>>Hi, welcome to the cubes coverage of splunk.com 21. I need some Martin Brian Berg joins me next director at Accenture leading the EMEA Splunk partnership. Brian, welcome to the program. Talk to me a little bit about the Splunk Accenture partnership. This goes back about five years, I believe. >>Yeah, let me provide a bit of, uh, of a history. Uh, we have been starting with Splunk very intensively more than five years ago. Uh, we have been working very closely together to create something like an incubator approach to really serve the markets as, as best as possible. It was really successful. So exponential growth far beyond the markets, uh, for the last five years. So I'm really proud to be part of that journey. And, uh, the partnership is kind of anchored around three core components. The first component is what we typically call matching up our deep Accentia industry expertise with cloud spend Splunk technology. So it really gives a unique differentiator in the market combining that unique industry understanding and the Splunk technology, which is really capable to have an end to end platform for our clients. I'll give you an example a couple of years ago with, and starting to work in Germany was Dr. >>Bank cargo, which is one of the leading European, uh, freights or companies that, where we really put the Splunk that Phonto to the stretch and are using even IOT data like vegan shots, sensors, or locomotive data to create very fancy, you know, the use cases. So that, that's just an example how the deep industry expertise of Accentia and the blank technology expertise can work together. So the second part, maybe just to mention that is that Accenture in the partnership is developing industrialized solutions and that is, uh, needing to Accentia IP, which very rapidly can serve our customers in creating value and to transforming our clients on their journey. A great example is our supply chain of ring. We have developed a supply chain control tower, which has these days, obviously with the pandemic situation and the supply chain issues, uh, impacting our economic, uh, return. Uh, recovery is a very specific and very strong case. You can really use Splunk as a real time supply chain tour, and that's kind of the industrialized vertical solutions, which we also, uh, did in our partnership at last. Let me comment on that one, the kind of service pillar is really around cloud. So we are focusing heavily on the cloud business. As we see Splunk also an enabler of the cloud journey for our clients >>And both Splunk and Accenture on their own, uh, digital transformation Splunk going to some subscription only back in 2019, Accenture beginning, it's a cloud transformation, 2015. Talk to me about the cloud first initiative. You launched this about a year ago. So during a very challenging time, talk to me about the objectives of the cloud first initiative, how you're working together with Splunk and what some of the value is in it for the customers. >>So Accenture really sings clouds. You see it that we did a very aggressive transformation. The shift we even changed our organization, organizational structure, how we serve our customers within our cloud service to approach. So we combine our expertise from our strategy and consulting experts with implementation and delivery expertise, to have the full end, to end perspective on what we need to transform and transition our clients into the cloud journey. Um, and we are heavily investing into the cloud markets. Uh, we are doing research, uh, in the market to understand also the client needs and the market developments. For example, we recently launched a European, uh, study called cloud continuum where we interviewed more than 4,000 executives around the globe on what are the key priorities along their cloud journey? What is it really that makes it unique and differentiated? Uh, and we see what are the driving factors in the cloud market in Europe, it's a bit special as compared to the us, uh, the key priority driver of our clients moving into the cloud is cost competitive toughness. So they are really moving into the cloud to save costs. The cost play only the second, uh, kind of the answer was like 38% of respondents has been elaborating around increasing customer value. And here you see already the difference between Europe and us, uh, it's, it's much, much lagging behind in terms of understanding the data in your cloud to create new business opportunities and new business value for your customers, which, uh, which is typically, uh, an opportunity, but also challenge >>One of the challenges that organizations often face regardless of where they are in the world is looking at cloud from a price point perspective rather than a transformational journey perspective. But it sounds like you've actually seen the opposite with this survey that you mentioned. >>Yeah. I mean, that's, that's a fair point. So as set, uh, in, in Europe, we are having many clients and customers focusing on the cost competitiveness, but that typically just one key challenge. Uh, another challenge, especially in Europe is around complexity of our data regulation of trust and compliance. So that very often leads to, again, silos in the cloud architecture. So typically something