deal architect

Burning Platform: A Christmas musical card

In the 66^th episode of Burning Platform, we repeat another holiday tradition, this time courtesy of Bonnie Tinder, founder and CEO of Raven Intel. Last year, Sandy Lo of Zoho had contributed Christmas carols on her piano.

Bonnie is immensely gifted. We had discussed her business which monitors project management trends and SI quality metrics here.  She has written about her figure skating and about her immensely entertaining lab, Grommet in the passion series on New Florence.

Here she introduces us to her flute and to her talented, 16 year old pianist son, Wally and mother Barbara Duncan (who is also Wally’s piano teacher)

Bonnie and Barbara start with What Child is This? and at 5.07 play Hark! The Herald Angels Sing. Wally plays Silent Night at 2.13. He is joined by Grommet, who is very well behaved. I suspect he is quietly scheming his next adventure.

Last week I shared the Curmudgeon Christmas Card with Dennis Howlett. That was a lot of fun. This one is pure joy - certainly has been the easiest episode for me to edit:)

What a talented family and what a beautiful gift to this series. Thank you, Bonnie.

Merry Christmas, everyone

Burning Platform: Analyzing the Analysts

In the 65rd episode of Burning Platform, we host Duncan Chapple, Co-Director of the Analyst Observatory at the U of Edinburgh.

He presents a summary of their 20^th annual Analyst Value Survey. It is a fascinating discussion of how the influencer space keeps evolving.

We cover dramatic shifts in technology buying centers  – verticalization and the impact of the pandemic, the growth of Asia/Pac, shadow IT and the fragmented landscape of advisers they turn to – traditional firms like Gartner, advisory firms like Everest, the Big 4, peer review sites like G2.

We discuss the changing role of the Analyst Relations functions in vendors and the likely move away from somewhat static, formulaic approach to market research to more scenario based planning.

We discuss several other topics – using analyst firms for influence v intelligence, the perception of analyst independence and the value of their content and market research.

The session ran long but we could have easily gone much longer. As an example we did not touch much on the impact of strategy consulting firms like McKinsey and BCG especially in complex digital transformations , and the advice, blogs and videos a small firm like mine brings to this landscape.

Burning Platform: Innovations and vertical trends in ERP for SMEs

In the 64th episode of Burning Platform, we host Rainer Zinow, who heads product management for SAP’s mid-market ERP offerings and Jory Lamb, CEO and Founder of VistaVu, a SAP midmarket partner which also offers their own complementary products

In the Analyst Cam episode I ran yesterday, Rainer presented the positioning of Business One v Business By Design v S/4HANA 

Here, Jory kicks it off by presenting on a customer, SEF Energy which provides Industrial Field Services in the oilfield equipment vertical. It nicely brings out IoT, predictive maintenance, employee health and safety and rental revenue angles. We next discuss the wholesale and distribution sector where they similarly have verticalized offerings which are getting increased focus given the many supply chain issues during the pandemic. He talks about how they prioritize across SAP’s many verticals. He also discusses implementations and automating labor on their projects.

Rainer talks about agriculture and the food and beverage supply chain. He also shows off a book which he says describes hundreds of SAP micro-verticals and innovations with a SME focus.  That book is available here 

The two episodes bring out nicely SAP’s strength in the mid-market contrary to the market perception as them only being a choice for large, global companies

Burning Platform: Curmudgeon Christmas – Part 2

In the 63rd episode of Burning Platform, we (again) host Dennis Howlett, who retired earlier in the year from Diginomica.

In part 1 yesterday, we spent time discussing very different 2021s we have each had.

In part 2 below, he talks about his scale models – tanks and armored vehicles and the intricate detail in assembling and painting them. He had detailed more in the passion column he wrote for me earlier in the year

It is a very relaxed Dennis – other than a nagging cough. And like I mentioned earlier, he pretty philosophical. And incredibly busy for a retired man and about to host and cook for his extended family of 25 for Christmas.   

Burning Platform: Curmudgeon Christmas – Part 1

In the 62nd episode of Burning Platform, we (again) host Dennis Howlett, who retired earlier in the year from Diginomica. While we spend a lot of time talking about what keeps him busy, it is also philosophical – how the new communities he deals with are so much more collaborative than those in tech.

In part 1 today, we start off picking on Frank Scavo who missed this year’s recording - and was not there to defend himself:)

Dennis then talks about and shows plenty of photos of his prolific cooking these days. Lots of “from scratch” cuisine including grinding of coffee beans. Plenty of Italian, English and American grilled fare. He plans to host his large family – now  at 25 across 4 generations including his rock star, Judith and his faithful walking companion, Mable – in batches over Christmas.

He also shows off his new home in the country – new is a misnomer as it actually dates back to the 1850s. 

At 27.55 I take over and share some details about our 2021 – very different from Dennis’s. We then talk about what we expect from 2022.

In part 2 tomorrow, he talks about his scale models – tanks and armored vehicles and the intricate detail in assembling and painting them. 

It is a very relaxed Dennis – other than a nagging cough. And like I mentioned, pretty philosophical.

Burning Platform: Generational Shift in Content creation, distribution and consumption – Part 2

In the 61st episode of Burning Platform, we (again) host Paul Greenberg of The 56 Group, widely recognized as the Godfather of CRM and as co-host of the popular CRM Playaz video show.

In part 1 yesterday we discussed workplaces where we  now managing experiences around four generations – Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials and Gen Z. As Paul points out, the last two are growing exponentially in influence and purchasing power and expect very different content, media and formats

In part 2 below we discuss how Big Brands like P&G are adjusting to the power of Millennials and Gen Z and to new channels like TikTok.

Paul also provides a sneak preview of the “broadcast network” he is launching with CRM Playaz co-host, Brent Leary.

 

Burning Platform: Generational Shift in Content creation, distribution and consumption – Part 1

In the 60th episode of Burning Platform, we (again) host Paul Greenberg of The 56 Group and co-host of the popular CRM Playaz video show.

If you know Paul, you know he is a big-hearted, generous storyteller – his books and blogs deliver way more content than you pay for in time or money. Sure enough, our conversation ran long so I am running it in two episodes

In part 1, below we discuss workplaces where we are experiencing four generations – Baby Boomers, Gen Y, Millennials and Gen X. As Paul points out, the last two in particular are increasingly influential in influence and purchasing power and expect very different content, media and formats

We next discuss how enterprise vendors are adjusting to this transition – he highlights Adobe and Salesforce in particular and how they are navigation a new world where TV networks have given way to new content providers, streaming formats We also discuss how vendors have evolved their own communications with another disruptive force – the pandemic and their move to virtual formats. We discuss Zoho, Workday, Microsoft and others.

In part 2  tomorrow we will discuss how Big Brands like P&G are adjusting to the power of Millennials and Gen Z and new channels like TikTok. Paul will also provide a sneak preview of the “broadcast network” he is launching with CRM Playaz co-host, Brent Leary.

We also manage to blend in sports. Paul is a rabid Yankees fan and his firm name invokes the magical year where the Yankees not only won the World Series but also had Don Larsen pitch the only no-hitter in Series play, a perfect game, no less. 

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.