Carlos Amesquita. Henrik Wagner, Clay Caldwell  | SAP SapphireNow 2016
Channel: SiliconANGLE theCUBE
Date: 20/05/2016

01. Carlos AmesquitaHersheyvisits #theCUBE!. (00:15)
02. Henrik WagnerVirtustreamvisits #theCUBE!. (00:40)
03. Clay CaldwellSAPvisits #theCUBE!. (00:42)
04. Hershey's Goals and the Role of IT There. (00:55)
05. Hershey's Choice to Work with Virtustream and SAP. (03:32)
06. Staying Focused on Hershey's Journey. (06:04)
07. How SAP Gives Hershey a Firm Foundation. (07:31)
08. A Commitment to Collaboration. (09:56)
09. Marketing and Change Management. (12:50)
10. Virtustream:  The Strategy and the Tactical. (14:37)
11. What Do Customers Want from SAP?. (15:55)

Track List created with http://www.vinjavideo.com.
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Transforming candy into customer insights through long-term partnerships | #SAPPHIRENOW

by Marlene Den Bleyker | May 262016

Hershey is a brand that we can all embracebut chocolate and theme parks are only part of the business. So when the company’s CEO articulates in public that he considers Hershey to be a knowledge and insight company — that just happens to make chocolate — it is critical to choose the right partners to realize that vision.

Carlos AmesquitaCIO at The Hershey Co.; Henrik Wagnerglobal SAP Alliance Lead at VirtustreamInc.; and Clay Caldwellnational VPAmericasHANA Enterprise Cloud at SAP SEmet with Peter Burris (@plburris)cohost of theCUBEfrom the SiliconANGLE Media teamduring the recent SAP Sapphire 2016 event to discuss Hershey’s technological transformation.

Transforming a company

Amesquita told theCUBE that Hershey is a customer-centricconsumer-focusedbranded company that depends on deep insights about what the consumers wantwhat they need and how to get it to them at the time they want it.

“That in itself is a tall order for any IT organization” he said. Howeverwhen he joined the company with a mandate to create a leading analytics companyhe explained that a change to the company’s entire platform of systems for speed and for delivering those insights was necessary.

Transformation partners

Burris remarked to Amesquita that Hershey has a history of good customer and employee engagement. Why did you choose to work with SAP and Virtustream?” he asked?

Noting the substantial technology shift combined with cloud and analyticsAmesquita remarked” At some point you need to change from were you are and where you want to be.” He carefully picked who would lead the change and established a very strong partnership with the leadership of both SAP and Hershey. “So it’s not only about a contract or implementation; it is about a strategic long-term partnership” he added.

Virtustream comes into the picture as a systems integratorand the company is a key component to helping Hershey achieve its plans. Amesquita chose Virtustream because he believes in virtualization in the long-term and feels it is a necessity to power the company’s transformation.

Continuing the transformation

Wagner told Burris how Virtustream is excited to be working with SAP and around S/4HANA Cloud to drive innovation for Hershey. “We have an extremely large focus going into the project … coming from our leadership down” he said. “Being there in the beginning of the projectas we are kicking it off nowall the way through the journeywe feel humbled to be part of it.”

Caldwell pointed out that the HersheySAPVirtustream partnership has been ongoing for the past six months. “With Hershey dipping their big toe in the water with a mission-critical enterprise application and business warehouse putting that in our HANA Enterprise Cloud with Virtustream … they are now moving forward the totality of their environment onto HANA Enterprise Cloud” he said.