We are midway through the fall conference cycle, and it is time to take stock on where vendors are in the uptake of generative AI…  Here are eight questions to ask the vendor to separate the hype from the true progress towards generative A. When you hear - “We have been doing AI for a long time…” – it maybe trouble. It is human nature to downplay something new, especially when caught by surprise…  so, when a vendor says above, take caution. The previous approaches to AI were not using large language models (LLMs) and were not able / typically did not leverage unstructured data. They ..read more

At Oracle OpenWorld 2019, held in San Francisco from September 16th till 19th, Oracle unveiled Oracle Exadata X8M, the latest member of the Exadata family. Oracle ExaData X8M is remarkable, as it creates the fastest platform to run the Oracle Database on.   What Are the Key Trends? There are a number of trends that are changing the enterprise computing landscape now, so let’s look at the most pertinent ones: Heterogeneous computing demands. CxOs are confronted with rapidly changing computing demands. Barely having satisfied the business need for big data, the computing requirements t ..read more

IBM invited its partners for three days to the IBM Innovation Lab in Paris, to share progress in quantum as well as provide partner the chance to educate each other, share progress and state of their projects as well as ample network opportunities. Here are my four key takeaways from the event: IBM makes good progress on the innovation of its platoform / hardware. IBM’s VP of Quantum Jay Gambetta was in Paris and re-confirmed that IBM is on track with its goal of reaching 4000+ qubits by 2025, based on the IBM Quantum System Two. For now, the Osprey chip that is available with its 433 qubits ..read more

It has been quiet on the global payroll front in general – the biggest news of the year has been incremental addition of countries by practically all major global HCM vendors (see here for the Market Overview).  The faster path – basically not playing the country-by-country monopoly game – is an acquisition - and that is what Ceridian just has done, with the acquisition of ADAM HCM. Let’s dissect the press release in my custom style, it can be found here.  Toronto, ON and Minneapolis, MN, December 6, 2021 Ceridian (NYSE: CDAY; TSX: CDAY), a global leader in human capital management ..read more

As a lifelong soccer fan, watching international major international soccer events is a firm social event for my social network, family, friends and more. And while a German native, I am past any national perspectives on this and just want the better team to win! I like sports team, enterprises work hard to reach the top and then stay in top in their respective markets. Germany was certainly on top, when it became world champion in convincing fashion in 2014 in Brazil. Back then the Mannschaft coach, Joachim, aka Jogi, Löw was seen as the coach who had really figured it out… but fast forward 4 ..read more

We had the opportunity to attend Workday’s yearly analyst meeting, now known as Workday Innovation Summit, held from April 22nd till 24th 2019 at the stunning scenic Cavallo Point, across from San Francisco. The analyst summit was very well attended by analysts and influencers. Here is the 1 slide condensation (if the slide doesn’t show up, check here): Progress Report - Solid progress and AI is the True North from Holger Mueller Want to read on? Here you go: Innovation across the 4 Focus Areas – It is clear that Workday is no longer only about HR and Finance, but that the Planning and ..read more

More Time to Code, Less Time Lost on Admin/Ops Introduction Oracle introduced a new offering of its technology stack on August 13, 2020: Autonomous JSON Database. Autonomous JSON Database joins the growing autonomous product family at Oracle, which already includes the Oracle Autonomous Database, Oracle Autonomous Linux and Oracle Autonomous Data Guard.  This blog post looks at Oracle Autonomous JSON Database’s impact on developer productivity and how the new offering can boost a key developer satisfaction driver: velocity.  Why Does Developer Velocity Matter? The overused headline ..read more

We had the opportunity to attend Ultimate Software’s yearly user conference, Ulti Connect, held from April 1st till 5th 2019 at the Wynn Conference Center in Las Vegas. The event has moved from the traditional site of the Bellagio and the transition has gone well; attendees liked the new settings. Record attendance of 3100+ attendees.  Prefer to watch – here is my event video … (if the video doesn’t’ show up – check Here is the 1 slide condensation (if the slide doesn’t show up, check here):  Event Report - Ultimate Software Connections Conference - More mobile, more Xander ..read more

IBM had to cancel the physical Think 2020 conference and go to a digital format like many other conferences. As the first major vendor event going digital, IBM had to set a yardstick in terms of digital events – and did not disappoint. A special challenge was that Red Hat’s Red Hat Summit conference just happening the week before and it stole a lot of the ‘thunder’ especially in regards of hybrid cloud announcements. Weekly event proximity does not well for a set of rich announcements. Here is the one slide summary in case you are too time pressed to read on: Event Report - IBM Think 200 ..read more

In the night before its earnings call for Q1 2020, SAP surprised (probably) all of us with another change in its executive team, ending the dual CEO structure with Christian Klein and Jennifer Morgan.  Before we jump into analysis – let’s dissect the call in our customary style (the press release can be found here): WALLDORF — SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) today announced that Christian Klein (39), Co-Chief Executive Officer and member of the Executive Board, will continue as sole Chief Executive Officer. Jennifer Morgan (48), Co-Chief Executive Officer and member of the Executive Board mutually ..read more