Welcome to The Wrap Podcast – where Bridget Courneya, Aaron Back, and John Foley recap their week and the latest from the business and tech market. Today’s episode is brought to you by the Industry Cloud Battleground Week. In this week’s episode, the team recaps highlights from the digital event.
Highlights
Industry Cloud Battleground Week
00:36 – This past week, we hosted Industry Cloud Battleground Week. Experts from 4 vertical industries – healthcare, manufacturing, financial services, and retail – had roundtable discussions for this digital event. Industry leaders, such as Microsoft, Google Cloud, Oracle, Salesforce, SAP, and Workday, had presentations for each of the respective industries. Learn more about this digital event and register here to watch.
00:57 – Aaron has been sharing daily recaps covering highlights from the digital event:
- Day 1: 6 Ways Tech Leaders Deliver Industry Solutions
- Day 2: Defining the Patient-Centric Focus in Healthcare
- Day 3: Industry 4.0 and Building for the Future
02:53 – John noted a few common themes from the week, including edge computing, data management, customer experience, and data sharing and strategy. Partnerships were also a common them – co-creation and co-collaboration – with both partners and with customers.
04:56 – Aaron elaborates on common themes, such as digital backbone and digital framework. Additionally, the industry experts often discussed artificial intelligence, machine learning, and driving insights to make decisions.
Manufacturing
05:35 – In the manufacturing space, engineers have invented ultra-fast manufacturing technology to speed up production without polymer binders. This technology has inspired for fascinating tech, including a new wearable called e-skin. Furthermore, it’s opening doors for the application of this across different areas of the edge.
06:50 – With manufacturing being one of the vertical industries this week, another common theme involved the distance between traditional legacy and ways of working to modern leading-edge methods.
08:10 – In ICBW presentations, participating cloud providers focused on customer stories and shared examples to showcase how they put innovation to work. For instance, Google Cloud shared, in their manufacturing presentation, how automakers at Toyota reimagined the user experience by creating a digitized user manual.
10:07 – The auto industry is rapidly transforming. As displayed in the stock market recently, there was much activity around electronic vehicle manufacturers.
Healthcare
11:15 – Notable is purpose-built intelligent automation for healthcare. The company secured $100 million in series B funding for its transformative healthcare technology.
12:06 – There has been a rise in using automation, especially since the pandemic. For example, the use of telemedicine technology has increased.
13:14 – PayZen secured $15 million in funding. This company created a care now, pay later model. As a medical financial technology startup, Payson is working with hospitals and health systems using its AI-backed technology. It helps determine patient bills and their ability to pay for the care and services.
Financial Services
14:56 – Is the overlap of financial and healthcare industries bringing in a new fused model for payment?
15:43 – Much like the rapidly advancing manufacturing industry, cryptocurrencies have reimagined payment methods.
17:01 – Recently, Starbucks and Amazon announced their partnership to open cashier-less coffee shops. This is another way contactless payments are increasing.
Retail
18:23 – Another latest example of contactless payments used in retail – pop-up stores in shipping containers. In this case, the retailer used contactless scanners, payments, and loyalty programs. Retail has become a blended experience, with omnichannel, e-commerce, and in-store commerce.
19:40 – Even manufacturers have applied the pop-up mentality with micro-factories.
Industry Overlapping
20:00 – While there are purpose-built industry solutions, all of these vertical industries – healthcare, manufacturing, financial services, and retail – overlap in some way.
20:31 – During ICBW, SAP shared a great healthcare industry example about the vaccine collaboration hub.
22:26 – Although there are so many emerging use cases and new technologies, there’s still a long way to go.
Analyst Network
There have been new releases from the analyst network this week:
- 3 Things CEOs and BoDs Must Know About Fast-Emerging Industry Clouds by Wayne Sadin
- Industry Clouds for Healthcare Promise Advances in Telehealth and the Patient Experience by Paul Swider
- 4 Ways Manufacturers Can Modernize and Future Proof in the Cloud by Kenny Mullican
- 3 Non-Negotiable Requirements for Financial Services Industry Clouds by Bonnie Tinder
- 5 Cloud-Based Retail Apps, from Contactless Payments to Hybrid Shopping by Kieron Allen