CIO

SAP Gets Serious About The Large Enterprise Application Cloud

Stefan Ried — Tue, 15 May 2012 13:15:07 +0000

SAP Gets Serious About The Large Enterprise Application Cloud:

Its Long-Term Strategy Should Involve A Triple Platform Play For The Cloud

Until now, it looked like SAP was still trying to balance its existing on-premises licensed business with the cloud alternative. But following its acquisition of Success Factors and the arrival of that company's outstanding CEO, Lars Dalgaard, SAP has become really serious about applications in the cloud, placing Mr. Dalgaard at the head of a 5,000-person development team.

SAP's new cloud strategy is all about business applications in large enterprises. SAP today announced its People, Money, Customers, Suppliers strategy -- a significant move to offer business applications for large enterprises, rather than just SMBs and a few niche cases. It's really targeting its core business users. Today's announcements show SAP combining its core strength of large enterprise applications with a ready-to-use cloud strategy for the first time.

What is really mission-critical in this transformation of SAP and its global customer base?

1. Cloud-generation business applications.

Software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications are not just rehosted traditional applications. SAP is still on a learning curve, and the infusion of Success Factors will definitely help. The upcoming generations of enterprise users expect their applications to be simple, collaborative, mobile, and very different from what they (and their moms and dads) have used in the past. SAP key's challenge is to keep their existing, conservative customer base happy while meeting the requirements of (and signing deals with) this new generation.

2. Best-of-breed application landscapes - not total replacements.

2012 Huawei Global Analyst Summit: ramping up the game

Dan Bieler — Tue, 15 May 2012 07:31:14 +0000

Dan Bieler; Bryan Wang; Henry Dewing; Katyayan Gupta; Tirthankar Sen

Huawei hosted about 160 industry and financial analysts at its annual analyst summit in Shenzhen, China in April 2012. The main take-aways from the event are:

Huawei continues its drive for more financial openness and transparency. Huawei provided detailed information about its financial and operational performance. In 2011 Huawei grew revenues by 12% to reach US$32.4bn and EBIT by 9% to US$3bn. The main regional growth was registered in Latin America, up 40%. Although due to higher capex cash from operating activities declined, the cash margin stood at 9%. Huawei is easily able to fund its expansion and innovation activities. In 2011, Huawei hired 30,000 new staff, bringing the total to 140,000 globally. For 2012 Huawei targets between 15-20% sales growth.
Huawei places main growth emphasis on enterprise services and consumer devices. These market segments represent a potential target market with a combined value of about US$1.7 trillion, compared with the carrier equipment market value of about US$150 billion. Huawei repeatedly pointed out the early-stage nature of its activities in these areas. It even felt as if Huawei consciously played down its ambitions in order to downplay expectations.
Huawei must strengthen its go-to-market strategy for its enterprise business. With more than 40% of Huawei's current business coming from China, Huawei has to continue to fine tune its go-to-market model and penetrate markets other than China in a swift manner. Huawei also has to push for stronger relationship with their partners and increase their share in the total revenue.

The event was not marked by major announcements, but instead provided updates:

Huawei

Deloitte Meets “Mad Men”

John McCarthy — Mon, 14 May 2012 15:45:37 +0000

Earlier this morning, the consulting firm launched "Deloitte Digital." Part offering and part organizational change, the initiative brings together a mix of business, technology, and creative expertise to address a perfect storm of technology change. The firm will bring together five key capabilities -- strategy, mobile, social, web content, and digital ERP. Deloitte Digital will focus on mobile and social, while the traditional technology services and consulting groups will handle the strategy, web content, and digital ERP elements. The tag line for Deloitte Digital is "business led, tech enabled and creative infused." From an organizational view point, the firm has taken a page from its 2011 acquisition of Übermind and created 11 digital studios around the globe. Approximately 50% of the staff in the studios will come from a creative, graphic design, or user experience background. The rest will be a mix of engineers focused on emerging technologies and resources coming from the traditional consulting or technology services side of Deloitte. To showcase their newfound creative chops, the Deloitte Digital Team presented the pre-announcement to the analysts using paper "pitch books" straight out of the new reality advertising TV show "The Pitch."

Forrester believes that the Deloitte announcement highlights the hybrid skill model that the new mobile apps and systems of engagement will require. Deloitte Digital is an innovative approach for multidisciplinary new skills required for success. However, it is still not apparent how the firm would tackle the other key side of the mobile equation, building the broad ecosystem of software and as-a-service partners in order to quickly roll out solutions for clients.

