TecHRseries Interview with Michael Morrison, CEO of CoreView

The silver lining during this Covid-19 pandemic with so many unknowns has been watching the creativity and work ethic of  employees shine shares Michael Morrison CEO of CoreView as he discusses his journey and what has taken top priority during these challenging times.

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Tell us a little about yourself Michael and your journey at CoreView…

I have been in the software industry for 25 years and have held a variety of executive roles at business analytics leaders, such as Cognos, Applix and IBM.  I am a lawyer by trade, but during my career have directly managed finance organizations, sales organizations and product organizations. Immediately prior to CoreView, I was the CEO of publicly traded Datawatch Corporation, which I led through a business transformation, multi-year growth and a successful exit.

I joined CoreView as CEO a year ago because I saw enormous potential and growth in the relatively new market category referred to as “SaaS management platforms” and viewed CoreView’s platform as far and away the most advanced and most complete in the market. Fast-forward to today and there’s a critical demand for software management services, especially with the surge in remote work due to the coronavirus pandemic. CoreView is quickly becoming the SaaS management platform of choice for enterprises that want to maximize their cloud investment and embrace Microsoft 365 [formerly Office 365] and other SaaS platforms.

As CEO, I’m responsible for establishing the strategic direction of the company and making sure we have the right people in the right seats. I have a strong executive leadership team who I trust to keep things running smoothly and share some of my responsibilities as we continue scaling the company globally. We also have an incredible team of software and Microsoft 365 experts with decades of experience working with enterprises, growing software solutions and perfecting the Microsoft experience.

My priorities as CEO have been significantly impacted by COVID-19. The health and safety of our employees is my top priority. Ensuring that we service and support our customers and partners is also a key priority. The silver lining during this challenging time with so many unknowns has been watching the creativity and work ethic of our employees shine. It has always helped me appreciate and believe in the technology that we’re building here at CoreView, but especially now. Overnight, we went from 40% of employees working remotely to 100% – yet technology like Microsoft Teams has allowed us to stay connected as we continue to deliver exceptional services to our customers and partners. Now more than ever, I am very proud of our team and our solution.

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How do you think today’s workforce should learn and leverage new technologies to do their jobs more efficiently?

Employees that want to receive the most value out of their SaaS applications need to understand each product and use them consistently. This requires organizations to drive application training and adoption by providing learning and adoption tools and solutions that have been built and designed from the ground up for today’s digital workplace.

Traditional e-learning solutions weren’t built for the modern workplace. Today’s workforce could benefit from implementing tools capable of providing “Just-in-Time Learning” (JITL) that give workers answers to their technology questions within their normal workflow. JITL addresses the performance and training needs of the modern technology-focused workplace and the stringent, on-demand information requirements of a rising millennial workforce.

Why should HR professionals care about the way software is used, and how can they get more involved?

HR professionals are responsible for ensuring that the overall administration, coordination, and evaluation of corporate plans and programs are realized. As organizations embrace a Modern Workplace and cloud transformation initiatives, especially now with everyone working remotely, these responsibilities change. Digital transformations are enabled by personal productivity and collaboration solutions like Microsoft 365. HR managers can be the catalyst to help enable their employees on Microsoft 365 by driving learning and adoption in an efficient, effective and user-friendly experience. Additionally, HR managers can help drive a culture that embraces personal productivity and collaboration solutions like Microsoft 365 as essential to employees’ and organizations’ success.

Our company uses Microsoft Teams all the time, especially now for its virtual “face-to-face” capabilities. It’s the fastest way to keep in touch with all our employees at the same time. Teams allows us to communicate to groups or all our employees at the same time. We’ve set up Team Chats per department and per office. It allows us to post fun things about our days or information that we need to share. I know our global controller, who also heads HR, is a big fan of Teams and encourages everyone to use it.

Why should business managers and workplace executives, including members of the C-suite, care about these same [software/IT] issues?

Cloud and digital transformations are top priorities for business leaders today. Research by Gartner, Inc. reveals that “83% of [corporate] leaders struggle to make meaningful progress on digital transformation.” This is largely due to the fact that enterprises often find the operational benefits of their cloud investments eroded through excess license costs, risk exposure and/or low adoption rates for new apps. A move to the cloud or other digital transformation initiative that does not properly calculate the ultimate cost is destined to fail.

Furthermore, digital dexterity is a must for any C-level executive today. Business leaders need to be fully invested in how their organization is using technology in order to improve agility and drive success of the overall business.

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Can you talk about digital dexterity and why it matters?

Digital dexterity is part of an overall move towards digital transformation. According to Gartner, Inc., “because 90% of corporate leaders view digital as a top priority, it is a true enterprise challenge that requires changing the beliefs, mindsets, and behaviors of leaders and employees firmwide, not just in IT.”

To achieve both digital transformation and digital dexterity a partnership between IT and enterprise leadership, including HR is required. Dexterity drives fundamental change, creating a workforce that embraces the transformative power of technology and the flexibility required to work collaboratively in a meaningful way.

Tag (or mention/write about) the one person in the industry whose answers to these questions you would love to read.  

Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, has done an exceptional job since he assumed the reins in 2014. We are all in unchartered waters today with the coronavirus pandemic, and it would be enlightening to understand his thoughts and priorities.