Datameer CEO Goes With the Flow

Terri Griffith

Professor/Author/Speaker
Simon Fraser University

Terri Griffith holds the Keith Beedie Chair in Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Simon Fraser University’s Beedie School of Business. She spent two decades in the Silicon Valley and, in 2012 was honored as a Woman of Influence by the Silicon Valley Business Journal. Terri helps her students and their organizations accelerate performance and prepare for the futures of work. Through her speaking, writing, teaching, and research, she brings evidence-based leadership and innovation to high-tech, education, and global agribusiness organizations. She inspires and coaches groups on negotiating change and uniquely mixing existing and new capabilities. Her most recent work uses a “bottom-up” approach to automation, including artificial intelligence. Her award-winning book, The Plugged-In Manager:…...

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I have the honor of a post in today's Harvard Business Review Blog: Help Your Employees Find Flow. 

Holacracy. Results-Only Work Environments. These new, more flexible ways of working may be a step too far for many organizations. Still, greater employee freedom can create a better sense of “flow,” which enhances engagement, retention, and performance. This can be achieved by loosening your grip on work practices — but you don’t have to let go completely: remove obstacles, set boundaries and meaningful goals, then let work take its course.

Stefan Groschupf, founder and CEO of Datameer, a big data analytics company, talked with me about how he tries to reduce negative interruptions and increase “flow.” His industry is one of the most pressured to recruit and retain top talent. He’s finding that the organization is more productive (e.g., has more leads generated in marketing or has engineers moving through projects more quickly) with active management of interruptions and engagement to enhance flow.

Please take a look at the full post as Stefan Groschupf provides some great insights. Two things I loved about our conversation:

1. He can test his beliefs given Datameer's focus on data-driven business. They are always tracking results. This isn't flow for the sake of flow. It's flow for the sake of business.
2. When I asked him about examples related to my ideas of you can lead by letting go, he didn't back off. For him, it's about the work. This seemed to parallel the "Lead, Follow, and Get Out of the Way," conversation I had with Marc Klein, Event Manager and Associate Principal at Populous. The addition of technology may give leaders more confidence in their ability to keep track of the work process, and thus, enable them to let work go with the flow, rather than needing to keep a death grip on the business. 

 

Future of Work Innovation & Product-led Growth Chief Executive Officer Chief People Officer

Increase your IT Funding by Drawing More, a Core Competency for Every CIO

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A few months ago, Jay Ferro and I (Chief Information Officer at American Cancer Society) did a webinar with Frost and Sullivan.

We touched on communication skills, culture, getting innovation right, getting people right, and learning the commercial and value oriented lingo.

Something profound about communicating value as a CIO dawned on me after I subconsciously somewhat bold made the following statement:

I have yet to have pitched an idea or supported a project where if I did a good enough job and everyone understands it, it still didn’t get funded.

The bottom line is it’s not that we don’t have enough funding in the organization; it’s that we’re not articulating the value of the technology projects enough.

After I realize what I said on a recorded webinar and how it might have sounded sounded, I started to think through the “how” to make sure I can stand behind such a bold statement. I can. What was the secret sauce to pitching (and getting funded) large transformation IT projects?

I arrived at one conclusion, I DRAW EVERYTHING. I am notorious for pitching multimillion-dollar projects with a simple single image, and with a high percentage getting them funded.

And so I really started to dig into it, what are the three things that I can suggest to CIOs, to help them really embrace the notion of drawing. Here it goes.

1. USE CARTOONS

The video below is one of my favorite YouTube videos; it mixes sound, writing, images and visual. Cartoons are easy to draw, and your audience is willing to engage because they assume that it is not “baked” as yet, this allows them to own the shaping and framing of your proposal garnering the much needed "ownership capital" technology investment governance committees often need. The reality is, photos, or PowerPoint shapes (no matter how good you are) can never precisely tell a story the way a cartoon can.

2. USE PASTEL COLORS

I can’t tell you how many times I review presentations where the colors are the sharp reds and greens from the stock Microsoft Office palette. Many times the content is brilliant, and the visuals are digestible, but the mere use of “rookie” colors, you send a certain “rookie” tone for the content.

The image below is an illustration I did to show what I mean.

