>>from around the globe. It's the Cube covering HP Discover Virtual experience Brought to you by HP >>Hey, welcome back to the Cube's coverage of HP Discover. 2020. The virtual experience Pradeep Kumar is here. He's the senior vice president and general manager of Point Next services for our things in Houston. Welcome. >>Very good. It's a Z usual. It's warm and sunny, so I'm good. Thank you. Thanks for having me. >>You're very welcome. So now let's set this up. So when HP split into two companies formed H, P E and HP, it did a spin merge with E DS. It's large services business, and one of the things that came out of that was the point. Next services brand and group within HP, and this was very important. I want to share this with our audience because it really streamlined H H PS services Messaging is offering. It opened up new partnering opportunities and produced. This is really the business that you run. So maybe add any color to my little narrative upfront and talk about your role there. >>No, absolutely. I think what HP wanted to make sure is they have ah white portfolio of services. So also, we we have advisory and professional services as well as operational services in the back end. So we just streamline everything for the customer from a services point of view. And that's what the next stands for. You described it pretty validated >>now as you as you know, because you can imagine a lot of these virtual events that we've been doing. The pandemic, of course, has been a topic of discussion. But really, the discussion thus far has been on. Okay, how are you handling it? What kinds of things are you doing to support clients? And I want to understand that from you. But now we're at a point. We're really talking about the post isolation economy and what that all means. So what are you seeing for deep in your client base? >>Yeah, the point you made is a very critical one, right? During the pandemic, everybody Waas Hey, can I business continuity plans, right? Can I manage my business in that? In that scenario day? Really? Preparation was everything right? Things that we take it for granted, like remote working capabilities, parts having parts at the right places. Right now we have more pastors to describe. It's more. What is the new normal? What is business going to look like in the future? And how can technology help you to achieve that, right, If I give an example off, you know how many people were working from offices, including HB substantial portion off the team Members of the workforce was working from an office. Now probably about 1/3 will be working from the office, and about one toe probably will work from home. And there's another one who will come to the office in a infrequent basis for collaboration. So the whole landscape off the new normal has changed forever. >>So what I'd like to do for Deep is if we could bring up some data that we have and to really just set the context and drill in a little bit in terms of what you guys are seeing you again, point next is critical. Not only was it a business that Antonio Neri kind of ran the services business, so he understands it well, but it really is the touch point to customers. Now, when you talk to CIOs, this is data from our data partner CTR. In a survey of 700 CIOs and I t pros is that what they see is the shape of the recovery. And you can see here 44% expect a U shaped recovery. Now you've got in the 16%. There's a tailwind, businesses, their health supplies, video conferencing. You work from home or remote workers. What you were talking about, these companies actually saw a tailwind of their business. And then, of course, you've got essential businesses, and you've got, you know, businesses are just now coming back, and then you've got businesses that are really struggling Airlines, hospitality restaurants, mall. So it's really a very much fragmented recovery. So I'm wondering what you guys are specifically seeing because you are so close to so many of these customers. >>Yeah, so we see that mix bag right? So I feel like whether it's a UI or where they it's a U shaped recovery, it's sort of a more point, right, because it's not going to be the same as before. The right things have changed. Even if you are, um, in a particular business, let me take just It's the worship right house of worship, right? So it could be a temple, a synagogue, church, a mosque. It doesn't matter, right? They had a particular constituency that we had before. Who used to come? Let's take a church, for example, Who used to come to mass on A on a Sunday, Right. And in my case, my family would get out and go out there to the Mass at the last minute, right? I have 22 teenage boys, and, you know, my wife wants to go on time to mass, but we will never make it. You know, we'll be last minute worshippers going in there. And then, um, you know, find appeal, dissident. Right now, if we look at it, how it has changed for these worshippers, it's very different now, right? A set of worshippers >>who, uh, >>who watch it live stream that comes from the church will never go back or very go back, very seldom. And then there's a set of worshippers who want to go back. But now they got to sign up a week early, which particular mass they're going to and, um, and identify a pew to sit on. So the whole thing has changed for for a company for its customers the way people would consume in the future. And people who are ready for this and have managed and be prepared make use of that opportunity. And for my church, for example, in this case, I think to survival is the constituents donations on a weekly basis, right? So have they're being very digital, you know, My church, unfortunately, was very digital 100% digital. Therefore, they didn't see a huge deep on their