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In this episode of Futurum Tech Webcast series The 5G Factor, Futurum analysts Shelly Kramer and Ron Westfall cover interesting news in the 5G market. This week’s conversation included discussions around:

• The announcement by Amdocs that it has been selected by Orange to provide business support systems for Europe’s first 5G standalone experimental cloud network in France. This AI and data driven, software-enabled, cloud native network is a two year project and signs of exciting things ahead.
• Nokia’s focus on making 5G networks more efficient, with an eye on 6G Nokia and digital twins, and Nokia’s novel approach on that front.
• AT&T’s partnership with the U.S. Military on 5G-focused R&D experiments with the Naval Postgraduate School, the Department of the Navy’s applied research university.
• The National Science Foundation’s establishment of SpectrumX, a center for wireless spectrum research in the U.S., focused on how to develop new ways of sharing and managing radio air waves to maximize this limited resource.
• Vodafone’s sustainability report released this last week by Vodafone and WPI Economics, showing that 5G and I0T can help reduce C02 emissions in the UK, along with insights on the role digital technology could play in helping the government reach its sustainability goals of slashing emissions by 78% by 2035, and achieving net-zero by 2050.

On this episode of the Futurum Tech Webcast – Interview Series I am joined by Shane Orlick, Chief Revenue Officer for WalkMe, for an exciting conversation about the growth of the company over the last year and the expansion of the digital adoption platform in the workplace.

 Managing App Sprawl in the Workplace

 In our conversation we discussed the following:

• A quick overview of WalkMe and their recent IPO
• An exploration of the massive tech sprawl in the workplace
• The complexity of the sales tech stack
• How data can be leveraged to help organizations mitigate app sprawl
• Real-world customer success stories that solidify WalkMe’s position in the market

If you’d like to learn more about WalkMe and their offerings be sure to download our recent research report, Enterprise Guide to Digital Adoption. You can also check out their website or watch the full episode below. Don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode.

On this episode of the Making Markets Podcast, host Daniel Newman shares his insights on the market’s positive reaction to earnings for:

• Oracle: The company beats on EPS while coming up slightly short on Revenue. But the big news came in the form of an update on its cloud business.
• Cisco: Cisco hosted its Investor day this week with CEO Chuck Robbins giving analysts a dive into how the company plans to evolve and innovate to accelerate growth and stay ahead of the pack.

On this episode of the Futurum Tech Webcast – Interview Series I am joined by Renen Hallak, Founder and CEO of VAST Data for an exciting conversation about the future of IT and data, and how it is impacting the way we work, live and communicate. It was a fascinating conversation from the leader of this great up-and-coming company.

The Future of IT and Data

In our conversation we discussed the following:

• A quick overview of VAST Data
• An exploration in the high-level shifts we are seeing in enterprise tech
• The opportunities in the data and storage landscape
• How VAST Data works to help organizations overcome the way they typically view storage resources
• Real-world customer success stories that solidify VAST’s position in the market

VAST Data is making a name for itself and it will be interesting to continue to follow their journey over the next few months. I expect we will continue to hear great things from the company. If you’d like to learn more about VAST and what they do, check out their website or watch the full episode below. Don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode.

In today’s episode of The 5G Factor, our newest webcast focused on all things 5G, host Shelly Kramer and fellow analyst Ron Westfall examine the key trends in the 5G market along with 5G-related news of interest.

This show focused on some familiar players in the 5G space, including Ericsson, Vodafone, Qualcomm, Nokia, Verizon, as well as a look at what’s happening in the China market as it relates to 5G technology and innovation.