3. USE TRANSPARENCY & SINGLE HUE

It is one thing to use pastel colors, it’s another thing to use colors carefully.

I learned this after realizing approximately 1 in every 12 male is colorblind (the numbers are different for females). Colors can be a double-edged sword, you want to use tones to differentiate not for impact, but colors to impact. I made the example below.

So going back to the conversation I had with Jay, and Frost and Sullivan; If one of the more important things for CIOs in Life Sciences to do is communicate the value of a technology transformation and visuals are such a big part of said communication; should a CIO be taking some art/design lessons on the side?

Is there such a thing as visual literacy training for CIOs?

As usual, thank you for sharing, and do not hesitate to join the conversation. Be critical!

1. What are some of your tricks?
2. What are some of your best practices?

New C-Suite Future of Work Tech Optimization Innovation & Product-led Growth Chief Executive Officer Chief Information Officer

A Guide to the New Actions and Objects of the Digital Workplace

Alan Lepofsky

Vice President & Principal Analyst
Constellation Research

Alan Lepofsky - VP and Principal Analyst, Constellation Research. With almost two decades of experience in the collaboration software industry, Lepofsky helps organizations improve the way their employees work together to get their jobs done. Lepofsky’s primary research area The Future of Work, focuses on: integrating collaboration and business processes (Purposeful Collaboration), structuring work via Social Task Management, leveraging analytics and digital assistants to work more productively, the strategic impact of mobile computing on business transformation, and measuring workforce culture based on Digital Proficiency instead of age. Twitter: @alanlepoLinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/alanlepo     , Title: Big IdeasIntelligent Collaboration: The Intersection of…...

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In the Constellation Research report, Segmenting Audiences By Digital Proficiency, we introduced the idea of categorising people by a combination of their comfort and skill level with technology instead of by age. One of the things that contributes to a person's knowledge and comfort is an understanding of the current terminology used in the digital workplace, in this case specifically social networking.

Not long ago the main tools people used at work for communication were email and chat, and the main actions associated with those were Reply and Create Memo. In the era of social networking, employees now need to be familiar with terms like @mention, hashtag, check-in, follow, like and share.  

As a compliment to the Digital Proficiency report, Constellation has just published A Guide to the New Actions and Objects of the Digital Workplace.  This report provides a glossary of the items that digital workers should be familiar with, supported by examples from several consumer (ex: Facebook, Twitter) and enterprise social networks (ex: Jive, IBM Connections). It also covers the strengths and weaknesses of email versus social networking, and provides guidance on how employees should prepare for and use the new tools and actions now available to them.

Example:


Table of Contents
- Out with the Old, In with the Social
- Whatâ??s Wrong with Email?
  - Restricts audiences
  - Creates formatting challenges
  - Lacks useful integration
- Understand the New Nouns and Verbs
- How Does This Affect My Job?
- Quick Start Guide

Click here for more information on A Guide to the New Actions and Objects of the Digital Workplace, the first in a series of add-ons reports that build upon the Digital Proficiency framework.

Future of Work Marketing Transformation New C-Suite Next-Generation Customer Experience Innovation & Product-led Growth Tech Optimization Revenue & Growth Effectiveness Digital Safety, Privacy & Cybersecurity Chief Customer Officer Chief Executive Officer Chief People Officer Chief Information Officer Chief Marketing Officer Chief Digital Officer Chief Revenue Officer Chief Human Resources Officer

Making Friends and Influencing People

Gavin Heaton

Founder
Disruptors Co

Gavin is the Founder of Disruptors Co, one of Australia’s leading independent strategy and innovation companies. Gavin advises firms on strategy, marketing, product development and innovation. He is also a member of the Orbits program, the influencer network of award winning analyst and advisory firm, Constellation Research. Gavin advises boards and leadership on innovation strategy, marketing, data-driven product development and corporate venturing. Gavin is on the board of Vibewire, a youth-led social enterprise based in Sydney, Australia and on the Technology Advisory Group for Good2Give – the workplace giving platform. ...

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Some light reading for your Easter weekend, this time courtesy of those clever folks at We Are Social Singapore. This easily digestible deck on social media debunks some of the many myths and provides “10 commendments” – things that you could do if you were so inclined. My favourite? “Be in it for the long term”. After all, after we get engaged, surely we expect a deeper commitment, right?

