>> Live from Orlando, Florida. It's the Cube. Covering Microsoft Ignite. Brought to you by Cohesity and the Cube's ecosystem partners. >> Welcome back, everyone, to the Cube's live coverage of the Microsoft Ignite here in Orlando. I'm your host Rebecca Night. Co-hosting today with Stu Miniman. We're joined by Calvin Roland. He is the SBP of Business Development at F5. Thanks so much for coming on the Cube. >> Lovely to be here. >> So set the scene for our viewers. What is F5? What are you about? You're based in Seattle. What do you do? >> Based in Seattle. Founded in 1996. Went public in 1999. We were known as the load balancer back then. We were the grandfathers that created that market space. We evolved it to an application centric focus, so now known as an application delivery control, or ADC, market and we're the leader in that space. >> You were $107 million in sales in 2001. Today $2 billion plus company. >> A little bit of growth. Been quite a ride. But we're not satisfied. We're looking to double that and more through the course of the next few years. >> So Calvin, like I said I've got a networking background, so obviously watch the ADC market. I might have been a little bit further down in the layer one through three stuff, but watched layers four through seven. I actually forgot that you guys are based in Seattle. There's been a little bit of activity over the last ten or fifteen years. Maybe you can explain how cloud's been impacting your space. (Inaudible) virtualized and all the Cloud guys are just going to eat your business alive? >> So I'm glad you asked that, actually. So a lot of people have said, gosh, the public cloud. Isn't that a problem for you? Is that going to be a head win at best for you guys? And the answer is well, if we don't continue to innovate the way we have since 1996, well, then yes, of course that's going to be a problem for us. But it's actually also a tremendous opportunity for us, and let me tell you why. So in the past, we were a physical product deployed in a data center. It had a floor. It had a roof. It had air conditioning. We put our product in a rack. And you had to buy all of the services in that box, if you will, and so then even as servers and data centers virtualized and we had virtual editions of our product, big IPEV, you still had to buy every feature that was in the product. But now with the advent of the cloud, we have an opportunity now to dis-aggregate those services and then re-aggregate them in any number of ways that are bespoke or specific for a given implementation construct, so the cloud puts us in a position to get in front of more application workloads, to get to more customers. Different personas like DevOps and ApDev, that we would not have been able to get in front of. So it puts us in a position to deliver on this vision we have, which is supplying applications and services for every application anywhere. >> Well Calvin, it's interesting. There's another Seattle-based company posting a 30,000 (inaudible). Microsoft has been going through their own digital transformation. >> Correct. >> We think about Windows on the PC, Windows on the server. Well, we've talked a lot about Windows 2019 and things like that, but Microsoft's gone through a digital transformation and it sounds like F5's going through a lot of those. Maybe help connect the dots as to the Microsoft ecosystem, how F5 plays into that. >> Okay, sure. Well, we have a long history of going to market together. It's a coincidence, but it doesn't hurt, that we're across Lake Washington from one another. F5 in Seattle, Microsoft in Redmond. But back in the early 2000s, Microsoft and F5 started working together saying hey, server constructs have moved to a three tier architecture being accessed through a web browser. There is a traffic management requirement to make sure that these applications, these servers, are always available, running fast, and then more secure than what it would otherwise be. We should be working with one another to make sure that we have best practice implementation guidance for our customers. And we focus on the enterprise, obviously. So it started there. And as the world started to evolve, server virtualization, data center virtualization, and now the cloud, we've continued to work hand in hand. And so now, regardless of whether or not you're deploying Azure Stack on prem, enabling a private cloud, and it's probably an and statement, it's not an or statement. deploying applications in Azure, you get the same experience as a result of that collaborative posture. >> So working hand in hand for digital transformation, you talked about the best practices. What have you learned? What emerged? What patterns? What behaviors that you have learned that you could also extend to other companies >> Okay, so beautiful thing about the cloud, about digital transformation, is there is now something that can satisfy that insatiable appetite in the marketplace for more and more applications. More complex architectures, as well. The good news: the technology is there. The economy makes sense. But that introduces complexity, right? That can actually be a gating factor for the enjoyment of that digital transformation. So, a best practice is implementing consistent methodologies for application and security services for the apps that you are standing up in this multi-cloud architecture. By having consistent methodologies you actually give yourself an opportunity to continue