Many events have passed since our post-Sapphire clean core review. Time to hash out AI, clean core and more - in the context of ASUG's fall events, and fresh research data. Analyst Josh Greenbaum, ASUG CEO Geoff Scott and your host Jon Reed rejoin for another unscripted review of event lessons learned - from SAP shows and beyond.

Along with Geoff's new ASUG data, Jon shares his top event gripes and learnings; Josh shares his clean core/BTP findings. Then we look ahead to what we want to learn from ASUG Tech Connect, and why Enterprise Architects are central to the changes afoot.

Show notes: 1 - 31:00 - fall event reviews, ASUG research findings, clean core, and AI hype vs customer reality

31:00 - SAP TechEd news review

51:00 - ASUG Tech Connect preview, why Enterprise Architects matter, and community as a learning framework

Jon recommends listeners look at SAP's Knowledge Graph pursuits, a notable TechEd topic not covered in this podcast.

After their prior podcast from Controlling 2019 on Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Jon and Kent Bettisworth move into his views on revenue recognition. How much progress have SAP/ERP customers made? What are the obstacles still ahead? They also discuss the latest regulatory timelines, and how SAP customers are approaching RAR (SAP's revenue recognition functionality). The guys hash out what Kent learned on the ground at this year's show. Before wrapping, they also discuss the degree of S/4HANA adoption at the conference, and what SAP customers are weighing when it comes to S/4HANA upgrades. 

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.

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. 

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."

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. 

After her customer keynote at SAP 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.

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.

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.

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.

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 impact on diginomica.com.   

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. 

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.

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.

"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.

In the third and final podcast in this special series from SAP TechEd Barcelona 2018, Den Howlett of diginomica talks to cloud expert and diginomica contributor Dick Hirsch review the takeaways from Barcelona, and assess the progress SAP has made with cloud models. The guys discuss how well SAP fleshed out the "intelligent enterprise." SAP's challenges with developer engagement in a more open/cloud model is also covered. Also check for Den's analysis of SAP TechEd Barcelona on diginomica.com. You'll find Jon's prior TechEd Vegas reviews and use cases there as well.

In the second podcast in this special three part series from SAP TechEd Barcelona 2018, Den Howlett of diginomica talks to SAP's Craig Cmehil about important developments in the SAP ecosystem - and the changes made to the Mentor program. Cmehil talks about the challenges the SAP Mentor will face and his goal of fostering engagement with SAP executives. The guys also hit on the community space at TechEd and the hands-on opportunities intended to push the growth of new skills. Also check for Den's analysis of SAP TechEd Barcelona on diginomica.com. You'll find Jon's prior TechEd Vegas reviews and use cases there as well.

In the first podcast in this special three part series from SAP TechEd Barcelona 2018, Den Howlett of diginomica talks to SAP's DJ Adams about about how the ABAP community can access and learn new ways to innovate on the SAP Cloud Platform. The guys hit on SAP tutorials and UI development - with Fiori, and beyond into headless development. They discuss SAP's evolution to a more open platform - and the work still to be done. Also check for Den's analysis of SAP TechEd Barcelona on diginomica.com. You'll find Jon's prior TechEd Vegas reviews and use cases there as well.

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.

What if HR customers had a way of assessing the quality of the partners servicing their implementations? Would less projects run into budget and scope problems - or outright failure. Well, now they do, thanks to the upstarts at Raven Intel. During "HR tech week" in Las Vegas, at SuccessConnect 2018, Jon sat down with Bonnie Tinder and Michele of Raven Intel on the day of their official launch to dig into the motivations behind their mission - and business model. To coincide with their launch, Raven Intel released a study of 100 initial SAP customers and their experiences with consulting partners and HR vendors. Jon asks Bonnie and Michelle about the lessons they took from their study, and how troubled HR tech projects can become better HR tech projects. Bonnie and Michele explain why their approach is different than the big vendor peer review sites that are picking up steam. Jon also asks about the challenges they may face as they get customers to evaluate major consulting partners that aren't used to being publicly evaluated. Sidenote: Bonnie and Michele are childhood friends who have always wanted to work together - now they get their chance. Bonnie speaks first on the podcast.

In their first online talk in several years, Jon Reed of www.diginomica.com is reunited with one of his old school guests for a fresh talk on the problem of hiring data science skills - and what to do about it. Vijayasankar details the types of data science skills that a data science team needs, and where the hiring gaps are. There's plenty of advice for individuals on how to fill those gaps. The guys also hit on the problem of algorithmic bias, and issues of diversity in data science. Note: this is the audio-only version of this chat. You can catch the video version on Jon's youtube: youtube.com/jonathanwreed.

In this impromptu/underground recording with the implausible Esteban Kolsky, the guys grab some time as Salesforce Connections to discuss the future of the enterprise. Two Kolsky blog posts are up for consideration, one on his enterprise software priorities, the other on AI misconceptions. Since this taping is at a CX event, the guys also get into the epic problem of delivering a halfway-decent customer experience across channels. Doing their best with Jon's backup recording, Jon also takes the chance to ask Esteban the burning question: why are you such a grouchy *!*. That leads into a discussion of the vital role of the enterprise idealist/curmudgeon, or, gadfly. At the end of the thirty minute chat, the meaning of the "implausible" Esteban Kolsky is revealed. Producer's note: this had to be taped on the backup of Jon's backup recorder, but hopefully the listening experience was improved decently for you during production. 