Marketing Transformation Innovation & Product-led Growth Chief Marketing Officer

Constellation Publishes “Big Privacy”, the New Data Privacy Protocol for Big Data

“Big Privacy” calls on Big Data businesses to exercise restraint and transparency, and offer consumers fair value for data

San Francisco, CA - April 11, 2014 - Constellation Research, Inc. the research and advisory firm focused how disruptive technologies transform business models announced today the publication of “Big Privacy Rises to the Challenges of Big Data” by Constellation Vice President and Principal Analyst, Steve Wilson. This ‘Big Idea’ research report introduces “Big Privacy” - a new pact between data miners and end users that calls on digital businesses to exercise restraint and transparency in their collection activities, and offer end users fair value for their data. 

Wilson’s report identifies the strengths and weaknesses of today’s Data Privacy rules, citing how the dynamic nature of modern Big Data challenges the static nature of conventional data protection. The benefits of “Big Privacy” extend beyond the consumer. Wilson notes, ““Big Privacy” benefits digital businesses as adoption of this pact helps avoid privacy breaches, and maintain the trust of an increasingly anxious customer base”.

This report reveals:

• Many Big Data and digital businesses collect and analyze data on the assumption that raw data in the "public domain" is up for grabs, and that data collectors own the fruits of data mining. However, ownership is irrelevant, and data analytics results are still subject to Privacy Laws. 
• Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is often interpreted narrowly to mean credit card data or health records. However, in most jurisdictions (even the United States) PII is defined very broadly, and can include raw data even before it is identified.
• There is no prohibition anywhere against collecting PII; “Big Privacy” calls on businesses to engage in fair and transparent collection.
• Privacy-savvy organizations appreciate that Big Data must benefit the business and the end user.  To maintain customer trust and to avoid international compliance risks, Constellation calls for a new data privacy pact, “Big Privacy”:  

1. businesses should be restrained in how they use data analytics
2. honor the value of users’ Personal Information
3. be open about Big Data business models.

 

Comments on the report – Steve Wilson, report author, Vice President and Principal Analyst

“In my advisory work over the years I've found time and time again a blind spot among technologists as to data privacy. There is a well-meaning slogan ‘Privacy is not a Technology Issue’ but technologists too often think that means privacy is not for them.  The misconception is amplified by a bit of a myth (or wishful thinking) that the law has not kept up with the technology. It’s really very surprising how technology-neutral data privacy laws deal neatly with so many of the current controversies in cyberspace – like face recognition, natural language processing, DNA hacking, Augmented Reality, and so on. Privacy design principles like Data Minimization have a great deal in common with information security. So there’s a lot here for IT professionals to sink their teeth into. I’m really optimistic that we can help innovators see privacy in a clear new light. Surely we have to get this right as we plunge into Big Data and the Internet of Things.”

This report fits into Constellation’s business-focused research themes of Data to Decisions, Matrix Commerce and Next Gen Customer.

About Steve Wilson

Steve Wilson is Vice President and Principal Analyst covering digital identity, privacy and cyber security. Steve’s current research focuses on the evolution of identity online, the move from static privacy safeguards to dynamic information safety, and the challenges of Big Data and the Internet of Things

Coordinates
Profile: http://constellationr.com/users/swilson
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Steve_Lockstep
Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/lockstep
Geo: Sydney, Australia

The Report
“Big Privacy Rises to the Challenges of Big Data” https://www.constellationr.com/research/big-privacy-rises-challenges-big-data

Data to Decisions Marketing Transformation Matrix Commerce Innovation & Product-led Growth AI ML Machine Learning LLMs Agentic AI Generative AI Robotics Analytics Automation Cloud SaaS PaaS IaaS Quantum Computing Digital Transformation Disruptive Technology Enterprise IT Enterprise Acceleration Enterprise Software Next Gen Apps IoT Blockchain CRM ERP CCaaS UCaaS Collaboration Enterprise Service developer Metaverse VR Healthcare Supply Chain Leadership Chief Customer Officer Chief Information Officer Chief Marketing Officer Chief Technology Officer Chief Information Security Officer Chief Data Officer