that pace of innovation. So the beauty is you're deploying more applications than ever before, more capability, more productivity. You're also increasing the opportunity for things to fail. You're also increasing your exposure footprint, if you will. 53% of cyber attacks are focused on the application, for example. Having consistent methodologies for ensuring that you have an appropriate security posture is something that obviously is a table stake. So F5 has been focusing on that as we go forward. >> Calvin, one of the things we look at is it's not just where things live but a lot of times, how do I take advantage of what the new platform can offer. You talked about in the cloud I can choose what features I'd need. As customers that are building new applications, whether that's micro services, containerized server (inaudible) or the like, what opportunities are there for F5 to get in there more. I don't know if it's new features or the like but, yeah. >> Sure, so the thing that we need to do is, speaking a little philosophically, is we need to meet customers where and when and how they want to be met and with what they want to be met with. I can flip it around and say the same thing for the applications. In this new application capital economy that we have, the application decides where it should be deployed, right? And so we need to do the technology and business model, they both go in hand in hand, innovation to ensure that we do just that. Meet the work load where and when and how it wants to be met and with the features and functionality that it needs to be met with. And so we have iterated our product roadmap portfolios, so we still have our physical big IP product, we still have the VE virtual edition of the product, we now have a cloud specific version, cloud edition. We are developing and will be available in our FY19 a DevOps CICD-focused version of the product. We have a SAS offering that is development being incubated as we speak. So we are looking to attack all of those vectors, so at the moment of ideation and instrumentation and orchestration we can be there to make sure that those personas know that they can take advantage of the application and security services that we provide. >> Calvin I want to have you take us one level deeper on securities. So obviously, critically important. Something we've been talking a lot about trust with Microsoft and how does security play into the product line from F5? >> It has for some time. We're just now shining a brighter light on it. >> Right. >> Because we were the indoor and outdoor for the majority of data centers, I'm dating myself by saying data center, for applications in the past our customers have said, hey, you're providing layer four through seven application services for us. This is an obvious place for you to supply security services like a web application firewall, access services, DDOS services, et cetera. And so we have done that and we've become a leader, for example, in the web application firewall, WAF, space. And so you'll continue to see us now focus on stand-alone security offerings that take advantage of that footprint that we've established in the marketplace, with this multi-cloud construct in mind. >> So you've painted this picture of a landscape. A multi-cloud world. Customers have so much choice. They're also struggling to keep up with the pace of innovation. I'm curious how you at F5 keep up with the pace of innovation and then also how you help customers do the same. >> No problem. It's easy. I'd like to say that we're better at it than everybody else, but we're in the pool swimming as fast as we can with everybody else. I used this phrase before. The market has this insatiable appetite for more and more applications. Now the good news is, well, the bad news is there is not commensurately more human capital to satisfy that insatiable appetite. No different for us. Luckily, technology and the economy for that technology has put us in a position to have a prayer, if you will. So CICD technology, obviously the agility that the cloud brings to us, the notion of being able to spread the tent that is DevOps to envelope the NetOps profession in a way that we now have coined this phrase SuperNetOps. So we've given the traditional NetOps profession the opportunity to partner more effectively with the DevOps persona that is driving a lot of this innovation to say, hey, as you're instrumenting these applications you need to make sure that you're thinking about these layer seven services, be they traffic management or security focused from day zero. And we can help you do so. So there's that on the implementation side and over on the development side, I mean we're just hiring like crazy and changing our methodologies like crazy, as well, just like everybody else. >> So I want to ask you about the hiring. At this point in time so many tech leaders really struggle with finding talent with the right kinds of skills and also the right kind of mindset because it is actually the people that drive the innovation. >> Right. >> So how do you recruit, and how do you retain the talent to make sure that they are there to make F5 the successful organization you want it to be? >> Are you going to make me put on my amateur Chief HR Officer hat? It's a challenge for us just like it is everybody else. Now we're lucky. We're in cloud city. We fell backwards to being in the most amazing spot on this rock that's hurtling through space. And so we