Uppercut Podcasts By Upperedge

Justin Parker, UpperEdge's Practice Director discusses how to best identify, assess and analyze potential IT cost optimization opportunities. Earlier this year Justin co-hosted a webcast: “Driving Effective Cost Reduction: It’s All-Hands-on-Deck!" where he covers this topic in-depth; this podcast is an excerpt from that webcast. Host: Justin Parker: https://bit.ly/3C895y4 IT Cost Optimization Advisory Services: https://bit.ly/3s1fTcl

Over the last several years, UpperEdge Practice Director, Justin Parker, has supported many clients with their SAP hosting RFPs and advised them on the appropriate sourcing strategy to ensure that their objectives are met today and well into the future. This podcast is an excerpt from the webcast: Demystifying the SAP Hyperscaler Hosting Market, where Justin highlights several considerations for managing an SAP Hosting RFP Process. Host: Justin Parker: https://bit.ly/3C895y4 SAP Commercial Advisory Services: https://bit.ly/3yjImwb

Unlike some of its competitors, Oracle is seeing growth and better performance overall in 2020. However, it’s slow growth as Oracle moves to the cloud and off of its dominant on-premise solutions, which takes in revenue upfront vs. cloud subscription revenues. Jeff Lazarto, UpperEdge’s Oracle Practice Leader, gives insights on Oracle’s move to the cloud, new streams of revenue, and profitability. Host: Jeff Lazarto: https://bit.ly/37eCXdN Oracle Commercial Advisory Services: https://bit.ly/3jdtF7p

There’s an important role that internal alignment plays on the success of your IT cost optimization program. Early in 2020, Justin Parker, UpperEdge Practice Director co-hosted a webcast: “Driving Effective Cost Reduction: It’s All-Hands-on-Deck!” where he covers this topic in-depth; this podcast is an excerpt from that webcast. Host: Justin Parker: https://bit.ly/3C895y4 SAP Commercial Advisory Services: https://bit.ly/3yjImwb Related Blog: https://bit.ly/3ilLUIJ

UpperEdge Practice Director, Justin Parker, discusses how many organizations are grappling with the key decision of where and how they will host their SAP workloads. More recently, organizations are starting to consider one of the many hyperscaler hosting platforms. There are several market dynamics driving this shift such as increasing customer expectations, overall pace of change in the IT market, and organizations’ digital transformation strategies. Host: Justin Parker: https://bit.ly/3C895y4 SAP Commercial Advisory Services: https://bit.ly/3yjImwb

If you’re concluding a year-end deal with SAP in 2020, there are many things you need to think about. SAP, like everyone else, has had to readjust expectations with the market. They made some major leadership changes, but they are looking ahead with relief and optimism. With this in mind, Chip Hanna, UpperEdge’s SAP Practice Director, covers four strategies to approach SAP as the year comes to an end. Host: Chip Hanna: https://bit.ly/37gknCk SAP Commercial Advisory Services: https://bit.ly/3yjImwb Related Blog: https://bit.ly/3Clbaab

Salesforce officially announced they are acquiring business communication platform, Slack, for roughly $28B. Why did Salesforce make its largest acquisition in history and what does it mean for current Slack and/or Salesforce customers? What should enterprises expect from Salesforce as it pushes them to adopt Slack and replace Microsoft Teams? In this podcast, Salesforce Practice Leader, Adam Mansfield, answers these questions and shares his perspective on how enterprises can take advantage of the intensified battleground between Salesforce and Microsoft. Host: Adam Mansfield: https://bit.ly/3rPGp8r SalesForce Commercial Advisory Services: https://bit.ly/37hFkMV

UpperEdge's Len Riley chats with Alex Winthrop about how Accenture was particularly impacted by the global pandemic and what actions they took this year that customers should be aware of. —Discussion based on blog: How Accenture’s Strategy Evolved in 2020 – Published October 21, 2020

