SMAC Ready Enterprise - Changing Tides in Enterprise Mobility

Over the past few months I have noticed a change in the enterprise mobility space.  Cloud mobility, once a distant vision, now seems to be a mainstream topic.  I have seen a shift from companies believing it necessary to set-up their own internal mobile platforms, mobile infrastructure and mobile security, to looking first to cloud based mobile environments, and then secondly, if not finding their requirements met, moving to the traditional on-premise solutions.  I have seen a great deal more flexibility from MADP (mobile application development platform) vendors with their tools and business models.

I am seeing an increasing reluctance by enterprises to purchase million dollar MADPs even before there are apps to use.  Companies are happy to pay based on realized ROI, but hesitate to invest upfront.

I am seeing an increasing awareness of mobile security needs, but again, companies are now seeking first cloud based mobile security solutions to see if their needs are met there, if not, they look at on-premise options.

I am meeting with companies that have completely moved to cloud based Google Apps, Android and Google Enterprise solutions.  They feel they can better centrally manage and secure their company communications and data through Google Enterprise.

It seems to me as the enterprise mobility market matures, it is also rationalizing.  Early adopters were willing to navigate difficult business and licensing environments, implement expensive POCs and experimental solutions, but today they want a rational, logical, flexible and easy solution that mitigates the risk.

Competition in the enterprise mobility space has now matured to the point that there are many reasonable alternatives, business models and deployment scenarios.  These alternatives, i.e. HTML5, native, hybrid, cloud, on-premise, yearly subscriptions, monthly subscriptions, licenses, etc., motivates all competitors to become better and more business friendly vendors.

All of these rapid changes should encourage enterprises to jump into mobility with both feet, but to implement solutions that do not lock them into a particular mobile device, mobile OS or MADP.

For decades the goal of nearly all software vendors was to entice the end user into using a particular tool, OS or development environment long enough so that the accumulated investment made it very difficult to abandon.  The business model of software vendors was based on creating a large maintenance fee based business.  Although this model offered stability for the software vendor and often the customer as well, it is not suited to the fast paced world of enterprise mobility that requires flexibility and agility.

Today companies should be focused less on a particular mobile devices, mobile OSs and mobile vendor solutions, and more on creating a SMAC (social, mobile, analytic and cloud) READY enterprise.  This is very important!  A SMAC READY enterprise means their enterprise is capable of supporting and thriving in a "real-time" world that is driven by SMAC requirements.  A world rich in data, that requires the ability to analyze it in real-time, and to get the resulting business-ready information into the hands of their mobile works in real-time in order to optimize productivity, decision making, sales and services.

For many enterprises developing a SMAC READY enterprise is a big challenge. The mobile apps are the easy part! Their IT systems, processes and business models were not designed to support the unimagined speed and volume of data that floods over us today (see Code Halos article). This challenge, however, is worth pursuing.  Today a company's success and I would dare say very survivability is dependent upon it.


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Kevin Benedict, Head Analyst for Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud (SMAC) Cognizant
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Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility
***Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and SMAC analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Developing Enterprise Strategies for Code Halos

Ben Pring, Malcolm Frank and
Paul Roehrig
My colleague and Cognizant's Co-Director of the Center for The Future of Work, Ben Pring shares in this guest post, his insights into the idea of "Code Halos" and the role they play in digital transformations and SMAC (social, mobile, analytics and cloud).  The concept of "Code Halos" is a useful way to help us understand and develop strategies for the effective use of all kinds of enterprise data.

In my previous post I introduced the idea of “Code Halos” --  the digital fingerprint each one of us is creating with every click or swipe of our phone, tablet, laptop, Glass, Nest, FuelBand, dashboard, or other smart device, which says who we are and what makes us tick. We also noted that these “personal” Code Halos are migrating into businesses in increasingly significant ways (and not just with the digital service providers such as Pandora or Amazon). In this piece we outline a number of key areas in which we see “business” Code Halos emerging and the changing what organizations do and how they do it.

Customer Code Halos: Customer-centric Code Halos — leveraging consumer data and insights — are creating enriched customer experiences through the use of sophisticated algorithms being applied to individualized code — i.e., past usage, input given to systems such as the Amazon Betterizer, artist selections added to Pandora streams, etc. This is not just reserved for companies with a “born-digital” DNA. Disney, for example, is launching a “Magic Band” bracelet to help guide visitors through its amusement parks, manage ticketing, act as room keys, personalize the guest experience and even work as a portable bank. The Magic Band is set to transform a day at a Disney park from a one-size-fits-all experience to a highly personalized one.

Product Code Halos: Every day we see move evidence that we are moving into the era of the “Internet of things.” From mobile phones to GE aircraft engines to even personal grooming tools such as toothbrushes, more and more devices today are becoming network-aware. They all have the potential to generate rich Code Halos that interact with the halos of information from people, business processes and organizations, and generate streams of data ripe for deriving meaning. As Code Halos grow, the “software” of these products becomes far more valuable than their associated “hardware.” For example, with a smart toothbrush, the physical tool itself is a commodity, while brushing habits, dental hygiene history and health needs create a halo of information that is of premium value. In many sectors, new business processes, industry models and products are being formed at this Code Halo intersection.