Infor moves to the cloud with innovation and (micro) vertical flavor

Holger Mueller

Vice President and Principal Analyst
Constellation Research

Holger Mueller is VP and Principal Analyst for Constellation Research for the fundamental enablers of the cloud, IaaS, PaaS and next generation Applications, with forays up the tech stack into BigData and Analytics, HR Tech, and sometimes SaaS. Holger provides strategy and counsel to key clients, including Chief Information Officers, Chief Technology Officers, Chief Product Officers, Chief HR Officers, investment analysts, venture capitalists, sell-side firms, and technology buyers.  Coverage Areas: Future of Work Tech Optimization & Innovation  Background: Before joining Constellation Research, Mueller was VP of Products for NorthgateArinso, a KKR company. There, he led the transformation of products to the cloud and laid the foundation for new Business Process as a…...

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We learnt a lot from Infor – as expected – and as pretty much nothing except for sensitive customer information was under NDA – we had a lively tweet stream collected here.

Here are my top 3 takeaways from the fully packed day:

• From Soho to Gramercy Park – A little more than a year ago, Infor presented a new user interface paradigm called Soho – after the hip Manhattan neighborhood. It was the first result of its acquisition of design agency Hook & Look and was a promising new user interface. Contrary to sceptics expectation, Infor managed to bring this user interface to all of their go-forward products – making Infor’s products one of the most consistent user interfacince experiences in the industry. Interestingly Infor is not resting on its laurels and the creative team has come up with a new paradigm – code named Gramercy Park (which, as I learnt, is an even more desirable New York neighborhood). And the new paradigm looks improved to the current Soho paradigm, it’s a responsive design (no surprise) – and operating on very high fidelity across devices. And UI techniques like progressive reduction have not been seen in enterprise software (at least by me) – so far. I was also impressed by the normalization of screen types, a technique that not only helps product development, but also the user as interaction becomes consistent and the application behaves as expected. So credit goes to Infor not to tune Soho with little improvement steps – but to go to the next level of user interface. Few vendors innovate on a new UI after a year or so already.

Picture of the new Infor Gramercy Park UI paradigm

• HCM leads – As expected the most complete and advanced major automation block (Finance, HR, Purchasing, Manufacturing, and CRM) is Infor HCM. With assets from Infor, Lawson, Enwisen, the recent acquisition of Peopleanswers – it is not only a complete HCM suite, but it also has a consistent user interface – one of the few complete HCM suites to feature that. Behind the scenes though a lot of work remains, Infor has largely solved the integration via ION. But again, instead of taking a breath, Infor is actively re-writing key HCM automation functionality on its go to technology stack. Adding more science – as Infor calls it – to the HCM process is a generally welcome addition and differentiating move to HCM. This summer Infor will ship its CloudSuite Corporate product – which is formed by Financials and HCM and will see its HCM suite fully run in production on AWS. A true innovation in the enterprise software space – as no other vendor (to my knowledge) offers to run production of a major automation block on a public cloud service. Even though not all functionality is harmonized and unified, Infor still deserves credit for this innovative move.

• From (Microsoft) to Open Source and AWS – As with all vendors with acquired portfolios, Infor has accumulated a staple of technology stacks over time. The most recent consolidation (about 3 or so years ago) was around a Microsoft centric technology stack. But consolidating on a single technology stack is not trivial and Infor did not conclude that process. Instead of that Infor has re-calibrated its technology stack strategy with a focus on open source. COO Murphy ran us through the pro and cons on the database side – and in this area – as in all others – the open source option win out –in this case PostgreSQL / EnterpriseDB. With a JBoss / Tomcat based presentation and application tier and utilization of either AWS for cloud or RedHat for on premises installs, Infor has completely moved to open source on the technology stack side.

Picture of ION capabilites

• At the heart of Infor’s technology stack is ION, which was introduced the other year and started out as a file broker (maybe a not giving it enough credit) that allows Infor and 3rd party applications to declare and transfer data feeds in a XML format. Infor was shrewd to not position ION as more – but now it is becoming more, gaining the capability to also invoke APIs on the data it transports. Worth to mention that these APIs will be able to be invoked both locally and remotely. And this makes a lot of sense for Infor, given the expected hybrid deployment scenario of their customers. But it also means that Infor no longer has to replicate functionality, but can start putting functionality into one place and maintain it in one place only, too. This next release of ION is supposed to ship summer this year. And with that ION becomes more than ever the key integration technology for Infor customers. 