Salesforce had another strong quarter even during a pandemic, posting 20% revenue growth while even raising full year guidance.  Salesforce posted impressive revenue growth across all its clouds (Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Platform & Other as well as Marketing and Commerce Cloud).  Salesforce’s ability to raise full year revenue guidance is directly attributable to a strong pipeline that CRO, Gavin Patterson, mentioned is tied to the increased level of access they have with decision makers.  In this podcast, Salesforce Practice Leader, Adam Mansfield, discusses what enterprises should expect from Salesforce moving forward as they look to meet and exceed raised full year revenue guidance and achieve their objective of becoming a $25B company next year. He also shares how enterprises can take advantage of key insights from the earnings call in their upcoming negotiations and renewals.  Salesforce also officially announced they are acquiring Slack for roughly $28B. Adam will be providing insights on what th

Understanding the pros and cons of Private Cloud vs. Public Cloud is essential to selecting the right scenario for your business. Through a combination of market research and experience supporting our clients going through similar transformational choices, Brian Undlin, IT Sourcing & Negotiation Analyst at UpperEdge has identified factors to help you decide whether a private or public cloud would be the best fit for your company. More in-depth analysis on this topic can be read in Brian’s blog at upperedge.com.

As the shift to digital accelerates, more enterprises are turning to the cloud to drive efficiencies, lower IT costs, and support work which now requires more collaboration. Alphabet reported that Google Cloud revenue increased 45% in Q3. It is clear that Alphabet is going to continue to aggressively invest in Google Cloud with headcount increases in technical and sales roles, further built-out go-to-market capabilities, and most likely acquisitions. Google Cloud has shown they are ready to take market share and win even more GCP and Workspace (formerly G Suite) customers. The announcement that they are going to finally breakout Google Cloud as a separate reporting segment starting in Q4 is one indicator of their confidence. They are going to provide not only Q4 information but full year 2018, 2019, and 2020 revenue and operating income. In this podcast, Practice Leader, Adam Mansfield, discusses what enterprises should expect from Google Cloud’s sales executives who have clearly defined goals. He also s

Microsoft had a strong start to its Fiscal 2021 and overcame the devastating impact the pandemic has had on many business including many of Microsoft’s customers. Microsoft was able to beat expectations across the board, relying heavily on its commercial cloud offerings (e.g., Microsoft 365, Teams, Azure, Power Platform, Dynamics 365, LinkedIn, etc.). Commercial Cloud revenue ($15.2B) was up 31% in Q1 and now represents 41% of total company revenue ($37.2B). Microsoft is clearly focused on pushing more enterprise customers to the all-in cloud bundle Microsoft 365, moving customers to the most robust E5 edition, getting more Azure use, ramping Power Platform adoption, and selling more Dynamics 365 solutions while taking market share from Salesforce. They have been and will continue to rely on the aggressive sales pitch that “Microsoft offers the most complete and highest value solutions for enterprises”. In this podcast, Microsoft Practice Leader, Adam Mansfield, discusses what enterprises should expect f

ServiceNow beat expectations and exceeded the high end of revenue guidance despite COVID while also raising full year guidance. Subscription revenues were up 31% and they now have over 1000 customers with annual spends greater than $1M. ServiceNow is going to continue to position themselves as the platform enterprises need to ensure digital transformation success. They will continue to focus on pushing IT Service Management (ITSM) customers to the more robust ITSM Pro and getting customers to adopt additional products such as IT Operations Management (ITOM), HR Service Delivery, and Customer Service Management (CSM). In this podcast, ServiceNow Practice Leader, Adam Mansfield, discusses what enterprises should expect from ServiceNow’s sales executives who have clearly defined goals. He also shares how customers could potentially take advantage of key insights from the earnings call in their upcoming negotiations and renewals. Host: Adam Mansfield: https://bit.ly/3rPGp8r ServiceNow Commercial Advisory S

On an annual basis, Workday requires clients to do a true up, to which clients ask, “How come when we do a true up, we have to pay more for overuse, but never get a refund for underuse?” Workday’s pricing, as given in an order form, represents (from their perspective) a minimum annual spend amount for the entire term. Jeff Lazarto, UpperEdge’s Workday practice leader, discusses why Workday has these pricing structures in place and why you are likely to have to pay more for Full-Service Equivalent (FSE) worker counts and SKUs after each true up. For a more in-depth analysis of Workday’s payment structures, download his recent webcast recording: Ask the Experts – Workday Licensing. Host: Jeff Lazarto: https://bit.ly/37eCXdN Workday Commercial Advisory Services: https://bit.ly/3fq96DV

