Social Recommendation in Action

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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I like seeing the way that words, image (and sometimes) music, can set a ball rolling.

And this is precisely why social media is fascinating. Take today for example. I had been thinking recently about my lack of exercise and had been looking for a way to break my own personal deadlock. A random tweet on the subject resulted in a relatively quick outcome – I went from thinking about fitness and a solution like the Nike Fuel Band to the purchase of a Jawbone Up in hours.

How did this happen? Take a look at the Storify below to see.

Now tell me, do you make decisions this way? Are brands listening in? Do you think they care? They should.

Marketing Transformation Innovation & Product-led Growth Tech Optimization Future of Work 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 Marketing Officer Chief Information Officer Chief Technology Officer Chief Information Security Officer Chief Data Officer Chief Digital Officer Chief Analytics Officer Chief Executive Officer Chief Operating Officer

Social Business is a Snap! (The Deck)

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You probably read my piece earlier this year where I described where and how to do Social Business in five easy steps; it was called “Social Business is a Snap”.

I put together a deck with that and more information and presented it at Inbound Marketing Summit 2013 yesterday.

Here is the deck in case you want to get a refresher course in the five easy steps to create a social business out of nothing (I feel I should add some “snark” or “irony” tags in here…).

Enjoy, and as always – would love to hear your comments.

 

SuperNova Award Application Tips

Tips for a competitive SuperNova Award application.

Also included in this post, an explanation of the SuperNova Award categories and a sample application may be found below. 

Tips: 

1. Keep it short. Judges will only review each application for 5 minutes. Please try to stay close to the word limitations. 
2. Vendors may enter the awards for their clients. Client contact information must be provided on application.
3. Results v. Metrics - results are a verbal explanation of how your project created a disruption; metrics are numbers that provide evidence of your results. 
4. Be clear and concise. If we're asking why your project is disruptive--tell us why its disruptive! Minimize the amount of digging for the judges.
5. Emphasize before and after implementation results/metrics and disruptivenes
6. "Disruptiveness" may mean creating an internal or external disruption OR using disruptive technology to change business models
7. Remember: In two minutes, readers should be able to ascertain 1. What your project was 2. Why your project was significant 3. The success of your project 4. How disruptive/game changing your project is.
8. All applications should be web ready. Do not include any information that can not be made public. 
9. You may submit for more than one category. 
10. International applicants welcome
     

Categories

• Artificial Intelligence and Augmented Humanity
• Internet of Things - A network of smart objects enables smart services. (examples: sensors, smart ‘things’, device to purchase)
• Data to Decisions - Using data to make informed business decisions. (examples: big data, predictive analytics)
• Digital Marketing Transformation & Sales Effectiveness - Personalized, data-driven digital marketing.
• Future of Work: Social Business - The technologies enabling teams to work together efficiently. (examples: enterprise social networks, collaboration)
• Future of Work: Human Capital Management - Enabling your organization to utilize your workforce as an asset. (examples: talent management)
• Matrix Commerce - Commerce responds to changing realities from the supply chain to the storefront. (examples: digital retail, supply chain, payments, omni-channel retail)
• Next Generation Customer Experience - Customers in the digital age demand seamless service throughout all lifecycle stages and across all channels. (examples: CRM, customer experience)
• New C-Suite
• Digital Safety and Privacy - Strategies to secure sensitive data (examples: digital identity, information security, authentication)
• Technology Optimization - Innovative methods to balance innovation and IT budgets.

Sample SuperNova Awards application. This is just a sample. 

