital leaders step into this bold future. And he wrote a piece about why automation fails – and it has to do with the fact that we had to create space in the organizations for them to have a safe path.Charlie says we all have more information available to us than ever before. He says the idea of secrecy in an organization is almost a joke today – so how do we as a company start transforming our entire business model and our operating model around it?Charlie says he uses Amazon and Walmart as an example. Walmart was the Industrial Age masterpiece. They built the world’s most amazing supply chain and they should have been unassailable, but what Amazon has brought to the table is the transformation of the customer experience.He said he had ordered six chairs from West Elm, and they said it would take four months to arrive. When they showed up the two chairs were in the wrong color. And the second time one of those chairs was also in the wrong color. Fast forward to his wife, and she ordered a very extensive flower set from a name-brand florist. The flowers came, and they were very lackluster, but on the spot the agent gave his wife a credit for the entire amount. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.