Busting the omnichannel - enterprise hacks and chats

NRF 2020 part two - retail's highs, lows, and upstarts to watch

Continuing with their NRF 2020 on-site retail review, Jake Knowles of BJSS and Jon Reed of diginomica.com share their show highs and lows. They also talk about some retail upstarts to watch - and how some of the less glamorous innovations in logistical areas like last-mile delivery could prove crucial as retailers try to differentiate against Amazon. Jon talks about his debate with the CEO of Happy or Not, and Knowles weighs in on the missing link in Retail CX - the happy and empowered store employee. Knowles also brings up the impact of sustainability and diversity - another standout from this year's show. Yes, you can get Busting the Omnichannel on iTunes.

NRF 2020 - sorting the use cases from retail tech hype with Jake Knowles of BJSS

Live from NRF 2020, Jake Knowles of BJSS makes his debut on Jon's diginomica podcast with part one of their review of NRF's "Big Show." The guys hit on the big questions of the show, including retailers' determination make their storefronts a competitive edge again. They react to some key retail stats from Salesforce, Adobe and others on the surge of mobile commerce and BOPIS (buy online, pick up in store). They hit on why retailers need new metrics. Knowles shares the high points from his moderated panel with four global retailers on harnessing retail innovation. Knowles also talks about the retail pain points he hears about from BJSS clients - and what customers are doing to modernize their retail strategy. Yes, you can get Busting the Omnichannel on iTunes.

 

Debating enterprise blockchains at #CCE19 - criticism and use cases with Steve Wilson

Picking up after their podcast on the future of identity, Jon gets into blockchain with noted enterprise blockchain critic Steve Wilson. Live from Constellation Connected Enterprise 2019, Jon and Steve talk about the peak of blockchain hype in 2016, and how his views have evolved since his notorious 2016 post, Blockchain: almost everything you read is wrong. The guys cover the issues with enterprise blockchains, from industry use cases to immutability to the viability of consensus. Jon also pulls Steve into settling a diginomica reader controversy over his views. Finally, Steve explains why he is skeptical about blockchain for IoT security. He also shares the blockchain use cases he *does* like. Yes, you can get Busting the Omnichannel on iTunes.

Forget data-driven - we must be insight driven. Deconstructing big data and CX with Tricia Wang

After several years of misadventures, Jon finally gets Tricia Wang of Sudden Compass in the podcast hot seat at Constellation Connected Enterprise 2019. After hitting on show highlights, the two dive into Wang's outspoken views on the failure of big data, the profound limitations of quantifiable data, and why an ethnographic pursuit of data is the missing link. Wang and Reed turns their attention to the overhyped CX market, hitting on the problematic gap between being "data-driven" and insight driven. More data is actually leading to less insight. That's Wang's core point - customer data can drive business growth, but only if you know how to use it. Wang shares project experiences and business model examples to illustrate how companies are getting stuck. As for getting unstuck, Wang reveals some of the Sudden Compass methodology for getting customers on a better approach to analytics - a method that is about to be open sourced. Their partnership with Google, and Wang's obsession with avaiation and automation, rounds out the picture as the podcast wraps. Yes, you can get Busting the Omnichannel on iTunes.

Grappling with identity and regulation in the era of data brokers - a #CCE19 podcast with Constellation's Steve Wilson

In the first of his two part podcast series with Constellation's Steve Wilson, Jon asks Steve to explain the thinking behind his provocative blog post, Identity is dead. That leads into a discussion of the problem of regulating data brokers, and the ongoing issue with identity management in the enterprise. Steve critiques new approaches, including facial recognition. This discussion sets up a soon-to-be-released part two, on Steve's skeptical take on enterprise blockchains. At Steve says, "We need to keep plugging away at this because there's, they're brokering our data every single day now. So we need to figure out solutions." Yes, you can get Busting the Omnichannel on iTunes.

Sage Intacct Advantage 2019 - talking AI, CFOs, and finding the hidden stories with Steve Brooks

In his first-ever podcast with Steve Brooks of The Enterprise Times, Jon and Steve break down two vigorous days at Sage Intacct Advantage 2019, including the core AI messaging and whether it passed the CFO relevance test. Jon asks Steve, a notorious pursuer of the hidden question, how he pursues answers on the ground and how he dug into an important issue from a keynote AI demo. The guys share their biggest lessons and surprises from the event, and issue their takes on how Sage Intacct is faring with its expanded cloud solutions for finance teams. Yes, you can get Busting the Omnichannel on iTunes.

The convergence of auditing and... RPA? Kent Bettisworth's view from Controlling 2019

Live from Controlling 2019, Jon talks with Kent Bettisworth, expert SAP consultant, about the research he's done into the relevance of robotic process automation (RPA) for auditors. Kent explains the RPA use cases that are emerging, but also the risk and downsides of RPA, and the problem auditors have with "black boxes." This topic is relevant to RPA or AI/ML projects who must also get past the risk/compliance/security threshold of the auditing team. Kent grounded his research in SAP's approach to RPA via Leonardo, but this conversation extends beyond the SAP domain. Yes, you can get Busting the Omnichannel on iTunes.