Many Workday customers are concerned about paying subscription fees in year 1 of their contract while they are going through their deployment. Workday’s typical response is that everyone must pay in year 1 because it is a cloud platform and they are constantly innovating—even while you’re deploying. However, Workday has started to make some exceptions to this position. Jeff Lazarto, UpperEdge’s Workday practice leader shares insights into these exceptions. For a more in-depth analysis of Workday’s payment deferrals and structures, download his recent webcast recording: Ask the Experts – Workday Licensing. Host: Jeff Lazarto: https://bit.ly/37eCXdN Workday Commercial Advisory Services: https://bit.ly/3fq96DV

Workday deals consist of a number of factors and unique challenges, the top questions customers have is around pricing— e.g. “Is our proposal pricing from Workday a fair one?”, “Is our prior deal a good one?”, “Where do we stand within the market?”. To start answering these questions, you need to look at your benchmarking factors, which consist of list prices, discounts, net fees on a line-item basis, full service equivalents (FSEs), SKUs and more. Jeff Lazarto, UpperEdge’s Workday Advisory Leader breaks down the components of a Workday deal in this podcast, and in his recent Workday Webcast downloadable at upperedge.com. Host: Jeff Lazarto: https://bit.ly/37eCXdN Workday Commercial Advisory Services: https://bit.ly/3fq96DV

If you’re an existing SAP customer, how can you determine what your licensing requirements are under the Digital Access Model? Truth be told, the answer hasn’t gotten any clearer. SAP has since introduced a Digital Access Evaluation service to help, however this is a guise for a soft audit which SAP will use to find gaps in your licensing to immediately monetize. Chip Hanna, UpperEdge’s Advisory Practice Director discusses these issues and more in this podcast and in his blog, “SAP and Digital Access – It’s Still a Mess” Host: Chip Hanna: https://bit.ly/37gknCk SAP Commercial Advisory Services: https://bit.ly/3yjImwb Related Blog: https://bit.ly/3yoIOcm

Many customers are sharing their financial challenges with their system integrators - especially as it relates to priorities, allocation of funding, and the state of the business. But asking your SI what staffing issues they may have and where they stand in relation to their own revenue targets is equally important as it can shed light on whether your SI is willing to commit to more collaboration. In this podcast, Chip Hanna, UpperEdge’s Advisory Practice Director, discusses four strategies for working with your SIs during times of financial uncertainty. Listen for more insights and read Chip’s blog, “4 Strategies for Engaging SAP SI's During This Downturn”. Host: Chip Hanna: https://bit.ly/37gknCk SAP Commercial Advisory Services: https://bit.ly/3yjImwb Related Blog: https://bit.ly/2WHpAki

Google has rebranded G Suite four years after launch, renaming it to Workspace while also creating new pricing tiers to appeal to current and targeted enterprise customers. Google, and Head of Workspace, Javier Soltero (former VP of Office Product Group at Microsoft), understand that Google must continue to innovate, integrate their productivity and collaboration tools, and craft new editions in order to have a better chance to take market share from Microsoft and keep Slack out. In this podcast, Practice Leader, Adam Mansfield, covers the announcement and what it means for enterprises moving forward.

SAP’s hosting option, HANA Enterprise Cloud (HEC) was launched in 2013. In 2019, SAP shifted its focus and launched Project Embrace to add support for the hyperscalers (Amazon, Google and Microsoft Azure). These moves by SAP are to prepare their customers for the end of ECC support in 2027. Brian Undlin, UpperEdges IT Sourcing Analyst, discusses where and how to host SAP, hosting licensing strategies, architecture needs and more. Read Brian’s blog, Shrinking Markets Force Customers to Re-Evaluate SAP Hosting Options, for additional insights. Host: Brian Undlin: https://bit.ly/3ysLKVK SAP Commercial Advisory Services: https://bit.ly/3yjImwb Related Blog: https://bit.ly/3xh4OEJ