Sample SuperNova Awards Application

Application name: Sample Applicant Applicant title: VP, Customer Insights Applicant Company: Sample Company Co. Email address: [email protected] Phone: xxx-xxx-xxxx SuperNova Award Category: Next Generation Customer Experience Your Company:  Sample Company Co. is the largest canned food producer in the western market. We ship our canned goods to several international markets.  The Problem Sample Company recently expanded horizontally, acquiring farms, and canning equipment manufacturers to what was once just a canning company. Expansion meant a disapparate customer service system. Files regularly got lost in transfer, and slow communication of information between systems slowed the resolution process. In addition, an increasing number of customers were requesting to use social, mobile, video channels to reach customer service. We needed a unified, streamlined customer service solution.  The Solution We decided to completely replace the three disaparate customer service systems with a cloud-based customer service offering that worked for our acquisitions as well as handling mobile, social, and video requests in a streamlined manner.  The Results Immediately after implementation, we noticed a marked improvement in our customer satisfaction surveys. Because all requests are now  routed into one system, requests are readily available to all support agents. Reduction in resolution time and follow up have improved dramatically. Additionally, incorporation of social, mobile, and video channels into our support platform have enhanced customer experience even further Metrics Before implementation: 30% file loss when transfering between systems After implementation: .01% file loss. No transfering between systems Before implementation: avg 12 minute wait time to speak to customer service After implementation: avg 3 minute wait time to speak to customer service Before implemenation: resolution time avg 12 hours After implementation: resolution time avg 3 hours Before implementation: no social, mobile, video support After implementation: respond to tweets, mobile requests and video chats can all be conducted directly from the platform Before implementation: customer satisfaction with customer service 4/10 After implementation: customer satisfacion with customer service 9/10 The Technology Customer Service Technology X, The X Company Disruptive Factor (how you created a disruption, or how you used disruptive technology to change a business model): We could have found a way to connect the three existing on premise customer service platforms, but decided to completely rework our customer service architecture and move to the cloud. Recognizing the pressures of social, mobile, and video, we requested these features be incorporated in our service offering. Moving to streamline our customer service offering by moving to the cloud, and incorporating mobile, social, and video represents a change to our business processes as a result of disruptive technology Shining moment Our implementation of video technology in our customer service platform was featured on The Colbert Report--the episode where Stephen gets frustrated because customer service departments are becoming 'too efficient these days'.

 

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Summer Post - Why all the attention to recruiting?

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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I wanted to write this post for a while - and as summer vacations are coming up for me and family as well as fellow readers - I wanted to start a summer series... keeping it with Mark Twain's famous - sorry I wrote you a long letter - I did not have time to write a short one  - this could well backfire - but it's worth a try. Shouldn't take more than 2 minutes to read.

There seems to be a lot of interest around recruiting functionality in the HR enterprise software space these days... So let's understand why that is...

Recruiting is... old

Well, relatively speaking. Apart from payroll and core HR systems - recruiting functionality for most vendors has seen many moons by now. One of the first functionalities to be build for the internet - because it had to run outside of the firewall - it is now showing its age. Time for vendors and new entrants to renovate or relaunch. Anyone still using an ATS?

Recruiting is ... competitive

With Oracle buying Taleo, the recruiting leader is no longer available as a partner for the talent management vendors, who preferred to build other talent management functionality and partner with Taleo. Biggest evidence - with a remediation plan - is Workday.

Recruiting is... where it all starts

Many of the HR enterprise system installations are in a state of challenging status quo. They are aging, they have their quirks, but somehow the workarounds have grown on enterprises. But for those enterprises that want to start new - they can start where all new HR starts - with a new recruit. And with that the promise (of the vendors) and the hope (of the users) - that by starting right - all will end right.

Recruiting is ... socially affected

Everybody knows that somehow social could travolge recruiting. It's kind of intuitively clear - as most hiring happens through someone knowing someone - so something that social networks could help with. See the LinkedIn growth - a de facto HR software company. But no one has really figure this one out.

Recruiting could be... different

One interesting approach to recruiting is the former Mr. Ted's Jerome Ternynck's Smartrecuiters. Make the software free - and pay in case of positive business outcome - a successful hire. Could change the whole market from license based pricing to outcome based pricing.

 

MyPOV

It willl be interesting to see who will take the crown for best in class recruiting functionality. Plenty of conventional approaches to it out there (think e.g. Oracle and SAP), plenty of fresh starts (think e.g.Workday and Ceridian), plenty of promising starts (think e.g. Cornerstone), plenty of re-thinking (see e.g. Lumesse), plenty of change game potential (think e.g. Smartrecruiters) and plenty of wildcards (e.g. LinkedIn or even with a little bit of fantasy... Facebook anyone?).