 

MyPOV

 

New C-Suite Tech Optimization Data to Decisions Future of Work Innovation & Product-led Growth Marketing Transformation Next-Generation Customer Experience Digital Safety, Privacy & Cybersecurity infor workday amazon SAP Oracle AI Analytics Automation CX EX Employee Experience HCM Machine Learning ML SaaS PaaS Cloud Digital Transformation Enterprise Software Enterprise IT Leadership HR IaaS Disruptive Technology Enterprise Acceleration Next Gen Apps IoT Blockchain CRM ERP CCaaS UCaaS Collaboration Enterprise Service Chief Information Officer Chief Customer Officer Chief People Officer Chief Human Resources Officer Chief Technology Officer Chief Information Security Officer Chief Data Officer Chief Executive Officer

Transitioning Your Marketing and Customer Experience Strategies to Digital

"Marketing is the first line of customer engagement." What does that even mean? Join us to find out.

It's no secret that the proliferation of digital consumer and enterprise technology is driving dramatic disruption of traditional business models. Roles are changing, responsibilities are changing, and expectations are changing. Position yourself and your organization to take advantage of these technology-driven paradigm shifts.  

Join R "Ray" Wang, Paul Greenberg, Natalie Petouhoff and Peter Kim for a discussion about how new technologies disrupt traditional marketing and customer experience models. They will reflect on their takeaways from this year's Adobe Summit, discussing how developments at the Summit demonstrate a general paradigm shift in marketing and customer experience, and how that shift will affect customers, partners, and marketers in general. The session closes with actionable advice for marketers and customer officers.

You will learn:

• How digital disruption is impacting customer experience and marketing
• How revelations at Adobe Summit 2014 impact customer experience, digital marketing, and matrix commerce
• Insights from 1:1's and conversations at Adobe Summit
• Advice on how to kick start your organization's digital transformation

Who should attend:

•  CMOs, marketing officers
• Social media professionals
• Customer experience professionals

 

Speakers

R "Ray" Wang	CEO, Constellation Research, Inc.
Peter Kim	Chief Strategy Officer, Constellation Research, Inc.
Natalie Petouhoff	Vice President and Principal Analyst, Constellation Research, Inc.
Paul Greenberg	President, The 56 Group

Data to Decisions Marketing Transformation Matrix Commerce Next-Generation Customer Experience Innovation & Product-led Growth Tech Optimization Future of Work Webinar AR AI ML Machine Learning LLMs Agentic AI Generative AI Analytics Automation B2B B2C CX EX Employee Experience HR HCM business Marketing Metaverse developer SaaS PaaS IaaS Supply Chain Quantum Computing Growth Cloud Digital Transformation Disruptive Technology eCommerce Enterprise IT Enterprise Acceleration Enterprise Software Next Gen Apps IoT Blockchain CRM ERP Leadership finance Social Healthcare VR CCaaS UCaaS Customer Service Content Management Collaboration M&A Enterprise Service Chief Customer Officer Chief Executive Officer Chief Marketing Officer Chief Digital Officer Chief Information Officer Chief Technology Officer Chief Data Officer Chief Analytics Officer Chief Information Security Officer Chief Operating Officer

Big Privacy: The New Standard for Big Data Privacy

Steve Wilson

Former Vice President and Principal Analyst
Constellation Research

Steve Wilson is former VP and Principal Analyst at Constellation Research, leading the business theme Digital Safety and Privacy. His coverage includes digital identity, data protection, data privacy, cryptography, and trust. His advisory services to CIOs, CISOs, CPOs and IT architects include identity product strategy, security practice benchmarking, Privacy by Design (PbD), privacy engineering and Privacy [or Data Protection] Impact Assessments (PIA, DPIA). Coverage Areas: -  Identity management, frameworks & governance-  Digital identity technologies-  Privacy by Design -  Big Data; “Big Privacy”-  Identity & privacy innovation Previous experience: Wilson has worked in ICT innovation, research, development and analysis for over 25 years. With double…...

