All change
The changing customer has prompted a rethink within CA: "Absolutely it changes what we need to build, how we need to build it and how we need to take it to market,” says Sayed.
The company is moving the majority of its offerings to SaaS, shipping six SaaS-based products in the past year. They are now utilising containers and micro-services.
The new breed of buyer also expects a much smoother experience and doesn’t have time to read a manual. UX has become a more important than ever.
“We're all consumers,” says Berkes. “We all want to have a beautiful, robust easy to use experience and I think the approach that we're taking in the design thinking and the design organisation that we've assembled is putting an incredible amount of focus and attention to detail on having users feel great about using our products.”
“They're taking frankly the same approach that they would be building a great quote ‘consumer’ product to CA’s products. I think that's spot on.”
New motions
The try-before-you-buy customers and SaaS model, Sayed describes as “a new set of motions that we need to get comfortable with”.
But it is already proving advantageous. Sayed describes an unnamed, long-running client who was offered CA’s App Experience Analytics product on a traditional, three-year licensed model.
“They come back: Can we buy it by month and see how it goes?” Sayed says. “So certainly a new motion and it forces us to go more into that route. But the good news is they're actually paying us more than what you would have paid for an upfront licence!”
In this new world, CA competitive environment expands. It still faces old foes like IBM and Microsoft. The likes of AWS, Azure and Google Cloud are also threats. Now it also has to contend with single product challengers.
“We are in a very unique position to succeed and win against both,” says Sayed.
The fact CA doesn’t sell infrastructure, and isn’t a stack vendor, is a huge part of its appeal. Its customer are often bimodal, working in heterogeneous environments on-premise and in the public cloud.
“They have no interest in a single vendor lock in and they don't want a religion and architecture in a stack that restricts them,” Sayed explains. “That uniquely positions us to be an honest broker, to be a strategic partner.”
CA’s new TV spot ends with the tour guide saying: “It’s about moving to new…from old.” As its customers and their needs have changed, so has CA.
“Those customers don't just want to keep doing what they've been doing,” says Berkes.
“Getting ahead and staying ahead is straightforward – maybe easier said than done but – to do a better job of listening to customers and really giving them what they need. And to be able to better respond to the needs that they have today and into the future rather than simply continuing to serve the needs that they have or have had.”
The author travelled to Santa Clara as a guest of CA Technologies.
Join the CIO Australia group on LinkedIn. The group is open to CIOs, IT Directors, COOs, CTOs and senior IT managers.