Cloud Wars Live with Bob Evans

Road to Oracle CloudWorld | CloudWorld Preview The Big ThemesAI capabilities: Customers will receive over 50 artificial intelligence (AI) use cases in Oracle applications including customer experience (CX), human capital management (HCM), and finance. AI can improve business processes and decision-making. Data quality and security are important for effective AI implementation.Business processes flow: Technology and business processes are evolving, shifting from traditional distinctions between front office and back office to a more integrated, end-to-end approach.What today’s talent wants: Employees not only seek job satisfaction but also expect opportunities for personal and career growth. Oracle recognizes this and has innovated within its HCM applications to meet these expectations.The Big Quote: “The employee base that’s coming in now . . . not only want to be happy, but their expectations as far as the company’s investment in terms of their own career growth and their own personal growth is just increasing . . . and between Oracle ME, Oracle Grow, and Celebrate within our HCM applications, while we do core HR and core payroll and core benefits, that’s where the innovation has been.” Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Episode 32 | Optimize Your CloudWorld ExperienceThe Big ThemesExplore new technology. Identify areas of interest and focus your attention on them. Engage with fellow attendees to learn from their experiences and gain real-world perspectives on the technologies and partners showcased at the event. Take notes efficiently to capture important insights and share them with your team promptly.Partner selection. CloudWorld has upwards of close to 200 partners in the expo hall. It’s a very efficient way to meet potential partners to assist you with implementation. Go to the expo hall and use simple questions while interviewing as many partners as you can.Practical preparation. Opt for comfortable attire and shoes suitable for long walks as Oracle CloudWorld and other large events can involve a significant amount of walking. It’s appropriate to go business casual. Make sure to have a way in which you can easily take notes. Bonnie uses her iPad.The Big Quote: "Leave home your daily grind. It is tempting, and I'm speaking to myself here, to be checking emails throughout the event and be like, 'oh, my gosh, I just got to do this, I've got to do this, I've got to take this conference call.' This gives you the opportunity to be present. You have your out-of-office on, and people don't expect you to send emails back immediately, hopefully. Use this opportunity to really get deep, be present." Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Road to Oracle CloudWorld | Cloud Giants UniteThe Big ThemesHistoric multi-cloud partnership: Oracle and Microsoft's recent meeting marks a historic collaboration in the world of cloud computing. Larry Ellison was on the Microsoft campus for the first time, appearing with Satya Nadella. This partnership signifies the culmination of years of effort in promoting multi-cloud tools, making it easier for customers to utilize both companies' services.Interconnected clouds: The integration between Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) and Azure allows for a more seamless experience and eliminates the barriers customers face when dealing with different vendors. Customers can now use Oracle database services just like any other Azure service, simplifying operations and preserving existing commitments.Looking toward CloudWorld: The Oracle and Microsoft partnership announcement couldn't have come at a better time, setting the stage for significant discussions and presentations during CloudWorld, with real-life demos and details about different regions. Attendees can also expect a focus on generative AI at the event.The Big Quote: " . . . essentially, you're able to now use Oracle database services, just like you would any other Azure service. Whether it's a database service or a past service, the experience is no different. The great news is that you can use your Microsoft commitments, but you can also use all of your existing Oracle programs, whether it's your ULA [unlimited license agreement], your support rewards, [or] BYOL [bring your own license]." Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Episode 39 |Gen AI’s Impact on BusinessThe Big Themes:The focus of technology buyers. Buyers are paying attention to Gen AI’s potential to transform a business. There are going to be increasingly more enhanced, or entirely new, roles, like prompt engineer, to help companies harness the power of new technology.Getting off the sidelines. Technology buyers and other executives who did not adopt technologies like the PC, internet, and mobile fast enough were left behind. Tony remembers people not understanding why they needed PCs when they had typewriters and thinks those not diving into Gen AI may be making a similar mistake.Turbocharged co-creation. Generative AI will enable the production of more exciting software tools and applications by creating new opportunities for collaborative platforms and leveling the playing field for contributors from varied technical backgrounds. Sponsored by NetSuiteThe Big Quote: “Gen AI has the opportunity to help us create collaborative platforms for co-creation, that will have capabilities that are just simply mindblowing. Because again, go back to, you don’t have to always be somebody who knows how to code, you don’t have to be somebody that knows how to do data analytics at a supercomputer level, right? The power of these tools will allow that.” Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Banking's move to the cloud: The banking industry is shifting from building and maintaining on-premise infrastructure to adopting cloud services to improve efficiency and agility. The shift is gradual due to the responsibility of safeguarding data and complying with stringent regulatory requirements.Global regulations: Navigating diverse global privacy laws and regulatory requirements remains one of the industry's biggest challenges. There are few common positions, although regional agreements are a step in the right direction. There's an example of a customer who had to talk to more than 50 different regulators while implementing an SAP suite.AI and machine learning: Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are being applied in banking processes to improve efficiency, predict contract consumption, and provide guided buying procedures. The Big Quote: ". . .cloud is not like the old managed services where you took your mess, and you made it someone else's problem to execute. It really does require you to understand what you have today [and] where you want to go. And you have to be prepared for that. Because otherwise, it really could be a very unpleasant deployment . . . we avoided a lot of that by being prepared and taking our time and not rushing." Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Episode 31 | Keeping Customers Happy Today’s customer success: Customer success is not just about selling products but ensuring that customers achieve value and satisfaction from their purchases. In terms of software implementation, early stages are critical for customer success, with the first year being defining.Evolving sales team: Sales teams are involved longer than they have been in the past. Having the same salesperson throughout a multiyear contract is ideal. The emphasis on customer success and customer satisfaction is important for sales teams because it’s another selling point for them. Reviews and other measurements are helpful for sales teams.Clear communication and expectations: Misaligned expectations can lead to project failures and dissatisfaction. Clear communication between customers, partners, and vendors is necessary to avoid misunderstandings and to ensure that everyone is on the same page regarding goals, timelines, and outcomes.The Big Quote: “Customers don’t want to be marketed to anymore. They want to hear realistic stories, they want to hear candor from clients who have gone through the experience . . . authenticity is so important.”Stream the audio version of this episode: Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Innovating InsuranceThe Big Themes:Cloud adoption challenges and benefits: Cloud adoption has been relatively slow because insurance companies and financial institutions tend to act conservatively, but now it's picking up. A core cloud enabler has been the need to standardize and centralize systems in order to increase speed, bring down costs, and bring in more data quality and transparency.Generative AI integration: GenAI is the next step after the movement from on-prem to cloud is completed, although some companies have already begun integrating it. Gen AI, along with the cloud, will dramatically change insurance so that ten years from now the public might not even recognize where insurance is bought from or where it is included.Regulatory compliance and localized requirements: Global companies like Sun Life must make sure they meet many different countries' regulations and requirements. Regulations can go beyond countries and regions and come from different companies or governments. Regulatory compliance for insurance often necessitates data centers in specific countries. The Big Quote: "The objective is to further simplify, standardize, in the end, the core systems, because only by doing that [will] companies . . . be able to go into a public cloud now. The end goal ... is not the private cloud. It's the public cloud, and in the public cloud, standardization is a key topic. And in the public cloud, SAP is offering [the] right services." Visit Cloud Wars for more.

