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Welcome to the Cloud Wars Minute — your daily news and commentary show, hosted by Cloud Wars Founder Bob Evans. Each episode provides insights and perspectives around the “reimagination machine” that is the Cloud.
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In this Cloud Wars Minute, Bob reviews his conversation with ServiceNow CEO Bill McDermott, as part of the lead-up to the 2023 Cloud Wars CEO Outlook Digital Summit, taking place on February 8. Register for the free event here.
Highlights
00:40 — McDermott’s belief is that the world is in the middle of what he calls a “software revolution.” He suggests that despite the tightening global economy, the software revolution is in full swing as companies — and consumers — find new ways to deploy software. Additionally, consumers are learning how to create their own applications “driven by what Bill says is a need over the next couple of years for 750 million new applications.”
01:18 — McDermott says it is essential that these new applications be built on a common platform, so the world is able to avoid mistakes of the past, with applications being fragmented and data becoming increasingly harder to manage and analyze.
01:35 — Bob thinks what McDermott is describing is “this new approach to business software” that allows companies to exercise the caution they need, but not the cost, while also preparing to grow in the digital future.
01:59 — McDermott’s belief is that the platform is the key to reducing costs while simultaneously driving growth. As it relates to growth, ServiceNow has seen a particularly strong example of that in its Creator workflows.
02:56 — The idea of a software revolution is about being able to build applications in real-time, without expensive and time-consuming integrations, which is “a vision that appeals to where companies are heading now.”
03:12 — Bob thinks it is so important that McDermott raises the idea that companies can no longer afford to just be consumers of packaged apps that the big software companies deliver. They need to be able to do that as well as be able to ambitiously, aggressively, and quickly become developers with new, low-code/no-code apps.
The full-length CEO Outlook version of this interview is available exclusively to Acceleration Economy subscribers. Sign up here for the CEO Outlook Digital Summit to start your free subscription and see all of the Cloud Wars Top 10 CEO Outlook interviews that will air on February 8, 2023, or upgrade to Premium and get your all-access pass to our entire practitioner analyst library of content.