5 Bold Predictions from Oracle CEO Mark Hurd

Oracle CEO Mark Hurd addressed the 70,000+ Oracle OpenWorld attendees at his keynote with some of the top concerns that CEOs today face. The reality, says Hurd, is that many CEOs don't have the luxury of thinking 5-10 years out. Rather, many focus on moving fast and delivering short-term revenue results. Survival is ultimately the only goal.

Research from S&P says that from 2008-2015 revenue has only grown 1%, with earnings growing only 5%, forcing many companies to pull back on their spending. They estimate that IT spending has declined 5% in the last 5 years alone.

The average age of applications in the U.S. today is 20 years. The needs of 1995 don't resonate with the needs of today. Ultimately, the current on-premise IT operating model is unsustainable. Companies must modernize in order to survive.

80% of millennials want an integrated, seamless experience, regardless of the channel. With this high demand from consumers for companies to be real-time, a move to using cloud technology isn't trendy, but necessary.

"We are going to lead a decade-long transition to the cloud," Hurd announced.

Hurd offered his 5 bold predictions of what that transition will look like:

1. Suites of best-of-breed SaaS applications will win. Cloud and on-premise need to coexist. (Tweet this)

2. By 2025, 80% of all production applications will be in the cloud. (Tweet this)

3. By 2025, two suite providers will own 80% of the SaaS market. (Tweet this)

4. By 2025, 100% of new testing and development will be in the cloud. (Tweet this)

5. By 2025, virtually all enterprise data will be stored in the cloud, and enterprise clouds will be the most secure environments in the world. (Tweet this)

General Electric CIO Jim Fowler backed up some of these predictions, saying that GE is undergoing the biggest transformation in its entire 130+ year history. Fowler said that GE recognizes the importance of becoming a digital industrial company, and it's the cloud that will enable them to make this change. Where they only have 20% of their apps running in the cloud today, Fowler predicted that by 2020 that number will increase to 70%. By moving their HR to the cloud, GE will be able to add 10 million new recruits.

Whether or not you agree with these predictions, one thing is clear: cloud is changing the game for companies today and everyone needs to get on board. As marketers are thinking about their budgets for the coming year, review the Econsultancy Marketing Budget Report to get a better sense of where other marketers are spending their money as digital and cloud change the face of marketing.