Futurum Tech Webcast

On this special episode of the Futurum Tech Podcast – Interview Series I am joined by Noe Garcia, Global Enterprise Account Manager at Intel and Craig Kindleman, Oil and Gas Industry Advisor for SAP. This is the fifth episode in a new series — done in partnership with SAP and Intel — where I will be speaking with advisors and executives across seven different industries on the state of their industry and how SAP Industry Cloud powered by Intel technology plays a vital role in the future.

The Future of the Oil and Gas Industry

In our conversation we discussed the following:

• A recap of the last year in the industry
• The significant investments in technology that are being made in the industry
• The trends that are driving the changes in the industry
• Why Oil & Gas is a hub of innovation and how companies view the innovations that are happening

The oil and gas industry, like many other industries, had to rapidly accelerate digital transformation last year. My conversation with Noe and Craig explores these changes and a little bit more. It's definitely one you don't want to miss.

If you'd like to learn more about the industry cloud and the Intelligent Enterprise strategy, be sure to check out our research brief: Intelligent Enterprise Fuels Oil, Gas and Energy Industry Beyond the Traditional Hydrocarbon Molecule.

Disclaimer: This show is for information and entertainment purposes only. While we will discuss publicly traded companies on this show, the contents of this show should not be taken as investment advice.

On this episode of the Futurum Tech Podcast – Interview Series I am joined by Dave Shull, President and CEO of Poly, a global outfitter of professional-grade audio and video technology. We had an exciting conversation about the growth the company has experienced in the last year and where Dave thinks the market is going as we return to working in person.

Pro-Grade Tech: The Next Major Tech Growth Spurt

In our conversation we discussed the following:

• How the company is poised for growth as demand for pro-grade tech increases
• How the demand for pro-grade tech is impacting the market
• Insight into how companies are making 'work from anywhere' possible
• How to maintain privacy and security when working with pro-grade tech at home
• An exploration into what sets Poly apart from competitors including Poly's partner and ecosystem strategy
• Poly's process of innovation for new consumer-friendly products that serve work, telehealth, school and social functions

If you'd like to learn more about Poly, their products, or what they do be sure to check out their website or listen to the full episode below. Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode.

Disclaimer: This show is for information and entertainment purposes only. While we will discuss publicly traded companies on this show, the contents of this show should not be taken as investment advice.

On this special episode of the Futurum Tech Podcast – Interview Series I am joined by Darren Pulsipher, Chief Solutions Architect Public Sector at Intel and Leslie Casson Stevens, Public Sector Industry Advisor for SAP. This is the fourth episode in a new series — done in partnership with SAP and Intel — where I will be speaking with advisors and executives across seven different industries on the state of their industry and how SAP Industry Cloud powered by Intel technology plays a vital role in the future.

The Future of the Public Sector

In our conversation we discussed the following:

• An exploration of how government agencies are redefining the back office to enable more agility
• The areas that COVID-19 accelerated for the public sector
• The areas that got left behind during the pandemic
• What organizations need to do to keep transformations going in the future
• What technologies the public sector needs to invest in

The public sector, like many other industries, had to rapidly accelerate digital transformation last year. My conversation with Darren and Leslie explores these changes and a little bit more. It's definitely one you don't want to miss.

If you'd like to learn more about the industry cloud and the Intelligent Enterprise strategy, be sure to check out our research brief: Becoming an Intelligent Government Enterprise is Crucial.

In this LinkedIn Live episode of the Futurum Tech Webcast – Interview Series, I'm joined by Jim Newman, President and CEO of HRizons for a conversation about the struggles that companies are experiencing as we slowly emerge from the pandemic and the HR tech that could be a solution.

Post-Pandemic Planning: HR Tech Solutions to Add to Your Arsenal

We've been talking a lot about pandemic recovery here at Futurum, and with good reason. Even though the job market is on the rebound, hiring is still sluggish. The May Jobs Report from the U.S. Department of Labor showed a disconnect between jobs available and employees getting hired. The impact of COVID-19 is still being felt across the globe, but could the right technology help companies get back on track? That's what Jim and I dove into in our conversation.