Colt Revamps The Way It Develops Agile Solutions For Its Customers

Dan Bieler — Wed, 09 May 2012 07:28:06 +0000

The other day I visited Colt's London HQ and saw how the telco is revamping its approach to developing more customer-centric and Agile solutions (Colt consciously avoids the "cloud" terminology). By now, most telcos managed to jump onto the cloud bandwagon by launching cloud-based services. The challenge, from an end user perspective, is that these solutions all seem very similar. Customers can get storage, server capacity, unified communications, etc., from most telcos. All telcos underline the value-added nature of end-to-end network QoS and security that they can ensure (check out our report, "Telcos As Cloud Rainmakers"). Indeed, telcos have some right to feel that they have achieved some progress regarding their cloud offerings -- although it took Amazon to show them the opportunity.

But most telco cloud offerings suffer from the fact that telcos develop cloud solutions in the traditional sense through their traditional product factories. This approach tends to follow rather than slow product innovation cycles. Moreover, it produces products that, once developed, are pushed to the customer as a standard offering. All customisation costs extra.

The reality of cloud demand is that each customer is different. Most customers want some form of customisation. Most customers want some form of hybrid cloud, a private part for core apps, as well as access to the open Internet to, for instance, exchange views and information with end customers via Twitter or for crowd sourcing with suppliers. Similarly, most customers want a mix of fixed and virtual assets and a blend of self-service and managed service solutions as the chart indicates.

Q1 2012 Data Shows Economic And Tech Market Softness At Start Of The Year

Andrew Bartels — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 16:39:16 +0000

While I am still relatively bullish on the 2012 tech market outlook for the US (see our April 2, 2012, "US Tech Market Outlook For 2012 To 2013" report), I have to say that the data we got on the US economy and on the US tech market was a bit softer than I expected. US real GDP growth came in at 2.2%, a bit lower than my expectation of 2.5%. On the positive side, consumer spending rose by 2.9% in real terms, and residential construction continued to improve. On the negative side, business investment in structures was weak, and government spending fell at both the federal and state and local levels. More to the point, business investment in computer equipment and communications equipment fell from Q4 2011 levels, though computer equipment investment still was almost 8% higher than levels a year ago. Software investment, though, was up strongly -- by 8.2% at an annualized rate from Q4 2011 and by 8.4% from Q1 2011.

2 Big Shifts Taking Us To More Resource-Efficient Computing

Chris Mines — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 12:37:02 +0000

In the last couple of weeks, I finally put a couple of pieces together . . . the tech industry is pushing hard, down two parallel tracks, toward much more resource-efficient computing architectures.

Track 1: Integrated systems. Computer suppliers are putting hardware components (including compute, network, and storage) together with middleware and application software in pre-integrated packages. The manufacturers will do assembly and testing of these systems in their factories, rather than on the customer's site. And they will tailor the system -- to a greater or lesser degree, depending on the system -- to the characteristics of the workload(s) it will be running.

The idea is to use general-purpose components (microprocessors, memory, network buses, and the like) to create special-purpose systems on a mass-customization basis. This trend has been evident for a while in the Oracle Exadata and Cisco UCS systems; IBM's Pure systems introductions push it even further into pre-configured applications and systems management.

Track 2. Modular data centers. Now, zoom out from individual computing systems to aggregations of those systems into data centers. And again, assemble as much of the componentry as possible in the factory rather than on-site. Vendors like Schneider, Emerson, and the systems shops like IBM and HP are creating a design approach and infrastructure systems that will allow data centers to be designed in modular fashion, with much of the equipment like air handling and power trucked to the customer's site, set up in the parking lot, and quickly turned on.

Smart Computing, Cloud Computing, And Mobility Will Boost US IT Budget Spending In 2012

Andrew Bartels — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 14:43:41 +0000

A week from tomorrow, I will be presenting a keynote on Smart Computing at Forrester's EA Forum in Las Vegas and later the same day a presentation on US IT spending with my colleague Chris Mines to Forrester's CIO Forum. The common theme in both presentations is that new technologies like Smart Computing, cloud computing, and mobility will drive companies to increase their tech spending and investment in 2012 and 2013.

The Smart Computing keynote presentation will draw on research from my report on "Smart Computing Connects CIOs With The Business," in which I discuss the ways in which sensors, RFID, M2M, advanced analytics, mobile devices, and collaboration platforms and applications are allowing CIOs to address previously unaddressed business problems, using various combinations of these technologies that will vary by industry. I will focus on specific industry examples in trucking, healthcare, and health insurance.