Employee Code Halos: Halos are being built around individual employees – think LinkedIn – which are creating new models by which knowledge work is conducted. In fact, our employee Code Halos can be far richer and more powerful than many consumer halos, as they comprise our work histories, subject matter expertise, perspectives, work styles and experiences. Employee halos facilitate getting the right work to the right person at the right time, all contextualized within a work stream — delivering the most appropriate organizational assets to the individual. In much the same way that Amazon’s consumer Code Halos and algorithms individualize the shopping experience, employee halos and organizational algorithms individualize and transform the work experience. This is changing how companies and organizations, such as Southern California Edison and Arlington County in Virginia, collaborate to capture business opportunities.

Partner Code Halos: With new technologies and more collaborative mindsets, traditional supply chains (primarily linear and designed for physical products) are re-forming into tightly integrated systems for sharing and co-creating knowledge assets. People will still need tangible things, but companies in life sciences, banking, and insurance, healthcare and manu¬facturing are now using innovative technologies to create more efficient and effective partner ecosystems.

Enterprise Code Halos: Your company’s brand is a Code Halo. Think of all the digital interactions associated with your company or business unit. Information about products, clients, partners and employees creates or destroys value every day. Angry customers, positive media coverage, financial data and a million other infor¬mation sources create a perception of your company as real as the bricks and rebar of a manufacturing plant. Whether you manage it or not, your company is increasingly defining itself by its Code Halo. In many cases, this halo of informa¬tion has much greater clarity and authority than the efforts of your marketing department.

These five enterprise Code Halos – and the skillful management of them – are increasingly separating those companies that are forging ahead into the brave new digital world and those that are simply playing defense; trying to hang on to old outdated approaches and sustain business as usual for as long as possible, or at least until next quarter’s results.

*************************************************************
Kevin Benedict, Head Analyst for Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud (SMAC) Cognizant
View Linkedin Profile
Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility
***Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and SMAC analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Infonomics and Using Information as a Competitive Advantage

Do you value and treat your enterprise information like it is a strategic asset?  Do you view your information logistics system (including your enterprise mobility system) as a competitive differentiator?  Enterprise mobility is more than just a convenience for people on the move.  It is about how to use information to optimize productivity and achieve competitive advantages.  How can the effective use of mobilized information change and improve your business?

I have shared some of this article before, but I believe it is important enough to review.  In an insightful article by Gartner Inc.'s Douglas Laney, titled Infonomics: The Practice of Information Economics, the value of company information is explored.  I read this article with great interest and interpreted it in the context of enterprise mobility.

Here is Laney's description of Infonomics, "When considering how to put information to work for your organization, it’s important to go beyond thinking and talking about information as an asset, to actually valuing and treating it as one. This is the basis of the new theory and emerging discipline of Infonomics which provides organizations a foundation and methods for quantifying information asset value and formal information asset management practices."

In my mobile strategy workshops, I spend time with my clients exploring the value of "real-time" information to a company and the role enterprise mobility plays in it.  Laney's article takes it to the next level by treating it as a discipline.

Here is another excerpt from Laney, "Infonomics posits that information should be considered a new asset class in that it has measurable economic value and other properties that qualify it to be accounted for and administered as any other recognized type of asset—and that there are significant strategic, operational and financial reasons for doing so."

If the right information can be available to a mobile worker, on the right device, at the right time, in the right amount so that "right" decisions and actions can be made, then that is a huge benefit!

Let me add some context, if you have a mobile workforce in the field and you know the following real-time information:
  • Location
  • Job status
  • Next job site
  • Skills and qualifications
  • Inventory
  • Equipment
  • Costs (hourly wage)
...then you can make many important decisions as to how you can optimally schedule and utilize your workforce.  Much of this can be automated using business analytics, and artificial machine learning as well.  In contrast, if you don't have real-time knowledge of the points listed above, you cannot.  There are significant competitive values to this real-time information.  Laney's article explores how you can measure that value.

Once you have placed a value on real-time information, then you can determine an ROI for developing and implementing a system that supports the use of real-time information (and mobilizing it).  I see this a lot when discussing mobile workforce scheduling solutions.  Many organizations simply do not have the IT systems in place that can support real-time scheduling based on real-time information (location, job status, etc.).  This is a limitation.  This prevents them from transforming their company into a real-time enterprise and effectively competing with companies that are.


*************************************************************
Kevin Benedict, Head Analyst for Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud (SMAC) Cognizant
View Linkedin Profile
Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility
***Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and SMAC analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Mobile Expert Video Series: Bridget Bradley

In this interview with mobile expert Bridget Bradley from AnyPresence, we discuss cloud mobility, pricing models and mobile platforms.  Enjoy!

Video Link: http://youtu.be/GMc4guRJM44


*************************************************************
Kevin Benedict, Head Analyst for Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud (SMAC) Cognizant
View Linkedin Profile
Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility
***Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and SMAC analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Mobile Expert Video Series: Tathagata Nandy on Healthcare

In this video I interview mobility and healthcare expert Tathagata Nandy on the trends he is seeing around enterprise mobility in the healthcare industry in 2013.  Enjoy!