We’re on the Road to Oracle CloudWorld. From September 18-21 in Las Vegas, Oracle will bring together its customers and partners. Acceleration Economy’s Road to Oracle CloudWorld series will feature Oracle execs previewing what’s to come at this year’s conference. For this podcast, I spoke with Peter Jazowick, CIO, Specialized Bicycle Components, who will be a featured speaker at the event. Road to Oracle CloudWorld | A Cloud-First TransitionThe Big ThemesPandemic innovation opportunities: Specialized Bicycle Components experienced accelerated sales and a difficult supply chain during the pandemic. It was a chance for Oracle to be utilized as a strategic partner. The company transitioned to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) and had a cloud-first approach as it tackled its issues. Reliability and scalability of platforms became paramount to support and enable the business.Technical debt focus: Technical debt was addressed in part by investing in technology and partnering with Oracle’s Customer Success Services (CSS), which led to accelerated project delivery and increased support satisfaction.Co-creation with business: Specialized’s global technology 2027 strategy has a focused theme on co-creation with business. Business and technology leadership will work together and co-create to have alignment and accountability across the board. Jazowick sees this as critical in order to build morale and increase delivery across the company.The Big Quote: ” . . . subscription-based models or pay-as-you-go models, those are all opportunities that we didn’t have pre-pandemic . . . And as we . . . brought in and transformed our B2B platform with CX [customer experience] commerce with Oracle, and really drove growth with the partnership with our retailers, that allowed us to look at those other business models and [have] technology empower and accelerate those areas. “ Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Road to Oracle CloudWorld | IAC’s Oracle JourneyThe Big ThemesIAC’s use of Oracle Technology: IAC, a conglomerate of diverse companies, employs various Oracle products to streamline transactions, accounting, finance, and reporting, ensuring accuracy and efficiency. It historically used third-party hosting facilities but has migrated everything to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI).Innovation and growth: Oracle applications provide tools for intricate revenue and lease accounting rules, negating the need for third-party systems. This approach offers better control, compliance, and cost-effectiveness and promotes innovation and growth.Enhancing Employee and Customer Experiences: All end users, including employees, should be considered customers. Oracle’s technology enables smoother experiences by improving backend systems. An example is given of a significant reduction in processing time for a specific report.The Big Quote: “So, with various 606 revenue rules, with various 842 lease accounting rules, the Oracle applications allow us to expand and utilize the functionality that’s inherently available in the applications, therefore allowing us not to bolt in any third-party applications, which is hugely beneficial for multiple reasons. One being, you have one less system to manage; two, you have better compliance and controls over the data; [and] three, it’s cost-efficient, as well.”Want to be part of the action at Oracle CloudWorld 2023?Get an Oracle pass to join in person. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Episode 29 | Don't Miss the ParadeNote: this episode contains explicit language.The Big Themes:Carrots and sticks: Maintaining a balance between rewards and consequences is important for society. The absence of effective deterrents, such as appropriate punishment, can lead to a decline in individual responsibility and social cohesion.Shift in VC investment behavior: There's a strong trend towards investing in AI-related companies. Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) has gripped the VC community, driving many to invest in AI startups to avoid being left behind. This AI frenzy can lead to both promising innovations and potential investment bubbles.Opportunity and awareness gap: While many acknowledge the potential of AI, a substantial number of individuals, including smart and established players, remain passive or ignorant about the ongoing technological revolution.The Big Quote: "We're at the very front end of AI, and it reminds me of [an] old expression . . . there's three kinds of people. There's the people in the parade, and there's the people who watch the parade, and there's the people who said, 'Oh, is there a parade?' And there's a stunning number of people who don't even know there's a parade right now . . . that's where the opportunity is." Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Road to Oracle CloudWorld | Shifting CX Dynamics The Big ThemesAttendee conference goals: A conference shouldn’t only be a product showcase. At CloudWorld, attendees can expect not only to hear about new features and products but also to network with peers and Oracle leaders and learn about what’s changing for CX practitioners.Generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) and CX transformation: Gen AI is having a huge impact on the CX domain. Many customer processes benefit from large language models and innovating those into Fusion Cloud applications. Gen AI leans heavily into Fusion Cloud’s push to build truly end-to-end flowsRise of the subscription business model: The subscription business model is becoming the new normal, and the Fusion Applications Suite enables it in the back-office and the front-office. Salespeople must readjust their behaviors and processes to handle subscriptions effectively.The Big Quote: “There are lots of companies that were not born in the cloud and obviously have worked for a long time with [a] . . . non-recurring revenue model, a one-time interaction between a customer and a vendor . . . That’s changing dramatically in every industry . . . customers want to subscribe to usage.” Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Road to Oracle CloudWorld | Databases with Jenny Tsai-SmithThe Big ThemesInclusive to all customers: After last year, when some on-premises customers mistakenly thought that the conference might be geared exclusively to cloud customers, Oracle is using the name "Database World at CloudWorld" to make it clear that cloud, hybrid, and on-premises Oracle Database customers are all included.AI integrated into Oracle Database: Oracle has incorporated artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) into its database offerings. The company already supports over 30 ML algorithms within the database, enabling data processing and training without moving data outside. Graph analytics and real-time graph views are among the upcoming AI-related features.Enhancements in Exadata and developer support: Oracle's Exadata product line, in collaboration with AMD, brings enhanced performance through increased memory, processing speed, and storage. The company is committed to supporting a variety of customer configurations, acknowledging the transition to the cloud while ensuring on-premises options. Developers are also a focus, with a developer-friendly release approach, tools to increase productivity, and discussions about features like Kubernetes support and data processing enhancements. The Big Quote: " . . we're going back to those some roots, if you will, and looking at what are things that developers really care about? Maybe they're even suffering through. And how can we solve those kinds of problems for them?" Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Episode 21 | Thriving in ChangeThe Big Themes:The power of curiosity: Follow your curiosity. It may not be readily apparent how one activity will connect to another, but you might find unexpected synergy. Christian had no idea that his interest in high-tech lavender farming would actually help his consulting business, but it has deepened his knowledge of ag-tech.Fear has multiple aspects: Fear is ever-present, but can be overcome. Fear may obviate curiosity and keep you on the known path. One aspect of fear is being worried about what other people will think, but this shouldn't dictate your behavior.The courage to say no: To say yes to something, you have to say no to something else. Companies dislike saying no, but it's essential to have the courage to say no to what's not working.The Big Quote: “We should embrace our curiosity, we should satisfy our curiosity, we should feel free to explore, to experience, to learn, and to understand. And that is about people. That is about ideas, that is about practices, that is about processes, that is about businesses, it's about relationships, it's about love... we should embrace our curiosity and never ever, ever... be ashamed of it or... try and squelch it." Visit Cloud Wars for more.