Our discussion was far-reaching and included the following:

• The roadblocks HRizons customers are experiencing as we emerge from the pandemic, including the struggle to fill open positions.
• Why job descriptions are a critical part of the recovery process that many businesses are going through. Jim shared insights on the incredible administrative burden that HR departments face creating and managing descriptions for often hundreds of open positions, as well as the disjointed workflows that can leave organizations vulnerable to compliance issues.
• An exploration of how SAP® SuccesFactors® HCM platform helps organizations manage all aspects of HR. We then explored how HRizons Job Descriptions Made Simple or JDMS integration enhances the solution with a seamless end-to-end user experience.
• The organizations that can benefit the most from using JDMS as well as some real-world use case examples.
• We wrapped up the conversation with a preview of new features that are coming to the JDMS platform.

For SAP SuccessFactors customers, using JDMS by HRizons is truly a game-changer. You can find HRizons on the SAP Store, along with an Infosheet that our team produced: Simplifying Job Description Management Processes.

On this LinkedIn Live episode of the Futurum Tech Webcast – Interview Series I am joined by Dan Rodriguez, Corporate Vice President and General Manager, Network Platforms Group at Intel and Per Narvinger, VP and Head of Product Area Networks at Ericsson to discuss the latest 5G updates Intel shared at MWC 2021.

Intel's 5G Vision

In our conversation we discussed the following:

• The status of 5G right now for Intel and Ericsson

• An overview of the virtualization of RAN

• The opportunity in the mid-band 5G space

• An overview of the Intel-Ericsson collaboration

• How this collaboration will help customers

MWC 2021 was full of announcements for Intel. If you'd like to learn more about each one check out their website or listen to the full episode below. Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode.

Disclaimer: This show is for information and entertainment purposes only. While we will discuss publicly traded companies on this show. The contents of this show should not be taken as investment advice.

On this special episode of the Futurum Tech Podcast – Interview Series I am joined by Kristen Call, IoT Specialist at Intel and Praful Karanth, Retail Industry Advisor for SAP. This is the second episode in a new series — done in partnership with SAP and Intel — where I will be speaking with advisors and executives across seven different industries on the state of their industry and how SAP Industry Cloud powered by Intel technology plays a vital role in the future.

The Future of the Retail Industry

In our conversation we discussed the following:

• The current state of the retail industry
• The areas retailers need to focus on during this period of recovery
• Crucial capabilities retailers need to have to serve the digital consumer
• What obstacles retailers need to overcome today to be successful tomorrow
• Some of the things that retailers should look forward to as they plan their technology journey

The retail industry has been undergoing big changes in the last few years thanks to the advancement of technology. My conversation with Kristen and Praful explores these changes and a little bit more. It's definitely one you don't want to miss.

If you'd like to learn more about the industry cloud and the Intelligent Enterprise strategy, be sure to check out our research brief: Retailers Must Prioritize Becoming an SAP Intelligent Enterprise.

Disclaimer: This show is for information and entertainment purposes only. While we will discuss publicly traded companies on this show, the contents of this show should not be taken as investment advice.

In this episode of the Futurum Tech Webcast, my colleague Steven Dickens and I took a dive into the goings on at IBM this past week. Obviously, the big news coming out of IBM with an announcement late in the day on Friday last, was the news of IBM president and former Red Hat CEO Jim Whitehurst stepping down. This came as a surprise to many, as Jim was largely viewed throughout the industry as a likely successor to IBM CEO Arvind Krishna within a few years. The IBM board, and Krishna, however, had other plans and Krishna is clearly not at all close to done with what he aims to accomplish at IBM.

In a Barrons' interview this week, Whitehurst shared that he's not done building things and that he wants another chance to be a CEO again. He realized, when IBM's board of directors chose Krishna as chair as well as CEO earlier this year, that wasn't going to happen at IBM. Whitehurst is a talented leader and there is sure to be no shortage of companies interested in scooping him up. This will be fantastic to watch play out.