IT - business alignment in a cloud world - with Barb Rojas of the Discovery Channel

After her customer keynote at Controlling 2019, Barb Rojas of the Discovery Channel gives listeners her view on IT - business alignment in the cloud era. How do you balance business enthusiasm for cloud with proper governance? How do you drive/support business change in an SAP environment? Jon also asks Barb about how her Discovery Communications teams approaches robotic process automation, as well as Tier 2 ERP during Discovery's global expansions. They also take analytics challenges as data becomes central to Discovery's business model shifts. Finally, during this Ada Lovelace women in tech day taping, Barb shares a few reflections on her own approach to leadership. Yes, you can get Busting the Omnichannel on iTunes.

Serving the modern buyer, part two - how do we reduce buying complexity and troubled projects?

In part two of their talk on the dilemmas of the modern enterprise buyer, Jon Reed and Hank Barnes of Gartner dive right into Barnes' latest research on reaching enterprise buyers, and the strengths and flaws of reaching buyers with content. Other surprising Gartner data is discussed, including the surprising role of vendor responsiveness and why that is overlooked. The guys also hit on peer reviews and the problem of attempting to game buyers with positive reviews. The conversation is framed with this question: how we can serve buyers better, and reduce the amount of flawed and troubled projects? The final section includes advice for customers on navigating buying complexity. This podcast references recent blog posts by Hank Barnes. Yes, you can get Busting the Omnichannel on iTunes.

The dilemmas of the modern enterprise buyer, part one - with Hank Barnes of Gartner

In part one of his first-ever podcast with Hank Barnes of Gartner, Reed and Barnes revisit their multi-year dialogue on the dilemmas of the modern enterprise buyer. Barnes has fresh research on modern buyers, including unsettling updates on project failures and buyer complacency. He also has fresh buzzwords for Jon to call out and break down, including "continuous buying" and "continuous customer behaviors." The guys also debate just how informed the modern buyer is, with Barnes landing on the side that "informed buyer" is aspirational at best. They both agree the vendors lack control - but still need to engage, but on new terms driven by customer needs.

This podcast references recent blog posts by Hank Barnes. Yes, you can get Busting the Omnichannel on iTunes.

Pesky CX questions - live from Salesforce Connections with Nicole France of Constellation Research

In this live chat from Salesforce Connections, Jon catches up with pesky questions specialist and CX analyst Nicole France of Constellation Research. Nicole shares her approach to analyzing vendors and why we need to press vendors on their CX approach. She also sheds light on the motivations behind her recent blog post, 10 Signs You Have a Customer Understanding Deficit and Three Things to Do About It. Nicole, who just got her pilot's license and, in theory, can now fly herself to enterprise events, makes her debut on Jon's diginomica podcast episode here. Yes, you can get Busting the Omnichannel on iTunes.

Putting digital transformation and cloud to the project test - a chat with Belden and Mansfield of UpperEdge

During Jon's latest trip to Boston, he crashed the new offices of UpperEdge, an independent enterprise and IT advisory firm with strong views on the potent topics of digital transformation and getting value of out cloud. During this unscripted, 45 minute dialogue, Jon talks with UpperEdge's John Belden and Adam Mansfield about the problem of digital transformation in the real world. The guys shift into cloud issues, and why customers are wary that SaaS can be just another form of lock-in, with the same licensing headaches. The conversation wraps with a freewheeling review of the latest cloud news, from Salesforce acquiring Tableau to Google Cloud's ups and downs in its enterprise push. The Bruins game seven loss the night before is almost totally avoided, but not quite. Yes, you can get Busting the Omnichannel on iTunes.

Applying Digital with Impact - Brian Sommer on how to put his book to use on project sites

As PowerPlex 2019 - the Plex Manufacturing Cloud user conference - kicks off, Jon Reed and Brian Sommer claim a quiet spot for an in-depth talk on why he finally wrote a book - Digital with Impact. After pressing Brian on why he entered the overhyped book area of digital transformation, Jon and Brian turn their attention to the exercises in the book. What has Brian learned by using these these exercises on project sites? How can you use Digital with Impact as a workbook to spur the cultural change needed to make digital stick? Brian also shares his recent chat with Geoffrey Moore as they contrasted their views on digital change. The guys also get into how to balance the challenge of a long term transformation with the quicker wins needed to ensure buy-in. One key theme? Overcoming the quicksand of technical debt. Note: Den Howlett has also authored a book review of Digital with Impact on diginomica.com.  Yes, you can get Busting the Omnichannel on iTunes.

Sapphire Now in Review 2019 - Dick Hirsch on a changing SAP

Taping outside this year with a fountain percolating behind them, Jon Reed of diginomica talks with Dick Hirsch about why Sapphire Now felt different this year. Hirsch talks about SAP's changing views on the cloud and their relationship with hyperscalers like AWS, Google Cloud and Azure. The guys hit on some big themes of a show with little hard news but many big storylines, from the impact of Qualtrics to why integration and master data are becoming huge topics for SAP its user groups. Issues from S/4HANA to indirect access and licensing news to the activist investor backdrop are discussed. Yes, you can get Busting the Omnichannel on iTunes.