collections, which was survival for them. So if you equate that Dave into different businesses, right, it's changed in many different ways. And as you pointed out in that shot, it's different from industry to industry business to business on how you cope up with it, how you prepare for it. Um, how you use technology for your advantage would be the winners and loses, >>you know, And that's a great first of all. That's a great example of houses of worship. And there are many. You're seeing sports now Major League baseball struggling to figure out what to do. It seems like basketball figured out. A lot of people have invested in Palestinians, and so, you know, you know, maybe yoga is not as good in the studio, but it's pretty good. You know, A lot of people bought R V, so there's gonna be some permanent changes, you know, to your to your point. And I wanted to show, you know, we've been thinking about Okay, what's the framework for understanding that fragmentation in the recovery? It's, you know, what is the feasibility of physical distancing? How digital are these these businesses? How essential are these businesses? I mean, there are It's a complicated situation to figure out. So again, the key is point Next has to be really close to its customers. You guys have to be digital in doing that. But are you seeing any specific patterns? Emerge? >>Yeah, I think what we're seeing is, um, you know, people working out what the new normal is right? And then saying, How do I get to that new normal? How do I take the advantage? How do I make use of that opportunity to get better? This is where I think point next services is important to talk about what is. We have got 23,000 experts around the world, right, and there's a substantial portion off advisory faults, right? Who will come and work out with you. What? That new normal A's? And what is the answer? What is the strategy that you want? What is the North Star you want to achieve? And how do you transform your whole company, your environment, into that new normal right? And how do we take you on that journey? Be there for you to taking you through that journey into the new normal to to capitalize on those opportunities? A couple of things I would point out here. Dave, I think, definitely. I think building a platform that's a child and resilient for the future, for any disruption is white, right? I think what the pandemic products is If you have a very agile platform and very resilient for any kind of disruption, you're going to be on a winner. So once you've identified what that new normal for you, I think HP point next really can help you be your trusted partner to get there. In the end, >>you know, pretty kind of BC before covert, when the Cube is doing a lot of live events. Everybody's talking about digital transformation, and of course, there are a couple of means floating around the Internet. One is the big wrecking ball going into the building, where the executives saying, You know, not in my lifetime and then you got Cove in 19 and the wrecking ball coming, and there's another one that I want to share with our audience. You guys have bring this up. It's the It's the It's the survey of who's leading the digital transformation of your company. Is that the CEO? Is that the CTO? Well, actually, no, it's it's covert 19. So this is kind of tongue in cheek. It's sort of a sad, stark reality here, but the truth is that if you're not digital now, you're going to really be in big trouble. And so there's a number of fact factors that we've seen are facets that we've seen in the marketplace clearly work from home security. You know, it's not just, ah, video conferencing, it's it's SD win on and certainly cloud so again, what are you seeing? Maybe really. Start with Cloud. What are you seeing in terms of cloud adoption and acceleration? >>Yeah, So we, uh what we're seeing really is Dave the the same priorities for a company exists, right? To get to a very efficient model, too. More than what it is, a cloud or not, I think what people are looking for is an as a service model, very about cost model for their workloads. So people are really pushing for a hybrid environment because the same, um, things exist. Some workloads are well, you know, suited for a public cloud. Some workloads are suited for an on Prem environment where you have Laden's issues, compliance issues, security issues, right. But what they want is when they have that on Prem environment, it should be as a service, a cloud like environment that you can pay for what you use. So people are really using warning to get into that hybrid environment. What Corbyn has really triggered is to do go on that transformation journey much quicker pace than what they had gone in the past, so the same logic exist. But people want to go through that journey quickly, so you are at the right place, ready for any future disruptions. I think that's what really happened in the marketplace. So we're working with lots of companies are taking them through the journey, identifying which workloads should go there and giving a hybrid environment that satisfies of their future needs. >>So I want to ask you about disruptions because I think it's I think it's a safe bet that while technology has always been a catalyst for disruption, it would appear pretty obvious that that other external factors are gonna gonna create more disruptions in this decade than perhaps technology, not the technology will still be disruptive, but things like pandemics, natural disasters. We've seen social uprising over the over the past couple of weeks. These external factors are really driving other agendas within organizations. And so where does technology fit? What are people who have data centers telling you guys in terms of