you would want to overcome with the cloud journey and again, in a kind of siloed infrastructure. So we are having, we have seen that more than 60% of our customers have stirred parts of that data and on-premise data stores. They have kind of hybrid cloud environments. We have more than 48% of our customers in kind of a cloud environment. So you will see that the cloud journey again is a very complex task complex journey, and you are ending up very often in a new silos and he explained comes into play because blank can enable you to have the end to end perspective across your full stack, including a multi and hybrid cloud environment. And that's why the reason why we are looking for a strong interlock of our Splunk business into our cloud first approach to really bring that value into our cloud journey of our customers. >>So the, the complexity is, has been increasing. You mentioned a very high percentage of customers in that hybrid multi-cloud environment. How do you Accenture in Splunk, how does this cloud first initiative help address the complexities that cloud that a multi-cloud environment brings and unlock the opportunities in all of this data? >>Yeah, I mean, there's different ways to see that in my perspective, the cloud transformation, the cloud journey always requires a smart data cloud strategy as a core tool. I call it the core to win because without the cloud data strategy, you are losing really the benefit of the cloud journey in terms of the full value potential of your data. Um, I do see like an evolutionary path of the cloud transformation. First of all, is bringing and transitioning our clients into the cloud. And Splunk would be at the first milestone, the end to end perspective of having the cloud transplant, the cloud ops of ability and club monitoring capability. So it's combining the end-to-end picture and mighty cloud hybrid cloud environment in a single pane of glass, which is really unique from a technology perspective. But in the second step, it could even go further and talking about machine learning technologies about AI and bringing that to the next level on that evolutionary path. >>That's what we typically call AI ops. And that again makes a difference in terms of automation, in terms of efficiencies, in terms of prediction capabilities, which is a huge advantage and value potential for our clients. And the third step is coming back a bit to your point in terms of leaving the data value, uh, in the cloud. So if you are getting more and more advanced, you have so much data in your cloud that you could even use it for new business models for new customer service use cases. Uh, and that's kind of the kind of evolutionary past what I call the data to everything cloud, which is very similar to where Splunk is positioning and using all that data and to end for really bringing value and additional value, add to your customers. There's a >>Tremendous amount of value in that data. If it can be analyzed the value unlocked and analyzed and acted on in real time so that organizations can make business decisions on products and services. And obviously from a competitive differentiation perspective, there's a tremendous amount, a tremendous amount of value. And unlocking that data. What are you seeing in the last, in the last year, since there's been so much acceleration where the customers are coming to you saying Accenture Splunk, help us figure out how to migrate to the cloud. We've got to go quickly, we've got these competitive pressures, we've got a very dynamic world market. What's that pathway like? >>Yeah, it's a very interesting time. So typically you see this cloud transformation journeys as a journey of several years. And in the pandemic situation, you have seen that a couple of months for some of our clients, because it's really important to survive in this very disruptive economic situations. So obviously you start first with, uh, getting the basics done with kind of getting the migration done, getting the migration to the cloud and uplifting our client's technology to the next. So the new kind of cloud paradigm, but, uh, assets that kind of next evolutionary path would be increased. Automation would be increased usage of all the cloud data for additional value add and additional business models. Our client use cases. So that's kind of the starting discussion always is how to bring it to the cloud and how to create that flexibility. That also that grows flexibility in terms of being more resilient, being more agile as a customer, but a Splunk can do much, much more. And that's the story we want to, and we want to explain to the market that the basic steps are the right ones and Splunk is getting you there, especially in multi hybrid thought environments. But the very next step is really untapping. The value. >>A lot of organizations have been challenged culturally in the last year and a half with suddenly this distribution of the workforce. And now here we are still in a distributed environment, maybe getting towards a hybrid model, but cultural change is challenging for organizations in any industry where is cultural change as a part of the pathway that Accenture and Splunk help customers to create >>Absolutely spot on sex dealer for the question. And