Futurum Tech Webcast

In this episode of the Futurum Tech Webcast host Shelly Kramer is joined by fellow analysts Daniel Newman and Fred McClimans for a conversation around the technology drivers and considerations around the upcoming and highly anticipated COVID-19 vaccinations and the technology that's involved in making those vaccines a reality.

The conversation revolved around the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine, which was submitted on Friday for emergency authorization, as well as the Moderna vaccine, which is on a similar track.

The conversation revolved around four key areas where technology can play a significant role. These included:

• Supply chain considerations, getting the manufacturing just right, the monitoring and analytics needed and role technology plays in supply chain;
• Distribution of the vaccine, not just in the US but around the world, where different storage situations might be challenging;
• Delivery of the vaccine, the acutal dosing of the population, what type of data collection is required for that, what the privacy concerns are; and
• Tracking the progress of people who have been vaccinated, their progress, side effects, etc. and how involved monitoring will be and what technology will be required.

What technology is involved? The IoT, the IIoT, sophisticated analytics, AI layered into analytics and using machine learning to sift through and anonymize data, blockchain and others.

These are exciting times as we move close to a vaccine, and for a bunch of tech geeks, equally exciting to think about the digital transformation at work here and all the technology drivers involved in making a worldwide vaccine initiative a reality.

This week's episode of the Futurum Tech Webcast – Interview Series featured an interview with DataXstream CEO Tim Yates and SAP Global Head of Wholesale Distribution Magnus Meier. DataXstream is an SAP partner that builds solutions to help customers maximize the effectiveness of their ERP infrastructure in order to get the most out of their SAP investments. Moreover, what they're doing is working. DataXstream won the 2020 SAP Pinnacle Award as SAP App Center's Partner of the Year back in April.

In our conversation today, we explored the future of wholesale distribution, including trends in digital transformation within the industry, the current state of the industry in 2020, and how COVID-19 has changed the way wholesalers work.

The Future of Wholesale Distribution

We took a brief look at the wholesale industry as a prelude to the conversation. In the US alone, there are approximately 415,000 wholesale businesses with combined annual sales of about $7.8 trillion. Supply chain visibility and order complexity challenges plague these companies and, at a time when customers have more choices than ever and expect top-notch customer service, wholesalers that don't prioritize fixing these issues won't survive. This is the problem that Tim, Magnus and their teams at DataXstream and SAP are trying to solve.

Our conversation was a wide-ranging one, including discussion of the following:

• Common challenges facing wholesale distributors and whether COVID-19 has made these challenges worse
• An understanding of the complexities in order and inventory management
• The possible technology solutions that wholesalers are turning to in order to ease their order and inventory management problems, including a look into OMS+, the order management system from DataXstream
• What successful customers have done to shorten time to value in order to maximize ROI when investing in software solutions
• A few customer use cases that explore how SAP and DataXstream customers have been able to meet their challenges head on by using OMS+

In today's fast-paced, data-driven, customer-centric business climate, it's easy to understand how a wholesaler could benefit from a solution that has the ability to save time, increase productivity, and drastically improve the customer experience. OMS+ does just that. Our team at Futurum Research had an opportunity to evaluate the OMS+ software solution recently. We broke down the key benefits for wholesalers and why it is a good software investment. You can check that out here. OMS+ is currently available on SAP App Center.

We wrapped up our conversation with a discussion about what's next for wholesalers. Tim and Magnus brought a wealth of knowledge to the conversation and it's one you don't want to miss.

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, I'm joined by my colleagues here at Futurum Research, Olivier Blanchard and Ron Westfall for a conversation around the battle for DoD 5G and how, and why, that's flaring up, and a look at what's ahead.

