Tech Insights: Interview with Hope Powers, CA Technologies

In our new Tech Insights series, we quiz industry leaders to get their views of what the year ahead holds for the IT world. Today we speak with Hope Powers, Senior Vice President & Managing Director, ANZ, CA Technologies.

What emerging trends or developing technologies may influence or change the way the ICT industry will do business in 2015, and why?

Enterprise software is no longer about packaged applications or one size fits all. It’s about taking existing applications, data that’s in the enterprise and new content to create personalised applications.

To thrive in this application economy, companies need to bring better products to market faster, have better intelligence and analytics, and be able to predict where the market is going. This is an area CA Technologies understands - it’s in our DNA. Our integrated suite of enterprise management, DevOps and security solutions give our customers the tools to win in 2015 and beyond.

What do you see as the two or three biggest growth opportunities for your customers in 2015, and why?

Mobility and customer service. Customers are more likely to interact via an application than through a person; therefore, companies must provide great applications that further relationships and build trust and loyalty while delivering ease of use and accessibility across any device, anytime, anywhere.

CA Technologies commissioned research to understand the impact the application economy is having. The study shows that 72% of business leaders believe that custom-built applications are very strategically important or fundamental to the organisation’s success.

What new and innovative technologies do you see emerging in your IT solution categories in 2015, and how will they help your customers?

You’ll start to see innovation in areas that support the rapid development, delivery and support of applications. For example, CA is enabling DevOps for mobile - looping in real-world feedback and analytics to drive application development, delivery and management. Through big data management we are also enabling customers to bring together data sets from multiple sources into one common view.

The gaps between IT and a company’s lines of business will shrink. IT will need the tools to translate complex information into simplified visuals and reports so the information is relevant to all areas of the business.

Security and authentication will be redefined. For example, CA’s Session Share and Proximity Access solutions will make mobile connections ubiquitous, controlled and secure across any device, anytime, anywhere.

In 2015 we will see a world where temporal applications spin up automatically as needed. Using APIs to assemble these applications will accelerate a company’s ability to meet market demands and open new opportunities.

What are your customers demanding of you more today than five years ago, and how will you meet these requirements in 2015?

Our customers are not only looking for solutions to develop and deliver quality applications that engage customers and drive repeat usage, they also need to ensure these applications, and the systems running them, are always available. CA’s integrated suite of solutions across all platforms and infrastructure - from mobile to cloud to the data centre and the mainframe - are helping companies ensure their customers have applications that work effectively.

Another change is the growing demand for software-as-a-service. CA Technologies has a SaaS-first development strategy; we have seven cloud products including infrastructure management, security and product and portfolio management.

As Senior Vice President & Managing Director for Australia & New Zealand, Hope Powers is responsible for driving sales, building the partner ecosystem, developing new business and managing overall operations in the area. During her 16-year tenure with CA Technologies, Hope has led teams in Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Jacksonville and Miami and for three years led the Portfolio Management team in Latin America.