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I've just completed a major new Constellation Research report looking at how today's privacy practices cope with Big Data. The report draws together my longstanding research on the counter-intuitive strengths of technology-neutral data protection laws, and melds it with my new Constellation colleagues' vast body of work in data analytics. The synergy is honestly exciting and illuminating.

Big Data promises tremendous benefits for a great many stakeholders but the potential gains are jeopardised by the excesses of a few. Some cavalier online businesses are propelled by a naive assumption that data in the "public domain" is up for grabs, and with that they often cross a line.

For example, there are apps and services now that will try to identify pictures you take of strangers in public, by matching them biometrically against data supersets compiled from social networking sites and other publically accessible databases. Many find such offerings quite creepy but they may be at a loss as to what to do about it, or even how to think through the issues objectively. Yet the very metaphor of data mining holds some of the clues. If, as some say, raw data is like crude oil, just waiting to be mined and exploited by enterprising prospecters, then surely there are limits, akin to mining permits?

Many think the law has not kept pace with technology, and that digital innovators are free to do what they like with any data they can get their hands on. But technologists repeatedly underestimate the strength of conventional data protection laws and regulations. The extraction of PII from raw data may be interpreted under technology neutral privacy principles as an act of Collection and as such is subject to existing statutes. Around the world, Google thus found they are not actually allowed to gather Personal Data that happens to be available in unencrypted Wi-Fi transmission as StreetView cars drive by homes and offices. And Facebook found they are not actually allowed to automatically identify people in photos through face recognition without consent. And Target probably would find, if they tried it outside the USA, that they cannot flag selected female customers as possibly pregnant by analysing their buying habits.

On the other hand, orthodox privacy policies and static user agreements do not cater for the way personal data can be conjured tomorrow from raw data collected today. Traditional privacy regimes require businesses to spell out what personally identifiable information (PII) they collect and why, and to restrict secondary usage. Yet with Big Data, with the best will in the world, a company might not know what data analytics will yield down the track. If mutual benefits for business and customer alike might be uncovered, a freeze-frame privacy arrangement may be counter-productive.

Thus the fit between data analytics and data privacy standards is complex and sometimes surprising. While existing laws are not to be underestimated, we do need something new. As far as I know it was Ray Wang in his Harvard Business Review blog who first called for a fresh privacy compact amongst users and businesses.

The spirit of data privacy is simply framed: organisations that know us should respect the knowledge they have, they should be open about what they know, and they should be restrained in what they do with it. In the Age of Big Data, let's have businesses respect the intelligence they extract from data mining, just as they should respect the knowledge they collect directly through forms and questionnaires.

I like the label "Big Privacy"; it is grandly optimistic, like "Big Data" itself, and at the same time implies a challenge to do better than regular privacy practices.

Ontario Privacy Commissioner Dr Ann Cavoukian writes about Big Privacy, describing it simply as "Privacy By Design writ large". But I think there must be more to it than that. Big Data is quantitatively but also qualitatively different from ordinary data analyis.

To summarise the basic elements of a Big Data compact:

• Respect and Restraint: In the face of Big Data's temptations, remember that privacy is not only about what we do with PII; just as important is what we choose not to do.
• Super transparency: Who knows what lies ahead in Big Data? If data privacy means being open about what PII is collected and why, then advanced privacy means going further, telling people more about the business models and the sorts of results data mining is expected to return.
• Engage customers in a fair deal for PII: Information businesses ought to set out what PII is really worth to them (especially when it is extracted in non-obvious ways from raw data) and offer a fair "price" for it, whether in the form of "free" products and services, or explicit payment.
• Really innovate in privacy: There's a common refrain that "privacy hampers innovation" but often that's an intellectually lazy cover for reserving the right to strip-mine PII. Real innovation lies in business practices which create and leverage PII while honoring privacy principles.