Exciting times ahead!

P.S. 2 minutes? Hope not much more - but hope for some more think time. Feel free to comment.

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How Taco Bell Used Twitter to Sell 200m Tacos

The Fast Food Giant Used Social Analytics to Bolster Customer Engagement and Execute the Brand's Most Successful Product Launch

This is the first in a series of posts highlighting the winners of the 2012 SuperNova Awards for innovators in disrutptive technology.

Doritos Locos Tacos: unless you were living under a rock last year the buzz surrounding the crunchy Taco Bell taco with a Dorito shell was inescapable. Taco Bell's biggest product launch to date, the company employed numerous inventive marketing campaigns to spread the word about this product --flying a taco truck into Anchorage Alaska and giving Tacos away during the 2012 World Series to name a few. Taco Bell sold 200 million Doritos Locos Tacos in the first six months, and registered a 13% increase in profits during the launch quarter.

For the successful launch of the Doritos Locos Taco, Lynn Hemans, Director of Industry and Competitive Insights, won a SuperNova Award. What realy caught the SuperNova Award Judges' eyes was Hemans' utilization of Twitter and social analytics to connect with customers, turn them into evangelists, and generate enough pre-launch buzz to make Doritos Locos Tacos the most successful Taco Bell product launch to date.

Disrupting the Facebook Standard

Taco Bell's social media data revealed 80%-90% of Taco Bell-related conversations occurred on Twitter. At a time when many brands focused their social media efforts on Facebook, Hemans blazed a trail and concentrated Doritos Locos Tacos' online product launch initiatives on Twitter. Using Netbase's social analytics technology, Hemans was able to glean insight from Twitter that not only allowed the Taco Bell PR and digital teams to resolve a supply problem early-on, but enabled them to reach their audience and use Twitter to approach the launch from a disruptive angle. Taco Bell conducted "tweet offs", giving winners the ability to bring Doritos Locos Tacos to their towns before the nationwide launch. They also featured customer tweets in commercials, connecting social media with more traditional forms of advertisement to bolster customer engagement.

We recognize Lynn Hemans for following the analytics and making the bold move to concentrate the brand's efforts on Twitter when the industry standard was Facebook. Clever use of social media, analytics, and marketing techniques turned casual tweeters into brand evangelists and boosted the brand's net sentiment over the course of the launch. 200 million tacos sold in six months and a 13% increase in profits during the Doritos Locos Tacos launch quarter speak for themselves.

Read Lynn Hemans' SuperNova Award winning application here: http://www.constellationr.com/content/lynn-hemans-taco-bell-supernova-award-winner-2012

Apply for a SuperNova Award

Next-Generation Customer Experience Innovation & Product-led Growth Tech Optimization Future of Work 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 Technology Officer Chief Information Security Officer Chief Data Officer Chief Digital Officer Chief Analytics Officer Chief Executive Officer Chief Operating Officer

Quo vadis OpenStack?

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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This post was overdue by now - but today's (July 24th 2013) events triggered it into existence, as I wanted to write a post on the OpenStack dynamics as we see them unfolding in the coming quarters since a long time. Cloudscaling's Randy Bias' unbiased (pun intended) open letter to the OpenStack community was just the spark that was needed.

OpenStack turns 3

With all these babies turning toddlers - we have plenty of 2 and 3 year olds around now. Time to take stock. And specifically for OpenStack - the toddler had a growth spurt of massive proportions in his 3rd year with IBM and HP joining the party. 

For a real world toddler that would be like being given an Olympic size swimming pool and half a Disneyland as personal play area. Maybe exaggerated - but if you consider the resources and scale that IBM and HP brought the OpenStack 2 year old - the analogy may not seem so grandiose after all. And I am not mentioning what the joining of RedHat and VMWare would mean for the 2 something year old.

