>> Announcer: Live from
Barcelona, Spain, it's theCUBE,
covering Cisco Live 2020,
brought to you by Cisco
and its ecosystem partners.
>> Okay, welcome back,
everyone, it's theCUBE's
liver coverage, day four of four days
of wall-to-wall action
here in Barcelona, Spain
for Cisco Live 2020.
I'm John Furrier, with
my co-host Dave Vellante,
we have a very special guest
here to wrap up Cisco Live,
the President of Europe,
Middle East, Africa and Russia
for Cisco, Wendy Mars, CUBE alumni.
Great to see you, thanks for coming on
to kind of put a bookend to the show here,
thanks for joining us.
>> Great, absolutely great
to be here, thank you.
>> So what a transformation,
as Cisco's business model
continues to evolve, we've
been saying brick by brick.
We still think there's a big move coming,
and I think there's more action,
I can sense the walls talking to us,
like Cisco Live in the US, and
more technical announcements
in the next 24 months, you can see,
you can see where it's going.
It's cloud, it's apps, it's
policy-based, programmability.
It's really a whole 'nother
business model shift
for you and your customers.
The technology shift and
the business model shift.
So I want to get your
perspective of this year,
opening keynote you let it off,
talking about the philosophy
of the business model,
but also the first presenter
was not a networking guy,
he was an application person.
AppDynamics.
This is a shift.
What's going on with Cisco?
What's happening, what's the story?
>> Well, you know if you
look for all of the work
that we're doing is really
driven by what we see
from requirements from our customers,
the change that's happening in the market,
and it is all around,
you know, if you think
digital transformation is the driver,
organizations now are
incredibly interested
in how do they capture that opportunity,
how do they use technology to help them,
but if you look at it, really
there's the three items
that are so important.
It's the business model evolution,
it's actually the business
operations for organizations,
plus they're people,
they're people in the
communities within that,
those three things working together.
And if you look at it with,
you know, it's so exciting
with application dynamics there,
because if you look for us within Cisco,
that linkage of the application layer
through into the infrastructure
into the network,
and bringing that linkage together
is the most powerful thing,
because that's the insight
and the value our
customers are looking for.
>> Yeah, we've been talking
about the innovation sandwich,
you know, you got data in the middle
and you got technology and
applications underneath,
it's kind of, what's going on here?
But I'm glad you brought up
the part about business model,
business operations and
people and communities,
'cause during your keynote you had a slide
that laid out three kind of pillars.
People and communities, business model
and business operations.
There was no 800 series in there,
there was no product discussions,
this is fundamentally the big shift,
that business models are changing.
I tweeted, provocatively,
the killer app in digital
is the business model.
Because if you think about it,
the applications are the business,
and what's running under the covers
is the technology, but it's
all shifting and changing.
So every single vertical,
every single business
is impacted by this.
It's not like a certain
secular thing in the industry.
This is a real change.
Can you describe how those
three things are operating
with that context.
>> Sure.
And I think if you look from a, you know,
just thinking through those three areas,
if you look at the actual
business model itself,
our business models as organizations
are fundamentally changing,
and they're changing towards,
as consumers we are all
much more specific about what we want,
we have incredible choice in the market,
we are more informed than ever before,
but also we are interested in the values
of the organizations that we're getting
the capability from as
well as the products
and the services that naturally
we're looking to gain.
So if you look in that
business model itself,
this is about organizations
making sure they stay ahead
from a competitive standpoint,
about the innovation
of portfolio that they're able to bring,
but also that they have
a strong, strong focus
around the experience
that their customer gains,
from an application, a touch standpoint,
that all comes through
those different channels,
which is, at the end of
the day, the application.
Then if you look as to how do you deliver
that capability through the systems,
the tools, and the processes,
as we all evolve our businesses,
you have to change the dynamic
within your organization
to cope with that.
And then of course, in
driving any transformation,
the critical success
factor is your people,
and your culture, you
need your teams with you.
The way teams operate now
is incredibly different.
It's no longer command and control,
it's agile capability coming together.
You need that to deliver
on any transformation,
never mind let it be smooth, you know,
in the execution there.
So it's all three together.
>> What I like about that
model, and I have to say,
this is, you know, 10
years of doing theCUBE,
you see that marketing
in the vendor community
often leads what actually happens.
Not surprising.
As we entered the last decade,
there was a lot of talk about cloud.
Well, it kind of was a good predictor.
We heard a lot about
digital transformations,
a lot of people roll their
eyes and think it's a buzzword,
but we really are, I feel
like exiting this cloud era
into the digital era, it feels real.
And there are companies that get it,
and are leaning in, and there are others
that maybe are complacent.
I wonder what you're seeing in Europe,
just in terms of, everybody talks digital,
every CEO wants to get it right,
but there is complacency.
Financial services say,
"Well, I'm doing pretty well",
or "Not on my watch".
Others say, "Hey, we
want to be the disruptors
"and not get disrupted".
What are you seeing in the region
in terms of that sentiment?