The Big Themes:The current era could be compared to 1995, when there was a lot of hype around the internet. John Doerr said then that the internet was underhyped. Today, AI might be underhyped.In business, there are two types of people, those who are the stewards of the status quo and those who work on the exponential different. The exponential different break the status quo and create new things. Now is the time for the exponential different: an example is Larry Ellison and Oracle.The traditional knowledge worker is in a lot of trouble due to AI, but there are new avenues available to them. They must become creators.The Big Quote: "If a robot can do your job, you need a new job . . . [as someone] who creates net new thinking, creates net new knowledge, who takes existing knowledge, stands on its shoulders, and bring[s] it forward." Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Episode 46 | The Profile of the Modern CIOThe Big Themes:Co-creation and business relationships: The relationship between an IT function and a non-IT organization has to build on a foundation of co-creation; IT functions must engage with the business.CIOs are a part of the business: Gone are the days when the role of a CIO was to simply "support the business." The modern CIO is now part of the business and must build parallel connections across all business functions. "We engage at the bottom and we engage at the top," says Wayne.The mindset of the modern CIO: Wayne says he looks for two things in a CIO: ability to listen and curiosity. With the change in the tech landscape and business world, CIOs must not miss an opportunity to learn. Similarly, "if IT folks are talking about technology, versus listening for the business problems, the business opportunities, we're not getting the full value from IT."The Big Quote: "If the CIO cannot sit on the earnings call and explain the earnings to an analyst, if they can't go on a sales call and help the sales department close the deal, if they don't know how we make our money, if they don't know how we sell, and bill, and create and deliver and support, then the modern CIO is disconnected. And that doesn't work. You've got to be in the business. And I've got to be able to serve as a proxy for any other business executive, just like I'd like them to be able to serve as my proxy." Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Episode 30 | Customer Learnings on Software Implementation ProjectsThe Big Themes:Oracle: As it relates to Oracle, customers have expressed on ravenintel.com that a particular challenge was around user acceptance testing (UAT). Specifically, one customer noted to "ensure ample time is built in for UAT and assume there will be errors and fixes that need to be done." Another customer noted that "it's essential that all key stakeholders at the operations level are included."SAP: A top challenge shared by customers who have implemented SAP software is to "challenge assumptions, and do not rely solely on your partner or vendors solution...don't assume the partner always has the right answer." It's critical that if customers don't feel confident in the assumptions being presented by the partner, they challenge it.Workday: Cusotmers have expressed that relating to implementing Workday software, a seasoned project manager is mandatory. From a project perspective, it is critical to have a system integrator (SI) involved who has "earned their stripes" with this specific implementation. Additionally, the leading SI/project manager should have the correct industry expertise, too.The Big Quote: "I think with these three softwares, the nature of them is that they offer a broad set of solutions. So we're not just looking at, you know, a single, you know, stream of implementation. Typically, these implementations are global rollouts with multiple different, you know, product functions, whether it's HCM, financials, supply chain, and things like that. So these are complex implementations that we're evaluating. They're not the, you know, 30 days up and running sort of rapid implementations that smaller software packages have. So I think there's a lot of lessons learned that we can glean from these." Visit Cloud Wars for more.

S/4HANA is a force multiplier: S/4HANA is part of the "next generation of ERP," meaning its intelligent, sustainable, and collaborative. The product is truly a "model A suite of applications," leveraging the best ERP systems have to offer. The company ensures the time-to-market for the product is quick, offers great value to users, and is an overall end-to-end product for customers.Industry-specific business networks: With the S/4HANA Cloud, SAP is able to go beyond helping individual companies adopt industry-specific solutions, and rather, extend these capabilities across entire industries. The notion of connectivity that is embedded in the product makes it a differentiator.Generative AI to enhance productivity: SAP systems are used for the most critical business decisions. When integrating artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI into its products, SAP offers the highest level of trust, responsibility, and reliability in its outcomes. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

How Oracle Brings Horizontal, Vertical Solutions to Bear for Financial Services IndustryThe Big Themes:Shifting needs for financial services companies: Generational shifts are taking place, explains Sicilia. Traditionally, banks have "built a lot of it themselves on top of bespoke systems." As such, it can become expensive and "non-elastic" to maintain these systems. The combination of Oracle's ERP and its core banking system is something that big banks are leaning into very heavily.Fusing horizontal and vertical capabilities into one: In order to provide customers with the right "mix," Oracle is combining its vertical and horizontal capabilities into one for healthcare and financial services customers. "I think in every regulated industry that we operate in, you'll see a similar pattern follow, where we add vertical-specific technology that complements our vertical operating technologies into the horizontal applications as well," notes Sicilia.Legacy companies in the "New World": Oracle, considered a legacy company, is able to "play in the modern, New World," by bringing the best of traditional technology abilities forward along with its industry expertise. By applying cloud technologies, and a greater means of digital capabilities, Oracle is contributing a new level of intimacy between customers, partners, and businesses.The Big Quote: "One of the ones that makes a tremendous amount of sense that we're seeing great traction, and is the combination of ERP, plus our core banking system, right? I mean, really, if you think about ERP as the center of what you do in business, no matter what the business is that how do you integrate that with a vertical application, you know, in different verticals, or different touch points, but that core general ledger, right, that core ERP, and how do you integrate with that... you know, that's where we're seeing big banks lean in very heavily. And what they like is the fact that we can bring an entire solution to the market, right? Because what happens is that integration makes most sense, right? But if you have too many providers involved, the integration ends up becoming the problem for the customer... so that's been, that's been a pretty popular topic among our large banking customers, this integration between our core banking systems, cloud systems, and fusion ERP." Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Innovation: Upwards of 70% of IT spend is dedicated to compliance, leaving only 30% of the budget for innovation. This is a tremendous drag on productivity, as organizations and business leaders want to be innovating. IBM partners with over 70 financial institutions to "put the industry muscle together."Global Financial Services Councils: In an effort to help mitigate the complexities associated with regulatory and compliance guidance which varies across both regions and industries, IBM has established a global Financial Services Council to help mitigate institutional risks and spread knowledge.The ripple effect: More room for innovation feeds back into the cycle, freeing up resources, expanding areas of business, and growing the customer base. The core framework that IBM is putting forth for financial services institutions enables users to see the "long-term value and benefit from all of this."The Big Quote: "So it's one thing to say you're compliant. It's another thing to be able to say 'I can prove I'm compliant.' And what IBM offers in this framework is IBM can work with regulators and compliance authorities and auditors in all of the jurisdictions and demonstrate that their system offers a compliant framework. Now all I have to do is prove I didn't break the framework, and a whole lot of my audit compliance and regulatory expenses just went down. So it's a tremendous saving for me, and for lots of people within the financial services world." Visit Cloud Wars for more.