What started as little less than 30k lines of code with the Nova compute project (from parent NASA) and the Swift storage platform (from parent Rackspace) has now ballooned into a 600k lines of code 3 year old, that also dabbles in dashboarding (Horizon), image storage (Glance), identity (Keystone), networking (Quantum), block storage (Cinder) and many more activities.
 

Open Letter

Cloudscaling CTO and co-founder Randy Bias stirred things up with his open letter to the OpenStack community. There he states that practically AWS has won the battle for innovation in the cloud - out executing the OpenStack conglomerate and that it's time to honor this reality. Basically OpenStack should focus on integrating the on premise data centers with public cloud offerings, bowing to the Amazon APIs. Bias adds how APIs got somewhat hijacked by Rackspace in the early OpenStack life years - so the OpenStack community should not treat APIs too much as holy cows.

And while Bias is certainly right on the Rackspace influence, we think he underestimates the unwillingness of the big boys in the OpenStack community to let AWS get away as the winner. IBM, HP, RedHat etc all did not join OpenStack to declare AWS as the public cloud standard (and winner) but to form a broad alliance against the GAMO (Google, AWS, Microsoft and Oracle) vendors. And in their mind - they haven't even started to compete - it takes enterprises like IBM and HP months to get resources shifted, allocated and productive. For them 12-24 months are necessary to even see what speed the 3 year old can develop - being put on an enriched diet, more exercise, more teacher, enrichment etc (ok, the analogy gets quirky here).
 

The OpenStack Core Dilemma

The key takeaway from Bias letter is that the core problem of OpenStack are the close to their heart interests of each of their members. While Bias blames Rackspace correctly, we should not let him get away, that an embrace of AWS (and GCE, which he mentions, too) - would certainly help Cloudscaling to monetize some strategic investments. And the same is valid for IBM, HP, RedHat, VMWare, AT&T, Cisco etc - all of them have their own interest, strategy and path for differentiation - and as they hope - domination of the cloud going forward. 

The interesting question for the observer is - how long will the OpenStack community play nice with each other - and when will the gloves come of? This is very hard to predict at this point, but we think that the easy life for the 3 year old will continue for 1-2 years - as the rich uncles and aunts (IBM, HP etc) - just get serious to invest in the 3 year old. They will play nice for some time  and then may get into a fight for the elementary school the 5 year old should join for kindergarten.

And likewise - should any major player in the OpenStack community see the chance to step up to the GAMO players - we do not think they will hesitate for a second. But they would have to make sure they can pull it off and break free from the rest of the pack - as they risk to loose cherished inter-operability that they have been promising and selling to their customers.

This reminds me of the situation of an escape group in cycling (yes maybe too much Tour de France recently) - this group needs to work together to keep the peleton at bay (here the GAMO vendors) - but if any of the riders in the group thinks he can win - he will go for it and all cooperation is so passe.

It all plays into AWS hands

With all uncertainty that can be created in the OpenStack community for now and the near future - it all plays in AWS hands - and to a certain point in the rest of the GAMO players - as they offer a clear path and roadmap to the future. And it's this reliability and track record that enterprises ultimately make the foundation for their cloud investments. 

And while e .g. IBM and HP have significant trust credit in the market and with their customers, they still need to earn their trust specific to the cloud - something they are lacking in comparison to the GAMO players. So it will be interesting to see how the adults in the Openstack community will be able to keep the hot headed members in check - for their mutual benefit.
 

MyPOV

The noise levels in the OpenStack community are up... and the potential cracks form this noise will only make the core argument of Bias' letter - the AWS leadership - a stronger one. But the desire of the large contributors to OpenStack to create a counter balance to AWS is and will remain very high for the foreseeable future. 

It will be interesting to see if those enterprises (the IBM, HP, Cisco, AT&T etc) will be able to gloss over these noise levels and get the OpenStack community to not only deliver but also become so competitive towards AWS and the other GAMOs, that they can take market share from them. Exciting times ahead.  

