Chris Livesey, SVP and GM, Application Modernisation and Connectivity Solutions at Micro Focus.
Organisations do not need to eliminate the past to make way for the future. While the wider software industry seems obsessed with ‘the new', and will often pursue attainment of the new at any cost, the fastest way for organisations to leverage new technology is to build on what they already have.
So says Chris Livesey, SVP and GM, Application Modernisation and Connectivity Solutions at Micro Focus, who will be presenting at Experience Micro Focus Universe 2018, to be held on 6 September, at the Inanda Club, in Sandton.
He says large enterprises have made huge investments in their existing business applications, which often encapsulate unique and differentiating customer processes, and govern incredibly valuable business data that is very often not surfaced or integrated in a competitive way.
"These applications don't need to be superseded or replaced, they can instead be modernised, integrated, extended. And how successful are those "big transformational" projects delivering new applications in any case? As most companies now seek to leverage cloud, mobile and analytics, Micro Focus has an approach, and a product portfolio, that can get them there more quickly, without the cost and risk and throwing everything away and starting again."
A hybrid IT centric market
According to him, the market is hybrid IT centric, and one where many organisations have expanded quickly from the large local market onto the global stage, and adapted products and services along the way, resulting in a lot of technical variety, complexity and diversity.
There are challenges associated with these factors, which he says Micro Focus is well placed to assist with. "Micro Focus has a good track record in meeting these challenges, and we are looking forward to sharing our insights with the South African market."
Speaking of why the event has extended to South Africa, Livesey says: "South Africa is one of our strong existing markets and presents an opportunity for Micro Focus. The country has a reputation in the IT world for forward thinking and innovation. I have seen this up close and personal by working with companies in South Africa on and off for almost 20 years, including large organisations in financial services, mining, telecoms and retail."
During the event, Livesey will present a keynote: ‘Bridging the old and the new', which will focus on sustaining innovation where organisations can realise new value from existing assets and integrate things in new ways to surface new capabilities and returns.
He will also discuss the optimised use of resources, and what organisations need to do to realise their full potential, while recognising the inherent value in everything they have invested in over time, and at the same time, moving forward to invest in the things that they calculate will have the best returns.
Taking place in Johannesburg for the first time, Experience Micro Focus Universe, brought to you in partnership with ITWeb, is now open for registration, and you're invited to join us as our guest for the day. Thursday 6 September 2018, Polo Room, Inanda Club, Sandhurst, Johannesburg: click here to register your interest.