benefit from the proximity to us being cloud central, if you will. And so almost through osmosis, we've picked up the ability to have that cloud shining on us to attract talent. But we have to diversify our R&D strategy as well. And so we're not just hiring in Seattle. We're not just hiring in San Jose. We're not just hiring in Spokane and Lowell, Tel Aviv. We have, like many others, we've stood up an F5 innovation center in India as well, for us to help us continue to drive that velocity of hiring for tech talent. We're going to continue to make investments in the R&D centers that we have stateside and in Israel and also in Warsaw, Poland, but for us to be able to continue to drive the R&D for the growth aspirations that we have we're hiring in India, as well. >> Calvin, this is actually the first time we've had the Cube at this event. We've done lots of industry events. The infrastructure side, the operating system side, the server side, the cloud and the like. You've had a large partnership with Microsoft for years, so, maybe help for people that haven't come, give them a little bit about what they're missing by not being at Microsoft Ignite. What kind of the vibe is that you get from customers at the show, meetings you're having, people you're talking to. >> Sure. Well I benefit from getting to be at a Ignite and InVision as well. The business focus sister event, if you will. But specifically to Ignite, all I could say is if you could turn the cameras around you would be able to see the energy that is taking place here. I actually feel like I'm shouting a little bit so hopefully I'm not bursting the ear drum of the listeners right now because it's loud in here. There's a lot of energy. There's a tremendous number of technology companies here, just like F5, that see an opportunity to be drivers of digital transformation. So people are curious about some of the challenges that we've talked about. And you're not here? Well then you've missed an opportunity. >> Anything that you would differentiate Microsoft and its ecosystem in this show? And the Invision, too. The business side compared to some of the other shows of the world? We go to- (crosstalk) >> It's breadth and depth. So either you get a very focused, very deep technology subject that you drill in on at an event like this. Or you get wide and shallow. And what I'd say about here is because of the decades, really, of enterprise focus and innovation and forward thinking of Microsoft, you get the breadth but you also get the depth as well. >> And actually you're the first guest we've actually had that mentioned the sister event. Maybe give us a little bit of color of what goes on there. >> So, I'll over-simplify it. The planners of the events are going to cringe. But I guess the simple differentiation is tech focus at Ignite. Business focus at Invision, if you will. So a lot of business leaders there that are being spoken to with the language that they need to be spoken to with. Helping them understand the breadth and depth of the technology that's happening here at Ignite but translating it into business transformation. So here we're focused a little bit more on technology innovation over at Invision, I don't even know if I'm pointing at the right direction, business model innovation. >> So if F5 were to have its own conference, its own Ignite-like event, what would you want to communicate about the vision and the strategy and the product services that F5 provides? >> So I've touched on it so I'll just reiterate it. We are excited about the phenomenon that is multi-cloud implementation constructs, digital transformation. We're excited about being a driver for that phenomenon. Enabling it to happen at a pace that it otherwise would not be able to happen in. And so the innovation that we're doing from a technology perspective, the product portfolio that I described, big IP, VE, cloud edition, Big IQ, our management and orchestration platform, our CICD-focused cloud specific implementation, our SAS, our managed service offering that is Silver Line. All of that technology and innovation we're tremendously excited about along with business model innovation. Licensing models like enterprise license agreements, subscription, et cetera. All of this puts us in a position within the Venn diagram that is digital transformation to actually achieve that nirvana which is providing application services for every application, anywhere. And so if you come to our event that's what you're going to learn about. >> But actually F5 Agility was in our backyard in Boston. >> Oh, man! >> You just missed it. You just missed it. Yes. >> Excellent, excellent. Well we'll be there next time. >> I'm counting on it. Don't say it if you don't mean it. >> Great. Well Calvin, thank you so much for coming on the show. It was a real pleasure having you here. >> It was a pleasure being here. Thank you. >> I'm Rebecca Night for Stu Miniman. We will have more from Microsoft Ignite in the Cube's live coverage in just a little bit.