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sar9h73k940&feature=share&list=UUGizQCw2Zbs3eTLwp7icoqw


*************************************************************
Kevin Benedict, Head Analyst for Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud (SMAC) Cognizant
View Linkedin Profile
Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility
***Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and SMAC analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Revisiting Enterprise Mobility and 4D Strategies

In this article I want to revisit the subject of the 4th dimension as it relates to enterprise mobility and and its importance to many industries and business processes.

First, let's review our definition of 3D and 4D.  Three dimensional is made up of length, width and height in one context, or latitude, longitude and altitude in a geographic context.  With GPS coordinates you can find and identify a location on the earth or map.  The challenge, however, is that in the real-world, people and resources aren't stationary.  They move all over the place.  Knowing their location is only useful if you know the "time" they were at that location.  Time is the fourth dimension.  Latitude, longitude, altitude and time are the 4 dimensions we will be reviewing.

Knowing locations and times are critical to managing real-time operations.  The power of real-time business analytics is best realized when you have the capabilities of reporting and planning in a 4D environment. Here are some examples of how time added to location data can offer business value:
  • Predict travel times
  • Monitor actual travel times by capturing departure and arrival times.
  • Adjust schedules based upon the difference between the predictive and real-life travel times
  • Predict job completion times
  • Monitor actual job completion times
  • Adjust schedules based upon the difference between the predictive and real-life times
  • Dispatch service technicians based upon location, schedules, qualifications, costs, etc.
  • Capture KPIs and analyze them.
Most companies recognize the importance of using 4D in their strategies, however, it has only recently become possible to exploit 4D data in real-time.  Exploiting 4D data in real-time takes a real-time strategy.  You need IT infrastructure, databases, analytics and enterprise mobility solutions all finely tuned for real-time operations.

As many of you know my mantra is, "Mobile technologies without mobile strategies is wasted."  There are a lot of interesting things that can be done using 4D strategies and mobile technologies to provide a company with competitive advantages.

A while back I read a book titled, Stray Voltage, War in the Information Age, by Wayne Michael Hall.  In this book he takes the concept of 4D, and adds two more, cyberspace and cerebral to make 6D. Here is a quote from Hall, "Information superiority is firmly connected to making decisions that are superior to an adversary's and combines information technology and intellectual power to create conditions with which to make better decisions."

Hall is making the point that with mass volumes of data collected in real-time using remote sensors, data collection technologies and mobile solutions we need to improve our operational strategies and ways of thinking.  The data can provide us with real-time "situational awareness," but can we understand it and use it to make better real-time tactical decisions for our businesses?

More from Hall, "Human beings will need to improve their thinking capabilities to cope with the increasing complexities of the world...people will depend more on visualization to help understand complexity quickly.  Visualization will fuse data and information and display the result in a multimedia format.  Visualization will allow the integration of data, information and knowledge from all sources and will allow for the integration of numerous contributors."

There is power in taking all of the real-time 4D data inputs that you have, integrating them, analyzing and displaying it visually on a map with powerful infographs in real-time.  This can help us quickly understand what is happening in the field.

In my mind I see a field services manager using an iPad.  He can look down at his iPad at anytime and see the location of all his assets, resources, work crews, jobs (past, present and future) and equipment.  He can see bright yellow circles for all job status that are running over their estimated times, he can see work crews in transit and he can see all locations of upcoming jobs on a map.  In one quick glance the manager can understand where there are challenges, trouble spots and customer issues.

The visualization of 4D information allows for rapid and good decision making.  This is a true competitive advantage.
*************************************************************
Kevin Benedict, Head Analyst for Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud (SMAC) Cognizant
View Linkedin Profile
Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility
***Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and SMAC analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Healthcare, Mobility and Digital Transformations

Healthcare is one of those industries that will be most impacted by SMAC (social, mobile, analytics and cloud) developments.  It is information based.  Information, as we all know, is easily digitized, analyzed, stored in the cloud, and shared via mobile devices.

Here is a personal example.  Yesterday, I was experiencing stomach ailments and jumped on the website, WebMD.  I then added some reminders on my iPhone regarding health practices that I want to follow.  Ideally, I would engage with my doctor on non-serious issues via a mobile app.  I could record my symptoms and have her review and advise me no matter where in the world I am at the moment.  Our crazy healthcare system in the USA, however, would not know how to handle this simple mobile services or the payment for them.  I can only hope that someday logic will prevail.

Here are some of the key reasons mHealth is being transformed today:

  • The recognized need by providers, insurers, and governments to improve services and reduce the costs of caring for those with chronic illnesses.
  • The emergence, and proliferation of smartphones, broadband internet access, dedicated remote patient monitoring devices, and patient-centric applications
  • Patients increasingly understand how mHealth technologies can help them better communicate with providers and manage their health.
  • The rapid movement toward standards that will form the backbone for interoperability within the health industry.

If you are a healthcare industry software vendor or systems integrator with some clever and cool healthcare related solutions please share them with us in the comments section of this article, or email me at kevin.benedict@cognizant.com.  I would love to learn and write about them.