VCU Health and Workday | A Unified PlatformThe Big Themes:Process improvements: In order to enable healthcare workers to perform to the highest degree of their license, VCU Health recognizes the importance of technologies that enable process improvements. By working with Workday, VCU Health is able to optimize its resources, and people, by leveraging Workday systems and technologies to the greatest degree.Cultural changes brought on by Workday: Change has taken place at VCU Health as a result of Workday technologies. Now, employees have access to information that enables them to do their jobs quicker, and more efficiently.Consolidating systems for better outcomes: The interconnectedness of Workday systems and technologies allows its partners and customers to harness a unified platform. Allen explains that this notion is something that led VCU Health to Workday, in addition to thinking about the future of technology.The Big Quote: "We never want to operate in a crisis mode where we don't need to. And so when we looked at Workday, we really appreciated the notion of it being a power of one, and it being a single system that worked together that worked. And so if we made a change in one, in the HR, it flowed through the system, and then we could manage it better. So that's really what brought us to Workday, is really being able to leverage that power of one, and really being able to think about the future of the technology. Workday is built in the cloud, that's where it was born, essentially. And so being able to leverage the technology that's already set in the technology that we use today, versus an older system using a different type of technology, we really are looking to really move the organization forward, not only with the technology, but with our culture and adopting change and really helping to be agile so that we can be better resources of our healthcare system." Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Episode 45 | Infrastructure, Software, ApplicationsThe Big Themes:CIO "Lego blocks": CIOs in tech are looking for vendors to provide the "building blocks" that are necessary to develop applications. When CIOs approach the board, they are not looking to describe servers and storage, but rather, systems, or applications.Vendors compete on the strength of their products: Wayne praises Oracle for competing with the strength of its product(s). The company is not looking to lock customers in. He says that, as a customer, it makes him feel like [Oracle] has less to hide.Choices are evolving for customers: Customers are now faced with selecting a cloud provider whose cloud philosophy resonates with the type of work they are trying to do. Wayne and Bob explore various cloud vendors and their differentiated offerings. The Big Quote: "We're willing to pay for differentiated vertical software that solves our problem quicker. Companies don't mind making an investment in a quality product. What we've had to do up to now, as I say, "buy the Lego blocks and assemble our own solution." There are people who think that's great. I don't think manufacturing companies, supply chain companies, retail companies, hospitals should be in the software business. I think they should be in the business that's on the nameplate on the door. And so as a CIO, I'm encouraging vendors to give me more solutions that I can configure rather than customize, and that either fit together with other products in their app store or their infrastructure space, their partner space, or they just work out of the box from the vendor. Because then I do less integration and more solution. And that's what I think I want to do as a 21st-century CIO." Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Episode 20 | Combatting Declining ProductivityThe Big Themes:Declining rates of productivity: For five consecutive quarters, productivity rates in the United States have been steadily declining. In the most recent quarter, it was down nearly 3%. "It's very clear worker productivity is in jeopardy, or so we say as corporations."Work from home may be a factor: Employers are facing economic and market pressures. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman claimed that remote work styles are contributing to the lack of productivity. Is this the case?Culture and engagement: What creates increased levels of productivity? Christian suggest that deep engagement and investment in employees can combat declining productivity rates. Bob and Christian emphasis the importance of culture, and note the ways in which a strong culture in the workforce can drive empathy, and yield better results.The Big Quote: "The number one thing that drives productivity is engagement. But why do we not have engagement? Now think about this... why do we not have engagement? Well, why don't we just back up a bit and say, what drives good engagement? Well, if you were to look at some of the studies out there, some of the studies would say, maybe there's three, four things, you know, that really drive engagement. One is a top-down dedicated effort to grow and develop your workforce. Hmm, that's interesting. So you, you're growing and developing, that's not paying a paycheck. That's not growing and developing, everybody that thinks you're doing that. This means developing, you are investing in time, you're investing money... but I can't do that they're already not productive enough. Oh, okay. You see when we get confused so easily? So one of the factors is invest and develop your people. Oh, here's another one. This is really weird. Teach your managers and leaders to manage and lead." Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Episode 29 | Key Takeaways from Oracle Summits, Customers, PartnersThe Big Themes:Bonnie's lens: When attending analyst events, Bonnie looks for the impact that products and related announcements have on customer experience, and how the technology or software is, or can be, implemented.Market demands for customers: As of late, customers are focused on hiring faster, more effectively, and controlling the cost of labor forces. "That's really top of mind for the entire industry," says Bonnie, in addition to modeling data, demand planning, and supply chain flexibility.Oracle's area of focus: Oracle is both an application and an infrastructure platform, which is one of its competitive strengths. Oracle demonstrates its ability to help customers unify the products it offers in the Oracle suite to engage customers more effectively than individual point solutions.The Big Quote: "While Oracle is still very much a technology company, selling software, their delivery model is moving more toward a consumable services type, repetitive business than it is, you know, the singular software installs of the past. And we saw in some of the, you know, the new product theories and new service bundles that they're proposing in the future, you know, that sort of shift happening. So, you know, I think that that was a really interesting way to kick off the day, sort of the level set things. And, you know, the things that they said, are top of mind for their customers that they're solving for, through their product lines are things like inflation and cost of living, right, this idea of cashflow. Number two, staffing shortages and the cost of labor. That's enormous." Visit Cloud Wars for more.

The Big Themes:Delivering solutions that create agility for the business: Aviatrix handles the compiling of security enforcement into the fabric of the network. All a customer needs to do is tell Aviatrix the policy of what they want to do, and Avaiatrix puts it into the CI/CD pipeline.Distributed cloud firewalls are the way: In trying to "fix" network security, distributed cloud firewalls offer a great deal of promise. Competing vendors might disagree, but customers will love it, and many already do.Cost savings and better security: With Aviatrix, customers don't have to decide between cost savings or better security; they reap the benefits of both. Architecturally, distributed cloud firewalls are the way, hence customers flocking to Aviatrix. The Big Quote: "As the CEO, and the business, what do they care about? They care about agility. Why are we moving to the cloud, right? That's why we're moving to the cloud. It's not for cost savings, we all know that. Gonna be more expensive than it was on-prem. The reason we're going, is that, right? Speed to the business. How quickly can I deploy applications to my customers, because that's driving my business? This is a business-led transformation. What's great about what we're doing is it simplifies things, right...We decouple all that Bob. Our system is intelligent, we create simplicity, right? Not manage the complexity, such that you actually don't need to think about the network and how the network deploys that network security. Because we own it end-to-end, we figure out the best way to do that." Visit Cloud Wars for more.