Our discussion today addressed:

• How Ericsson and Vodafone are collaborating to improve 5G network energy consumption across Vodafone’s network with London trial validating significant savings using Ericsson’s antenna-integrated radio solution
• Ericsson’s new radio, which is 51 percent lighter and more compact in design, and the role that will have in optimizing site footprints, making 5G rollout and 4G upgrades faster and easier.
• Why Qualcomm and Ericsson demonstrating first 5G NR (New Radio) call on CBRS spectrum can advance Industry 4.0 use cases including 5G private networks (and why private 5G networks are increasing in popularity)
• A discussion about Ericsson closing a major research center in Nanjing amid a shrinking 5G market in China. Ericsson as long been a major supplier of telecoms equipment in China, but geopolitical climate has had a significant impact on telecos hoping for business as usual in China. Ericsson reported in July that its second quarter revenue in the country dropped by 60% year over year.
• Speaking of Nokia and China, our conversation touched on the implications of Nokia pausing technical work with the O-RAN Alliance due to concerns related to working with China-based companies on the Commerce Department’s Entity List and the kerfluffle (one of Ron’s favorite words) that may, or may not, be.
• We would up the show talking about Verizon’s just announced 10-year 5G partnership with the NFL, promising not only an enhanced fan experience at various stadiums across the U.S., but also affording other enhancements like more innovative ways of player training, team scouting, health guidelines and venue operations as whole. Want to know what stadiums you can experience Verizon’s 5G Multi View capabilities in? Well, you’ll have to watch or listen to the show.

On this episode of the Futurum Tech Webcast – Interview Series I am joined by Gerry Nolan, Worldwide Senior Director: HPE Pointnext Operational Services. Gerry is responsible for the team that enables customer support experience to drive digital transformation journeys. Our conversation covered some recent developments from HPE that are designed to meet the needs of customers that have emerged from the pandemic. It’s one you don’t want to miss.

Enabling Business Value Through the Five Pillars of Enterprise Care

In our conversation we discussed the following:

• How the pandemic has changed the way organizations invest in technology
• An overview of HPE’s Tech Care offering
• A look at HPE’s new offering Complete Care
• An exploration of the five pillars of enterprise care that will define next-gen IT services
• The enterprise challenges that are driving the need for Complete Care

HPE Pointnext Complete Care offering sets a new benchmark for enterprise-wide services and support with its global coverage, depth and breadth of technical abilities, simplified framework and deployment model, and streamlined procurement and consumption-based pricing. If you’d like to learn more about the new offering be sure to check out our latest white paper Enabling Business Value Through the Five Pillars of Enterprise Care on the topic.

On this episode of the Making Markets Podcast, host Daniel Newman shares his insights on the market’s positive reaction to earnings for:

HPE. The company beats the street on small YoY Top line growth, but shows some strength in key areas.

Zoom. Their healthy quarter is met with a turbulent response.

Links to articles referenced in the show:

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/zooms-pandemic-boom-cools-but-the-company-is-building-a-powerful-platform-to-battle-microsoft-and-cisco-11630415080

https://futurumresearch.com/research-notes/zoom-crosses-the-billion-dollar-quarter-mark-in-its-2022-fy-q2/ 

Join host Daniel Newman, Principal Analyst and Founding Partner of Futurum Research, as he delivers commentary and hard-hitting interviews with CEOs and top executives from the world’s leading technology firms. Each episode will bridge the gap between strategy, markets, and innovation, giving you a better understanding of what lies beneath the numbers of the companies featured on the show.

Disclaimer: The Making Markets podcast is for information and entertainment purposes only. Over the course of this podcast, we may talk about companies that are publicly traded and we may even reference that fact and their equity share price, but please do not take anything that we say as a recommendation about what you should do with your investment dollars. We are not investment advisors and we do not ask that you treat us as such.

Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF4e...

Get the latest tech news and opinions on: http://www.futurumresearch.com 

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For this vignette of a recent episode of the Futurum Tech Webcast, Part of the 5G Factor series, analysts Ron Westfall and Shelly Kramer discussed expansion of the Boingo Wireless AWS partnership with Boingo Wireless integrating AWS edge and cloud services with the company’s own converged network offering and its impact on select industry verticals.  

Their discussion covered:

• How the Boingo Wireless AWS partnership is using DAS (distributed antenna systems), WiFi, and private networks to improve the overall wireless experience.
• The partnership’s focus on key verticals such as airports, stadiums, manufacturing, and healthcare/medical facilities as well as large enterprises with advanced wireless networking needs and how it can accelerate adoption of cloud-based wireless services.
• Why the expanded partnership can play a pivotal role in delivering the touchless experience to wireless network users.