*************************************************************
Kevin Benedict, Head Analyst for Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud (SMAC) Cognizant
View Linkedin Profile

Read the whitepaper on mobile, social, analytics and cloud strategies Don't Get SMACked
Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility

Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and SMAC analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Mobile Expert Video Series: Eugene Signorini

I was able to spend time with and interview mobility expert and former Yankee Group enterprise mobility analyst, Eugene Signorini, this week in Miami, FL at the Enterprise Mobility Exchange.  He is a brilliant guy with a wealth of knowledge and experience.  Enjoy!

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=022KZ6sdHLs&feature=share&list=UUGizQCw2Zbs3eTLwp7icoqw


*************************************************************
Kevin Benedict, Head Analyst for Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud (SMAC) Cognizant
View Linkedin Profile

Read the whitepaper on mobile, social, analytics and cloud strategies Don't Get SMACked
Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility

Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and SMAC analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Mobile Expert Video Series: Bill Moylan

I was in Miami this week at the Enterprise Mobility Exchange 2013.  While there I met up with mobile expert Bill Moylan, Global VP of Alliances for ClickSoftware, and interviewed him about new "context aware" mobile apps.  Enjoy!

Video Links: http://youtu.be/ztoL-CqTaXE



*************************************************************
Kevin Benedict, Head Analyst for Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud (SMAC) Cognizant
View Linkedin Profile

Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility

Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and SMAC analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Mobile Expert Video Series: Bob Egan

This week I had the privilege of meeting and interviewing renown mobility expert and industry analyst Bob Egan.  In this interview we focus on failure.  How can a company guarantee their mobility project will fail!  Enjoy!

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iq1mw77GOhI&feature=share&list=UUGizQCw2Zbs3eTLwp7icoqw


*************************************************************
Kevin Benedict, Head Analyst for Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud (SMAC) Cognizant
View Linkedin Profile

Read the whitepaper on mobile, social, analytics and cloud strategies Don't Get SMACked
Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility

Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and SMAC analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Mobile Data as a Competitive Advantage

The success of companies today is less dependent on their physical assets, and more dependent on their ability to competitively utilize data.  Just think of companies like Kodak, Borders, Blockbuster, etc., that had great physical assets but could not effectively make the transition into the data driven digital era.  In the new whitepaper Code Rules: A Playbook for Managing at the Crossroads, the authors Malcolm Frank, Ben Pring and Paul Roehrig provide examples of this theory and recommendations for supporting it.  

This theory resonates with me.  I speak weekly with service companies that want to support a real-time environment that will provide situational awareness of all field operations, but their IT infrastructures are not capable of supporting a real-time environment.  This is a problem as it prevents effective use of data which limits their competitiveness.

Let's image a scenario as follows - two service companies are competing for a large industrial HVAC (heating, ventilation, air, condition) contract.  Company A can commit to an eight hour SLA (service level agreement) to be onsite for repairs.  Company B can commit to a two hour SLA.  Which company has a competitive advantage?

Company B has full and real-time situational awareness of the location, job status and qualifications of all of their employees and resources and can quickly and dynamically change their assignments and schedules and get them to the point of need.  Company B has a better "logistics of information" system which results in a competitive advantage.

Think about what it takes to support a real-time environment.  It requires a different kind of IT architecture and infrastructure than many companies have today.  It would be a mistake to think this is an enterprise mobility problem.  It is a company problem.  Today, real-time data is everything.  It is not enough to only review end of quarter numbers.  If there are problems in your processes or operations, they should be recognized and fixed as they happen.


There is a saying I read the other day that I really like, "If your customers are adopting technology at a faster rate than you are supporting it, you are opening up an opportunity for your competitors."

Service companies need to recognize there are important sources of data (code halos) around at least five specific areas that should be properly managed and utilized:
  • Customers
  • Products/materials/supplies
  • Employees
  • Partners
  • Enterprises/Organizations
This data needs to be captured, processed, analyzed, reported and acted upon in real-time.  Although mobility is a key component of this, the IT infrastructure of most companies needs to be updated to support it, and management must have a business strategy in place that prioritizes the recognition and exploitation of "code halos" in all of their plans.
*************************************************************
Kevin Benedict, Head Analyst for Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud (SMAC) Cognizant
View Linkedin Profile

Read the whitepaper on mobile, social, analytics and cloud strategies Don't Get SMACked
Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility

Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and SMAC analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Mobile Apps for Short-term Projects

I had the privilege of speaking before a group of service sector leaders this week in Chicago, Ilinois on the 95th floor of the John Hancock building.  During this event I had the opportunity to speak with many field services professionals about their operations and strategies.  Many of the challenges these folks face are the typical ones around change management, process re-engineering, mobile device selection and connectivity.  However, I also heard about the need to quickly develop mobile apps for short-term projects, a recurring issue in many construction, inspection and engineering related projects.

There is a significant segment of the "hard hat" market that needs project based mobile apps.  These apps must be quick and easy to develop as they may only be used for three months on a particular project.  The ROI needs to be a matter of days, not years.  During those three months, however, project management and the profitability of the project could realize great benefits from having real-time data collection, reporting and collaboration via mobile devices.