The report:        "Big Privacy" Rises to the Challenges of Big Data"       

New C-Suite Data to Decisions Next-Generation Customer Experience Digital Safety, Privacy & Cybersecurity Security Zero Trust AI ML Machine Learning LLMs Agentic AI Generative AI Robotics Analytics Automation Cloud SaaS PaaS IaaS Quantum Computing Digital Transformation Disruptive Technology Enterprise IT Enterprise Acceleration Enterprise Software Next Gen Apps IoT Blockchain CRM ERP CCaaS UCaaS Collaboration Enterprise Service developer Metaverse VR Healthcare Supply Chain Leadership business Marketing finance Customer Service Content Management Chief Customer Officer Chief Executive Officer Chief Information Officer Chief Information Security Officer Chief Privacy Officer Chief Technology Officer Chief Data Officer

Ultimate’s UltiConnect - Off to a great start, but the road(map) is long

Holger Mueller

Vice President and Principal Analyst
Constellation Research

Holger Mueller is VP and Principal Analyst for Constellation Research for the fundamental enablers of the cloud, IaaS, PaaS and next generation Applications, with forays up the tech stack into BigData and Analytics, HR Tech, and sometimes SaaS. Holger provides strategy and counsel to key clients, including Chief Information Officers, Chief Technology Officers, Chief Product Officers, Chief HR Officers, investment analysts, venture capitalists, sell-side firms, and technology buyers.  Coverage Areas: Future of Work Tech Optimization & Innovation  Background: Before joining Constellation Research, Mueller was VP of Products for NorthgateArinso, a KKR company. There, he led the transformation of products to the cloud and laid the foundation for new Business Process as a…...

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We attended the Ultimate Software user conference, UltiConnect, held over three days at the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas. With over 2000 attendees it was the largest user conference for Ultimate yet – and with that always comes a positive basic vibe. Both customers and employees are encouraged by seeing more attendees being there than in the year(s) before – always a good proof point of vendor success. And Ultimate just passed a revenue milestone with US$ 400M in revenue in its last financial year.

 

Next-Generation Customer Experience Revenue & Growth Effectiveness Data to Decisions Future of Work Innovation & Product-led Growth New C-Suite Marketing Transformation Digital Safety, Privacy & Cybersecurity Tech Optimization User Conference workday SAP Oracle AI Analytics Automation CX EX Employee Experience HCM Machine Learning ML SaaS PaaS Cloud Digital Transformation Enterprise Software Enterprise IT Leadership HR LLMs Agentic AI Generative AI business Marketing IaaS Disruptive Technology Enterprise Acceleration Next Gen Apps IoT Blockchain CRM ERP finance Healthcare Customer Service Content Management Collaboration Chief Customer Officer Chief People Officer Chief Human Resources Officer Chief Information Officer Chief Technology Officer Chief Information Security Officer Chief Data Officer

Research Summary: Economic Trends Exacerbate Digital Business Disruption And Digital Transformation (The Futurist Framework Part 3)

R "Ray" Wang

Principal Analyst and Founder
Constellation Research

R “Ray” Wang is the CEO of Silicon Valley-based Constellation Research Inc. He co-hosts DisrupTV, a weekly enterprise tech and leadership webcast that averages 50,000 views per episode and blogs at www.raywang.org. His ground-breaking best-selling book on digital transformation, Disrupting Digital Business, was published by Harvard Business Review Press in 2015. Ray's new book about Digital Giants and the future of business, titled, Everybody Wants to Rule The World was released in July 2021. Wang is well-quoted and frequently interviewed by media outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, Fox Business, CNBC, Yahoo Finance, Cheddar, and Bloomberg. Short Bio R “Ray” Wang (pronounced WAHNG) is the Founder, Chairman, and Principal Analyst of Silicon Valley-based Constellation Research Inc. He…...

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Constellation Applies A Futurist Framework To Guide 2014 Outlook and Beyond

Constellation’s research team uses a tried and true futurist framework that looks at the political, economic, societal, technological, environmental and legislative (PESTEL) shifts ahead (see Figure 1). The PESTEL model is used to synthesize the major trends and provides guidance on how Constellation approaches its seven key business themes over the next 2 to 3 years in:

The strategic assumptions from Constellation’s 2014 PESTEL framework form the basis for the business theme-led research.  Over the next 36 months, research from each business theme will factor these trends into the overall research agenda.  The goal in 2014 is to help clients not only navigate, but also dominate digital disruption.

In part 1, the focus was on the technological trends.

In part 2, the focus is on societal trends.