Ron and Shelly find the expanded Boingo Wireless AWS alliance delivers the capabilities required to augment the overall wireless user experience, including touchless interactions, and demonstrates how ecosystem collaboration can bring out the improved outcomes through the interworking of 5G and WiFi technologies and that 5G and WiFi are not conflicting technologies in many key use case scenarios.   

For this vignette of a recent episode of the Futurum Tech Webcast, Part of the 5G Factor series, analysts Ron Westfall and Shelly Kramer examine why the Mavenir acquisition of Telestax improves the Mavenir Engage proposition and alters the competitive dynamics of the Communications Platform as a service (CPaaS) market.  

Their discussion covered:

• How Mavenir’s 5G and mobile networking expertise can swiftly differentiate the CPaaS capabilities of the Mavenir Engage platform as many of the established CPaaS providers, such as Vonage and Twilio, as well as tech titan like Cisco, Microsoft, and AWS targeting the space, don’t have such in-house capabilities today
• Why 5G and API enablement are instrumental to unlocking enterprise value across verticals such as IoT, smart cities, and connected car, as well as providing turnkey applications and boosting use case networking for logistics, fleet management, AI/ML chatbots, voice biometrics verification, immersive commerce/entertainment, and additional use cases.
• How the deal strengthens Mavenir’s portfolio to address emerging WFH, BYOD, and CPaaS security requirements across enterprise and managed service environments.

Ron and Shelly see Mavenir making additional inroads in the CPaaS realm as operators increasingly prioritize 5G monetization and CPaaS technology evolves to assimilate a wider range of mobile/5G capabilities that fulfill digital workforce demands.  

For this vignette of a recent episode of the Futurum Tech Webcast, Part of the 5G Factor series, analysts Shelly Kramer and Ron Westfall and examine the key trends in the 5G market assessing the market impact of the AT&T and GM alliance aimed at delivering 5G connectivity to GM cars in three years.

Their discussion covered:

• The market significance of the GM and AT&T partnership that is bringing 5G cellular connectivity to select Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC vehicles by 2024 as well as supporting GM models from 2019 and newer that are equipped today with 4G LTE to migrate over to the 5G network.
• Why the alliance heralds the democratization of connected car technology and applications, including the NVIDIA Hyundai partnership’s aim to bring 5G connectivity and advanced safety features.
• How 5G capabilities can make infotainment capabilities more flexible and safer.
• Understanding that the OnStar service connects about 60 million vehicles across US roadways today and how it can advance ecosystem-wide assimilation of 5G technology and features.
• How the Qualcomm acquisition of Veoneer further validates the connected car business case.
• Why Tesla’s vision of automobiles as computer on wheels is coming closer to fruition.

Shelly and Ron see the connected car segment gaining broader ecosystem support as the deployment of 5G networks accelerate and the expansion of major alliances assure broader adoption and interworking.

For this vignette of a recent episode of the Futurum Tech Webcast, Part of the 5G Factor series, analysts Shelly Kramer and Ron Westfall and examine the key trends in the 5G market focusing on recent developments in the Open RAN market segment including the rise of the “Rip and Replace” program in the U.S.

Their discussion covered:

• Why the $1.9 billion U.S. “Rip and Replace” program administered by the FCC is gaining momentum among independent and regional carriers as provisions include the complete, and not partial, replacement of Huawei and ZTE equipment and operators have one year to complete the rip and replace process.
• How the rip and replace programs are generating both Open RAN and traditional RAN implementation. Mavenir’s win with Triangle Communications for FWA applications shows Open RAN can play a role and Nokia’s win with Union Wireless indicates traditional RAN as well as services will be instrumental. We expect the majority of rip and replace will use traditional RAN, particularly during early stages.
• Ericsson is working with 100+ independent telcos including @40% engaged in the rip and replace program and the expectation that number will rise to at least 50%.
• Why the Rip and Replace program may need to modify and extend its one year deadline.