I think a project-based mobile app may need to include a quick data collection and reporting template that is pre-integrated with a database and reporting tool. Otherwise, the integration and report generation work might take longer than the project.
*************************************************************
Kevin Benedict, Head Analyst for Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud (SMAC) Cognizant
View Linkedin Profile

Read the whitepaper on mobile, social, analytics and cloud strategies Don't Get SMACked
Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility

Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and SMAC analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Mobile Marketing, Business Analytics and Code Halos

In an article I published earlier this week, Digital Transformation, Code Halos, Analytics and Mobility, I provided an overview of the concept of Code Halo™.  The idea is that nearly all organizations, brands, products and people are surrounded by a halo of data.  Companies that recognize the value of code halos will develop new business models and IT systems to utilize these code halos to better engage with customers and prospects, deliver more relevant content and employ precision marketing and support campaigns based upon known interests and desires.

Today I want to explore the role of mobile marketing and how it relates to code halos.  First, let's review the four basic elements of a "logistics of information" system that can derive value from code halos:
  1. There must be effective data collection strategies - Often in the form of mobile apps, loyalty programs and online commerce sites that enable a customer to opt-in to various programs, campaigns and deals and share their personal preferences.  This is how you begin to collect and harvest useful data from your customers' code halos.
  2. The system must uniquely identify and recognize a user.  This identification is associated with a code halo.  This recognition enables the IT and e-commerce systems to customize and personalize content, which provides a more relevant and positive experience for the customer.
  3. The ability to recognize patterns, find meanings, and to spark new ideas and innovation by analyzing, comparing and combining multiple code halos is another important development.  Here is an example - Store number 2 recognizes that a sub-set of their customers all share similar code halos - which includes product preferences, lifestyles, demographics and buying habits.  Store number 2 also closely analyzes the code halos of their suppliers' products, brands and target customer profiles.  As a result, Store number 2 can introduce new marketing campaigns and products that very closely align with the preferences and tastes of their individual customers and sub-sets of customers.
  4. Each campaign or program roll-out is continually analyzed and optimized to improve precision and future results.
Point number one above is effective data collection strategies.  In an age of digital transformation, data collection can often be facilitated via mobile apps, social networking analysis and e-commerce/shopping sites.  Mobile apps have the added luxury of being location aware.  Location, preferences, searches, shared opinions, buying history, time of day, etc., can all be collected via mobile app interaction and added to your code halo.

Analyzing a code halo, however, does not drive value or provide a competitive advantage.  The analysis should result in personalized content being sent to the mobile app of the customer or prospect.  This precision marketing, based on analyzed code halo data, will as a result, drive an increase in sales and company value.  

The three biggest challenges now for companies are:
  1. Recognize code halos and implement business strategies to utilize them.
  2. Implement a logistics of information system to manage and utilize code halo processes.
  3. Spark innovation by comparing and combining various code halos and the resulting insights.
  4. Utilize the analysis of code halos in ways that add value to your company.

*************************************************************
Kevin Benedict, Head Analyst for Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud (SMAC) Cognizant
View Linkedin Profile

Read the whitepaper on mobile, social, analytics and cloud strategies Don't Get SMACked
Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility

Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and SMAC analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Digital Transformation, Code Halos, Analytics and Mobility

A retailers' mantra throughout history has been location, location location.  This is always important, but perhaps of less value than other innovations caused by digital transformations today. The ongoing digital transformation of many industries has created new competitive playing fields that are increasingly related to data.  The winners are those that can more quickly collect, analyze, report, make data driven decisions and capture value from the data.

The data that surrounds customers, partners, companies and individuals is called "code halos™" by my colleagues at the Center for the Future of Work in their new whitepaper Code Rules.  It is their analysis that companies that understand and manage code halos most effectively will be the winners in their industries.

Let me paint two scenes for you.

1) A brick and mortar retail operation is located on Main street, advertises in the local newspaper and via the Yellow Pages.  Greets their anonymous customers at the door with a cheerful "hello" and waves goodbye when they purchase their products from the store.  The store does not know or track their customers' names, preferences or the products they purchase.

2) A brick and mortar retail operation recognizes the value of being on Main street, but also in having a strong web and mobile presence, tracking their customers via loyalty and opt-in online/mobile marketing campaigns and providing customized experiences and marketing that meet the preferences of each individual customer based on collected and analyzed data.  As a result, they have mobile apps, websites and enable customers to document their preferences, likes and favorites.  Each customer has an account that enables the retail store to see their personal details and track their purchases, interests and buying habits, etc.  The retailer analyzes the data, and then provides a customized and personal buying and marketing experience for them.

This is a simple illustration of the differences in how retail companies may engage their customers before and after they recognize the value of code halos.  Store number 2 recognizes that each customer has a code halo of data about their demographics, buying habits, history, preferences, neighborhoods, lifestyles, etc.  Store number 2 collects the data and uses the data to improve their marketing and customer engagements, while store number 1 does not.  Which store do you think is going to be more competitive?  I believe store number 2.

In most military organizations today, they believe the effective use of data or the "Fifth Dimension" of warfare is critical.  The first four dimensions are land, sea, air and space.  Recently the fifth dimension has been added to emphasize that organizations and nations must now learn to effectively use data defensively and offensively in times of conflict.  Military organizations, much like companies in the commercial sector, must now compete in the fifth dimension and the management of code halos.

