Monthly Archives: June 2017

What is the relationship in growth between mainframe transaction processing and engagement applications?

Top of mind, as engagement applications continue to grow (ecommerce (also driven by social)), I suspect mainframe transaction processing will only continue to sustain its relevance. 

Need to research: how compute is allocated between mainframe and cloud. 

Analysis to conduct: observe rate of growth in top mainframe users (financials, retails) and analyze versus increased growth in online applications (see Citi report); note that 96 of top 100 banks still use main frame. 9 out of 10 largest insurance companies still run mainframe 

AMZN and Staples Equities

Selected stocks impacted by Amazon acquisition of Whole Foods

Grocers

  • Kroger
  • Walgreens
  • Costco
  • Wal Mart
  • Target

Food

  • McCormick
  • Conagra
  • General Mills

Potential Interlopers

  • WalMart, Kroger, Albertsons
  • “I wouldnt be surprised if every grocery store has an emergency board meeting this weekend”

Considerations for Amazon deal

  • Ability to reach customers in high-income, urban areas, where it is traditionally difficult to reach customers (and not accessible by drone)
  • Acquisition of 431 distribution centers
  • WholeFoods is only 2% of total grocery market
  • Highly synergistic with Amazon fresh
  • Amazon did not hold a conference call post deal

Synthesis of My Mental Models (Companies & People)

I built these frameworks to serve as mind-maps when analyzing systems

Firm Level Analysis

Firm level analysis in the context of market competition, product and service marketplace, potential customers, operating structures, capital allocation, and buybacks.

Firm Level Recommendation

Mental Model for firm analysis.

Individual Level Analysis

A model for the physiological needs of the individual, drivers of psychological motivation and social structures through which individuals manifest motivations in the real world.