>> I would say across the region,
you know there will always be verticals
and industries that are
slightly more advanced
than others, but I would say that then
the bulk of conversations
that I'm engaged in,
independent of the industry or the country
in which we're having
that conversation in,
there is a acceptance of
digital transformation is here,
it is effecting my business,
if I don't disrupt,
I myself will be disrupted
and be challenged.
Help me.
So you know, I'm not
disputing the end state.
I need guidance, I need
support to drive the transition
in a risk-mitigated manner,
and they're looking for help in that.
And there's actually
pressure in the boardroom now
around a, what do we doing
within organizations,
within that enterprise, the service
or the public sector, any
type or style of company,
there's that pressure
point in the boardroom of,
come on, we need to move at speed.
>> Now, the other thing
about your model is,
technology plays a role in contributing.
It's not the be all, end
all, but it plays a role
in each of those, the business model,
the business operations and developing
and nurturing communities.
Can you add more specifics?
What role do you see technology
in terms of advancing those three spheres?
>> So I think, you
know, if you look at it,
technology is fundamental
to all of those spheres,
in regard to the innovation,
the differentiation
technology can bring.
I think the key challenge
is one of being able
to apply it in a manner
where you can really see
differentiation of value
within the business,
so in the customer's organization.
Otherwise, it's just technology
for the sake of technology.
So we see very much a movement now
to this conversation of
talk about the use case.
The use case is the way by which
that innovation can be used to deliver
value to the organization.
And also, different ways by
which a company will work.
Look at the collaboration capability
that we announced earlier this week,
of helping to bring to life that agility.
Look at the App D discussion
of helping to link
the layer of the application into
the infrastructure of the network
to get to root cause
identification quickly,
and to understand where
you may have a problem
before that actually
arises and causes downtime.
Many, may ways.
>> And I think the agility message
has always been a technical conversation.
Agile methodology, you know, technology,
software development, no problem,
check, that's 10 years ago.
But business agility is moving
from a buzzword to a reality.
>> Wendy: Exactly.
>> That's what you're kind of getting at.
>> Yeah, and teams, how teams operate,
how they work, you know,
and being able to be quick,
efficient, stand up, stand
down, and operate in that way.
>> You know, we were kind of
thinking out loud on theCUBE,
and just riffing with
Fabio Gori on your team,
on Cisco's team, about
cloudification with Eugene Kim,
around just kind of real time.
What was interesting is we were like,
okay, it's been 13 years since the iPhone,
and so 13 years of mobile.
In your territory, in Europe,
mobility's been around
before the iPhone, so a bit more advanced.
Data privacy, much more
advanced in your region.
So you got, you have a
region that's pretty much,
I think the tell signs for what's going on
in North America and around the world,
and so you think about that, and you say,
okay, how is value created?
How are the economics changing?
This is really the conversation
about the business model is,
okay if the value activities are shifting
and being more agile, and
the economics are changing
with SaaS, if someone's
not on this bandwagon,
it's not an end state
discussion, it's done deal.
>> Yeah, but I think also
there were some other
conversation which are very
prevalent here in the regions.
So around trust, around privacy,
understanding compliance,
you look at data where data resides,
portability of that data.
GDPR came from Europe,
you know, and is pushed out.
And those conversations will
continue as we go over time,
and if I also look at the
dialog that you source
within World Economic Forum
around sustainability,
that is becoming a key discussion
now, within government.
Here in Spain, from a climate standpoint,
and many other areas as well.
>> Dave and I have been
riffing around this whole,
where the innovation's coming from.
It's coming from your
region, not so much the US.
I mean the US has got
some great innovations,
but, look at blockchain.
US is like, don't touch it.
Pretty progressive outside
the United States, (laughs)
little bit dangerous too, but,
that's where innovation's coming from,
and this is really the
key that we're focused on,
I want to get your thoughts on.
How do you see it going next level?
The next level, next gen business model,
what's your vision?
>> So I think there'll be lots of things.
If we look at things like
with the introduction
of artificial intelligence,
robotics capability,
5G of course on the horizon,
we have Mobile World
Congress here in Barcelona
in a few weeks' time,
and if you talked about
with the iPhone, the smartphone,
of course when 4G was introduced,
no one knew what the use
case for that would be,
it was the smartphone, which
wasn't around at that time.
So with 5G and the capability there,
that will bring, again, yet more change
to the business model for
different organizations
and the capability and what
we can bring to market.
>> And when you think about
AI, privacy, data ownership,
becomes more important, some of the things
you were talking about before.
It's interesting what you're
saying, John, and Wendy,
the GDPR set the standard,
and you see in the US,
there are stovepipes
for that standard.
California's going to do one thing,
every state is going to
have a different standard,
and that's going to slow things down,
it's going to slow down progress.
Do you see sort of an extension
of a GDPR-like framework
being adopted across the region,
and potentially accelerating
some of these sticky issues
and public policy issues that can actually
move the market forward?
>> I think there will be,
'cause I think there'll be
more and more, you know if
you look at this terminology
of data is the new oil,
what do you do with data,
how do you actually get
value from that data,
and make intelligent business
decisions around that.