(energetic music) >> Voiceover: Live from Las Vegas, it's theCUBE, Covering Oracle Modern Customer Experience 2017. Brought to you by Oracle. (upbeat music) >> Hey, welcome back and we are here live in Las Vegas at Mandalay Bay Convention Center for Oracle's Modern C-EX, Modern Customer Experience Event. Part of Oracle Marketing Cloud, I am John Furrier with SiliconANGLE. My co-host Peter Burris, head of research at Wikibon.com. Our next guest is Adrian Chang, director of customer programs at Oracle Marketing Cloud, also emcee of the Markie and big part of that program. Congratulations on the success of the Markie's awards, which were given out last night. I read your blog post on the site this morning. >> Thank you >> Great to see you again and welcome back to theCUBE. >> Thank you for having me, always great to be here and I love Modern Customer Experience and that marketing is a part of it. >> It's really been a great transformation this year. The simplification of just now narrowing it down to one simple value president, Modern Customer Experience, which encapsulates a lot of stuff. Quickly review what that is and then let's talk about the Markies. >> Absolutely, so I start with the Markies and so we have a history of celebrating excellence in data-driven modern marketing. So, this program has grown tremendously over the past 11 years. When I look at the submissions, they're customers that are focusing on acquisition and loyalty retention. And they read these stories all the time and spend weeks preparing the submissions. So this event is all about how can we share our intent to have our customers have a good experience as part of Oracle and then how can we help them delight their customers in delivering experiences and create value at every touch point. >> One of the thing I really like about the change in the name from Modern Marketing Experience to Modern Customer Experience is you move from the process, the function, to the outcome and the result. So how are the Markies reflecting that this year? >> Absolutely. So if you think about where we started, again it was six categories celebrating excellence in B2B marketing and reaching folks behind a single device, their laptop computer. So cut to 2017, the customers' preferences, their activities are fluid. So great marketing requires you to use a series of channels to reach them everywhere. And so, marketers have to balance brand with action, and then also deliver on intent. So the Markies have had to evolve to think about the habits. So the account-based marketing team of the year was a new award that we gave out that really represented the intent. Are people actually doing this, we have tons of great stories. So we have to balance out a bit of the usage of the product and the technology and embracing the new strategies and what's current within the marketplace. >> So the future of marketing as it goes into data, that's been the theme here. All of our interviews, day one. And certainly the key notes, even Mark was giving a great specific example. Now data is at the heart of it. Adaptive intelligence is the theme. You can see the dots are connecting the convergence of where the Markies are showing traction are some pretty interesting use cases. Any notables you'd like to share that kind of highlight that data piece? >> Absolutely. So our winner for best email campaign was from Jetstar and they're an airline in Austraila. What's great is they have been able to find ways to-- so when you get an email about travel, sometimes you book at one particular point and your preferences and relationship with that airline may change. Your travel destinations may change. So the fact that they can optimize the information at the time of send, sending the weather, curing you to maybe upsell and look at other opportunities to have a pleasant experience, that's amazing. So Laura Ipsen spent some time talking about how we at Oracle are looking to evolve preferences, so going from one to many, to one to one, and the hallmark which is one to you. And I think the Jetstar campaign, they use Oracle responses as a perfect example of that. The first award that we gave out was to Covance for account-based team of the year and by doing, setting up an account-based marketing strategy, putting it in place, getting all the stakeholders in sales in place, getting the discipline on the content. They were able to increase their engagement with key accounts by a significant margin. And they were delighted to be among those that are partners to celebrate that achievement. >> Adrian, I want you to talk about, for the folks that are watching who aren't here, the buzz in the hallways, because the hallways is always a good conversation, certainly the lunch table as well. I'll include that technically at the hallway, but people sitting down. >> Absolutely. >> AI has been front and center, but it's not being painted over, white-washed, "Oh! AI! It's hot so let's jump on the bandwagon." There's some real tech involved. What has been the reaction from customers in used cases that you hear in the hallways? >> Customers are excited about it. I think for a lot of our customers had the opportunity to hear Mark Heard talk about it. Where he embraced and said, "If you think about AI at the core, it's computing done real fast to help people make really rich decisions about what to do next." And so, I think our customers are still grappling with all the technology and how to get value out of their core platforms, how do they deliver on their initial objective and then we have a subset of our most mature, most excited, who are starting to put those data plots together, and start getting more predictive and allow the machine to do the work for you. But in order for you to have, to even think about it, you've got to have great, you've got to fill the cup with great data. And I think people are still getting there so that the machine isn't biased and