P.S. And for those who are wondering - quo vadis - latin for where are you heading / going?

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Clearing the Marketing Cloud Fog – Adobe Completes Neolane Acquisition

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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When I began researching the marketing automation market late last year, it seemed like a crowded market. It seemed clear at the time that the competitive fog produced by the various marketing platforms was obscuring the very real benefits that technology delivers to marketers, and that the end result would be consolidation.

Yesterday, Adobe helped clear some of this fog by completing its acquisition of privately held marketing automation vendor, Neolane. What impact will this have? My news analysis can be found here – and the official release here.

From a platform point of view, Adobe is filling the gaps in marketing technology arsenal, with:

• Analytics – the data and data crunching at your fingertips
• Target – personalisation and targeting
• Social – executing and measuring social marketing programs
• Experience Manager – cross platform content digital asset management and optimisation
• Media Optimizer – managing and optimising cross channel campaigns

And with Neolane joining the Marketing Cloud offering, Adobe is aiming to be the marketing technology partner of choice. Expect to see more activity in this crowded market.
Image: Kevin Dooley via Compfight

New C-Suite Marketing Transformation Innovation & Product-led Growth Tech Optimization Future of Work 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 Executive Officer Chief Marketing Officer Chief Information Officer Chief Technology Officer Chief Information Security Officer Chief Data Officer Chief Digital Officer Chief Analytics Officer Chief Operating Officer

Research Summary And Speaker Notes: The Identity Manifesto - Why Identity Is At The Heart of Digital Business

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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Forward And Commentary

Constellation Research keynoted at Ping Identity’s Cloud Identity Summit 2013 in July.  Gathered in front of the Identerati,  an Identity Manifesto was presented.  The research behind that manifesto has been summarized here in this summary.  The final big idea research report will offer insight into four of Constellation’s primary research themes, the Next-Generation Customer Experience, The Future of Work,  Matrix Commerce, and the Consumerization of IT and the new C-Suite.

A. Introduction

Identity often means many things to many people for good reasons. Traditional definitions of identity for the identity and access management professional have revolved around standards for authentication, access, authorization, and management.

B. Research Findings – Identity Expands Beyond Enterprise Despite Stuck in Massive Standards Hell

While standards such as SAML, Open ID, OAuth 2.0 address the technical side, the rise of consumer and enterprise social networks has spawned a consumer identity that reflects a digital ubiquity of the individual. Facebook, Google, and Twitter now dominate most social logins. Users expect their identity to be transportable from personal to work environments.

However, a limitation exists between personal and work worlds. In fact, the facets of one’s identity remain isolated and separated by not only our digital and analog presence, but also by our inability to deliver context across our worlds. Why? The lack of context separates our personal life from our work life and creates artificial barriers by role, relationship, and a host of other factors.

The reality – identity plays a multi-faceted role for each individual. The business implications of identity after authentication, authorization, access, and availability touch on commerce, work lives, personal lives, and engagement with each other. Without a more comprehensive view of identity, organization and individuals will continue to undermine the strategic role of identity in the context of business. Identity is a unifying factor in the current transformation to a digital world.

The Identity Manifesto Relates Identity To Work, Life, And Society

Identity plays a central role in the future of business and is a unifying point. The seven points in the identity manifesto set the stage on the future of identity (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. Seven Point in The Future of Identity – The Identity Manifesto

The Bottom Line: Herald The Reputation Economy – Identity All Comes Down To Trust and Transparency

Identities inside an organization may come more from external sources and vice versa. Is a Twitter ID enough? Could one’s corporate identity allow access to stores or allow credit for mass transit fare? Will employees trust their B2B world more? Will a third party emerge so employees will not have to worry about their employer encroaching into one’s private lives? Would you use your corporate identity for access to your hotel loyalty program?

As the individuals and organizations face a convergence of identity, trust is the currency. Transparency is the requirement. The reputation economy foreshadows a world of authentic commerce or business. However this world will require a trust, but verify approach because perfect transparency is impossible.