Ron and Shelly are anticipating more rip and replace headlines over the course of the rest of this year and well into 2022, putting Open RAN but also mobile transition technology into the forefront of 5G ecosystem marketing and news.

For this vignette of a recent episode of the Futurum Tech Webcast, Part of the 5G Factor series, analysts Shelly Kramer and Ron Westfall deliberate on why the AT&T partnership with the University of Tennessee is important to advancing mmWave technology development.  

Their discussion covered:

• AT&T is installing a 5G test bed using mmWave spectrum at the University of Tennessee as Knoxville, complementing ongoing partnerships with Texas A&M, University of Missouri, and University of Connecticut, that demonstrate mmWave capabilities for emerging applications.
• How the partnership aligns with ongoing mmWave portfolio development work by key mobile players such as Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia, Rakuten, and Samsung. 
• The partnership’s role in enabling college personnel and students to experiment and validate mmWave capabilities across applications like ML. AR/VR, biometric data, distributed workforce, and rural environments.
• How mmWave is integral to existing operator use cases and 5G monetization objectives such as 5G fixed wireless access, smart home bundles, and smart facilities.

Shelly and Ron view mmWave technology as ready for prime time 5G services, due to innovations like beamforming, and that the technology will play an integral role in the deployment of 5G capabilities across dense urban, FWA rural outreach, smart facilities, and AR/VR environments.

In this episode of the Making Markets podcast, host Daniel Newman is joined by Tom Siebel, CEO of C3 AI. 

Their conversation focused on:

• An in-depth look at the company’s most recent results
• Exploration of what investors and outsiders may be missing about C3 AI
• How the company is part of a multi-trillion dollar TAM around AI with little direct competition
• Context on the Google Partnership announcement, and why it is likely to match or even realize greater results than the $200 million dollars generated to date via their Microsoft Partnership

Disclaimer: The Making Markets podcast is for information and entertainment purposes only. Over the course of this podcast, we may talk about companies that are publicly traded and we may even reference that fact and their equity share price, but please do not take anything that we say as a recommendation about what you should do with your investment dollars. We are not investment advisors and we do not ask that you treat us as such.

During this episode of the Making Markets Podcast, host Daniel Newman shares his insights on the market’s positive reaction to earnings for these four tech companies:

Splunk: How completely revolutionizing their business model and shifting to a cloud subscription has positively impacted their revenue, growth, and overall customer numbers.

Dell Technologies: Performance of their Infrastructure and Compute Groups looks good, why Dell Technologies APEX is an area to watch, and how the vmWare spinoff is opening up opportunities.

HP: The impact of supply chain disruptions on third quarter results, and where HP is leading (hint: think print)

Salesforce: Another great quarter, how their Platform business will be supercharged by the Slack acquisition, and the critical partnership that will help overall growth.

Link to article referenced in the show:

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/for-salesforce-investors-slack-must-start-supercharging-growth-and-the-stock-price-11630005234

On this episode of the Futurum Tech Webcast – Interview Series I am joined by Valerio Filauro, VP, Product Management, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.

Our conversation focused on:

• RFFE, what it is and why it is so important for 5G's successful roll out
• Why RFFE business a big opportunity for Qualcomm
• What enabled Qualcomm's competitive positioning among RF leaders?
• Targets for the RFFE Market share by 2024
• Qualcomm's 10 year business vision

For more information you can read Senior Analyst Olivier Blanchard's article Meet RFFE – A Critical Piece In The 5G Puzzle 

In this inaugural episode of the Making Markets podcast, host Daniel Newman, Principal Analyst and Founding Partner of Futurum Research, shares why he created this show and why Making Markets needs to be part of your podcast rotation. He also explains the overarching idea that the strategy and market performance of companies are tethered, but often, due to the way companies are covered, it is hard to really get the insights required to understand the company, both as an enterprise and an equity.

Making Markets will provide listeners with a clearer view and deeper understanding of companies by connecting the dots between their market forces, strategies, economics, and culture.