you don't make the wrong decision about how to treat your customers. >> So just notable trending tweets I wanted to share with you, and again, get your reactions, because this is speaking to the customer in used case. One was from a part from our digitizing panel, Mark wrote "According to digitize, if you're not looking to use chatbots and AI, you're going to be out of business hashtag MME17", a little bit of that, legacy there. And then hashtag Modern CX. And the other one is, "Netflix is a great example of a company creating content combined with powerful AI targeting programs." Little bit of sample of some of the things we're seeing. Chatbots. It's a new interface. It's a new way to use data. Netflix content, which modern marketers need content in this platform. Picking a Netflix approach. So, kind of begs a question. Chatbots? Netflix? Kind of modern. Email? Old? So how do you get a marketer to get you to use the reliability of hardened critical infrastructure, like email, not going away anytime soon but, it's going to be one dimension of Netflix. Content marketing. Binge watching. All this content out there. Netflix and chatbots interface. Your thoughts? >> So my thought is I am, so I was in the room when I watched the chatbot piece and I loved the fact of the, we could live in a world where we could have a fluid customer experience anywhere. You can ask a question. I also support our communities where you ask a question and know you're automatically going to get an answer to the algorithm. So that delivers on that one to you scenario. So I'm super excited about it. When I look at the Netflix example, even to get the information on what the recommendation engine should be, you still need a lot of data. And you still need to know what are the habits of your customers who even land on that decision tree. So I love the fact that folks are thinking Netflix and thinking content, but that chatbot thing, oh my goodness. When people start doing that I can't wait to see those customers that win those Markies. >> Peter: But they have to do it right. >> They have to do it right. >> One of the dangers that marketing always faces is the idea that it's all about collecting information, having the customer give something to me and not giving something valuable in return. >> Adrian: Absolutely >> And the challenge that I see with chatbots is, and I think you agree John, is are chatbots going to be used to further automate information collection at the expense of really presenting value. The new marketing, the Modern Customer Experience, has to be focused on are we delivering value with the customer at every single interaction, not is the customer doing more for us inside of marketing. What do you think about that? >> So I agree. Cause if we do not know that we are creating value and that we're not, that we're adding friction into the problem, you pour that into your algorithm, there's going to bias. And so then, you can't make a decision about how to feed information into the machine and not have the right information that says we don't have the right region, we don't understand the behavior across all products. You can't have bias in the model at all. It has to be complete for you to then look at your customer base holistically. >> Yeah, we don't want to better automate bad marketing practices. >> Adrian: Absolutely. >> We want to use these technologies to continuously drive to use a famous person's parlance a more perfect union between this marketer and the buyer. >> Adrian: Absolutely. >> John: Well you got a great article up on Martechseries, "This year has gone above and beyond, fully leverage and most innovative marketing technology to create customer centric campaigns that deliver outstanding results that Laurie has spent, Senior Vice President Chairman." Okay that's obviously marketing packaging for the quote, from PR, but what she's getting at is customer centric. Again this is the theme, multitude of technologies now in the platform. Very interesting. Are customers responding well to this platform and are they seeing the need to stand up thing quickly in these campaigns? >> Adrian: Absolutely. They are finding that there's more pressure to get interim value. They are absolutely buying into the platform message and we have quite a few customers who also were recognized for the use of multiple products and multiple partner related applications. And so we're actually seeing a nice trend in both. To do great marketing, part of the messaging, or part of Laura's talk track from today was people are freaked out about the data but if you find a way to harness it, you'll create experiences where you'll stop chasing the customers. They'll start chasing you cause you'll find the right way to have the conversation with them. >> And word of mouth gets around too. I'm going to ask you to pick your favorite child of the awards. Was there one that jumps out, without alienating all the winners. Is there one that you like? >> This is a really, really hard question for me. As you know I read all the submissions, I play a heavy role in writing the speech. So it's really hard. >> John: Here we go, the preamble, not picking one. Here we go! I don't like to pick my favorite child. No parent likes to do that. >> I don't like to pick my favorite child. This is a really, really hard thing. >> Okay, audience favorite? >> How are they different this year from last year? How about that? Or is there something general that shows, that