Recognizing the importance of code halos and the fifth dimension of warfare is not enough, however.  Organizations must employ what is called a "logistics of information" systems capable of supporting a competitive environment.  This is not easy.  Store number 1 mentioned earlier does not have a code halo strategy or the logistics of information system in place to be competitive.  They are not even capable of putting a team on the field.

What must be included in order to successfully employ an effective "logistics of information" system that can process and utilize code halos?  Let me list a few:
  1. Effective data collection strategies - often in the form of mobile apps, loyalty programs and online commerce sites that enable a customer to opt-in to various programs, campaigns, preferences and deals.  This is how you begin to add to and harvest useful data from your customers' code halos.
  2. The ability to recognize a unique customer, their code halos and to cater to their preferences and customize their marketing and buying experiences based on analyzed data.
  3. The ability to recognize patterns, find meaning and to spark new ideas and innovation by analyzing multiple code halos is valuable.  Here is an example - Store number 2 recognizes that a sub-set of their customers' all share similar code halos - product preferences, lifestyles, demographics and buying habits.  Store number 2 also has visibility into the code halos of their suppliers' products, brands and target customer profiles.  As a result, Store number 2 can introduce new marketing campaigns and products that very closely align with the preferences and tastes of their individual customers and sub-sets of customers.
  4. Following each marketing campaign or program roll-out, the data is analyzed and optimized to improve precision and future results. 
These four steps require an effective "information logistics" system.  Do you have it?

*************************************************************
Kevin Benedict, Head Analyst for Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud (SMAC) Cognizant
View Linkedin Profile

Read the whitepaper on mobile, social, analytics and cloud strategies Don't Get SMACked
Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility

Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and SMAC analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

What Does Research Say is the Competitive Advantage of Data?

The explosion of mobile devices, e-commerce and "The Internet of Things" is introducing massive amounts of new data into our ecosystem.  Some companies ignore this data for all but the most tactical explorations, but others are revolutionizing entire industries by recognizing the value of this data and taking advantage of it.

My colleague, Ben Pring, has been conducting a lot of research this year on the impact of business analytics, big data and other fast emerging business strategies on a company's ability to compete.  In this guest post Ben shares his latest findings.

What one key characteristic separates today’s high-flying outperformers – such as Apple, Google, Amazon, Netflix and Pandora – from fast-followers, wannabes, and laggards? It’s a precision focus on the information that surrounds people, organizations, products and processes – what we call Code Halos ™ – to build new business and commercial models. These leading companies have realized that the data – or Code Halo – that accompanies people, organizations and devices contains a richness of business insight that far outstrips the value of physical assets that have historically underpinned market leadership. Conversely, companies that have missed or misunderstood the Code Halo phenomena are now struggling to cope in markets that are moving at warp speed; some, in fact, have already succumbed.

We are in the early stages of an exciting and important new era in which Code Halos radically reshape the rules of business competition. Built on the SMAC Stack ™ (social + mobile + analytics + cloud technologies), Code Halos are being harnessed to help enterprises advance from old-world industrial models (premised on physical assets) to new structures informed by by digits.  Our study of Code Halos, in fact, reveals a new “crossroads” that businesses across industry must navigate to achieve sustained market prosperity and avoid what we call an “extinction event.”

From Personal to Business Code Halos

Each one of us is creating our Code Halo with every click or swipe of our phone, tablet, laptop, Glass, Nest, FuelBand, dashboard, or other smart device. Every transaction we make, every “like” we record, every preference we note, is building a digital fingerprint of who we are and what makes us tick. Our Code Halos, which have been building and deepening as more and more of our lives have become digitized, contain a multiplicity of attributes that reveal our likes, dislikes and behaviors, from recommendations of  great new books to  personalized radio stations that play our favorite  songs, many of which haven’t left their CD cases for a million years.

The Code Halos that exist around individuals are unlocking incredible new value for all of us and for the companies that we do business with.  But the Code Halo story doesn’t end in the consumer world. More and more smart companies are realizing that the concept of Code Halos isn’t confined to (relatively) simple B2C activities, such as book selling or online music. Instead, they’re recognizing that their very organizations have a Code Halo and that within their organizations they have hundreds, thousands, millions of Code Halos, made up of every digital interaction with every smart device they touch across “the Internet of Things”  (all of which of course have their own Code Halos).

This realization is sending profound shock waves through board rooms, as forward-thinking business and technology leaders begin to see the impact that the management – or mismanagement of Code Halos – has on corporate fates. In fact, many are now coming to grips with Code Halo intersections and how they can impact every meaningful aspect of their business operations, from design, to production, to selling, to talent management.

Winning in the New Code Rush

Whether it be the hipster in San Francisco using Square Wallet on his morning latte run or the engineering conglomerate getting its turbines to Tweet or the Singaporean government establishing its homeland as a “living analytics” test bed, the leverage of Code Halo thinking is making businesses big and small think about how the code they generate can collide with the code generated by other people, devices, and organizations. And, perhaps more importantly, how this data can be mined to create new products and services that are genuinely innovative.

To learn more about Code Halos, download our white paper at unevenlydistributed.com.

