deal architect

Burning Platform: Supply Chains - the good, the bad and the ugly

In the 59th episode of Burning Platform, we (again) host Bob Ferrari of Supply Chain Matters.

We have a wide ranging conversation around supply chains - the challenges in the semiconductor sector, the chaos at the California ports, the labor shortages.

It's not all bad - we discuss the massive scaling of micro-fulfillment and last mile delivery. We discuss why after years of talk, we may see large amounts of manufacturing move back, why the Panama Canal widening may drive a lot more traffic to other N American ports, why the trend of direct-to-consumer is likely to accelerate.

We also discuss shifts in supply chain philosophies - away from lowest cost to resiliency focus and from just in time to just in case. We discuss sustainability and impact on supply chains, and we discuss technology - SCM software and automation in fulfillment.

Lots of ground in half an hour. More to come as supply chains will continue to dominate attention for several more months.  Hopefully, it will not be because Santa had to deliver many lumps of coal instead of gifts stuck in containers.

Burning Platform: HR - "what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger"

In the 58th episode of Burning Platform, we host Stacey Harris, Chief Research Officer and Managing Partner at Sapient Insights.

I invited Stacey to present key findings from their 2021/2022 HR Systems Survey Key Findings. This is their 24th Annual survey and I am thankful she makes time every year to present to our audience.

While her survey and presentation focuses more on the technology side of HR, we broadened the conversation to process, organizational and culture issues, so it is a longish session but well worth your time.

2020 was an amazingly demanding year for HR with workforce health and safety, WFH transition and plenty of diversity and inclusion issues. 2021 was supposed to be much easier. Instead, in many ways it has been even more challenging with talent shortages, inflation issues, and mass resignations/retirements. Whether you want to credit Kelly Clarkson or the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, the expression "what does not kill you, makes you stronger" comes to mind.

The HR role has grown amazingly in the last 2 years. One thing Stacey's data highlights in particular is the growing global scope of HR. Her data is gathered from 2177 unique organizations across 52 countries. Needless to say, that took an extraordinary amount of time to draw patterns from. The survey has a ton of data and she has kindly also made the 50+ page Executive Summary available for download here.

Burning Platform: Flashing Red Lights around Green Policy

In the 57th episode of Burning Platform, we host Kurt Marko of MarkoInsights.  He is an IT analyst, consultant and regular contributor to a number of technology publications including Diginomica and AvidThink. Coming out of Stanford with a BS and MS in Electrical Engineering, he started as an EE developing transistors and fabrication processes, went on to Bell Labs to design integrated circuits, and evolved into an IT architect for HP designing systems and networks.

Kurt has the uncanny knack for demystifying complex technical topics and I thought it would be good to have him on the heels of the recent COP 26 Climate Change summit in Glasgow.

We discuss the slow progress at which renewables - solar and wind in particular - are scaling, Germany's disappointing decade with them (see more in my note - The road to energy hell is being paved with good intentions ) and why the new US administration thinks it can do better. We also discuss why the French model with nuclear, the Iceland (and Kenya) model with geothermal, and the Norwegian hydroelectric model are not getting more attention.

We discuss emissions in Brazil, Russia, India, Indonesia China, S.Africa  and other countries which continue with plenty of fossil fuels. Kurt has an interesting perspective on CO2 emissions. We discuss why the West appears to be shackling itself when their investment and progress away from fossils is being nullified by that in the developing world. 

We discuss one bright spot - how companies are learning to design and package products more sustainability and how reuse and reduce waste processes are gaining traction. Finally, we discuss the opportunity for software vendors beyond just the analytics around carbon reporting.

Fascinating and thought provoking session.

Burning Platform: Acronyms, Buzzwords and Customer Realities

In the 56th episode of Burning Platform, we host Jon Reed, a co-founder of Diginomica.

He is a fellow Enterprise Irregular who blogs and videocasts on enterprise trends. One of his most popular, regular features is Enterprise Hits and Misses. He is incisive, snarky, funny all at once.

We start off dissecting a Gartner slide from their recent Symposium, a list of 12 of what they call "Top Strategic Technology Trends for 2022" like Hyperautomation.  We use that as a launching pad for a discussion on what we think customers are looking for after the turmoil of the last 18 months. Jon makes a great point - he wishes he could see Gartner's hype cycle around each of their 12 trends.

We discuss the need for application/business process vision in addition to architectural evolution, and the need for OT (operational technology, especially industry specific) in addition to an IT focus.

We also discuss virtual events in the industry. Jon has been particularly forceful in pushing for an evolution in that format.

We also bring into the conversation a fellow analyst, Ray Wang and his new book, Digital Giants. Ray had presented about it in the Analyst Cam series here. 

It is a peek into conversations that us market watchers often have when we are away from tech vendors and buyers. Actually both of us are pretty well behaved - we can be far snarkier when there is no camera in sight:)

Burning Platform: Servitization Trends - Part 2

In the 54th and 55th episode of Burning Platform, we host Marne Martin, President of the Service Management GBU and Mark Brewer, Global Industry Director for Service Management at IFS.

We discuss the accelerating trend of servitization which is leading a number of industrial/product companies to emphasize service units and adopt different business models.

In yesterday's episode, the focus was on case studies from various sectors - aerospace, renewable energy and reverse vending among others and the spectrum of business models, especially outcome based that are becoming the highlight of the servitization trend.