In this episode of the Futurum Tech Webcast, Interview Series, I’m joined by Chad Andrews, the Global Leader for Telecom, Media and Entertainment at the IBM Institute for Business Value. Our conversation today focuses on the changes 5G and edge computing will bring to our digital economy, and we also take a look at IBM Institute for Business Value’s recent study The End of Communications Services as We Know Them?

That is a bold survey headline, but for those of us in the industry, we know the impact that 5G and edge computing will have on the digital economy moving forward will be disruptive to say the least. And I know that sentiment was echoed in IBM’s findings in the survey.

 The End of Communications Services as We Know Them? digs deeper into a trend we’ve all been seeing – which is that communication service providers will miss out on the value that 5G and edge computing can provide unless they adapt today.

The IBM study surveyed 500 global telecommunications executives in 21 countries — so it’s a decent sample set that gives some insight into where the industry is headed. Chad and I discussed some of the findings of the report. These include:

• For CSPs to find true value in 5G and edge computing, they must adopt cloud native digital services, applications, and solutions.
• Along with cloud native platforms and applications, CSPs will need to make strategic operational decisions in order to compete long-term against cloud native companies.
• Platforms that are already established at scale will super the hypergrowth of the decade.

We also discussed some of the reasons the IBM Institute for Business Value is predicting the global digital economy will grow two to three times this decade, as well as the implications this will have on businesses across different sectors. The graphic below is from The End of Communications Services as We Know Them?

In today’s episode of The 5G Factor, our newest webcast focused on all things 5G, I was joined by my fellow analysts, Ron Westfall and Olivier Blanchard. Our focus was on the magic that 5G networks provide, and insights on what kind of innovative things companies like Ericsson, Nokia, and AT&T, along with savvy communication services providers (CSPs), are doing with private 5G networks.

Our conversation included:

• An update on what is driving the 5G private market uptake and the overall market prospects for private 5G

• What the private LTE and 5G networks that are rolling out look like
• The industries who (today) benefit most from this kind of offering, which include manufacturers, utilities (offshore and power), ports and airport sectors, and the mining and process industry

• We also discussed the use of private 5G in media and entertainment, including in sports arenas and event venues, as well as in healthcare

• Some of the key things that make private 5G networks for the enterprise both reliable and attractive

• The benefit of enhanced security a private 5G network affords compared to WiFi
• How vendors like Ericsson and Nokia and operators like AT&T, Vodafone, and Telefonica are positioning themselves to take advantage of private 5G market expansion and improve competitive outcomes

• The savvy communication services providers (CSPs) that are jumping in and partnering with companies like AT&T and Nokia (to name just a couple) and the fact that we believe that smart partnerships are key to solving customer challenges

We wrapped up the show with insights from Olivier Blanchard, our resident expert on Qualcomm, the innovation powerhouse. Olivier provided an overview of what the company is doing at its corporate headquarters in San Diego, testing and demonstrating new developments in 5G, efficiency, techniques, methodologies, equipment, and more.

In this LinkedIn Live episode of the Futurum Tech Webcast – Interview Series, I’m joined by JD Dillon, Chief Learning Architect of Axonify for a conversation about what it takes to prepare your workforce to be resilient in times of disruption — and a lot of that has to do with having the ability to reskill your frontline workforce. If we’ve learned anything in the last year, it’s that our frontline workforce is critical to business operations. Beyond resilience, as it relates to both frontline workers and the organization as a whole, learning management solutions can, and do, deliver bottom line value.

One of the things that I find most impressive about JD, apart from the fact that he’s flat out brilliant, is that his career path has been a fascinating one, and a tribute to what I mean when I call him “brilliant.” He has led Learning & Development at Walt Disney World, and from there he went to leading the Learning & Technology Development at Kaplan Higher Ed. Today, JD leads all things learning-related at Axonify, an award-winning team of software developers and learning specialists based in Canada’s world- renowned technology hub, Waterloo, Ontario.