going back to the research research I was talking earlier on, we have also seen that 46% of our clients are really challenged by the complexity of the transition it's complexity of their business, of their business processes, but also the complexity of the operational change. And that really is a major pitfall and th and the major challenge for us. It's not only a technological challenge, but also it's a change and kind of transition management where we also have specified specialized ones items for an hour at, you know, practice our terms and, and change our practice, which are supporting our clients along that transition journey from a cultural perspective, because I mean, you can change your, your it infrastructure. You can create a new architecture in the cloud, but it's really about getting the business into the next level of understanding these complex data situations and processes and leveraging the value of the cloud. So that's a huge business change as well. >>It is a huge business change, which is challenging for a lot of folks again, given the distributed nature with which in which we are still working. Talk to me about an example of a, of a successful customer that, uh, Accenture and Splunk have worked with in the last year. Who's really embraced the cloud first initiative and is transforming their organizations to not only survive these challenging times, but to thrive as well. >>Yeah, one of my favorite examples is a leading hotel chain. Obviously the hotel industry has been heavily impacted by COVID. Uh, so, uh, there was a need to change to a need to get more resilient, more agile and more flexible. You think the cloud transformation story also, again, as a cost transformation play, but also changing the way the business is working. So we started with a typical cloud transformation journey. Uh, we evolved it towards what we, what we call the AI ops scenario in terms of really using machine learning technologies and AI, to get more prediction, more automation, more efficiencies. So we could even reduce, uh, the operational cost by more than 5%, which is a huge baseline and leading a global companies, uh, which frees up a lot of money, which you can then reinvest for kind of new, smarter business use cases in addressing your clients and understanding your clients and ultimately generating new value for your clients. So that's a very nice example of how you could start with an it transformation journey, changing into the cloud architecture, using AI ops, to freeing up resources for new addresses for kind of new addressable cut customer use cases and business benefits. >>What's the go to market like working customers go to learn more and get started. Are they starting with Accenture? And they starting with Splunk? Can I do both? >>We have a very collaborative partnership with Splunk. We have a strong partnership team as we speak. We have more like more than 4,000 people working on Splunk projects globally. So it's a very strong capability. Um, you can reach out to Accentia and, uh, you can reach out to Splunk. It's kind of a collaborator strategic go-to-market approach nursing. That's also a bit the advantage of the Splunk Accenture partnership that we are very closely, very collaboratively going to the market. Yes, exemptions bringing IP and assets, empty industrialized delivery methodology. We are able to really scale up globally across the market and Splunk is bringing their technology and the expertise. I think it's a winning combination >>And winning complication and not collaboration is certainly critical to enable that. Brian last question would be, as we approach the end of calendar year 2021, what are some of the things on the horizon for the cloud first initiative that you're excited about as we enter 2022, >>I think it's really getting traction. Now. We have seen a lot of our clients going into the cloud, but asset, from my perspective, it's just the start of the journey. So once you get that kind of, uh, interesting milestone start, you can create the automation efficiencies. You can create the data value and use the data very for new CRM scenarios, new years use cases. And that's where it really gets interesting and fun and innovative in getting all these data across your company and understanding and being creative, how you can use that to benefit your customer and to bring that customer experience to the next level. And that's what I'm looking really forward to coming from the it transformation, the cloud transformation journey to the customer experience and to improving the customer perspective. >>Improving the customer perspective is key. As, as the customer experience, we're all customers in our daily lives and our personal lives and our business lives. And we have this expectation that any organization we're dealing with is going to be able to give us a stellar experience. Brian, thank you for joining me on the cube today, sharing the latest and greatest and the Splunk Accenture partnership, the value that you're delivering for customers and some of the things that you're excited about as we go forward. We appreciate your time. >>Thanks for >>Having me. My pleasure for Brian Berg. I'm Lisa Martin. You're watching the cubes coverage of splunk.com 21.