Cloud Wars Live with Bob Evans

Episode 52 | Cloud Innovation ImpactThe Big Themes:Cloud industry dynamics: Wayne discusses the competitive landscape of cloud computing, emphasizing Oracle's evolving strategies to compete with giants like AWS and Microsoft Azure. He discusses how Oracle's Autonomous Database and other innovations are crucial in this race, reflecting broader trends toward automation and efficiency in enterprise IT.Multi-cloud strategies: The discussion covers the strategic advantages of multi-cloud environments, where organizations leverage multiple cloud providers to optimize performance, mitigate risks, and enhance flexibility. Interoperability and workload distribution play an important role in multi-cloud strategies. Enterprises increasingly adopt a multi-cloud approach to avoid vendor lock-in and maximize operational efficiency.Strategic insights: Wayne advises businesses to prioritize alignment between IT and business goals when adopting cloud technologies. Strategic planning, stakeholder engagement, and continuous evaluation of cloud investments are necessary to ensure they contribute effectively to organizational growth and competitive advantage.The Big Quote: "We at IT shouldn't be so proud that we say, 'Well, only this cloud provider works.' We've got to accept the fact that we live in a multi-cloud world, we've got to accept the fact that pieces of infrastructure talk to each other across these interfaces (cloud interfaces, database interfaces)."

Episode 42 | ServiceNow's AI Partner StrategyThe Big Themes:Shift in ecosystem strategy: Companies like ServiceNow are shifting from viewing partners as mere distributors or implementers to integral parts of their business strategy. This shift emphasizes collaboration and joint value creation rather than just sales margins, marking a significant evolution in how large vendors approach their partner ecosystems.Types of ServiceNow partners: ServiceNow partners are categorized into four main groups: resellers, service providers, consulting and implementation partners, and build partners. Each type utilizes AI differently and contributes to the ecosystem uniquely.Emphasis on proof and customer satisfaction: Amid the excitement around AI and ecosystem expansion, there's a strong emphasis on tangible results and customer satisfaction. Potential customers are advised to verify partner capabilities through proof of successful projects and customer references. Due diligence is critical in selecting partners for AI-driven initiatives.The Big Quote: "It's no longer about 'How can I reduce expenses?' or caring about the bottom line. I think it's this realization that customers have to say, 'How can I use the art of what's possible now with AI to make ourselves into the next Uber or Airbnb and change what we're doing in our industry?'"

Driving Innovation at SAPThe Big Themes:Focus on business transformation: SAP's new board area, customer services and delivery, aims to help customers with business transformation rather than just technology transformation. This involves moving to the cloud and adopting innovations like AI to enhance business agility and efficiency.Collaboration with hyperscalers and system integrators: SAP collaborates closely with hyperscalers for optimal cloud operations and system integrators for business transformation. This co-engineering approach ensures high availability and promotes SAP’s cloud solutions through partners.Acceleration and simplification: SAP emphasizes the importance of not delaying digital transformation. With examples like Fresenius and BMW, SAP shows that moving to the cloud and adopting new technologies can be accelerated and simplified, benefiting customers with faster upgrades and new capabilities.The Big Quote: “First of all, this is always the right time to start. Now. So never wait. Because all of this world is in the stage where investing in digital capabilities is always the right thin

Episode 41 | Oracle's AI-Driven FutureThe Big Themes:Oracle's AI advancements: Oracle showcased rapid advancements in AI capabilities, introducing 50 new AI features, including generative AI models for tasks like creating job descriptions and email templates. It aims to ensure speed in innovation, with 25 of these capabilities specifically tailored for HR.Oracle's commitment to healthcare: Oracle is strengthening its focus on healthcare, moving its headquarters to Nashville, the epicenter of healthcare tech. Since acquiring Cerner in 2021, Oracle is working to integrate clinical, patient, and administrative systems into a seamless ecosystem. Its commitment extends beyond Cerner, as it tailors offerings for clients using Epic, enhancing workforce management, recruitment, and operational efficiency.Improving candidate experience: Oracle is enhancing the candidate experience with its latest updates to Oracle Recruiting Cloud. A new product line, Boost, aims to improve recruitment efficiency through AI-driven tools, offering candidates a more personalized and engaging application process. These advancements reflect a broader trend in the industry to prioritize not just customer and employee experiences, but also those of potential hires.The Big Quote: "I think [conference attendees] [are] really jazzed because of what the possibilities with AI are . . . what they were showing, in terms of AI, brought a new spring in their step."