Ben Pring co-leads Cognizant’s Center for the Future of Work. He joined Cognizant after spending 15 years with Gartner as a senior industry analyst researching and advising on areas such as cloud computing and global sourcing. Prior to Gartner, Ben worked for a number of consulting companies including Coopers & Lybrand. His expertise in helping clients see around corners, think the unthinkable and calculate the compound annual growth rate of unintended consequences has brought him to Cognizant, where his charter is to research and analyze how organizations can leverage the incredibly powerful new opportunities that are being created as new technologies make computing power more pervasive, more affordable and more important than ever before. Ben graduated with a degree in philosophy from Manchester University in the UK. He can be reached at Ben.Pring@cognizant.com.
*************************************************************
Kevin Benedict, Head Analyst for Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud (SMAC) Cognizant
View Linkedin Profile

Read the whitepaper on mobile, social, analytics and cloud strategies Don't Get SMACked
Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility

Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and SMAC analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

SMAC Expert Series: Paul Roehrig and Ben Pring

How does big data impact companies today?  How are companies competing on the use of business intelligence?  What business transformations and business model changes are taking place due to these capabilities?  Watch this interview that I recorded with Cognizant's Co-Directors of the Center for The Future of Work, Paul Roehrig and Ben Pring as they share their latest research with us.  Enjoy!

Video Link: http://youtu.be/ctycYs18dyk


*************************************************************
Kevin Benedict, Head Analyst for Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud (SMAC) Cognizant
View Linkedin Profile

Read the whitepaper on mobile, social, analytics and cloud strategies Don't Get SMACked
Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility

Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and SMAC analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Mobile Expert Video Series: Florian Ganz

In this short video interview with mobility expert Florian Ganz, recorded in Lisbon, Portugal last week, I ask his opinions on how to select the most appropriate mobility platforms, cloud mobility and when to use HTML5.  Enjoy!

Video Link: http://youtu.be/6DKgCoHX_bA

*************************************************************
Kevin Benedict, Head Analyst for Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud (SMAC) Cognizant
View Linkedin Profile

Read the whitepaper on mobile, social, analytics and cloud strategies Don't Get SMACked
Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility

Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and SMAC analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Gartner's Latest Thoughts on Enterprise Mobility and SMAC

ClickConnect Europe 2013
I had the good fortune to attend a session this morning at ClickSoftware's ClickConnect Europe 2013 with Gartner's Research Director Dr. Richard M. Marshall.  Here are some of the notes I took from the session:

  • By 2017 Microsoft will sell as many mobile operating systems as Apple.  This is a bold prediction, but Gartner insists their projections are on track.
  • Enterprise collaboration tools will be the source of "huge" productivity gains.
  • By 2017 82% of handsets shipped will be smartphones
  • Mobile security, mobile device management and mobile app management are only going to get more complex.  Recognize how each additional app adds to the complexity and develop a strategy now that will keep the TOC manageable.  No wonder the MDM (mobile device management), MAM (mobile application management) and EMMP (enterprise mobile management platform) vendors are getting all the investor attention this year.
  • The Internet of Things (IoT) is a big deal.  Smartphones will be the end-points of choice for the connected device data.  Smartphones will enable you to view the meaning of connected device data and to act on it.
  • Gartner is using a new phrase at this conference - The Nexus of Disruptive Forces (social, mobile, information and cloud).  They added the term "disruptive" for added emphasis.  I agree.
  • The more people that work virtually or are remote and mobile, the more important it is to have social bonding between employees through collaboration tools.
  • Gartner is also talking about different technology layers in an IT environment moving at different "paces" of change.  The system of record may have a very slow pace of change, but the top "Innovation" layer may evolve and change at a very fast pace.  This "Innovation" layer is well suited for mobile solutions and cloud based apps.  Having different paces, however, requires each layer to be abstracted from the other to permit different paces of change.  This is a good way to think about technology stacks and how to design and develop your IT infrastructure.


*************************************************************
Kevin Benedict, Head Analyst for Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud (SMAC) Cognizant
View Linkedin Profile

Read the whitepaper on mobile, social, analytics and cloud strategies Don't Get SMACked
Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility

Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and SMAC analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Connecting the Dots Between Enterprise Mobility and IoT

Lisbon, Portugal
I had the privilege of having breakfast with Dr. Moshe BenBassat, Founder/CEO of ClickSoftware, on a deck overlooking the Mediterranean this morning.  Over an English breakfast, Dr. BenBassat shared that back in 1985 his team had developed software tools to diagnose equipment for the military.  It seems two thirds of all parts replaced were unnecessary.  The parts were being replaced in an effort to find and fix a problem without having first properly diagnosed it.  His team was tasked with designing an artificial intelligence system to process and analyze data in order to properly diagnose problems so only the required parts would be replaced.

In 1985 there were huge challenges to this task.  There were not wireless data networks commercially available.  There was not a lot of data available.  There were no IoT (Internet of Things) solutions deployed to gather data, there were not "big data" systems that could crunch numbers in seconds and there were no IBM Watson artificial intelligence systems available to diagnose problems and come up with answers in seconds.  Dr. BenBassat's team was successful, but the final solutions could only be used in areas where there was a lot of time available to come up with an answer.  The system couldn't work in a real-time environment.