How Workday Applies AI and ML Technologies to Healthcare IndustryThe Big Themes:Patient-centered care: Workday applies AI and ML technologies to deliver on its promise of delivering patient-centered care, by looking closely at past patient records. "Already, we have seen that AI and ML apply to help our diagnosis, to help with automation, to help guide our care recommendations, and so much more," notes Kravitz.Industry-specific capabilities benefiting patients and providers: Workday's industry-specific capabilities are being utilized by over 375 healthcare systems. The same notion can be applied to other industries, too. Workday releases two major system upgrades a year to its industry-specific software.Driving digital innovation agenda: To drive the digital innovation path forward, Workday offers a true enterprise management cloud for healthcare. "And it's the same cloud for all systems, all environments, and all industries," explains Kravitz. "But the Workday platform is built on an intelligent data core that takes security, privacy, compliance, organizational hierarchy and analytics, and business policies into account as the foundation for the dynamic platform." The Big Quote: "The difference from Workday and other companies that have moved to the cloud, is we didn't have an application that was developed for your data center, and then migrate that to the cloud. Ours was built in 2005, and, the idea behind it was to start moving to the cloud, you know, 18 years ago, we decided we're gonna build it in the cloud. So all the intelligent data core and the frameworks were all built-in with the cloud in mind from day one. So I think that's an important factor." Visit Cloud Wars for more.

The Big Themes: Do more with less: Finance is a highly volatile business environment where things are rapidly evolving. As a result, finance teams are challenged to work within their current processes, yet still need to respond to ongoing change. Arima proposes that a company should be aligned with its data model, data definitions, business drivers, and hierarchy structure.How Workday Adaptive Planning is changing the conversation: Cross-functional collaboration between Workday's finance and HR teams has enabled data and information to be shared across the entire company. Prior to migrating to Adaptive, teams were siloed as they had independent data models with independent information, creating less-productive conversations.How Adaptive establishes end-to-end digital processes: Arima says there are two ways this happens. First, the tool itself, which is very user-friendly. Secondly, Workday Adaptive Planning enables more users with greater access to the system, delivering actionable insights, connecting "upstream" and "downstream" processes.The Big Quote: "I think the word continuous can sound very daunting, if you really think about it, as you're always planning. We talk about continuous planning a lot at Workday. But the intent is not to be always planning and always adjusting your models. That idea is really to be agile, and to be able to have a plan that can adjust as your business adjusts. And so that's really the spirit behind continuous planning. And it, certainly, it helps to have the tools in place like our Adaptive Planning, and the data model that's aligned to that solid foundation. All of these things really help to build that agility and your planning muscle. And so once you have that capability, it really yields benefits in terms of less manual work." Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Episode 14 | Lost Your Job? Here's What to DoThe Big Themes:Company names and personal networks: Pat suggests that new hires create two lists: one to list companies, and one to list personal networks. This is a simple and effective way to "do your research" and will help guide your job search. "The reality is your network is going to be your biggest avenue" for finding a new job, explains Pat.The importance of emotional EQ: Job candidates must demonstrate their emotional intelligence, personality, and value to a potential employer to differentiate themselves. Mark explains that when new hires possess the correct EQ, hiring managers will look to place the candidate in the company. Emotional EQ has become a bigger focus than what it used to be.Do your homework: Do proper research on the company, come prepared to ask the right questions, and connect with a hiring manager on facts, data, and information that relates to a company. Hiring managers will respond to what you know, and how much effort you put into your application and interview. The Big Quote: "Those of you like me that are introverts, know your facts, connect with the people on data on information on facts. Be knowledgeable about what their company is doing and what their role is, about what they personally have done. You don't have to be an extrovert, you can be an introvert, but people will resonate, will really respond to you, by you having the right knowledge, you know, to be able to ask those questions in the interview, that, to me, it doesn't matter what kind of personality you have. You've got to differentiate yourself... But people will respond to you by what you know, and frankly, how much effort you put into, before you go into the interview cycle or even before you even present your job, your resume, to the offering." Visit Cloud Wars for more.

The Big Themes:Creating room for innovation: Financial services companies spend 60-70% of their IT budgets on compliance, leaving little room for innovation. This is a critical area that the IBM Cloud for Financial Services, a solution that is co-created and co-built with the industry, addresses.Real-time compliance monitoring: IBM offers real-time, constant compliance monitoring to banks and financial institutions, reducing their time to implement a solution to 6-12 weeks, which is significantly faster than what they are used to.Bringing a unified approach forward: IBM supports its Financial Cloud customers with control frameworks and framework mapping, creating a faster deployment and implementation approach.The Big Quote: "I think, with our [IBM's] understanding, and what we now have built with the hybrid cloud approach and the underlying technologies, we really open up that you get the best of all worlds. 100% sure a lot of the banking workload will remain on the mainframe. But you need to have, let's say, part of the workloads most likely in platforms like IBM Cloud for Financial Services, but you still need to manage different providers. So you will always have multi-clouds in your IT shop. With what we are now building, and we've built over the last few years, we basically build a coherent strategy and platform to get the best of, let's say, the traditional mainframe workload and the future." Visit Cloud Wars for more.

The Big Themes:Purpose-built solutions centered on people: Managing resources to deliver for customers can be a challenge for companies with large services organizations. Certinia's solutions are purpose-built, focusing on the people and the service economy business, rather than product ID, which was formerly considered to be the "center of the universe."Synchronous process flows: When looking at process flows, most companies find that they have silos of automation, and the "as quoted" verse "as delivered" aspects generally are not in alignment. "By having a system that runs all the way from opportunity to renewal, we [Certinia] bring those things into alignment with each other and have the "as quoted" and "as delivered" very much in sync with each other," notes Brown.Automation to enhance opportunity: When speaking with service economy workers, it is clear that "low-value work makes them crazy." Automating this work enables service economy workers to do more of what they love, like being in front of customers and providing "intellectual horsepower." Certinia applies automation as a means of optimizing the employee experience, too, and having a "great, enriched career journey." The Big Quote: "We are, kind of, starting a new chapter in our company's history with the rebranding to Certinia... and everything that we've developed up to now is widely increased the aperture of who we are. If you look at it across the spectrum of all those different products, we now are a full end-to-end provider. And hence, Certinia, as our new name. And we think it probably reflects not only the company we are today, it's the company we aspire to be. And so working with the large customers and the mid-tier customers that we have, we listen very carefully to what they need to get certainty in their environment, how to manage the very large and complex services organizations, and ultimately to have success. So we think the rebranding is the next chapter of our history, we think it's a really important thing to do, because it reflects the nature of who we are. But more importantly, we see big things in our future." Visit Cloud Wars for more.