AI FrontiersThe Big Themes:Shift from digital to AI transformation: There's been a significant evolution in the focus of businesses from digital transformation to AI-driven innovation. Initially, companies aimed to enhance their existing digital processes using the latest technologies. However, the current emphasis is on leveraging AI to fundamentally transform business operations and create new value.Partner ecosystem collaboration: ServiceNow’s strategy involves deep collaboration with a diverse ecosystem of partners such as Accenture, NVIDIA, Hugging Face, and Microsoft. By integrating NVIDIA's AI capabilities or Microsoft's Copilot features, ServiceNow can offer more robust and versatile tools to its clients. This collaborative approach helps businesses adopt AI more effectively.Importance of taking the first step: Wright stresses the significance of starting the AI journey. While the potential of AI is vast, the initial step is often the hardest, and people get bogged down in pontificating and debating possibilities. Businesses are encouraged to begin their transformation process to explore and realize the opportunities AI presents.The Big Quote: "Every month, [AI] opens up more and more possibilities. And I think that's the mindset that you need . . . you don't need to be thinking, 'How can I do what I did before better?' You need to be thinking, 'How can I do now what I could never do before?'"

AI Drives TransformationThe Big Themes:ServiceNow's strong partner ecosystem: ServiceNow showcased its commitment to a partner-first strategy with a substantial presence of partners at the event. The Partner Innovation Zone and Partner Pavilion demonstrated partners' critical role in ServiceNow’s ecosystem. Erica mentions PartnerFinder, a ServiceNow tool designed to make it easy for customers to select the partner that's the best fit for them.GenAI and ServiceNow: Erica talks about GenAI's pivotal role in ServiceNow's future. ServiceNow's partners have been at the forefront of this AI revolution, undergoing extensive training on Pro Plus since September 2023. Jensen Huang from NVIDIA spoke at the event about ServiceNow's significant impact on NVIDIA's operations and their collaborative efforts in AI.Major partnerships and innovations: Key announcements included a significant partnership with Microsoft, integrating Microsoft’s Copilot with ServiceNow’s Now Assist, and a collaboration with Genesys for call center technology. These developments reflect ServiceNow's expansion into the front office.The Big Quote: “[In a year], I still think we'll be talking about GenAI . . . we'll have real use cases. I think we'll be able to really share productivity statistics that show the impact of GenAI so that people are like, 'Wow.' We're going from, 'Is this real? Should I do a proof of concept?' to 'How do I proliferate GenAI across the platform . . . knowing the company will have at least crossed the 20,000 customer mark in terms of attendance?'"

Episode 51 | Strategic IT BudgetingThe Big Themes:Integrated investment approach: Wayne advocates for aligning IT investments with broader company goals, urging against treating IT as a separate entity. This approach ensures that IT projects are evaluated alongside other investments, prioritizing those with the highest strategic value.Time allocation for CIOs: Wayne recommends that CIOs dedicate around 20-25% of their time to budget-related activities, including engaging with business stakeholders, discussing investment priorities, and strategic planning. This time investment is critical for ensuring that IT initiatives are aligned with broader business objectives.Comprehensive project costing: A transparent and comprehensive approach to project costing, where expenses are aggregated to provide a holistic view of total project costs can be beneficial. This strategy prevents budget overruns and facilitates better decision-making throughout the project lifecycle.The Big Quote: “Don't budget only for implementation. I see this all the time. If the project is going to be $10 million to put it in, what's your first year, first 18 months of costs? People say my project is to put in Product X. Now when the product is done, there's the ongoing cost — especially in the SaaS [software-as-a-service] world, that's not insignificant."