I should also mention that JD is the founder and principal of LearnGeek, an independent practice that provides advising and education services to organizations and professionals that want to provide better workplace learning and support experiences for their employees. He’s an author, an advisory board member at HR.com, and, well, you’d be hard pressed to find a better resource when it comes to learning management and insight on how to use technology to power your learning and development initiatives. Which is exactly why I was excited to feature him on our Interview Series.

In Times of Disruption, Frontline Employees Are Even More Critical Than Ever

In our conversation, JD and I discussed the fact that companies of all sizes have experienced quite a bit of disruption in the last year and many weren’t ready to deal with the myriad challenges that presented. But one thing we know to be sure, in times of disruption, frontline employees are even more critical than ever.

But we also know that as we’ve navigated a global pandemic during the course of the last 18 months, things are especially challenging for frontline employees. These employees, from cashiers to grocery store and retail workers, to medical personnel, were (and are) learning as they work in order to keep up with disruption and also do their part to keep business operations on track. This impact is still being felt across the globe, but could the right learning platform lessen the burden for these employees and help organizations be better prepared for the future? That’s what JD and I dove into in our conversation.

Learning Management Solutions for Frontline Workers Deliver Bottom Line Business Value

Our discussion around tech-focused learning management solutions for frontline workers was far-reaching and focused on how these solutions can and do deliver bottom line business value. Our conversation touched on the following:

• The attributes that make frontline employees unique within the global workforce.
• How effective businesses have been at supporting frontline employees in the last year.
• JD shared insights on what Axonify is seeing with their customers.
• The critical areas companies have focused on for upskilling and reskilling employees that either returned to work after being furloughed or changed jobs.
• JD shared why the frontline employee experience is so unique and requires a new way of thinking for reskilling and training.
• We explored how Axonify’s learning platform delivered the digital experience that frontline employees require, as well as how it fits alongside existing solutions like SAP® SuccesFactors®
• We wrapped up the conversation with a discussion on what people can do to help their organizations get past the obstacles that stand in the way of meaningful learning and development.

For SAP SuccessFactors customers, using Axonify is truly a game-changer. You can find Axonify on the SAP Store, along with an Infosheet that our team produced: Improving the Efficacy of Frontline Training Programs with Axonify.

It was a terrific conversation and if you’re looking to reskill your frontline workforce, or even make sure that what you’re currently doing is on target, it’s one you won’t want to miss.

In this LinkedIn Live episode of the Futurum Tech Webcast – Interview Series, I’m joined by Jim Newman, President and CEO of HRizons for a conversation about the struggles that companies are experiencing as we slowly emerge from the pandemic and the HR tech that could be a solution.

Post-Pandemic Planning: HR Tech Solutions to Add to Your Arsenal

We’ve been talking a lot about pandemic recovery here at Futurum, and with good reason. Even though the job market is on the rebound, hiring is still sluggish. The May Jobs Report from the U.S. Department of Labor showed a disconnect between jobs available and employees getting hired. The impact of COVID-19 is still being felt across the globe, but could the right technology help companies get back on track? That’s what Jim and I dove into in our conversation.

Our discussion was far-reaching and included the following:

• The roadblocks HRizons customers are experiencing as we emerge from the pandemic, including the struggle to fill open positions.
• Why job descriptions are a critical part of the recovery process that many businesses are going through. Jim shared insights on the incredible administrative burden that HR departments face creating and managing descriptions for often hundreds of open positions, as well as the disjointed workflows that can leave organizations vulnerable to compliance issues.
• An exploration of how SAP® SuccesFactors® HCM platform helps organizations manage all aspects of HR. We then explored how HRizons Job Descriptions Made Simple or JDMS integration enhances the solution with a seamless end-to-end user experience.
• The organizations that can benefit the most from using JDMS as well as some real-world use case examples.
• We wrapped up the conversation with a preview of new features that are coming to the JDMS platform.

For SAP SuccessFactors customers, using JDMS by HRizons is truly a game-changer. You can find HRizons on the SAP Store, along with an Infosheet that our team produced: Simplifying Job Description Management Processes.