kind of reinforces some of this customer experience or are you seeing a progress in how the Markies are evolving? >> Yeah, that's a great question. So I'm happy to answer that one. And so for the first time since 2012, we brought back the dinner. And so having the Markies and our customer celebration, it shows our intent as Oracle Marketing Cloud, for our customers as well. That we love and want them to have a great week and want to celebrate their accomplishments and get other people to the winning circle. So being at a table and feeling that energy, getting that opportunity to sit with an executive or sit with a member of a team is a really, really great lift to then come to an event with over 4,000 people and feel warm and feel included. So I think that was an important part, that was a huge feel. I mentioned that we added a account-based team of the year award. Again, you couldn't be in B2B marketing and hide from account-based marketing. It's everywhere. We also delivered an overall customer experience award, so we had two customer-related awards and we created one category. I personally the videos, so our best video submission categories won where the viewers got to pick. And I would say the reaction of Juniper taking home two trophies last night, if I had to pick one, because that one had bit of a go to it. >> Peter: Juniper? >> Juniper Networks. >> Really? >> John: Two awards. >> They won two awards last night. I loved their reaction as well as the reaction of our folks from Brazil. You know, really, really great stories from their use of data. We also had Chris Diaz, our leader of the year, who not only led really strong customer experience transformations across marketing, sales, and service. >> This is the CMO of Time Warner? >> Uh no, that's Kristin. >> Kristi? >> Uh yeah, that's Kristin at Time Warner. I'm talking about Chris Diaz who is also driving sustainability efforts in Africa. It's really transformational. Huge, huge advocate of Oracle. As is the team at Kenya Airways. There's some really feel good moments. There are really exciting moments, you can feel it. People were hugging each other. People were laughing. People brought their own noise cannons and sparklers. >> Who doesn't love an awards show? When you're giving out great trophies? >> You know, we always get the comparison to the Oscars, and so this year it felt like the Golden Globes. >> So you handed out the wrong award. >> So you had a couple of times when the winner, when the wrong winner was >> We actually did not have that but we actually did joke about it. We embraced it. So Kayla Sullivan helped us with the awards distribution. And that was fun. The trophy itself is actually made by the same designer who makes the Emmy. And I believe I said that last year. But the feel was more like the Golden Globes. There was refreshments and opportunity to have there. >> John: It was well done. It looked great on photos. Big crowd. You had the jibs and all the cameras. Great camera angles. >> We had a drone do the delivery so we played with some new drone deliveries >> John: That's the next one up on Amazon delivering your packages by drone, you know, dropping in. >> Absolutely. Absolutely. So we had one delivered via tweet and then we had one that was delivered via drone and so we covered all their risk management pieces in advance. And I'm just super happy that InVision, who partnered with us in hosting and producing the event, were able to get some of these things cleared. So our intent was let's be futuristic, let's be digital, let's be now. And they managed to incorporate that into the show for us. >> Well, Adrian. Congratulations on all the great work with the Markies and continued success. What's next next year? What do you guys look, I know, processing, you got to have a little fun now. Relax a little bit. But as you look forward to next year's Markies, you're watching, you've got your submission. It's kind of like the college admissions. You want to know who the judge is. Here he is. What are you looking for for next year? Have you though about it, any ideas? Random thoughts? >> Yeah, it's a great question. It takes us about seven months to actually plan. To sit down and actually plan our calendar from submission peer, the content. And so, we tend to create the categories that are aspirational. So we likely will figure out what's the best way to incorporate the trend. Get them out early to drive customers to get really excited about what's next. We're talking about AI now. What will we be talking about in six months? I'm looking forward to to hearing more customers share about the value their getting from Marketing Cloud, the new channels that they're using, how they've overcome barriers within their organizations to do new and great things. And really focus on taking these stories and telling them all year. >> And that's speed and empowerment. >> Yes. Absolutely. >> Adrian Chang. Here in theCUBE back with Markies update with great commentary. Great to see you. Looking great, love the outfit. Lookin' good, as always. Thank you for taking the time and sharing your perspective. >> Thanks for having me. >> Peter: Took me a while to figure out what that was though The flower. What is that thing? From here it's like >> It's good. Looks good on you. Adrian Chang, here inside theCUBE bringing all the Markie action, all the great coverage. It's theCUBE. We'll have more live coverage after the short break. (energetic music)