The US Tech Market Outlook presentation will include Smart Computing along with cloud computing, mobility, and IT consumerization as technologies that will cause US tech budgets to rise by over 7% in both 2012 and 2013 -- well above the 4% to 5% growth in nominal GDP that we expect. Most of the numbers we will share will be those from our most recent US tech market report: "US Tech Market Outlook For 2012 To 2013 -- Improving Economic Prospects Create Upside Potential." However, Chris and I will also provide the very latest tech market data from government and vendor reports.

tech developments

Vodafone Reinforces Its Position In The UK Enterprise Market Through Cable & Wireless Worldwide Take-Over

Dan Bieler — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 11:02:21 +0000

Vodafone agreed to acquire Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CWW) for 1.04 billion pounds in cash, valuing CWW at three times EBITDA. The deal propels Vodafone to the second largest telco in the UK with revenues of GBP6.97 billion, behind BT with revenues of GBP15.6 billion. From a financial perspective, the deal has a limited impact, accounting for only 3% of Vodafone's 2011 EBITDA. However, given BT's lack of a mobile division, Vodafone, becomes the leading integrated telco in the UK, offering fixed and mobile operations. The deal is expected to complete in Q3 2012.

The main focus of the deal is on CWW's UK fixed-line network and CWW's business customer base, both of which Vodafone aims to add to its UK mobile network. CWW provides managed voice, data, hosting, and IP-based services and applications. The deal boosts Vodafone's enterprise offering, both in terms of access and transport infrastructure and also in terms of customer base. CWW is a major global infrastructure player: Its international cable network spans 425,000 km in length, covering 150 countries. In the UK, CWW operates a 20,500 km fiber network. Moreover, CWW has about 6,000 business customers. The future of CWW's non-UK assets remains uncertain. In our view they do provide true value for Vodafone, strengthening its global network infrastructure. Vodafone will provide further details regarding these non-UK assets later in the year.

Why Tablets Will Become Our Primary Computing Device

Frank Gillett — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 18:03:13 +0000

Tablets aren't the most powerful computing gadgets. But they are the most convenient.

They're bigger than the tiny screen of a smartphone, even the big ones sporting nearly 5-inch screens.

They have longer battery life and always-on capabilities better than any PC -- and will continue to be better at that than any ultrathin/book/Air laptop. That makes them very handy for carrying around and using frequently, casually, and intermittently even where there isn't a flat surface or a chair on which to use a laptop.

And tablets are very good for information consumption, an activity that many of us do a lot of. Content creation apps are appearing on tablets. They'll get a lot better as developers get used to building for touch-first interfaces, taking advantage of voice input, and adding motion gestures.

They're even better for sharing and working in groups. There's no barrier of a vertical screen, no distracting keyboard clatter, and it just feels natural to pass over a tablet, like a piece of paper, compared to spinning around a laptop.

All these reasons add up to our prediction that tablets will become the preferred, primary device for millions of people around the world, which is in the just-published report "Tablets Will Rule The Future Personal Computing Landscape." Note that there will still be lots of personal computers sold and in use -- in fact our casual estimate is that there will be 2 billion PCs in use by 2016, despite growing tablet sales. That's because tablets only partially cannibalize PCs. Eventually tablets will slow laptop sales but increase sales of desktop PCs. That's because many people, especially information workers, will still need conventional PCs for any intensely creative work at a desk that requires a large display or significant processing power.

Oracle And OpenStack: A Tale Of Two Completely Opposite Strategies

James Staten — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 13:51:27 +0000

If you wanted to see the full spectrum of cloud choices that are coming to market today you only have to look at these two efforts as they are starting to evolve. They represent the extremes. And ironically both held analyst events this week.

OpenStack is clearly an effort by a vendor (Rackspace) to launch a community to help advance technology and drive innovation around a framework that multiple vendors can use to bring myriad cloud services to market and deliver differentiated values. Whereas Oracle, who gave analysts a brief look inside its public cloud efforts this week, is taking a completely closed and self-built approach that looks to fulfill all cloud values from top to bottom.

The Empowered BT Era Will Force (Yes, Force) A New Role For CIOs - And Drag IT Out Of The Backrooms

John Brand — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 06:36:47 +0000

Reporting Manager. Computer Systems Manager. MIS Director. IT Manager. Chief Technology Officer. Director Of IT. Chief Information Officer.

