Recently, Rimini Street brought together IT executives from some of the globe’s biggest companies in a candid discussion about their most pressing business priorities.
Spanning various continents and industries including retail, mining and technology services – the discussion focused on the current factors shaping the goals and concerns of IT leaders, with security and innovation top of mind.
While each company faced unique operational demands, many arrived at the same conclusion: the need for agility, road map control, modernized infrastructure and flexible, third-party ERP support.
Security as an AI strategy
Kicking off the discussion, an IT executive from one of the world’s largest mining companies addressed how foundational technologies are evolving in tandem with operational threats. He suggested that what’s really driving strategy – and concerns – is the intersection of AI and security.
“I don’t think we are considering the dangers of AI carefully enough before proceeding. I’m worried about our data and security and privacy of that data. It’s got to be security before AI.”
The mining exec went on to explain how security for companies like his was often built on a robust foundation that now needs to adapt to rapidly changing technology landscape. He also noted that security is often lumped into the purview of engineers, who have a never-ending list of other priorities that seem more important – until a real security threat materializes.
“The challenge in running a company like ours is operations mixing with technology,” he pointed out. “For example, what do we run at our mines? What kind of software do geologists and engineers use, and how do they keep their plants operational with all this change? Importantly, how do they protect these assets from the increase in cybercriminal activity?”
To address these issues, part of his company’s security strategy has been to utilize third-party support, which brings a modern management perspective. With Rimini Street providing core support, the company can forgo disruptive upgrades, stabilize their systems and strengthen their business uptime, all critical components to their security strategy.
Where paper invoices and AI meet
In the grocery industry, keeping up with changing buyer’s trends requires constant business calibration. As one of Britian’s largest wholesale grocers, their focus is enhancing customer experiences.
Now that the world is digital, including socially with Instagram, TikTok and the powerhouse of consumerism that is Amazon, modern businesses that work in the ‘daily consumption’ space are more focused on transforming customer experience. The exec explained: “Whether it’s how you shop online, or whether it’s how we give you data about what those products are, it’s how we can make it as simple as possible with as few touch points as possible.”
The panelist went on to describe his company’s conscious shift toward frictionless service with a surprising twist: instead of going all in on technology investment, his company has taken the opposite approach. “Transformation in our world means we have to strategically invest in technology.” By being conscious on which technologies to adopt and which ones to skip, they are smartly considering the overhead cost of managing IT systems. And one of the ways they are going about reducing cost is by engaging with Rimini Street for third-party support of their core systems.
A balanced approach means hybrid
The next IT executive represented a technology company with roots in global IT infrastructure and enterprise data – now using third-party support to bolster its security and Oracle database environments. For them, AI wasn’t a side discussion – it was the main event.
“We are laser focused on technology. We are a technology company, so that’s a little bit of a benefit to us. AI continues to be a game changer, not only internally but also incorporating AI and gen-AI into our product portfolio.”
The company sees itself as a leader in enterprise storage and is actively building partnerships across the hyperscaler ecosystem. “We are a server storage company for enterprise storage. We target the mid-market and we’re coming up with software defined storage. We’ve had our collaborations with NVIDIA, and we’re looking to go big with hyperscalers like AWS and GCP. So, we’re definitely doubling down on gen AI.”
Cloud strategy – first, last or somewhere in between?
Cloud strategy sparked a lively debate among panelists. While some advocated for cloud-first models, others pushed back with a “cloud last” approach – citing cost, complexity and loss of control.
The conversation started with the panelist from Britain’s grocer, who advocated for the “cloud last” approach: “From a cloud perspective, hardware is hardware. I have many engineers that tell me it’s super easy to spin up servers here, there and everywhere. I’m not sure that adds any value to me as a wholesaler. If I put [my on-prem hardware] into a cloud environment, I’m being charged extra every time I have a success. And when you work in that high volume and low margin, you just can’t justify it.” Instead of being “taxed” for his successes, he prefers more control over his budget so that gains go into his bottom line – not the cloud provider’s pockets.
He continued: “Plus, from an S/4HANA perspective right now, there’s too many limitations. I’ve got payroll, I’ve got HR, I’ve got product retail, I’ve got financials…I could spend the next three to four years trying to do a seamless integration. I have more pressing issues to deal with to ensure that as a business we continue to grow and deliver for our customers, our colleagues and our shareholders.”
For the miner, the cloud question is weighed against practicality. “I would describe myself as ‘cloud nothing’, just like I’m ‘AI nothing,’” said the mining executive. “These tools that are available to achieve a business goal, the nature of the tool and how it’s made is not relevant to me. What I care about is flexibility, cost, functionality, and perhaps, stability. That is something that I can control very well on-prem. We have mine sites in remote areas and we have three mines in Brazil. Good luck trying to cloudify those facilities.”
The mining executive also had concerns about vendor lock-in. “We don’t want to be beholden to a vendor. Once you’re in their cloud, you cannot exit very easily. We run an older version of ECC, and we spent a lot of money on this system. Rimini Street manages it very well. We are happy with our classic 1968 Aston Martin.”
The tech executive was much more cloud-friendly than the other two panelists. But even they pointed out the pitfalls of moving to the cloud too fast: “When I took on the team at my company, the cloud infrastructure, our AWS spend was outrageous. There was a lack of governance. People go cloud first, they get all excited and everything starts moving to the cloud without putting much governance and thought into place. But I think the first thing that I did as I came in was put some cloud governance in place, and then FinOps became kind of one of the strongest pillars for the cloud team.”
He added, “We will always be a hybrid cloud company. We will be in the cloud but will also be on-prem. That’s kind of a rule of thumb. The whole purpose behind it is implementing the best solution to solve the business need.
Cleverly connecting sprawling systems
The UK-based grocery executive offered a concrete example of how working with third-party support is already benefiting their technological journey: “Moving away from SAP support to Rimini Street has enabled us to invest in new technologies. We’ve implemented what we call a wholesale platform, which is a not-so-clever name for the MuleSoft API platform. So effectively we’ve now built an API engine, which is now starting to service more and more requests across our different systems – and we built that cohesive network out of our disparate platforms.”
He added: “In partnership with Automation Anywhere, that’s very much in its infancy, we’ve managed to invest in the infrastructure [to automate] a lot of manual processes. We’ve also just invested in a project that allowed us to go from a traditional flatlined reporting structure to a more visual dynamic approach and then having that also readily available on mobile so people can get informed reports, make informed decisions on the go, and actually have that ability to drill down and have AI cleverly working behind it.”
Looking ahead during the generation of AI
As global organizations face mounting pressure to modernize without losing operational continuity, the case for third-party support is no longer just about cost – it’s about strategic control.
This panel of IT executives emphasized that no two transformation journeys are the same. Whether grappling with the complexity of mergers, aging infrastructure or the unpredictable economics of cloud migration, enterprises are demanding more tailored, flexible solutions that don’t force a binary choice between existing systems and new ones.
Looking ahead, agility will belong not just to those who innovate, but to those who can orchestrate change across systems without compromising performance or security. The IT executives aptly showed why the value of third-party support lies in its ability to meet enterprises where they are – and help guide them toward where they want to go.