DoD Use Cases for 5G are Broad

We discussed the fact that DoD use cases for 5G are broad, and it's not just about secure cellphone communications. These use cases include things like:

• AR/VR training for mission planning and operations
• Increasing efficiencies and strength of transshipments
• Smart warehousing
• Distributed command and control using 5G to assist in air, space, and cyberspace lethality
• The ability to allow Air Force radar systems to dynamically share spectrum with commercial 5G users

DoD Contract Awards are Vast – and Growing

Olivier noted that the DoD has already awarded some $600 million in contracts to a dozen companies, including AT&T, Nokia, and Ericsson, to develop a half a dozen 5G testbeds across the United States. AT&T is providing connectivity at three facilities and we discussed some additional projects currently underway, including one at Naval Base San Diego and one at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.

Our conversation included the fight for 5G midband real estate, which falls under the category of "unlicensed spectrum," and all that's involved there.

We discussed the Beat China for 5G Act, which would require the FCC to auction the band by December 2021, around which there are competing amps. One is the "business as usual" camp, which supports having the FCC auction off the band per the Beat China for 5G Act and the other supports having the DoD retain control of the band but lease it to commercial operators in the "wholesale" model.

Our discussion turned to the Request for Information on Defense Spectrum Sharing issued by the DoD on September 18th 2020 and the issues of spectrum sharing at play here.

We also discussed Rivada, one of the companies proposing the leasing of the DoD tech infrastructure to a private corporation and a free market approach to next gen 5G networks. Rivada is a US-based communications tech business financially backed by Peter Thiel, Karl Rove, and other prominent Republicans, which is partly why the discussion around this topic is particularly relevant as one administration eventually transitions to another. It's important to note here, and our discussion revolved around this, that this exploration on the part of the DoD is about 5G Dynamic Spectrum Sharing capabilities, not a nationwide 5G network.

Ron walked us through Open RAN technology, which introduces new U.S.-based competitors like Mavenir, Altiostar, and Parallel Wireless into the 5G competitive and ecosystem mix, and which are an alternative to Huawei, ZTE, Ericsson, and Nokia, all of whom have traditional RAN models.

It was one of many discussions our team here at Futurum Research will have about 5G and what's ahead. We know that geopolitical concerns related to national security can (and will) quickly shift as 5G technology rapidly evolves — and we'll be there leading the discussion.

This episode of the Futurum Tech Podcast - Interview Series is the tenth and final installment of our Intelligent Enterprise Industry Series — done in partnership with SAP. I welcomed Dr. Betty Moon, an executive advisor for the banking and capital markets industry at SAP to discuss how she is working with enterprise organizations during this time of turmoil to further their intelligent enterprise story. are helping organizations focus on furthering their intelligent enterprise story.

The Interconnected Bank

SAP recently partnered with Oxford Economics to conduct a research study to identify how an interconnected mindset impacts organizations. Banks and other financial institutions are no stranger to disruption. FinTech, new startups, digital payment systems, and 24-hour customer service demands were on everyone's radar well before the pandemic hit. Many organizations were making steady progress with their transformations and were proactively dealing with the changes, but there are still areas that can be improved. This study includes findings from 3,000 senior executives, including 300 from the banking sector, and covered the challenges, opportunities and current state of the industry.

My conversation with Betty revolved around the following:

• The biggest changes banks and other financial institutions have experienced in 2020 as a result of COVID-19 disruptions
• New ways banks are digitizing their businesses to meet rapidly changing consumer demands
• The technology investments that are bringing banks the most value
• What the banks that haven't shifted to digital need to do now to speed their digital transformations
• Why Systems Thinking is making a difference for leading banks

Betty and I explored some of the findings of the Oxford Economics report: The Interconnected Bank that will have a big impact on the future. We only explored a few topics in the report and there's so much more to it. If you're interested in a comprehensive view of the subject download The Oxford Economics report here.

This episode of the Futurum Tech Podcast - Interview Series is the ninth installment of our Intelligent Enterprise Industry Series — done in partnership with SAP. I welcomed Paul Larson and John Buckley, executive advisors for the consumer products industry at SAP to discuss how they are helping organizations focus on furthering their intelligent enterprise story.