It's not just a change of job title. It's the recognition of the change of an era.

While the current term "CIO" engenders a spirit of managing information assets (not technology) the reality for many is that the CIO role is still just as much about operations, platforms, products, vendors and contracts as it is about developing the strategic value of information within the organization. But while we are distracted by the day-to-day running of our businesses, we forget that the world truly is changing. The old adage that we "overestimate what can be achieved in a year and underestimate what can be achieved in five" has never been more true.

CIOs are the new face of a new generation. We don't have a cool new name for you yet -- but it's coming. Whatever you will be called, it is what you do that will ultimately define you.

With these changes comes a completely new set of skills and capabilities for all of "IT" (I'm sure in 20 years' time even that will be called something different). The journey has already started. The ground has been moving beneath your feet for some time now. It's time to stop trying to "gain a seat at the table" and start organizing the party.

Here's just a couple of things we're seeing that are forcing CIOs roles to change and what to do about it -- now.

Changing Wheels While Still In The Race . . . Lessons Learned From Process Excellence

Connie Moore — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 22:23:48 +0000

I'm at IQPC's Financial Services conference in New York listening to Brenton Harder, MD and head of operational excellence at Credit Suisse. He's clearly got a lot of experience under his belt that is worth sharing. Here are some BPM lessons learned based on his experience working in multiple businesses:

Gotcha’s In Change Management For Business Process Improvement

Connie Moore — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 18:47:17 +0000

IQPC's Process Excellence for Financial Services conference just got to one of my favorite topics -- change management. The more I work in process transformation, the more I realize that change management is absolutely crucial for determining success or failure. Also, driving innovation and sustaining a culture of innovation is closely linked to how well the organization does change management.

The panelists include:

Karl Friedman, coaching/training lead, Allstate Insurance Co.
Larry Duckworth, COO, The Quality Group.
Christopher Gaver, vice president, service excellence, Prudential.

Here are some of the key issues that surfaced during today's discussion of change management gotchas:

Live From New York — Process Excellence For Financial Services

Connie Moore — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 18:17:08 +0000

Today I've had the opportunity to speak at and attend a conference about Business Process Management for financial services.

Here's what I've learned so far:

Cloud Computing At NAB: The Media And Cloud Businesses Are Evolving To The Same Economic Model

James Staten — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 15:03:56 +0000

While the bulk of the enterprise IT market grumbles about the maturity and security of cloud computing services, it looks like the media & entertainment segment is just doing it. At the annual conference for the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) in Las Vegas, myriad technology vendors are showing off their solutions that are transforming the way video content gets to us and behind the scenes there appears to be a lot of cloud computing making this happen. And there is a strong fit between these two industries because their business and economic models are evolving in complementary ways.

Sure, we all know that video streaming to your phone, tablet and TV is the new normal, but how this is accomplished is changing under the covers and cloud computing brings the economic model that maps better to the business of media and entertainment. You see, while broadcasting is a steady state business, the production process and eventual popularity of any particular video segment or show isn't. The workflow behind the scenes is evolving rapidly -- or more appropriately devolving.

CIO

SAP Gets Serious About The Large Enterprise Application Cloud

2012 Huawei Global Analyst Summit: ramping up the game

Categories:

Deloitte Meets “Mad Men”

Colt Revamps The Way It Develops Agile Solutions For Its Customers

Categories:

Q1 2012 Data Shows Economic And Tech Market Softness At Start Of The Year

Categories:

2 Big Shifts Taking Us To More Resource-Efficient Computing

Categories:

Smart Computing, Cloud Computing, And Mobility Will Boost US IT Budget Spending In 2012

Categories:

Vodafone Reinforces Its Position In The UK Enterprise Market Through Cable & Wireless Worldwide Take-Over

Categories:

Why Tablets Will Become Our Primary Computing Device

Categories:

Oracle And OpenStack: A Tale Of Two Completely Opposite Strategies

Categories:

The Empowered BT Era Will Force (Yes, Force) A New Role For CIOs - And Drag IT Out Of The Backrooms

Changing Wheels While Still In The Race . . . Lessons Learned From Process Excellence

Gotcha’s In Change Management For Business Process Improvement

Live From New York — Process Excellence For Financial Services

Categories:

Cloud Computing At NAB: The Media And Cloud Businesses Are Evolving To The Same Economic Model

Categories: