At its massive customer conference held last week in Orlando, SAP made it clear that it was charting a new course for the future. In announcing Leonardo — what it calls a digital innovation system — and in interviews with company executives, the message was unambiguous: SAP is an important part of the enterprise digital transformation story.While the messaging around Leonardo was a bit muddled and at times felt like a bucket of buzzwords, it represents a decisive step forward in its effort to transform the company from a legacy, back-office technology player into the enterprise’s digital transformation platform and enabler of choice. According to its press release, the goal of Leonardo is to, “enable customers to rapidly innovate and scale that innovation to redefine their business for the digital world.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
It seems that every tech company CEO today is talking about digital transformation in some way. If it’s not in the company tagline, it’s top of mind and top of deck in every sales presentation.The reason is simple: Every client CEO is thinking about digital transformation too—and buying anything they believe will help them stave off the threat of digital disruption.+ Also on Network World: The pathway to digital transformation runs through IT +
For the vast majority of these technology CEOs, however, the use of the term digital transformation is opportunistic at best. Most are attempting to shove their square legacy technology into the round hole of "digital." Dig a little bit beneath the surface, however, and the truth is laid bare.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
“Get a digital transformation for only $199.95, but only if you call to order in the next 15 minutes!”OK, so I haven’t seen an ad like this on late night TV—well, at least not yet. The unfortunate truth, however, is that the term “digital transformation” may be the greatest selling tool the enterprise technology industry has created in a generation.Everywhere you turn, someone is selling something using the term "digital transformation." The truth is, many of the things technology companies are selling are incredible new technologies that do, in fact, play a vital role in your digital transformation journey and are worthy of your consideration.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
When you think about the digital future, you probably think about self-driving cars, disruptors like Uber and Airbnb, and artificial intelligence. What you probably do not think about, however, is factories.Despite their outwardly staid appearance, the industrial and manufacturing industries have been at the forefront of the practical application of technology and automation for decades. This evolution has culminated in what is called Industry 4.0—a vision of the smart factory and the Industrial Internet of Things (IoT).And, I believe, it may be a blueprint for the future of IT across all industries.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
When Scott Crowder joined BMC as its vice president of infrastructure and operations in 2011, he felt like he had stepped back in time. While he knew BMC’s products to be world class, the data center and other technologies running this world-class operation seemed more like they belonged in a museum.+ Also on Network World: Accelerating digital transformation using the Medici Effect +
Thus started a transformational journey that began in earnest with Crowder’s appointment as BMC's CIO in 2014. He had already begun the transformation of the data center in his first role, but upon taking the reins as CIO, he knew he had the opportunity to reshape the IT landscape from the ground up.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
When Scott Crowder joined BMC as its vice president of infrastructure and operations in 2011, he felt like he had stepped back in time. While he knew BMC’s products to be world class, the data center and other technologies running this world-class operation seemed more like they belonged in a museum.+ Also on Network World: Accelerating digital transformation using the Medici Effect +
Thus started a transformational journey that began in earnest with Crowder’s appointment as BMC's CIO in 2014. He had already begun the transformation of the data center in his first role, but upon taking the reins as CIO, he knew he had the opportunity to reshape the IT landscape from the ground up.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Business Process Management (BPM) has always been one of those disciplines that sounded great on paper but was difficult to realize in practice. It made sense that documenting, analyzing and managing the entirety of an organization’s business processes would enable those organizations to increase operational efficiency. But for those brave organizations that gave it the "old college try"—particularly in the early days of BPM—the results were seldom spectacular.A new generation of BPM software, however, is changing this trajectory. Driven by the need for speed and agility, in addition to the traditional needs of efficiency and optimization, organizations are now turning to BPM as a key driver of digital transformation.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
For many in the cybersecurity space, the world revolves around the attack vector. Many security vendors narrowly focus on their version of the prevent, defend and respond paradigm—focusing on their purported supremacy and on making their case to get a piece of the enterprise security budget pie.At the recent RSA Conference in San Francisco, however, there were some hopeful signs that this narrow view and myopic perspective is evolving—at least for some.“Don't draw lines that separate different fields. Draw connections that bring them together,” implored RSA CTO Dr. Zulfikar Ramzan in the opening keynote as he called for business-driven security. “In my experience, today's security professionals must also draw connections between security details and business objectives.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
For many in the cybersecurity space, the world revolves around the attack vector. Many security vendors narrowly focus on their version of the prevent, defend and respond paradigm—focusing on their purported supremacy and on making their case to get a piece of the enterprise security budget pie.
At the recent RSA Conference in San Francisco, however, there were some hopeful signs that this narrow view and myopic perspective is evolving—at least for some.
“Don't draw lines that separate different fields. Draw connections that bring them together,” implored RSA CTO Dr. Zulfikar Ramzan in the opening keynote as he called for business-driven security. “In my experience, today's security professionals must also draw connections between security details and business objectives.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, known as KAUST, is a fascinating place. A literal and figurative oasis about an hour north of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, KAUST is a tier-one research university with a mission to inspire discoveries that address global challenges and to serve as a beacon of knowledge that bridges people and cultures for the betterment of humanity.Last week, KAUST brought together nearly 100 leaders from industry, government, education and other research institutions to help it craft its forward-looking IT strategy. But more than just helping craft their strategy, this summit proved to be a model for executing a digital transformation.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
For enterprise IT, the cloud has finally reached the tipping point. It is no longer a question of whether cloud is part of the strategic plan for most organizations, but simply when and how they will realize the move to cloud.If you’re an IT leader, however, you may not want to get too comfortable with your cloud strategy.Despite having just fully arrived in the cloud era, we are about to move on—at least according to Peter Levine of Andreessen Horowitz.As 2016 wrapped up, Levine gave a talk in which he made his provocative prediction: Cloud computing is coming to an end.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
A little over a week ago, HPE announced its agreement to purchase SimpliVity for $650 million in cash. Predictably, tech industry followers erupted into an uproar of opinion about stock price implications and how it would impact support for SimpliVity customers.Less than a week later, HPE announced another purchase: Cloud Cruiser, a 7-year-old startup that provides consumption-based infrastructure analytics. Interestingly, this transaction received much less attention.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
A little over a week ago, HPE announced its agreement to purchase SimpliVity for $650 million in cash. Predictably, tech industry followers erupted into an uproar of opinion about stock price implications and how it would impact support for SimpliVity customers.Less than a week later, HPE announced another purchase: Cloud Cruiser, a 7-year-old startup that provides consumption-based infrastructure analytics. Interestingly, this transaction received much less attention.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Last year, I flew to Calgary, Canada, to host an executive roundtable on behalf of Intel and two partner organizations. I got off the plane, pulled out my phone and opened my Uber app.It has become my standard travel routine. Except this time, there were no Uber cars to be had—bylaw changes in 2015 forced the transportation company to cease operations. The fees imposed were too much, the company said.One of the sponsoring vendor executives opened the meeting by asking, “What’s up with Calgary? Do you guys want to stay stuck in the past?”+ Also on Network World: How to be a CTO in the age of digital disruption (and live to tell about it) +
The Calgary city council has since approved new bylaws that "make the city's licensing fee structure more favourable for the company," CBC News reported. And Uber is operating again in the city.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
In his 2011 book, The Innovator’s Dilemma, Clayton Christensen examined why large organizations often fail to innovate and leave themselves open to disruption from faster, more nimble competitors. And this was before the current generation of technology companies unleashed their onslaught of disruptive technologies.It’s fair to say that in the six years since the book’s release, the stakes have grown exponentially greater. Yet for many enterprise organizations, the struggle to create a truly innovative culture continues. The vast majority of corporate executives fully expect new tech startups to disrupt their organizations, yet still have trouble overcoming the ‘innovator’s dilemma.’To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
In the late 1990s, I was responsible for technical operations for a large healthcare organization. We supported more than 5,000 users across 50 locations and supported three distinct lines of business. We were a very progressive organization at the leading edge of technology innovation in healthcare.
It was not a simple operation.
Well, at least not for 1997. When I compare that environment to what IT leaders face today, however, a shudder of relief washes over me.
There is no point in whitewashing this: Managing the function of IT in my day was child’s play compared to the incredible diversity of challenges facing the modern IT leader. Is it so complex, in fact, that it cannot truly be managed?To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
In the late 1990s, I was responsible for technical operations for a large healthcare organization. We supported more than 5,000 users across 50 locations and supported three distinct lines of business. We were a very progressive organization at the leading edge of technology innovation in healthcare.
It was not a simple operation.
Well, at least not for 1997. When I compare that environment to what IT leaders face today, however, a shudder of relief washes over me.
There is no point in whitewashing this: Managing the function of IT in my day was child’s play compared to the incredible diversity of challenges facing the modern IT leader. Is it so complex, in fact, that it cannot truly be managed?To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Trends in enterprise IT are an interesting thing. Can you think of any other industry where hype has its own lifecycle?Whether it is because of the large budgets at stake or that enterprise IT professionals are uniquely susceptible to them, it seems the enterprise IT market is always awash in “hot new trends.” And as fast as they arise, most fizzle out.At least from that perspective, the IT service management (ITSM) space has had a pretty good run. It’s been over 20 years since the British government first introduced Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL), creating the ITSM market.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Charles Araujo