their priorities and how technology and some of these external factors or maybe blending together? >>Yeah, so sometimes I think during destruction, whether it's a pandemic or, you know, I'm based in Houston way, we're so used to having, you know, floods, right hurricanes. And I think sometimes what people forget is being prepared for a pandemic or the hockey game. Simply pay. Have your candles ready, have your water bottles ready. So when the floods arrive, you at least have something to to rely on and cos continuously worn a preparedness business continue to plan state. Right, That is the number one priority to make sure that you have a business continuity plan that does not affect your business, then secondarily. Okay, um, I want to preserve my cash, and I want to make sure I am prepared and getting ready for the future where the future technology is different to what I had before. And I may not have the experts and the skills for that future technology. This is where the HP point next really helps either give people that expertise, skill set or augment with your teams to get you into that future technology. The third thing I would say is clearly, I think once you got on to that technology, our platform, how do you maintain that, right. How do you continuously optimize that? And you might need training or your people? It's ah, it's a continuous management of HCI, and your next again is available to you either toe optimal continuously optimize your new platform or, you know, educate your people on how to manage their platform. So I think you need to look at it as a continuum you have a business continue to plan? Did you try ons transform into the new environment you wanted to the 13 years Are you continuously optimizing and be ready for the next disruption around the corner? >>You know, I think the point you were making about business continuance of very important and I wonder if you could comment on a lot of CEOs have told us flat out just honestly, our business continuity plans were way to d are focused. And so now we're going to retool those. We are re tooling those It's work from home, which has this, this permanence to it, and it's being able to kind of anticipate some of these changes. The network changes are pretty significant. I have no doubt you guys are seeing that are participating in that sort of, you know, re revised or revitalized business continuity. >>Yeah, and you have to reimagine right? Askew pointed out correctly that it was all disaster. Recovery is all what you had you didn't think about. Hey, you know, maybe 50% off your workforce is not going to come back. And you need a way to collaborate among that workforce, right? Plus, as you pointed out. Connectivity is an issue, and but you got to think it's not just connectivity. You need to be able to enable your works force to be able to collaborate amongst each other, be positive and fanatical about your customers. That's crucial. People who are coming back. Think about it. Right? Um, you know, um, Kayla's access is important. Do we measure The temperature is important. How the team members are, you know, going around in your facility. You have contact Tracy. All that becomes widely important, right? And they they sound very basic, but they become might be important because a >>lot of learnings jammed into the last quarter. Yeah, a lot of a lot of learnings jammed into the last 90 days. Let me ask you if you could summarize for our audience the point next advantage. I mean, why HP point? Next? What do you guys bring? That that's unique and differential from all the other companies out there? >>Yeah, the breadth of point next is is very important. Point next, have got 23,000 employees really dedicated and fanatical about customers and customers. Well, being customers experience. So we are very outcome based on the people >>who who >>are here, who are different in a sense to find out what makes best sense for you and then take you through that transformation and there will be bumps on the road. Dave, Um, you know when you're working with a partner, is the partner really trusted? That will stay with you when there are bumps on the road and and make sure that your end goal is achieved. I think that's crucial. We are not like any other company. We're very, very motivated. Workforce. Very passionate workforce. Who wants to make sure you know customers in goals are achieved, right? So we are not we We look at it in a holistic way. They've compared to anybody else. And we have an extremely trusted partner who's there always with you. >>Last question for people watching this segment. Of course, we have the Discover virtual experience going on any any areas where they should focus on the when they hit the site. Where should they go? Any. Any sessions that you would recommend >>there are because it's work you're there are so many sessions, plenty of sessions, plenty of availability in many, many different areas, definitely if you're interested in what is the new normal connectivity for your employees bringing back employees? You want to look at those areas? There's there's ah ah lot of availability off decisions in the point next side of things that talks about how to cope up with the new normal. I would strongly recommend you look at those things because that gives you allows you to build in a very agile platform, that Brazilian for the next disruption that's going to come in. >>But pretty pretty. Kumar, Thanks so much for coming on the Cube and, uh, and have a great discover. Stay safe. Be well. >>Thank you, Dave. >>Alright, Keep it right there. Everybody. We'll be back with our next guest. The Cube's continuous coverage of HP Discover 2020. The virtual experience right back. Right after this short break. >>Yeah, yeah,