In the second episode today, we talk about how companies are dealing with labor shortages, the next-gen service worker, automation and other defining trends as digital and physical world services evolve.

IFS is better known as an ERP vendor, and a European centric one at that. This conversation will open your eyes to their field/customer services savvy and their global reach.   

Burning Platform: Servitization Trends - Part 1

In the 54th and 55th episode of Burning Platform, we have Marne Martin, President of the Service Management GBU and Mark Brewer, Global Industry Director for Service Management at IFS.

We discuss the accelerating trend of servitization which is leading a number of industrial/product companies to emphasize service units and adopt different business models.

In this episode, the focus in on case studies from various sectors - aerospace, renewable energy and reverse vending among others and the spectrum of business models, especially outcome based that are becoming the highlight of the servitization trend.

In the second episode tomorrow, we will talk about how companies are dealing with labor shortages, the next-gen service worker and related automation and other defining trends as digital/physical world services converge.

IFS is better known as an ERP vendor, and a European centric one at that. This conversation will open your eyes to their field/customer services savvy and their global reach.   

Burning Platform: AI in the Enterprise

In this 53rd episode of Burning Platform, we have Roy Altman, CEO of Peopleserv.

We draw on his recent experience editing of an issue of Workforce Solutions Review focused on AI (available here)

We cover a wide range of angles - the long history of AI , how it has under-delivered in the past and why the current iteration is more promising. We talk about abundance of data in consumer world to train machines, compared to that in enterprise settings where most data is locked up in proprietary data centers. We cover ethical issues around smart machines and whether AI will lead humanity to utopia or dystopia. 

Burning Platform: Customer Service as Competitive Advantage

Last year, I launched a video series titled Acrobatics during the Crisis. I saw all kinds of heroics scaling up healthcare, ecommerce, last-mile delivery, millions of emergency PPP loans and many other services. This year, while the pandemic continues, I have seen a noticeable decline in service quality - supply chain disruptions and labor shortages explain much of that but I also see quite of bit of that is what I call COVID and BREXIT "copouts."

The stage is set for companies to step up with service heroics and gain sustainable advantage over their competitors. In the enterprise, industrial world, there is a clear acceleration in the trend of servitization - where product companies are selling them on "as a service" and outcome based models and service companies are moving from transactional, break-fix type services to more strategic relationships. Again, a huge opportunity to differentiate.

With this background, I invited Sarah Nicastro, Vice President of Customer Advocacy at IFS and creator of industry resource Future of Field Service to this 52nd episode of Burning Platform.  

Sarah is a keen observer of trends in customer service with her regular podcasts on the Future of Field Service which features leaders from global brands across industries such as AT&T, Peloton, Southwest Airlines, Tetra Pak and Unilever.

We cover wide ground especially around the people/work aspects of the service economy. We also discuss that IFS has become very service savvy. People still view it as an ERP player but as Sarah points out it is also a 6 time leader in the Gartner Field Service Management MQ. IFS has also gone through a major rebranding exercise with a focus on what it calls "Moments of Service" and we will be hearing a lot more about their service capabilities.

Burning Platform: Ecosystems Galore!

In the 50th episode of the series we have Tyler Prince, EVP Worldwide Alliances and Channels at Salesforce.

While most vendors have siloed groups to manage their SI partners, their platform ISVs and their developer communities, Tyler plays a role in all 3 in Salesforce world. That includes their SI ecosystem with a wide range of global, regional, and vertical specialists, that on their AppExchange platform and in the Trailblazer community.

That gives him a unique perspective on the cross-currents across these very different ecosystems and the vital role they will play to deliver to CEO Marc Benioff's ambition to get to revenues of $50 billion by fiscal 2026 (in FY 2021 they delivered $21 billion)

We also discuss the impact the pandemic had on the SI community and the move to virtual project delivery, how Salesforce has woven diversity and inclusion in its ecosystems and the growing role of Slack acquisition and the Success from Anywhere initiative as lockdowns continue around the world.

Refreshingly different perspective on ecosystems!

Burning Platform: Leading with authenticity

In the 49th episode of the series we have a repeat appearance by Sabrina Horn, CEO of Horn Strategy

We discuss her new book "Make it, don't fake it". The book shows how authentic leadership eliminates the need for the shortcuts that sabotage success. “Fake it till you make it” just doesn’t work—at least not long enough to build a sustainable business.

It is being released this coming Tuesday. She sent me an advance copy and it has great quotes and monikers  - Fake-o-meter, "Work-life balance? Here’s why I gave up on it" and " Leader and loser both begin with the letter L" but overall it is about values in  the tech industry which is overwhelmingly driven by unicorn valuations and Wall Street attention. 

It is part autobiography, part thank you to mentors like Dave Duffield and Geoffrey Moore,  her parents, her employees and kids, but chockfull of examples on how to behave ethically in a variety of situations.  She must identify "50 shades of lies"  - some of the 'white lies" variety, some of the other extreme, fraudulent kind. She has spent a lifetime in PR, so this must have taken plenty of introspection on whether she and her firm(s) advised clients on doing the right thing, not just hyping what they had in their bags. 

We also discuss activism around so many "causes" these days - racial/ gender matters, equality, climate change etc.

I particularly like the fact that she wrote the book during the pandemic. While so many of us were so distracted by the crisis and the politics of 2020 she managed to concentrate on her first book, and it is an excellent one.

Get a copy of the book, in the meantime, enjoy the sneak preview below.