In their second podcast from Sapphire Now 2018, Jon Reed and guest Brian Dennett move on from SAPpy talk to discuss Brian's startup, Enable AI, and why they are taking a practical approach to AI as augmented intelligence. Brian shares his view on why AI and ML are getting market traction, and the customer problems that Enable AI is tackling. Brian also advises on how companies should get started with "AI," and why data scientists are not necessarily required. Though this is not an SAP-focused podcast, the guys briefly touch on how customer-focused AI projects tie into a C/4HANA and Leonardo context at one point or another. 

In Jon's annual Sapphire Now event review, he has a new guest, Brian Dennett of Enable AI, who was also part of the SAP blogger program coverage. Jon and Brian hash out the messages of the show, including the "intelligent enterprise" messaging and whether the Leonardo aspects actually made sense this year. They discuss Brian's pick for the sleeper announcement of the show, Master Data Management as a service, and why it matters. The guys share their findings from their often-spirited blogger sessions; Brian explains why has a philosophical difference with SAP on their "AI" approach. The guys wrap by giving their letter grades for the show, and Jon airs a couple of SAP gripes. Note: this recording was made on Jon's backup recording rig due to a microphone failure. 

On the second day of ASUG Annual Conference and Sapphire Now 2018, Jon Reed caught up with ASUG CEO Geoff Scott to get his reactions to SAP's "intelligent enterprise" strategy. Scott shares his view of the conference highlights from an ASUG view. The guys talk about the challenges SAP vowed to address, including the longstanding problem of integration - a challenge heightened with the numerous cloud products. They discuss the role of user groups in project success (or not). Note: due to time limitations the guys do not get into a licensing discussion in this video - however look for more SAP licensing (and indirect licensing) content on diginomica.com, and also ASUG.com.

In this interactive live discussion from Western Mass Podcamp 2018, Jon shares his views on researching the so-called informed buyer, and why marketing and sales must change. Participants from the session share their own challenges, and Jon hits on the dynamics of winning (and sustaining) attention, and why topic authority and opt-in audiences are essential. He explains why social media is useless without content, and why content is useless without a clear business identity. The role of subscription and curation is discussed. (Jon did a related session that continues these themes with a look at the power of immersive creativity; look out for that podcast soon). 

In their Barcelona tradition, Jon Reed of diginomica and SAP Mentor and cloud expert Dick Hirsch review the news, debates, and questions from SAP TechEd Barcelona 2017. They break down what they learned on Leonardo, along with questions about how SAP got away from process expertise in their positioning. Separating hype from reality includes a review of SAP's blockchain pursuits, and why cloud requires a different level of pricing transparency. The guys also hit on SAP's multi-cloud ambitions, including the Google partnership, and Jon reveals what he learned - or didn't - on the Android SDK possibility in the future.

In this live podcast from Constellation Research's Connected Enterprise 2017, Jon talks with the Teamability team about why team building is hard - and the unique method they bring. With the occasional bird chirping during our outdoor taping session, CEO Dr. Janice Presser and COO Mark Talaba share field examples and explain why the science of team building goes far beyond "good" and "bad" teams.

Jon also gets into his own experience being tested by Teamability, what he learned, and the three podcasters kick around the ups and downs of teams until it's time for Mark's Uber to the airport - then Jon issues the ultimate Teamability challenge. Dr. Janice Presser is also the author of the new book @Dr. Janice - Timing isn't Everyhing. Teaming is. 

In this in-depth conversation with Paul Ovigele of ERPfixers, Ovigele gives an frank look at his goal of using an Uber-like platform to provide SAP customers with a new option to get their questions answered. Jon Reed of diginomica.com talks with Ovigele about the challenges ERPfixers has faced during a live sit down at SAP Controlling 2017. They also discuss the need for consulting to change - just like cloud has changed software business models. Jon also gets Ovigele's answers to reader questions from a diginomica piece on ERPfixers - and the guys kick around the potential of the platform, for SAP and beyond, until they run out of time.

In this live podcast, taped on-site at Controlling 2017 the week before SAP TechEd, Jon Reed of diginomica talks with Julien Delvant of Bluefin Solutions about how his team approaches S/4HANA from a business case perspective. The guys also contrast the views on HANA from the SAP finance pros at this show versus the technical SAP crowd at SAP TechEd. They debate the role of Leonardo and how the SAP customers at this show view S/4HANA. Julien also shares Bluefin's progress developing a business case for S/4HANA. 

In this edited version of his Western Mass Podcamp 2017 session, Growing your business with content, Jon talks about the power of content and the impact of the digital economy on how content is consumed. The key question: how can you use content to win business by earning trust, opt-ins, and audiences? Session participants, including Claudia Gere, chime in here and there and pose questions. Note: there are a few swear words on this podcast so it's not safe for certain workplaces. Also check the itunes channel for the full podcast archives.