C. Report Links

The report is in it’s final stages of editing and will be available on the Constellation Research website in the next few weeks.

Your POV.

Where do you see identity playing a role for you in Matrix Commerce, Future of Work, Next Generation Customer Experience?  Add your comments to the blog or send us a comment at R (at) SoftwareInsider (dot) org or R (at) ConstellationR (dot) com

Please let us know if you need help with your Social Business efforts.  Sign up for a Constellation Academy Workshop or let us assist with:

• Assessing readiness
• Developing your social business strategy
• Vendor selection
• Implementation partner selection
• Connecting with other pioneers

Reprints

Reprints can be purchased through Constellation Research, Inc. To request official reprints in PDF format, please contact sales (at) ConstellationRG (dot) com.

Related Research:

• Research Summary: Demystifying Social Business – Optimizing the Lead to Deal Process (Sales)
• Tuesday’s Tip: It’s Time To Consolidate Social Business Platforms
• Monday’s Musings: Understand the 4 Organizational Personas of Disruptive Technology Adoption
• Monday’s Musing: Avoiding Social Media Fatigue Through Engagement
• Friday’s Features: Using Attensity Analyze 6.0 To Compare Customer Sentiment For @united @southwestair @virginamerica
• Event Report: Lithium Network Conference 2012 #LiNC
• Best Practices: From First To Worst – Continental In A Post United World, Lessons In Next Gen Customer Experience
• Monday’s Musings: Seven Basic Privacy Rights Users Should Demand For Social Business
• News Analysis: Lithium Technologies Adds $53M in Financing
• Monday’s Musings: Balancing The Six S’s In Consumerization Of IT
• Monday’s Musings: A Working Vendor Landscape For Social Business
• Product Review: Google+, Consumerization of IT, and Crossing The Chasm For Enterprise Social Business
• Monday’s Musings: Using MDM To Build A Complete Customer View In A Social Era
• Monday’s Musings: Mastering When and How High End Brands Should Use Daily Deal Sites Such As Groupon
• News Analysis: Salesforce.com Acquires Radian6 For $316M
• Monday’s Musings: Q1 2011 State of Social CRM and CRM From An EMEA Point Of View
• Best Practices: Applying Social Business Challenges To Social Business Maturity Models
• Research Summary: Software Insider’s Top 25 Posts For 2010
• Best Practices: Five Simple Rules For Social Business
• Research Report: Constellation’s Research Outlook For 2011
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• Research Report: Next Gen B2B and B2C E-Commerce Priorities Reflect Macro Level Trends
• News Analysis: Jive Fills Warchest, Ready to Battle Enterprise Software Giants And IPO?
• Tuesday’s Tip: Applying The Five Stages Of Adoption Towards SCRM Projects
• News Analysis: Lithium’s Acquisition of Scout Labs Ups The Ante in Social CRM
• News Analysis: Biz360 Acquisition Signals Attensity Group’s Move Into Social CRM
• Monday’s Musings: Avoiding Failure In Social CRM Projects Requires Ecosystem Coordination
• Research Report: The 18 Use Cases of Social CRM – The New Rules of Relationship Management
• News Analysis: Siperian Acquisition Vaults Informatica Into An MDM Leadership Position
• News Analysis: Jive and Radian6 Partner – Great For Business, But Could Fragment IT Systems
• Event Report: Salesforce.com Pushes Social CRM Technology — But Don’t Expect Companies To Be Successful With Tools Alone
• Monday’s Musings: Why Every Social CRM Initiative Needs An MDM Backbone
• Personal Log: Altimeter Group – Helping Organizations Bridge The Technology Obsolescence Gap
• Monday’s Musings: 10 Essential Elements For Social Enterprise Apps

Disclosure

Although we work closely with many mega software vendors, we want you to trust us. For the full disclosure policy, stay tuned for the full client list on the Constellation Research website.

Copyright © 2001 – 2013 R Wang and Insider Associates, LLC All rights reserved.