My colleague, Steven Dickens, shared thoughts based on feedback he's gotten from former colleagues at IBM, who were also fairly surprised by this news. We discussed the potential impact of this change on the Red Hat employees and community, who are a pretty tight group, and of course very supportive of Whitehurst.

IBM shares are down 5% since the company announced Whitehurst's departure, and it's clear that the longtime Red Hat CEO is incredibly valued by the investor community – and the tech community.

Massive Transformation Underway at IBM

We moved on from the Whitehurst conversation and tackled some of the many other changes happening inside IBM. The company is clearly undertaking some massive transformation, focused on regaining market relevance and of course growing revenues. And massive transformation most often requires some significant changes.

We also discussed some of the many changes afoot at IBM that Steven has some insider experience with, including the company's transformation of the marketing function under new CMO Carla Piñeyro Sublett and the nuances of some of those changes, along with an overview of the somewhat radical transformation IBM's IT team is undergoing under Kathryn Guarini, the company's new CIO.

In this episode of the Futurum Tech Webcast, analysts Shelly Kramer and Steven Dickens discuss the recent announcements out of BMC Software, targeting security, an Open Mainframe, and facilitating developer agility.

I'll note before touching on our conversation that the IT Infrastructure Management Software Market is growing at a rapid rate in 2021 and that growth is very much expected to continue. The key players in that space are: CA Technologies, Oracle, IBM, EMC, Microsoft, BMC Software, Dell, LabTech, Symantec, Apple, HPE and SAP. Precision Reports has a new study out on this topic and you can get a sample of the report here. Seeing this focus by BMC is exactly what we would expect.

In this short conversation, Steven and I discussed the rise of malicious threats in the market as a whole and how attacks like SolarWinds, the JBS meat production facility and, most recently, the REvil group's attack on a managed IT software provider, Kaseya are forcing a focus on protecting from malicious insider threats, especially as it relates to the mainframe. With Steven's vast experience in the mainframe industry, his insights here, and his take on the path BMC is taking, are invaluable.

In this video vignette from a recent episode of the Futurum Tech Webcast, I'm joined by my colleague here at Futurum Steven Dickens for a conversation around IBM's hybrid cloud ambitions, which are clearly the driver behind IBM's latest announced acquisition, this time of BoxBoat, and the company's preparation for a post-Kyndryl spinoff.

BoxBoat, while small, is known as an enterprise Kubernetes certified service provider and premier DevOps consultancy. The company has customers in finance, government, ecommerce, online publishing, and higher ed. Once the acquisition is complete, it is expected the business will be slotted into IBM's Global Business Services' Hybrid Cloud business.

During the course of our conversation, we discussed IBM's focus on significantly expanding the company's multi-cloud transformation, management expertise, and hybrid cloud capabilities, as well as the critical (and profitable) role that services plays in all things digital transformation these days.

Obviously, no project centered on cloud modernization can succeed without a containerization strategy and a cloud architecture that allows them to operate across both public and private clouds. Steven shared insights on IBM's pivot to hybrid cloud, the repackaging of IBM software into Cloud Paks, IBM Cloud Satellite, and of course the spinoff of Kyndryl. Of particular interest and focus was the expansion of IBM's Global Business Services, how this acquisition complements the company's hybrid cloud strategy — and IBM's services business — especially in a post-Kyndryl spinoff world.

For this episode of the Futurum Tech Webcast I am joined by my colleague, fellow analyst and our VP of business development, Steven Dickens, for a conversation about happenings this week in the tech world.

In this episode, we covered:

• The leadership change at IBM this past week, with widely presumed heir apparent President Jim Whitehurst stepping down, clearly cementing IBM's CEO and board chair Arvind Krishna's position.
• The other material changes at IBM, with new leadership and direction in marketing, new leadership in IT, changes ahead with the Kyndryl spinoff and thoughts from Steven (a former IBMer) on what's ahead.
• BMC Software announcements centered on new capabilities related to security, the Open Mainframe and the newly announced Workflow WiZard tool, and the importance of (and role that) mainframe transformation is to organizations' success with digital transformation.
• IBM's acquisition of BoxBoat and how that's a clear indicator of the company's focus on hybrid cloud services being key to its future success.