A lot has changed since 1985.  Today, equipment/assets, using embedded wireless chips and sensors (M2M), can report on itself and wirelessly send data to a server.  This data can be processed in real-time, analyzed and the diagnosis can be shared wirelessly to the mobile device of a service technician.

Today, with big data analysis, service companies don't have to just rely on manufactures' data to understand when maintenance or repairs are required.  If you have thousands of wind turbines operating and reporting their sensor and system data to your server, it does not take a lot of time to start seeing patterns using big data analysis.  These patterns can help you diagnoses problems, and better plan your future maintenance and repairs in a manner that does not result in unplanned shut-downs.  This results in improved productivity and output.

Dr. BenBassat's system designs, math and algorithms for artificial intelligence were accurate and powerful in 1985, but the technology was not there.  It is a different story today.

Today, it is not the lack of technology that prevents these productivity gains, rather it is the lack of management connecting the dots to existing systems and technologies.  I teach SMAC (social, mobile, analytic, cloud) strategies just about every week somewhere in the world.  Most of my work is not teaching about new technologies, but rather helping CIOs connect the dots to what is already available today.

*************************************************************
Kevin Benedict, Head Analyst for Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud (SMAC) Cognizant
View Linkedin Profile

Read the whitepaper on mobile, social, analytics and cloud strategies Don't Get SMACked
Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility

Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and SMAC analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

SMAC Expert Series: SAP's Sameer Patel, Part 3

This is the third part of an enlightening interview with SAP's GM for Enterprise Social Software, Sameer Patel recorded at SAPPHIRENOW 2013.  In this segment we talk about the value of enterprise social platforms and how enterprise mobility fits into it.  Enjoy!

Video Link: http://youtu.be/kDYDmrXaCR8

Watch Part 1 here
Watch Part 2 here



*************************************************************
Kevin Benedict, Head Analyst for Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud (SMAC) Cognizant
View Linkedin Profile

Read the whitepaper on mobile, social, analytics and cloud strategies Don't Get SMACked
Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility

Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and SMAC analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

SMAC Expert Series: Sameer Patel, Part 2

In Part 2 of my interview with SAP's GM for Enterprise Social Software, Sameer Patel, we discuss specific collaboration scenarios and value propositions around CRM, SCM and enterprise learning platforms.  Enjoy!

Video Link: http://youtu.be/Uyqf1Dt-i7o

Watch Part 1 of this interview here.
Watch Part 3 of this interview here.




*************************************************************
Kevin Benedict, Head Analyst for Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud (SMAC) Cognizant
View Linkedin Profile

Read the whitepaper on mobile, social, analytics and cloud strategies Don't Get SMACked
Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility

Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and SMAC analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

SMAC Expert Series: SAP's Sameer Patel

Is your company thinking about enterprise social collaboration platforms?  Many CIOs are in the process of testing collaboration platforms today, but not quite knowing what to do with them.  In this short video interview, recorded at SAPPHIRE NOW 2013 a couple of weeks ago, SAP's GM for Enterprise Social Software, Sameer Patel answers my questions on social platforms.  Enjoy!

Video Link: http://youtu.be/8nUf5NXF-go

Watch Part 2 of this interview here.
Watch Part 3 of this interview here.



*************************************************************
Kevin Benedict, Head Analyst for Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud (SMAC) Cognizant
View Linkedin Profile

Read the whitepaper on mobile, social, analytics and cloud strategies Don't Get SMACked
Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility

Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and SMAC analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Mobile Expert Video Series: Senthil Krishnapillai

In this short video interview, I corner SAP's VP of Product Management, Mobile Security, Senthil Krishnapillai and ask him about the latest developments in mobile security both on-premise and in the cloud.  Enjoy!

Video Link: http://youtu.be/6t1Kr6q6El4


*************************************************************
Kevin Benedict, Head Analyst for Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud (SMAC) Cognizant
View Linkedin Profile

Read the whitepaper on mobile, social, analytics and cloud strategies Don't Get SMACked
Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility

Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and SMAC analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Mobile Expert Video Series: SAP's Oliver Betz

In this short interview recorded at SAPPHIRE NOW 2013, I ask mobile expert Oliver Betz his thoughts on mobile app design strategies.  Enjoy!

Video Link: http://youtu.be/YP2Vhjjtwvw

*************************************************************
Kevin Benedict, Head Analyst for Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud (SMAC) Cognizant
View Linkedin Profile

Read the whitepaper on mobile, social, analytics and cloud strategies Don't Get SMACked
Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility

Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and SMAC analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Mobile Expert Video Series: Puneet Suppal

In this interview recorded last week at SAPPHIRE NOW 2013, I ask SAP Hana Guru Puneet Suppal about the connection between enterprise mobility, M2M or IoT, real-time business and SAP Hana.  Enjoy!

Video Link: http://youtu.be/-uqIRD7wRgs


*************************************************************
Kevin Benedict, Head Analyst for Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud (SMAC) Cognizant
View Linkedin Profile

Read the whitepaper on mobile, social, analytics and cloud strategies Don't Get SMACked
Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility

Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and SMAC analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

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