The Interconnected Consumer Products Company

SAP recently partnered with Oxford Economics to conduct a research study to identify how an interconnected mindset impacts organizations. It also covers the industry's progress to date. Consumer products companies have made a lot of progress in digital transformation but still have several areas to work on including collaboration, data-sharing, and talent management. The report includes findings from 3,000 senior executives, including 300 from the consumer goods sector.

My conversation with Paul and John revolved around the following:

• How the consumer products industry is doing in 2020 and the effects COVID-19 has had on companies.
• The different ways executives are using systems thinking to break down silos.
• How organizations within the consumer products industry are using an integrated approach to reduce costs and improve speed.
• The impact talent has had on companies looking to improve digital transformation initiatives.
• How companies are able to get the most out of their data.
• The technology investments consumer products companies are making to spur digital transformation.

Paul, John and I explored some of the findings of the Oxford Economics report: The Interconnected Consumer Products Company that will have a big impact on the future. We only explored a few topics in the report and there's so much more to it. If you're interested in a comprehensive view of the subject download The Oxford Economics report here.

This episode of the Futurum Tech Podcast - Interview Series is the eighth installment of our Intelligent Enterprise Industry Series — done in partnership with SAP. I welcomed Lance Senoyuit, an executive advisor for the financial services industry at SAP to discuss how he is helping organizations focus on furthering their intelligent enterprise story.

The Interconnected Insurer

SAP recently partnered with Oxford Economics to conduct a research study to identify how an interconnected mindset impacts organizations. It also covers the industry's progress to date, along with challenges, benefits, and best practices that are facing the insurance industry. The report includes findings from 3,000 senior executives, including 300 from the insurance sector.

My conversation with Lance revolved around the following:

• How the insurance industry is doing in 2020 as a result of the pandemic.
• The digital transformation initiatives organizations in the insurance industry are undertaking.
• How organizations within the insurance industry are innovating a mostly stagnant industry.
• Ways insurance companies are approaching recruiting and retaining talent.
• The data silos that currently exist in the industry and how the leading organizations are eliminating them.
• The landscape of insurance partnerships.

Lance and I explored some of the findings of the Oxford Economics report: The Interconnected Insurer that will have a big impact on the future. We only explored a few topics in the report and there's so much more to it. If you're interested in a comprehensive view of the subject download The Oxford Economics report on the Interconnected Insurance sector here.

It's been a roller coaster of a week in the U.S., with an election on Tuesday that we figured would be a nail biter. A lot of things came into play — pollsters getting it wrong, social media insanity and propaganda were commonplace, and the importance of data and analytics for projections has never been more important. On this episode of the Futurum Tech Webcast, I'm joined by my colleagues and fellow analysts Olivier Blanchard and Ron Westfall as we take a look at what went down, what we saw from an analysts' point of view as well as a look at the impact of the election on the market this past week.

We explored the following:

• Voting laws are complicated, and the reasons that we are, as expected, waiting for results even though that's frustrating.
• Election security and voter trust in the system
• What the Department of Defense did this time around to combat cyberattacks
• The role of the USPS in all the uncertainty around the election
• The impact of data on polling, messaging, targeting, and on vote count projections
• How AI models underperformed
• And what happened with the US stock market and why

In summary, it's been an interesting week.

Find us over at Futurum Research https://futurumresearch.com

This episode of the Futurum Tech Podcast - Interview Series is the seventh installment of our newly launched Intelligent Enterprise Industry Series — done in partnership with SAP — where I will be speaking with advisors and executives across ten different industries on how they are focusing on furthering their intelligent enterprise story. I'm excited to welcome Anthony Sabatini, an executive advisor for the utilities industry at SAP.

The Interconnected Utilities Sector

SAP recently partnered with Oxford Economics to conduct a research study to learn how executives from around the world are managing end-to-end processes, business networks, and talent recruitment to support strategic goals amid rising levels of uncertainty. The report includes findings from 3,000 senior executives, including 300 from the utilities sector.