 

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SAP streamlines organization further - the Danes are leaving

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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Over the weekend we learned that SAP is making more changes at the top - with Hagemann-Snabe giving up the co-CEO role in May 2014 and likely moving to the supervisory board then. With that the other Dane is leaving the SAP executive board - but not so much in Wiking raid retreat speed as Lars Dalgaard did. 

The official story line

SAP played this that Hagemann-Snabe always said he would be available only for a limited time for the co-CEO role - and that he notified Plattner of his request to move out of the role by 2014. This triggers a supervisory board meeting and with that a public notice under German public company regulations. And SAP deserves kudos for actively addressing this change in a press and analyst call - even though Plattner did not have all the answers we are sure he would have liked to have in place today.

Plattner countered Hagemann-Snabe's resignation by suggesting to make him a member of the supervisory board - subject to shareholder approval (which of course isn't an issue with the three SAP founders Hopp, Plattner and Tschira owning way over the 25% needed to establish a member to the supervisory board). Hagemann-Snabe and McDermott will operate the business as usual for the next 10 months to come - that is sharing the CEO role and Hagemann-Snabe looking after the vertical aspects of the SAP software portfolio.
 

Behind the scenes

The reader needs to keep in mind that German supervisory boards are staffed half by shareholders, half by employee representatives. With Plattner having to go back to the supervisory board with Hagemann-Snabe's notice, this knowledge was also in the heads of the employee representatives. And while there is no reason to doubt their professionalism in regards of the confidentiality of a personnel change - the safe choice is to pro-actively communicate the change to the public - and with that to the employees. And as mentioned before the stock markets.
 

Did Hagemann-Snabe surprise Plattner?

We know how fond the SAP founders are of the co-CEO model. It balances things out, gives more bandwidth etc. So if Plattner knew for sure that Hagemann-Snabe would be leaving - why not have the next junior partner for McDermott groomed and ready to go in time? Well, Plattner answered this literally with saying I could not find another Jim. Which lead to some good questions from the press in regards of the viability of the unusual co-CEO model. You need to have the right talent to operate in such a leadership model. 

As an alternate view I would not be surprised that McDermott wanted to be the sole CEO of SAP at some point, and Hagemann-Snabe knew that and took himself out of contention with saying he wants to fill the role only for a limited time. To give some more credibility to this, the respected German daily F.A.Z. unearthed that in an interview with German management magazin Capital McDermott once answered to the question of being a co-Ceo with is this a the joke?

 

Why not co-CEO with Sikka?

That is one of the questions in the room - but what has not happened, can still happen. And Sikka's position just got stronger with the last re-organization - as he is since then completely in charge of all product development activities. It's now time for him and his team to deliver and they have their hands pretty full. Maybe with Hagemann-Snabe's move to the board in May 2014 Sikka will become co-CEO - but that would not have been true to the statement today, starting McDermott being the sole CEO. So the message for Sikka has probably been to deliver the products that the company needs to grow in all product areas - and good things will follow for him once proven.
 

The German Angle

Despite all the international operations and success of SAP - a large part of its employee base and much of its DNA is still German. For instance at the shareholder meeting in June Plattner reassured the audience that the official company language ("Amtssprache") is and remains German. Bill McDermott's remarks had to be translated from English to German. 13 of SAP's 16 supervisory board members are German. The necessity for this press conference came from German public company regulations to relay supervisory board decisions with no delay. SAP's German labor council leader was quick at hand at stating that Germany as location had been weakened and that there is no more representation of Germany and Europe at the CEO levels. Fears got even more fuelled by SAP moving its communication department from Walldorf to Palo Alto recently.
  
So Bill McDermott has his work cut out not only in Germany but all over Europe, where Hagemann-Snabe handled almost all customer interactions. How these first meetings will go will be a key indicator for McDermott's success in his CEO tenure. It speaks for him offering to learn German and potentially even moving or spending substantial time in Walldorf or Europe. Nothing would win the hearts and minds of the German employee base more than these symbolic actions. But McDermott will be well advised to find some Walldorf based executives to be a sounding board for him - and Mucic, Leukert and Goerke come to mind.
 