The Big Themes:Be intentional about the use of generative AI: Christian advises that when bringing generative AI into the workforce — or any technology, for that matter — that humans must ensure they remain the "master" and the technology remains the "servant."Consider trust: Christian encourages everyone to "get smarter on these things" but within the context of their companies. Business employees must trust that the leaders of their organizations won't use generative AI technologies to get rid of their jobs.Creative destruction: Christian proposes that there is a whole lot of "creative destruction" that will take place as a result of generative AI getting smarter. "That's the trajectory we are on...we have to be conscious of it," he notes. The Big Quote: " I think there are great challenges ahead. And I think they're fascinating challenges. And I think they're important challenges. And some are going to do well. And a lot are going to do very, very poorly. Let's hope though that for the sake of, you know, the company's colleagues, you know, all over the world, that we start looking at how we run our businesses and employ these really potent technologies in a way that actually gives our employees a fighting chance. Yes, to sort of climb the capability ladder and find their next place in this changing world." Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Episode 44 | How Partners Ecosystems Drive the Acceleration EconomyThe Big Themes:The four types of partners: Value-add re-marketer (VAR), independent software vendor (ISV), implementation support consultants, and co-creation partners. Each of these partner types multiples a businesses ability to deliver.How partners are changing the game: Gone are the days where partners roles are limited to just fulfillment. Now, businesses need partners through every stage of the customer lifecycle "helping build systems that touch every aspect of my business."How do we work better with partners?: As tools become more flexible, the way we engage with partners has dramatically changed. "It's also the business demand is changing our need to implement quickly."The Big Quote: "In the acceleration economy, it's about getting stuff from here to there more quickly, within our four walls, and across of our entire partner ecosystem. And so a vendor, and a co-creator that knows the industry, and has the clout to have people say,' yeah, they probably know what they're doing,' encourages people to then build the connection into them. So I think that's the direction you're gonna see a lot more partnerships go, if the vendors are willing to extend themselves and think 'I'm not just in the software business, I'm in the letting customers use my software more creatively business,' and a customer of theirs steps up and says, 'my secret sauce is not so secret,' not 'I don't want to sell it to other people to help us all improve our business.'" Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Episode 28 | Generative AI and the Impact on Enterprise Software Purcashing, Use, ImplementationThe Big Themes:Extensive experimentation: Bonnie tested the impacts and effectiveness of generative AI around the area of software selection and implementation, prompting the tool to provide scenarios and advice around purchasing and implementing software, from the perspective of a customer.Generative AI as "revolutionary": Generative AI, and tools such as ChatGPT, are revolutionary in the fact that it can organize and synthesize mass amounts of data in a relatively quick timeframe. "Some of the things that I think these LLMs really do significantly well take a lot of random information and net it out into simple bullet points."The "not so good": Generative AI is not comprehensive in terms of its knowledge about customer needs, demands, buying habits, or issues. It is not directionally correct when asked to create a "roadmap" for purchasing and implementing software. Additionally, the data is trained from 2021 and prior.The Big Quote: "AI is also not going to sell your idea internally, or your project internally, and get others on board. We know these projects are successful because of the people who run them, and the effort that gets the commitment of the organization behind it, and stakeholders behind it. AI and robots are not going to do that. So the successful projects can be aided certainly by AI, but it can't be run by them." Visit Cloud Wars for more.

How Workday Adaptive Helps ENMAX with Forecasting CapabilitiesThe Big Themes:Workday Adaptive Planning helps ENMAX discover a single version of the truth: With this software, everyone in the company is working off the same data set and can be used for whatever purpose is necessary.A single view across three applications: ENMAX utilizes Workday Adaptive Planning, Workday HCM, and Workday Financials in congruence, which has removed constraints associated with effective planning.Flexible solutions that empower users: Workday Adaptive Planning can be easily edited or updated and provides users with the information they need, when they need it, to do their jobs effectively.The Big Quote: "Adaptive, that was a real game changer for us, because nobody really questioned the data anymore. There was one source of truth, it didn't matter if you wanted to know what was going to happen next month, or in 2024. You went to the same place, the same version, and everyone edited a single version. So that was really key to us, because now we're able to take all that information disseminated out to the different business areas, and they can use it for whatever purpose they need. The second change was, we have the same characteristics on the data for both our actuals and our plan. And that's one of the benefits of being on Workday for both planning and financials. So the data that's actually reflective of historicals plus board looking looks and feels the same. And so it's a little bit easier to interpret. And so that's been very helpful for us as well." Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Episode 27 | Employee Centric-Culture and the Future of the WorkforceNote: this episode contains explicit language.The Big Themes:Layoffs at Salesforce: Salesforce recently cut about 10% of its entire workforce which suggests a big shift in performance culture. Business leaders are now looking for a culture that is employee-centric and produces tangible results.A choice for listeners to make: How do we have a legendary culture that produces massive results and is a great place to work?Women have gained more jobs than men for four months straight: The Wall Street Journal recently reported that women now hold 49.8% of all non-farm-related jobs. A massive amount of "prime-aged men" aged 25-54, are out of work, leading to a massive hole in the economy.The Big Quote: "What it means is we need to have a conversation. What's the society we want to have? What's the work world we want to have? What's the work culture we want to have? And how do we create true equality of opportunity, and a meritocracy based on, you know, what the people who do well do well, because they produce results, and the people who don't, don't. And we want equality around access to opportunity based on real meritocracy. I think, I think... here's what I know, I think we need to have this discussion." Visit Cloud Wars for more.

The Big Themes:Forget the headlines, what's in this product? Is generative AI and ChatGPT truly the "next big thing," or is this something that has been around for awhile and is just now starting to get popular? When starting college in 1970, Wayne was encouraged to study computing programming because experts were predicting that by 1975, artificial intelligence (AI) would be "writing all the programs in the world."The future of generative AI: Wayne suggests that this tool is going to either be the biggest augmentation of human abilities, or it's going to be the biggest disruption... or it's going to be both.National Cybersecurity Strategy: The government's strategy outlines the need to "rebalance responsibility." Rather than holding the company that got attacked by malicious actors accountable, the responsibility is now on the vendor to ensure that customers aren't getting "ransomwared." The Big Quote: "That's how they [generative AI and the National Cybersecurity Strategy] tie together. We're at the beginning of AI broadening into general use. Think about the Internet of 50 years ago. That's where AI is today. A great tool that's starting to reach commercial scale. And so, again, I share your fear when the government gets involved. It often doesn't go well. But this is where we as an industry, the CISOs, the vendors, the CIOs that buy it, have got to be out there with their voices heard. I'm not so interested in anybody suing Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, Cisco and everybody else, as I am in a standard that says, in two years, the product you sell me should have the standards, or else somebody's going to sue... and cyber is becoming existential for a lot of industries, the ransomware attacks, we got to do something. And clearly, as an industry, we have not taken the leadership position." Visit Cloud Wars for more.

