The Oracle Nordic Cloud Applications Days 2014 Event Summary Newsletter

Helsinki Hilton Strand 11.3.2014

The Oracle Nordic Cloud Applications Days 2014 has come and gone but the memories still lingers on. This spectacular event saw the presence of the doyens and authorities in the trendiest business topic in the world today – the Cloud delivered by eloquent speakers. Yours truly, Sahara Frontier (www.saharafrontier.com) was also in the mix. Not a single moment went without constant nodding in agreement with the captivating slides, analytics and figures used to elaborate the past, present and future of global business with cloud in constant view. Applauses from distinguished companies, sponsors and guests from all walks of life both far and near who thronged the prestigious Hilton Helsinki Strand Hotel showed that the business community understands the importance of staying in front of trends to succeed. A big appreciation goes to Oracle and co-sponsors who have the foresight to remain at the fore front of technological innovations and keep oiling the wheels of global business with lifelines like the cloud.

Excellent Keynote Speakers

The day started with nice and

professional introduction of

the day’s programme by no

any other anchoring superstar

Nicke Lignell. He spoke well

and kept the event lively with

good humour intermittently

as the keynote speakers take

turns. The first speaker of the

day was Kalle Kaartovuori,

Oracle’s Applications Sales

Leader in Finland who

delivered an inspiring

welcoming message and made

the guests longing for the day

to kick start fully. Second in

line was Riina Kirmanen,

the Chief Marketing Officer of

Vaisala Oyj who talked about

the Effectiveness of Marketing

Automation and Digital

Marketing Ecosystem. Next in

line was Matti Aalto-Setälä,

VP and Producer ID BBN.

And lastly was Armando

Janigro, Oracle’s Director of

Business Solutions Strategy

EMEA Applications.

Exceptional speakers and

brilliant delivery from all

these people before breaking

into various sessions

depending on area of

interests.

Interesting Topics • Effectiveness of Marketing Automation and Digital Marketing Ecosystem: Delivered by Riina Kirmanen (CMO of Vaisala Oyj). She showed how joint collaboration with Oracle in the area of cloud support services has brought about improvement in not only Vaisala’s marketing automation but the social media as well. The company uses a lot of social media to communicate and get valuable feedback from customers scattered around the world. An average of 31 tweets per month is worthwhile. • Delivering Superior Customer Experience with Modern Marketing: Delivered by Matti Aalto-Setälä in a captivating manner with the aid of a neighbour’s story in need of a service. He pointed out that the trending issues now are mobile, big data, and Sima. For many companies, this is a wake-up call to start thinking with these pointers in mind. Fast access to services by customers and good customer experience is inevitable in order to make a difference now and in the future of global business. • Re-imagine your business with Oracle’s complete portfolio of Modern Cloud Applications: Digital by Design, Social, Mobile and Secure from the Start. Delivered by Armando Janigro like a lullaby but ironically as a wake-up call for all businesses still doing business the old inefficient way. Interesting current statistics and the future outlook of cloud in the life of business. His presentation can best be summarised as a blueprint for cloud related business. He practically gave an in-depth analysis of key elements of modern marketing (know, learn, engage, convert), HR Gap, customer experience, smart sales, deliveries and expectations from the perspective of both businesses and consumers. Going down to details would require additional 10 pages because it was so detailed and no part of his presentation is irrelevant. Time was not even enough to

allow plenty of questioning.

Environment

The environment was serene and

filled with well dressed guests. It

can only be described as a sea of

white collar job professionals both

men and women looking stunning

in their blended suits and pants.

The Hilton Helsinki Strand’s close

location to the city centre gives it a

befitting status of a classy hotel.

Among its distinctive features are

ocean view, beautiful interiors,

decorative and shining floors and

walls. Cosy conference rooms

equipped with comfortable seats

and crystal clear gadgets, nicely

arranged tables, smiley staff and

good customer service.

Food

From the pre-registration offers like

tea, coffee and pastries to the main

course of the day, they could only be

found in ‘A list’ events like this one.

Nicely arranged mugs and assorted

cakes, cookies, wines, juice

(especially the tropical juice was my

favourite...hmmm) was constantly on

the supply. Every available corner of

the event’s venue had unlimited

supply of all foods and drinks. The

lunch comprising of the starter, main

course and desserts were

outstanding! Salmon, Greek salad,

beetroot, bread, and assorted cakes

were all delicious. Thumbs up!

Networking

All through the event,

networking and exchanging of

business cards were going on in

full swing. Every possible break

brought with it a repeat of the

same exchanges over and over

again. Surely a lot of new

collaborations, marketing, and

partnerships were born on that

day.

Materials

Materials were in no short supply

either. The corporate business

community especially the organizer

and sponsors such as idBBN,

BearingPoint, Accenture,

Csolutor, Deloitte, L&T

Infotech, Tieto were all there

with each having good looking

professionals manning their booths

and answering questions from

guests.

Highlight Topic and Speaker of the Day

Oracle Social Cloud: The What, Why and How on Social Media:

Delivered by Morten Voss Jorgensen, the Social Media Sales Leader

for Denmark and Finland. Great speaker and intelligent presentation!

The highlight of his presentation could be summarized as impact of social

media (using his Hilton Hotel customer service experience) and

measurement of ROI. For him, ROI is broad when talking about the gains

of investment in social media by businesses. ROI or CEOs should not

solely focus on the monetary rewards it brings in the short term. It

basically involves a lot of incentives/rewards that cannot be physically

measured but by the changes it brings to the business in terms of

improved patronage, brand awareness, building a close relationship with

customers and so on and so forth. ROI’s benefits come both directly and

indirectly and requires time for any measurement to be realistic.

He summed up by giving three take home points for all: Talk Business,

Start the Right Way, and Quantify and Justify.