The Pros and Cons of Co-CEOs

The continuous mutual complimenting of McDermott and Hagemann-Snabe has been seen for many years now. And there are advantages in the different backgrounds and styles of two professionals - as you always get a multi-dimensional perspective and feedback on things. When this is not desired - it requires intense coordination and choreography - and that takes time. This is the time that McDermott will save now and will hopefully use wisely. Freeing up 2-3 hours of a CEO's time per week can make a huge impact on a company's success. The question now is, who will play the role of McDermott's sounding board. In the short run Hagemann-Snabe is of course around - but there will have to be a partner or partners for that. With Plattner preferring the technical topics and playing the role of instigator and mentor with Sikka - he is not the natural counterpart for McDermott. Oswald does not speak much English. Brandt is retiring. So it will be interesting to see who will fill that role. Working closely on future earnings calls with Mucic, he should be the forerunner for this role. 

What's next?

SAP is a complex organization so in the past most promotions came from within. Bill McDermott himself was the highest hire SAP made in the last decade - that did not join through an acquisition. And the tenure of the acquired CEOs - John Schwarz and John Chen has not been long enough to be of a lasting impact. 

We will see if McDermott will promote further on the internal promotion path - or hire from the outside. The organic path would be to make Rob Enslin an executive board member running sales and market operations. Then there is the retirement of Werner Brandt - and as we learnt in typical Plattner style side remark - that Luca Mucic will be his successor.

That one resolved - there is the question what to do with veteran Gert Oswald - on the executive board since 1996 (!), continuously expanding his area of responsibility. But he is 60 - so we will see if his contract will be extended - or not.

What will go a long way would be for the board or McDermott to promote or bring in a board member from Asia or Latin America. These are growth markets for SAP and they look for representation at the top - which is missing so far.  

And maybe these promotions will be to the global management body, the body under the executive management board. Right now Ensslin is the longest tenured non executive board member, Calderoni and Leukert were just added in the last re-org, and Mucic was added quietly. With Poonen leaving, I would expect CMO Becher getting a seat in the global management board, marketing is too important and Plattner agrees with that - for not having it presented in one of the two management boards. 

Advice for partners

Not too much changes, unless you were a product partner that relied on Hagemann-Snabe for the success of the partnership. In that case find some visibility with McDermott, Sikka or Plattner immediately. Everything else at board level is transitioning, so the same advice is valid for partners going through Brandt and Oswald.

Advice for customers

Dennis Howlett makes the case clear why customers need to take notice and genuinely care for executive level changes here. 

We don't think too much will change - unless your executive board sponsor is one of the current co-CEOs. McDermott will have to reduce his exposure here, and Hagemann-Snabe will have to hand it over. Less customers will be directly served by a CEO - but that may be too their advantage - as they may get sponsorship closer to where it matters, in the product development organization. We recommend to actively start moving your executive sponsorship to where your critical automation areas are - if it's with technology go with Sikka and / or directs, if it's with the Business Suite Leukert is your man and if it's vertical automation then ... wait for the dust to settle a little. 

MyPOV

SAP already streamlined the organization with moving all development responsibility to Sikka in the last reorganization back on May 24th (my take here). It now has simplified and accelerated the decision processes on the CEO level with putting the reins in McDermott's hands exclusively, we expext this transition to happen faster in day to day operations than the formalities. 

Everyone knowing and having experienced McDermott knows that customer relations are in very good hands. SAP's challenges are however on the technical side - and that's where McDermott will need to have a firm, steady and foremost credible hand. McDermott will have to earn his respect on the key technical development side, with European and Asian clients and win the German employee base over. 

In short he has to turn into a global CEO that can project his charisma and communication skills beyond English speaking audiences and cultures. From all I know McDermott can make that transition - if will be for the better of SAP. We wish him das Glueck des Tuechtigen. (translated freely - the luck will come to the hard working). 

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Find key articles and tweets in my Storify collection here. 
My predictions on future (organic) executive level nominations are here. 

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