The Big Themes:Top CEO priorities: To drive digital business, top CEOs are focusing on acquiring and retaining talent, and leveraging and deploying emerging technologies such as AI and ML. Regardless of the company, all businesses must be "tech-enabled" now.New business models: The new (and multiple) business models of today are geared to adapt to meet customers where they are. Companies are shifting to subscription-based models and consumption-based models.Access to AI and ML data: Many strong point solutions that use AI and ML are out there, but companies cannot access the data from these tools. On the "HR side," Workday has access to the data from over 16 million records.The Big Quote: "Well, I think our customers are deploying AI and ML, pretty aggressively. You know, as I mentioned, in their core business up front, and now they're turning to HR and financials. ChatGPT is a really powerful technology, it's gotta be used the right way. There's wrong ways to use it. And what I worry about a little bit is that traditional AI and ML... the analytics that you can do with traditional AI and ML are still really, really valuable. And what I see from customers is high uptake in that area. They want products powered by AI and ML. So Skills Cloud would be a great instance of that, where we enable jobs to be broken down into skills and put it in a canonical format, normalized across all of our customers, and then we can help our customers do matching in terms of people they want to hire against the skills they're looking for. So that's all AI and ML-driven." Visit Cloud Wars for more.

The Big Themes:What it takes to be great: companies must strongly consider incorporating DEI initiatives into their businesses but must be careful not to let the focus on talent and culture fall by the wayside.Go back to the "foundational" piece: The "big initiative" of today's companies should be addressing exactly what the priorities are.Attract talent, but know how to retain it: A strong focus on acquiring talent, and a lack of thought about retaining talent, had created a "gap that has really widened in the last few years."The Big Quote: "What I'm hearing and what I'm seeing in the market today is that DEiI is the only focus. Now, I'm not saying that across the board, I'm just saying generalities. There are great companies that have been corrupted into a single focus over the last couple of years... but it's one of three priorities. It needs to be one of three priorities. It can't be the only priority. And I think what I'm hearing from a lot of my friends in the big companies...they overhired to meet these DEI agendas. And now, they're laying off some of these people that they hired because they didn't focus on the other two priorities: culture and talent. You have to have all three to make, you know, to make a great hire." Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Episode 28 | Supply Chains: The "Orchestrator" of Today's BusinessThe Big Themes:Why AWS entered the supply chain space: The company has the knowledge and expertise to solve critical issues for businesses today. AWS is "putting its competency to work for its customers."Customers want to create their own roadmap: AWS Supply Chain is not a "rip and replace solution." The product leverages the already-existing solutions customers are using to further inform decision-making.A supply chain is the "orchestrator" of today's business: AWS Supply Chain is industry-agnostic and is a "backbone" to the various solutions already being utilized by customers.The Big Quote: "Everybody needs to have a good orchestrator, a good supply chain, that can really help this business to be successful. So we're not building this application focused in any specific industry, but we're making the solution, the backbone of the solution, very strong to serve all these different industries. So customers can leverage our investments and in our cloud-native architecture, so they can leverage this technology in different industries like I mentioned before. So, the exciting thing is that since our preview launch, we've been able to have those discussions across multiple industries." Visit Cloud Wars for more.

The Big Themes:Fixing human error: The biggest cybersecurity vulnerability companies have is their people, and there's no software tool or system that is more powerful than cultivating an awareness of secure practices among employees.Setting the right example: Business leaders must practice what they preach. No more leaving laptops open to email inboxes on our desks. Demonstrate the company's mindset by taking data security seriously and preach it to the whole team.How to lead externally: Christian talks about the dangers of "convergence for the sake of convergence," where manufacturers are creating digital products without being thoughtful about the cybersecurity implications of, for example, a poorly designed app for an oven.The Big Quote: "Unless you start building a culture around the proper treatment of information—who can access it under what circumstances, etc.—and then put real consequences associated with violating the proper handling and use of it, you're never going to really address the weakest link in security." Want more leadership inspiration from Christian? Connect with him on LinkedIn. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

The Big Themes:The automation of knowledge work: This has been happening for a while now—just think of the hours of labor eliminated by search engines—but generative AI takes this automation to a different, higher level.ChatGPT is overhyped: The panic over AI tools replacing journalists, teachers, and all human workers is overblown, Tony says. Businesses should be focused on augmenting the work done by people with new technologies.ChatGPT is underhyped: "Technological change always precedes cultural change," Tony says, and there are likely to be massive cultural shifts following widespread access to and use of generative AI tools.The Big Quote: "Oftentimes, we look at these emerging technologies, and we see dollar signs. We think, Oh, my gosh, we're gonna automate this over here, which means we don't have to do that over there... And then we learn over time that these are augmented technologies that are actually accelerating what human beings can do. I would say to senior level executives: train and prepare a workforce to uplevel problem solving and creativity and innovation." Looking for more insights to transform your business? Connect with Tony on LinkedIn or through his AE Analyst page. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Episode 26 | AI and the Rise of the Intellectual CapitalistNote: this episode contains explicit language.The Big Themes:Knowledge workers are no longer at the top of the pyramid: Careers like lawyer, doctor, and engineer have long been highly valuable and widely esteemed, but by making tons of knowledge readily accessible and mostly free, tools like ChatGPT are going to push knowledge workers down in the career pyramid.The rise of the intellectual capitalist: The creation of "net-new knowledge" (intellectual capital, or IC) is going to define the highly valuable and esteemed careers of tomorrow.ChatGPT and other AI tools should be embraced: Yes, there will be jobs lost and people who use these tools for nefarious reasons, but as a society we must embrace the possibilities and opportunities they present. For example, these tools should not be banned in schools, but instead used to spark conversation and creativity.The Big Quote: "If you've ever created anything new of value for yourself and or your company, in your work, whether you realize it or not, you're an intellectual capitalist... And the big aha now is to take that from the back of your mind to the front of your mind. Ask yourself, what IC have I created already? How am I being super thoughtful about leveraging my IC to make a difference, to create value for others, and for myself?" Want more from Christopher Lochhead? Connect with him on LinkedIn and explore his podcasts, blog, and books. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

The Big Themes:Apex's culture of curiosity: While the CFO's domain is traditionally finance, JJ explains that at Apex, he is focused on business forecasting, not just financial. Workday Adaptive Planning was the perfect tool for the inclusive and cooperative culture at Apex.Effective planning keeps Apex ahead of disruption: The ability to create scenarios that incorporate many shareholders' voices has kept Apex strong and solvent during major challenges like the pandemic and the war in Ukraine.Investing in high-growth tech attracts talent: JJ contrasts the boring "plug and chug" culture he has seen in other finance departments with the dynamic environment at Apex, noting that investments in tech like Workday Adaptive is a draw for talent.The Big Quote: "We're proud of that. When we go to the market, recruiting people, we're talking about, number-one best place to work in Fort Worth, number-six in Texas... And part of that is, we've invested in the tech, right? We've invested in Workday." Want to learn more about Workday Adaptive Planning? Watch a demo and explore use cases here.This episode is sponsored by Workday. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