The Oracle CX and MBX 2019 show review - with Brian Sommer

In this special "jokes included" edit of their Oracle CX and MBX 2019 review, Jon Reed and Brian Sommer, lead off with a few Vegas-inspired jokes, including the "manel" - all male conference panel - before diving into the Oracle CX/MBX shows. The guys vent their customer experience grievances along the way, but also talk about an inspiring Oracle customer that is pushing the AI limits in the service of the visually impaired. They touch on Brian's new book, Digital with Impact, and why technology is longer the constraint it once was. Yes, you can get Busting the Omnichannel on iTunes.

The New IT Professional in the DevOps - Agile era - with Joe McKendrick

During this first-ever sit down with Joe McKendrick, live from the MariaDB user conference, Jon talks with Joe about his recent articles on the impact of DevOps, agile, and digital transformation on IT - and the obstacles in the path. The guys talk about Joe's recent ZDNet articles and why over-hyped technologies like AI and machine learning fall short without a concerted change effort. Jon keeps his potshots about ZDNet's autoplay videos to a minimum as the guys move into a discussion of the new IT professional, and the rare combination of skills that the best IT pros need today. Note: original podcast file edit by Den Howlett. Yes, you can get Busting the Omnichannel on iTunes.

NRF 2019 - personalization and data obstacles with Joachim Klein of ThreeKit

In Jon's first ever podcast from NRF's retail "Big Show," Jon sits down with Joachim Klein of ThreeKit, where the two overcome NRF sounds to break down the key trends of the show, before the podcast is finally vanquished by a vacuum cleaner. The guys discuss the next-gen tech at the show, including robotics, facial recognition, and virtual fashion assistants, before digging into the problem of personalization and the opportunities retailers have if they can conquer their data problems. Klein then shares ThreeKit's go-to-market plan, and why these seasoned retail executives have banded together and put skin in the game. Their goal: bring augmented reality, visual commerce, and 3D product configuration into the same platform. End note: apologies for the background noise, the quietest place we could find at NRF was not terribly quiet, even with lavalier mics. SOUND UPDATE: my colleague Den Howlett has edited out as much background noise as possible in this new mix. Yes, you can get Busting the Omnichannel on iTunes.

Overcoming IT project failure - Josh Greenbaum on how ProQ wants to change project outcomes

"Up to 2/3 of all enterprise software projects fail to deliver their expected value. Will your project be one of them?" That's the basis for Jon's first-ever podcast with analyst and ProQ founder Josh Greenbaum. On some hidden bean bag chairs in the basement of SAP TechEd, the guys discuss the multiple ways that enterprise projects can fail or underperform, and why early interventions can change outcomes. Greenbaum explains why ProQ's approach, by providing a way of measuring teamwork and project health, can have impact. The guys also talk about other efforts to disrupt and improve the consulting industry, including Raven Intel. Note: while this was taped at SAP TechEd, SAP is not the topical focus on this podcast. Check Jon's recent TechEd wraps for your SAP analysis fix. Bonus: the guys are interrupted at the 22:00 mark by disruptive window tape measurers.  Yes, you can get Busting the Omnichannel on iTunes. 

The Sage Intacct Advantage Review - CFOs, finance transformation and the Gaylord hotel experience - with Brian Sommer

In this review of Sage Intacct Advantage 2018, Brian shares his undying love for the baffling labyrinth of exquisite possibilities known as the Nashville Gaylord Opryland Hotel. The guys quickly move on to the matter at hand - assessing Intacct now that the acquisition by Sage is in year two. They guys discuss new product announcements, and mix in views on other vendors given that the fall conference season is finally, mercifully winding down. They also hit on the impact of "vertical ERP" and how Intacct approaches it. The backdrop of the talk is the transformation of finance, and whether Sage has been an asset or hindrance to Intacct since the acquisition. Yes, you can get Busting the Omnichannel on iTunes. 

The SAP TechEd Vegas Review - the ABAP PaaS, serverless ERP, community and more with @grahamrobbo

In an SAP TechEd special, Jon Reed is joined by SAP Mentor Graham Robinson in the lost Vegas corridors to hash out what they learned behind the scenes - and how that stacks up with SAP's news announcements. Graham, who is an independent consultant and expert SAP developer, has plenty to say about SAP's ABAP PaaS announcement, and how ABAP on the SAP Cloud Platform impacts developers and customers. The guys also hash out the "serverless ERP" annnouncement, and how ERP functions as a service could play into running the SAP Cloud Platform at scale. The highs and the lows of the show are covered, including the keynote, and a surprise challenge to Jon by SAP CTO Björn Goerke in response to his diginomica show review. The guys reflect on SAP's change in community leadership - and the future of TechEd as SAP attempts to turn community into an edge again, after some down years. Yes, you can get Busting the Omnichannel on iTunes.