In part two of their live taping at Enterprise UX 2017, Jon Reed of diginomica.com talks with Sam Yen of SAP about their UX overhaul and the integral role design thinking plays in Leonardo - including project delivery. Yen also gives a glimpse into Hasso Plattner's passion for design and how this impacts SAP's UX challenges ahead. Also check the itunes channel for the full podcast archives.

In this impromptu. on-site podcast, Jon Reed of diginomica talks with Sam Yen of SAP about his keynote on driving organizational change through design. In this first of two podcasts with Reed and Yen, the guys hit on issues like the (relative) maturity of enterprise UX, and the big themes from Enterprise UX 2017, including breaking down silos. Yen critiques incremental innovation and makes the case for organization-wide design culture. Yen also gives his advice for non-designers who want to bring a design mentality to their work - and why that matters. In part two of their podcast, the guys will take a harder look at SAP's UX approach and get Yen's Leonardo/UX status report.

In their traditional post-Sapphire Now live recording, Jon and Dick once again grab an empty meeting room, but this time, they are - fittingly enough - disrupted. But the taping goes on, as Jon and Dick talk through the major themes of the show, kicking off with the diginomica.com story Dick published before Sapphire Now 2017 on multi-cloud that caused a stir. The guys hit on Sap Cloud Platform and Cloud Foundry, debate whether S/4HANA Cloud was overlooked, and break down Leonardo. Dick also gets into SAP Hybris, microservices, and the guys talk about the SaaS standardization dilemma for customers. They also explain why they chose NOT to talk indirect access.

In the audio-only version of this informal video hangout from Mark Finnern's departed treehouse, Finnern reflects with Jon Reed of diginomica on what he learned at SAP in the early days of building enterprise tribes. Now a consultant, Finnern explains why companies should be passionate about communities - not just for customers, but for competitive edge. Finnern also makes his case playfulness as a way of energizing companies and breaking down silos. The guys also discuss Finnern's keys to a successful enterprise communities, and where companies run into trouble. They move into the tricky territory of KPIs, and measuring the results of community investments. The podcast closes with Finnern's take on how SAP has handled community - and the SAP Mentors - after his departure.

In this shorter companion podcast to their longer IoT chat, Jon and Mrinal Wadhwa of Fybr discuss SAP's Internet of Things strategy. Wadhwa explains why he stayed away from SAP involvement for a few years, and why SAP's current IoT strategy has brought him back. He shares what he learned in Barcelona, and the guys touch on where SAP goes from here. As in the last podcast, there is a touch of wind in the background, but mostly the sound is good - though you'll hear Jon's business cards getting blown away at one point. 

In this live podcast from SAP TechEd Barcelona, Jon finally gets his schedule aligned with Mrinal Wadhwa of Fybr, which has a very interesting IoT play underway. The guys talk about Wadhwa's career shifts, before moving to a deeper talk on Internet of Things use cases. Wadhwa shares customer projects with cities, and how those projects are designed and funded.

The guys discuss what the IoT value is underneath the hype, and wrap with some words on IoT security. There is a bit of wind noise at the beginning as the guys taped outside, but otherwise this should be a good listen. Note: though this podcast was taped at an SAP show, there is not much SAP talk in this podcast. The guys delved into SAP's IoT plays in a shorter, companion podcast.

In this SAP TechEd 2016 Barcelona review podcast, Jon Reed talks with cloud and DevOps expert and SAP Mentor Dick Hirsch about his reactions. The guys break down the high points of their meetings, with a look at digital transformation, Hybris and micro-services, IoT, and progress with SAP's Apple iOS development partnership. They also explore the question: why isn't there more DevOps at SAP TechEd? The impact of DevOps and pros/cons of micro-services are other topics the guys explore from their outdoor - though slightly chilly - poolside taping. 

In this brief instant reaction podcast, Jon talks with SAP Mentor and developer Graham Robinson about his reaction to Bernd Leukert's SAP TechEd keynote. Graham also lays out the developer questions for SAP TechEd he is looking to get answered. 

At the Acucmatica analyst day, Jon Reed sat down with world class event troublemaker Brian Sommer not long after blowing a fuse. Jon sees if he can get Brian worked up again as the guys review current issues in HR tech, with the HR tech event season about to hit. The guys hit on problems in HR analytics and recruiting in this fairly short but spicy conversation.

In this live conference wrap, taped on SuccessConnect day two, Jon Reed and SuccessFactors consultant Jarret Pazahanick kick around the key themes of the conference and provide a gut check. Pazahanick is known for his pesky questions, but this review catches Pazahanick in an upbeat mood. Pazahanick explains why his views on SuccessFactors have shifted, and the guys hit on multiple themes of the conference, including diversity and business without bias, Intelligent Services. mobile UX and more. The guys hit on under-reported news, keynote reviews, and Pazahanick detailed his biggest concerns going forward. Jon does manage to get Pazahanick in a feisty mood regarding ASUG's announcement of their "Partner Place" program for evaluating SAP consulting partners.