My conversation with Anthony revolved around the following:

• The primary demands utility companies are responding to.
• How the utility industry is shifting to a customer-centric model.
• The changes that companies are making to meet the new demand — both internally and externally — for greater personalization and ease of use.
• How companies in the utilities industry are investing more in employees.
• The new investments, including in technology, that the utilities industry is making to deal with challenges.
• The impact these changes are having on the culture of utilities companies.

Anthony and I explored some of the findings of Beyond Efficiency: How the Utilities Industry Leverages Systems Thinking, but I know we only scratched the surface. If you're interested in a comprehensive overview of the subject download The Oxford Economics report on the Interconnected Utilities Industry here.

I think we'll all agree that a global pandemic has permanently changed many aspects of how businesses work, and perhaps none more than the operation of contact centers. The reality is, today more than ever, that contact centers play an outsized role in business operations. That's true whether you're a consumer or a manager charged with leading contact center operations — contact centers are the lifeblood of a business. Contact centers are are how customers get taken care of and how business gets done. And with work from home looking as though that's going to stay around for a while, taking a look at contact center operations and figuring out how to maximize efficiencies for both employees and consumers is, well, important.

There's a challenge though, and businesses the world over are feeling this. You might say that's exactly why I decided to bring this group of smart people together and tackle this topic as part of our Futurum Tech Webcast Interview Series shows.

The Cloudification of the Contact Center — The Smart Path Forward

While contact centers are without question important to business operations, in many instances, they are problematic. How so? With roughly 90 percent of call centers still using on-premise technologies, organizations have been forced to rethink how they continue to provide high levels of customer service, while still allowing their employees to safely work from home. And this topic, the difference between cloud-based contact centers and on-prem ones, exploring cloud migration, and how to do that successfully (and quickly) is exactly what we're focused on in this conversation today.

I'm joined by Jeff Nicholson, Vice President of CRM at Pegasystems, Jon Gilman, CEO of Clear Software, and Brandon Knight, Vice President of Contact Center Practice at Telarus to discuss why it is critical that organizations migrate contact center functions to the cloud, how to migrate, and some of the obstacles these organizations may face along the way — and how to get through those. Our conversation included:

• An exploration of the differences between cloud-based contact centers and on-premise ones
• The challenges customers are facing during their migrations and some of the unexpected successes they've encountered along the way
• How moving on-premise ERP systems to the cloud fits into the context of cloud-enabling the contact center
• A realistic look at the time it will likely take for full cloud migration
• The 'secret sauce' to success of cloud migration
• Real-world case studies from clients of Pega, Clear Software, and Telarus

This episode of the Futurum Tech Podcast - Interview Series is the sixth installment of our newly launched Intelligent Enterprise Industry Series — done in partnership with SAP — where I will be speaking with advisors and executives across ten different industries on how they are focusing on furthering their intelligent enterprise story. I'm excited to welcome Maria Mizell, an executive advisor for the public sector industry at SAP.

The Interconnected Public Sector

SAP recently partnered with Oxford Economics to conduct a research study to identify how an interconnected mindset can impact management as organizations attempt to navigate times of uncertainty, especially now during the COVID-19 pandemic. The report includes findings from 3,000 senior executives, including 300 from the public sector.

My conversation with Maria revolved around the following:

• The state of government today in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• How many government organizations rely on outdated ways of working.
• How interconnectedness is impacting the effectiveness of these organizations.
• The changes we are seeing governments make in regards to interactions with citizens.
• The technologies that are enabling better citizen interactions at every level of government.
• The impact of the millennial workforce on the public sector.

Maria and I explored some of the findings of The Public Sector Transformation Imperative report, but I know we only scratched the surface. If you're interested in a comprehensive overview of the subject download The Oxford Economics report on the Interconnected Public Sector here.