So that's critical, but yet
if you look for all of us,
we are extremely passionate
about where is our data used,
again, back to trust and privacy.
You need compliance, you need regulation.
I think this is just the beginning
of how we will see that evolve.
>> Yeah, Wendy, I want
to get your thoughts,
'cause Dave and I have
been riffing for 10 years
around the death of storage.
Long live storage.
But data needs to be stored somewhere.
Networking is the same
kind of conversation,
it just doesn't go away, in
fact there's more pressure now,
forget the smartphone,
that was 13 years ago
before that mobility.
Data and video now,
super important driver.
That's putting more pressure on you guys,
and so, hey, we need more networking,
so it's kind of like Moore's Law,
it's like more networking,
more networking.
So video and data are now big.
Your thoughts on video and data.
But yeah (mumbles)
>> But if you look at the
internet of the future,
you know, what, so if you
loom for all of us now,
we are all so demanding as individuals
around capability and access of that,
and internet of the
future of the next stage,
we want even more.
So there'll be more and more requirement
for speed, availability,
that reliability of service,
the way by which we
engage and we communicate,
there's some fundamentals there,
so continuing to grow, which
is so, so exciting for us.
>> Yeah, so talked about
digital transformation,
that's obviously in the
mind of C-level executives,
I've got to believe security
is up there as a topic.
What other, what's the conversation like
in the corner office when
you go visit your customers?
>> So I think there's huge excitement
around the opportunity,
realizing the value
of the opportunity.
And you know, if you look
at top of mind conversations
are around security, around
making sure that you can
maintain that fantastic
customer experience,
'cause if you don't, the
customer will go elsewhere.
How do you do that, how do
you enrich at all times,
and also looking at market adjacencies.
You know, as you go in and you talk
at senior levels within organizations,
independent of the industry
in which they're in,
there were a huge amount of commonalities
that we see across those
of consistent problems
by which organizations
are trying to solve.
And actually, one of the big questions is,
what's the pace of change
that I should operate at,
and when is it too fast,
and when am I too slow,
and trying to balance that, is exciting
but also a challenge for companies.
>> So you feel like
sentiment is still strong
even though we're 10 years
into this bull market,
you know, you got Brexit, you got China,
tensions with the US, US elections,
but generally you see
sentiment still pretty strong
and demand pretty strong?
>> So I would say that the
excitement around technology,
the opportunity that is
there around technology
in its broadest sense is
greater than ever before,
and I think it's on
all of us to be able to
help organizations to
understand how they can consume,
and see value from that.
But it's, you know, it's fantastic times.
>> Yeah, Dave's trying to
get some economic indicators,
>> (Dave laughs) Always.
and we see a lot of things.
>> I know he is,
I could sense that.
(John laughs)
>> Well, I know you have to
be careful.
(Wendy laughs)
>> Well you know, but
really, the real thing
I'm trying to get to is,
is the mindset of the CEO,
the corner office right now, is it,
we're going to grow short-term by cutting,
or are we going to be
aggressive and go after
this incremental opportunity?
And it's probably both, you're
seeing a lot of automation
and cutting corners.
>> Yeah, it's both.
And I think if you look
fundamentally for organizations,
it's the three things.
Help me to make money,
help me to save money,
keep me out of trouble.
So those are the pivots
they all operate with,
and depending on where an
organization is in its journey,
whether a startup, in the
middle, or more mature,
and some of the different dynamics,
and the markets in which
they operate in as well.
There's all different variables, you know.
So it's mix.
>> Wendy, thank so much
for spending the time
to come on theCUBE, really appreciate.
Great keynote.
Folks watching, if you
haven't seen the keynote
opening section, it's good a good section
on the business model.
I think it's really right on,
I think that's going to be a conversation
that's going to continue.
So thanks for sharing that.
Before we leave, I want
to just ask you a question
around what's going on
for you here in Barcelona.
As the show winds down, you
had all your activities,
take us in the day of
the life of what you do.
Customer meetings, what were
some of those conversations?
Take us inside what goes on for you here.
>> Well, I'll tell you, it's
been an amazing few days.
So it's a combination of
customer conversations
around some of the themes
we just talked about,
conversations with partners,
and there's investor companies,
companies that we invest in
at Cisco that I've been
spending some time with,
and also spending time
with the teams as well,
the DevNet Zone, you know, is amazing.
We have this afternoon the closing session
where we've got a fantastic external guest
who's coming in, it's going
to be really exciting as well,
and then of course, the party tonight,
and we'll be announcing the next location,
which I'm not going to
reveal now, later on today.
>> We kind of figured it out already,
because that's our job.
There's the break news, but we're not
going to break it for you,
we'll let you have that.
Hey, thank you so much for
coming on, really appreciate.
Wendy Martin, President
of Europe, Middle East,
Africa and Russia for Cisco.
She's got her hand on the pulse,
and the future is the business model,
that's what's going on.
Fundamental and radical
change across the board,
in all areas.
This is theCUBE, bringing
you all the action
here in Barcelona.
Thanks for watching.
