Dante Ricci, Director of Federal Innovation at SAP, spoke with WashingtonExec about mobility, big data and device management. We asked Ricci the biggest road blocks that he has encountered when bringing mobile devices onto the enterprise and got the scoop regarding his future plans for SAP’s Federal division.
WashingtonExec: Please tell us a little about your background.
Dante Ricci: I have over 16 years of experience in technology, holding roles in operations, finance, and product management. I worked for Oracle for 9 years, then moved to SAP because they are the enterprise application leader. I wanted to be with the best and brightest in that area. At SAP, I started out as a solution manager for the global defense and public security industry business unit. I was responsible for working with clients to rolling new requirements for solutions as well as managing product roll-out and go-to-market initiatives.
WashingtonExec: What are you working on as Director of Federal Innovation at SAP?
Dante Ricci: My goal as the innovation director for federal is to make sure our solutions exceed our government customers’ expectations. With that, there are three major trends that I have been focusing on: one is big data, the second is mobility, and the third is cloud. SAP has uniquely positioned each of those three areas to provide a lot of capabilities for our clients.
WashingtonExec: Is big data the “next big thing”?
Dante Ricci: As the amount of data continues to explode, the government is faced with new challenges for storing, managing, accessing, and analyzing huge volumes of diverse types of information. We can gain insight never seen before in real time. Our new in-memory data technology enables the government to crunch data in the slit of a second. It really is earth shattering technology. This enables the government to move more quickly, provide better service, and do more with limited budgets.
————————————————————————————————-
“The biggest roadblock is delivering manageability, security, usability and business value in a cost effective manner. Maybe not so much one in front of the other but you have to identify devices; the operating systems, the models, the user groups and apps that you would possibly develop.”
————————————————————————————————-
WashingtonExec: How has SAP reacted to Steve VanRoekel’s mobile first strategy?
Dante Ricci: SAP was excited to see Mr. VanRoekel’s emphasis on mobility. Mobility isn’t just a nice thing to have. It is a fundamental shift in the way we interact. If you pull up at a stoplight and look left and right you see people looking down at their phones. Now, consumer computing is mobile computing. I think mobility enablement is a natural next step for the government to look at. SAP’s end-to-end secure mobile platform provides a single console for creating, managing, securing, and deploying mobile apps and devices. You can now create the impossible. You can do all kinds of stuff with mobility so I’m really excited about this effort that Steve’s doing.
WashingtonExec: What have you found to be the biggest roadblock when you are trying to bring these mobile apps onto the enterprise?
Dante Ricci: That’s a great question. The biggest roadblock is delivering manageability, security, usability and business value in a cost effective manner. Maybe not so much one in front of the other but you have to identify devices; the operating systems, the models, the user groups and apps that you would possibly develop. You have to decide on the mobile environment choice; whether it is going to be controlled or open and how you want to secure the mobile solution through mobile device management. You also have to estimate and quantify the IT investments that you must take now and over time, so you understand the cost structure to be in a secure environment and to meet those needs. Some key considerations when I think about that are really about deploying mobility via point solutions or an enterprise architecture. I don’t know if you are going to be able to take that governance approach, the reusability and scalability approach that you would need to reduce your IT intensity and to essentially manage the users, apps, device infrastructure and security.
WashingtonExec: When do you think we will see the government workforce frequently and easily using these mobile devices?
Dante Ricci: The government is using mobility today but not on a grand scale. There are so many use cases out there it is just a matter of prioritizing them by value and difficulty as you roll them out. The government should invest in a platform approach from the outset, enabling them to address growing enterprise mobility needs in a cost-effective manner. If the government uses multiple point solutions then central management of users, apps, devices, and infrastructure will quickly become cost prohibitive. Rick Holgate is a very forward-leaning CIO. He’s got a very open approach to looking at different ways to seize the opportunity of mobility.
WashingtonExec: Where are we in the progression of mobility? Do you think it will be replaced by something else in ten years?
Dante Ricci: Mobility is here to stay. When you start thinking about 4G, the ability to stream video, the ability to utilize multimedia within the smart phone and the usability strides we have made recently you can see that new use cases emerge that we couldn’t have imagined today. I’ve been watching on Netflix the television show “24.” In the first season of 24, they are using mobile phones, flip phones, not smart phones. Later they begin using PDAs. It is so different now than it was just a few years ago. If we were all watching that show together 10 years ago we would never have guessed some of the things that could have been done differently.
WashingtonExec: What is something most people might not know about you?
Dante Ricci: I would say most people don’t know that I am passionately involved in helping to raise funds to cure cancer and specifically I’m involved in the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. I’m on the corporate board for the Light the Night Walks in the Washington, DC area.
WashingtonExec: What is on your summer reading list?
Dante Ricci: I would like to read David Baldacci. I’ve read a couple of his books and I would like to read more when I have some time on the beach. He is a local Northern Virginia resident who is a great writer and some of the scenes take place in and around the areas that I live.