Cloud ERP and Generative AIThe Big Themes:Generative AI in cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP): Russell discusses how SAP is responding to evolving customer demands by prioritizing integrating generative AI technologies into its cloud ERP offerings. This proactive stance not only aligns with market trends but also underscores SAP's commitment to innovation and customer-centricity.Anticipation for Sapphire: The anticipation surrounding SAP's forthcoming Sapphire event is palpable. Attendees are eager to gain valuable insights, learn from real-world success stories, and engage in meaningful networking opportunities. This anticipation underscores the pivotal role of Sapphire as a premier platform for SAP to showcase its latest innovations, share thought leadership, and foster collaboration within its vibrant ecosystem.Executive leadership Involvement: Executive leaders such as CEOs and CFOS are broadening their involvement in strategic technology decisions, transcending traditional IT boundaries. This expanding engagement encompasses leveraging AI to drive value and results, not solely focused on efficiency and cost optimization but also broader organizational goals.The Big Quote: “[Customers] were doing proof of concepts, they were testing how [GenAI] could potentially solve business problems. They've moved beyond that. Now they're looking for solutions. They're looking for outcomes. They understand the power of the technology, but it needs to be matched with real benefits, real value, real outcomes."

The Big ThemesCustomer priorities: Josyula identifies top priorities for ServiceNow customers, including business transformation driven by technology, a focus on GenAI and AI more broadly, and vendor consolidation (choosing a few strategic platforms and going all in). With customer priorities in mind, ServiceNow is on a journey to becoming the AI platform for end-to-end transformation, developing GenAI products and services to improve both the employee and customer experience.Understanding non-tech executive priorities: Having a relationship CIOs and CTOs can be helpful because they often play a part in driving business transformation that's driven by technology. It's helpful for non-tech execs to see the benefits of ServiceNow within their own functions. Partners also contribute to fostering conversations about successful outcomes, serving as great reference points demonstrating value.What to expect at Knowledge24: Attendees can expect to hear more about how ServiceNow is rapidly innovating in AI and GenAI in its platform and across several solutions areas as well as how ServiceNow is focusing on customer value with its ecosystem.The Big Quote: "We are on this journey of being the AI platform for end-to-end digital transformation. And what this means is we started with our roots in it, we had IT service management and operations management. But quickly, our customers, in many cases, pulled us deeper into it, as we looked at helping them deliver on asset management, security, and risk."

Episode 40 | AI Empowerment at WorkdayThe Big Themes:Rapid innovation with Workday Extend: Workday Extend is a pivotal aspect of Workday's platform strategy. It facilitates rapid innovation, enabling quick responses to emergent needs such as workforce adjustments during the COVID-19 pandemic. The platform's flexibility empowers users to develop bespoke solutions tailored to their unique requirements. It reflects Workday's ambition to evolve beyond being solely an application companyBringing in more partners: Workday sees partnerships as integral to its growth and innovation trajectory. Workday is broadening its partner ecosystem beyond conventional implementation collaborators, embracing a spectrum of innovation partners. This expansion aims to leverage diverse expertise to develop industry-tailored solutions and enhance platform extensibility.AI Marketplace launch: Workday plans to launch an AI marketplace, representing a significant initiative aimed at accelerating AI-driven innovation within its ecosystem. This marketplace will serve as a platform for partners to develop and distribute AI solutions built on the Workday platform. It is positioned as a means to provide customers with access to a curated selection of tested AI products while offering revenue-sharing opportunities for partners.The Big Quote: “The pace that customers want AI is a different one than all of us in the IT industry are talking about it."