The Big Themes:Don't ignore the threat of ChatGPT: Even as a company with incredibly advanced AI capabilities, Google is doing the right thing by treating this kind of new interactive AI chatbot as a challenger to its massive search business.Be open to the possibilities of ChatGPT: On the other hand, Microsoft is very wisely looking to bring ChatGPT into the fold and enhance its existing products and services using artificial intelligence.The importance of transparency and trust: Christian brings up the potentially sinister side of interactive AI, specifically deep-fake videos that could be used to spread disinformation and sow discord. Business leaders must focus on building trust into the application of technologies like ChatGPT.The Big Quote: "Gotta free the mind, if you will.... If you had an organization that had free thinkers, you could find very, very easily what ChatGPT or a similar capability could mean to financial services. The implications are significant." Want more leadership inspiration from Christian? Connect with him on LinkedIn. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

The Big Themes:The WFH challenge for young talent: creating a personal network and building personal credibility are incredibly important early in a career, and Pat worries that young people are not getting the networking and mentorship opportunities that working shoulder-to-shoulder offers.Work ethic in today's world: Pat defines work ethic not as being the first-in, last-out team member, but rather the cultivation of a reputation among bosses and peers as someone who always gets the job done and gets it done right.Responsibility and accountability: the only person who is responsible for the success of your career is you. Some companies and bosses are terrible, but there are still lessons to be learned and experience to be had. Make the most of every job.The Big Quote: "It takes a full time job to find a good job. It takes a full career to manage and navigate the right career. You're gonna make mistakes... Learn how to actually build a career, a work ethic, and be able then to navigate how you want to manage your career."--Want additional insights to help you win the war for talent? Connect with Pat on LinkedIn. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

The Big Themes:Similarities between Madoff and SBF: Both men "wrapped themselves" in celebrity, fancy parties, and politics. They were able to pull off the deception they created by being good "talkers" and schmoozers.Differences between Madoff and SBF: Where Madoff admitted his wrongdoing virtually immediately, SBF has been spinning a story of incompetence rather than crime. Christopher makes connections between this behavior to SBF's identity as a Native Digital.Is the end of FTX also the end of crypto? Christopher says no way. This type of scandal will probably help to move regulation of crypto in the right direction, and the market will calm down eventually. Native Digitals don't believe in "analog money," and the promise of crypto remains.The Big Quote: "What we have here is a classic situation where when something's new, when something is generally not well understood, and when something's generally not regulated, you're going to end up here. So I think at the end of the day, the crypto world will be stronger for this because we'll get some of the regulation that we have that makes some of these things hard, although Madoff proved you can get away with bad shit in the legacy world very easily... But I think it's a mistake to say this is the end of crypto." Want more from Christopher Lochhead? Connect with him on LinkedIn and explore his podcasts, blog, and books. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

The Big Themes:What inspired Alloy? Less than a decade ago, Clay says, companies were trying and failing to build their own private clouds, because the technology just wasn't there yet. But Oracle believes it now has the tech to meet this desire among customers.What kinds of customers are interested? Clay points to organizations that deal with a lot of regulation as the prime audience for Alloy—they're interested in cloud but it has never worked for them before. This includes governments and companies in industries like financial services, healthcare, and telecomm.Is this the future of cloud? Oracle does not believe the future of cloud is to consolidate power among a few vendors, Clay says. Alloy is intended to infuse flexibility into how cloud technology can work for customers, putting much more control in their hands.The Big Quote: "Cloud infrastructure has been around for at least 15, maybe 16, 17 years. We're only 30% market penetration. It's not because people haven't heard of it yet... What they need is they need better solutions that actually solve their problems." Want to learn more about OCI and Oracle Alloy? Connect with Clay on LinkedIn. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

The Big Themes:Consistency: Companies that ask employees to give up the benefits of remote work and come back to the office must also require executives to do the same. Otherwise, trust disappears and team members disengage.Clarity, candor, transparency: Explaining the specific benefits of returning to in-person work is essential. Saying that productivity will go up is not enough—leaders must provide examples, and help employees understand how their experience will improve.Culture and environment: The key to a successful move away from all-remote work is to create an office environment that people want to be part of. Starting at the very top, companies must cultivate a positive and enriching in-person culture.The Big Quote: "The reason why leadership is so hard is because every day, every day as a leader, your job is to show up for everybody but yourself. That's extraordinarily hard... If you are not prepared to very literally show up for everyone else, then you might want to think twice about bringing the workforce back into the office." Want more leadership inspiration from Christian? Connect with him on LinkedIn. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

The Big Themes:What's really going on with layoffs? Among the six companies Wayne pulled numbers for, five of them actually have had net-positive employee growth over the last several years. But they are letting people go, and Wayne explains why.Should non-tech companies hire big-tech engineers? There is a big opportunity here, Wayne says, but execs at non-tech companies have to be very, very careful and thoughtful when preparing to bring these folks onboard.What's the best way to have job security today? As an advisor to three very different groups of job seekers, Wayne has honed his most important advice: Learn new things. Always be curious. And don't turn down opportunities to learn and do things.The Big Quote: "This may be the opportunity to shake the tree, to shake the company up and say, What if we had a continuous integration, continuous delivery tool chain? What if we were using more modern tools? ... What are we trying to accomplish culturally? And how can this availability of very cutting-edge talent, who might be disciplined differently, fit into our culture?"--Want more of the CIO and CTO perspective?Connect with Wayne on LinkedIn or through his Acceleration Economy Analyst page. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

The Big Themes:Customer stories at Cloud World 2022: Bonnie praises Oracle for including the voice of the customer in many of the keynote talks at the conference, including Oracle Me HCM customers McDonald's, Marriott, and the Church of Latter Day Saints.Six key takeaways: These three customers talked about their implementation experiences with Oracle HCM technology, and Bonnie wrote up six important insights that other companies considering HR tech upgrades should keep in mind.Fundamentals must come first: Before pursuing HR and HCM software implementation, business leaders must have a strong grasp of processes, personas, and the employee lifecycle and overall experience.The Big Quote: "Role clarity is important... All three organizations felt like it's very important to understand how the team is going to be in the future, in the cloud, because the team infrastructure and what they are responsible to do in a cloud environment is very different than with legacy systems." More from Bonnie Tinder: Connect with Bonnie on LinkedIn or send a message via her Acceleration Economy Analyst page. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

The Big Themes: This is about adaptation, not ageism: Native digitals are not better or worse than native analogs, but they are actually a new category of human being. That may sound like an exaggeration, but it's not.Businesses at risk of obsolescence: Leaders who do not account for the differences of native digitals are going to face (1) the failure to hire and retain anybody under 35 and (2) the inability to market and sell to anybody under 35.The Mentor Myth: Chris says that the secret to native analogs thriving in our native digital world is understanding that the older generations have as much to learn from the younger ones as vice versa. Read more in "The Mentor Myth" ebook. The Big Quote: "We are the last native analogues to walk Planet Earth. period. Human beings have embedded technology into the core experience of life. And that will be true forever going forward." Want more from Christopher Lochhead and Category Pirates? Explore his podcasts, blog, and books Visit Cloud Wars for more.