 

See the February 27, 2014 webinar

Figure 1. PESTEL Approach Provides a Futurist Framework For Business Themes and Planning

Economic Trends Exacerbate Digital Business Disruption

Still reeling from the impact of the global financial crisis of 2008, Western economies have printed their way out of shock by providing short-term liquidity. Of grave concern, inflation appears around the corner as high debt loads stunt growth. Meanwhile, China and the resource-rich regions such as Africa, the Middle East, Canada and Australia continue their export-led and infrastructure-fueled economic growth. Brazil, Russia, India and China (the BRICs) as well as South Africa continue to grow their economies through direct foreign investment while Malaysia, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey (the MINTs) emerge onto the global economic scene. Five economic trends shape the prioritization of investments in digital disruption (see Figure 2):

Figure 2. Economic Trends Exacerbate Digital Business Disruption

1. The End of Cheap Money Is Near. An improving economic outlook leads to tightening of cheap money. Flush with money, central banks around the world must rein in the overall supply of money. The U.S. Federal Reserve will continue to slow down quantitative easing activities as economic indicators stabilize. Organizations will continue to borrow while they can as banks begin to raise the cost of capital. But investments will flow to digital business initiatives to help them achieve agility and scale.
2. Investors Still Like The US. Investment in the United States remains attractive. Despite the 13 percent-plus massive growth of M2 money supply in China and the quantitative easing in the U.S., global investors continue to hedge home country investments by making real estate and other high value asset investments in U.S. dollars. Meanwhile, rising U.S. interest rates and the pullback from quantitative easing will result in declining investment in BRICs and MINTs as investors seek to capitalize on higher returns in the U.S.
3. Population Dynamics Play A Key Role In Growth Strategies. Brands focus on rapidly growing markets in Brazil, China, Malaysia, Nigeria, India, Indonesia and Turkey. According to the International Monetary Fund, the size of emerging market economies surpassed more than half of the world’s GDP in 2013. These markets represent the future of hyper economic growth and are a leading indicator for enterprise growth. Investment in Western economies and more developed economies will continue to remain from flat to up 7.8 percent.
4. Organizations Invest In Tech Not Humans. Cost of human-based employment drives a push to technology. Legislative and regulatory burdens on employment lead to increasing investment in technology to automate or eliminate the human factor. A November 2013 poll from The Wall Street Journal’s Real Time Economics blog showed that 86 percent of organizations did not intend to hire in 2014. Hiring will be limited to the highly skilled and extremely talented. Budgets will prioritize human work that can be automated. Expect automation to go up the stack from manual labor to professional positions such as accountants, lawyers and physicians.
5. IP Issues And Falling Energy Prices Drive Local Manufacturing. Manufacturing returns to being locally based. Lower energy costs, rising labor rates in previously “low cost” countries and worries about intellectual property drive nearshoring of manufacturing. In November 2013, the U.K. government’s Manufacturing Advisory Service estimated that 15 percent of companies had recently returned production to the United Kingdom versus 4 percent that planned to offshore. A Manpower Group survey in September 2013 also showed a return of U.S. manufacturing from China due to a closing wage gap and intellectual property concerns. Automation provides a key enabler in driving down labor rates and union requirements. Mass personalization at scale, the ability to create small production runs tailored to customer needs, reaches proper price points, enabling small scale manufacturing to return to home countries.

The Bottom Line: Economic Trends Alone Are Not Enough To Consider In Dominating Digital Disruption

The premise behind the Constellation Futurist Framework requires the broader perspective of five other areas: political, economic, societal, environment, and legislative. When taken in concert, boards, CEOs, management teams, and strategic advisors will have a set of trends that provide context to the digital disruption ahead.  The framework is just the beginning.  A successful strategy will build on this futurist framework to map out the next 24 to 36 months of business model disruption.

VIDEO: Webinar of the Constellation Outlook on Digital Disruption

Your POV.

Are you still seeing the world through the lens of Social, Mobile, Cloud, Analytics, and UC/Video?  Does this help you take the bigger perspective? Ready for digital disruption?  Add your comments to the blog or reach me via email: R (at) ConstellationR (dot) com or R (at) SoftwareInsider (dot) org.

 

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