Mobile Technology, Roman Roads and Legionaries - Director's Cut

In this short 10 minute video you will learn how enterprise mobility and the Roman Roads share much in common.  This is the Director's Cut that includes all the clips in one video and the 13 similarities between enterprise mobility and the strategies of the Roman Legionaries.  I had fun making it and hope you have fun watching it.  Enjoy!

Video Link: http://youtu.be/8B76oLJy8kw




*************************************************************
Kevin Benedict
Senior Analyst, Digital Transformation Cognizant
View my profile on LinkedIn
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 digital transformation analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

My Themes in 2014 are Real-Time, Speed and Insight

I spend most of my time researching, writing and speaking on enterprise mobility, the IoT and digital transformation.  All of these discussions are related to the concept of Code Halos.  Code Halos (see video) are digital profiles of people, places, things, organizations, etc.  They are all the digital data about something that can be collected, and analyzed together with time and place to provide insight. Insight into more effective customer engagement models, more effective business processes, more effective product development strategies, etc.

Code Halos can effectively support predictive analytics.  The Code Halo around an account helps you make predictions about future engagements and interactions.  When particular events happen (customer requests a service ticket) and you reach a certain step in a business process (service tech scheduled), plus your location and calendar data all suggest you are going to a particular customer that owns a particular piece of equipment then the context of your actions can accurately be determined and this information can be used to predict your future needs.

Once the context of an action is known, all kinds of things can be programmed to happen automatically.  Warranty information and product manuals can be downloaded to a mobile device.  The location of the customer and the equipment needed to be serviced can be identified.  The customer can be automatically notified as the service tech nears.  This is just the start.

Some of the themes I am focused on in 2014 are real-time, speed and insight.  If you are busy, multi-tasking and mobile - you will benefit from predictive business apps that are context aware, programmed to take advantage of Code Halos and offer you enormous value.  Here lies the challenge.  In order to capture this value, you need both mobile and back-office IT infrastructure capable of supporting the speeds of a moving, mobile user.  Time, location, actions and events are ever-changing and happening all around you.  How do you capture this information, analyze it and predict next steps and future needs?  That is not easy and will, for many companies, involve a lot of updating and replacing of slow, siloed systems.

For more on this subject register for the upcoming Forrester and ClickSoftware webinar here http://go.clicksoftware.com/Forrester-ClickSoftware-Webinar-Registration.html.

Webinar: Beyond Big Buzzwords - Predictive Business Apps
Date: February 11th
Time: 11:00am EST/16.00pm GMT
Speakers: Michael Gualtieri, Principal Analyst at Forrester Research and Katelyn Burrill, Product Marketing Manager at ClickSoftware

*************************************************************
Kevin Benedict
Senior Analyst, Digital Transformation Cognizant
View my profile on LinkedIn
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 digital transformation analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Digital Transformation and Wearables at the Personal Level

I have invited my colleague, Ben Pring, Co-Director of the Center for the Future of Work at Cognizant, to share with us his personal experiences with IoT and wearables.  His articles and insights can often be found at the site www.unvenlydistributed.com and he has a book coming out in a few weeks about how the digital lives of people, “things” and organizations are changing the rules of business.

***

If you’re a pretty dedicated fitness type (like me) you’ve probably noticed the steady increase of technology into many different aspects of your chosen fitness regime or sport over the past few years. If you’re a runner you’ve probably run in a race where you use a timing chip attached to your shoe. If you play tennis you know your Graphene-based YouTek Head racquet is a far cry from the wooden Stan Smith Wilson you learnt with. And if you’re simply kicking a ball around in the back yard with your kid you’re probably conscious that the $150 Nike Ordem soccer ball you got him for Christmas is something of an upgrade on the old “placcy Wembley” that you had when you were his age. [This is a reference that only someone who grew up in 1970s north London will get!]

So the notion of technology seeping into our sporting hobbies is no big deal. But what – I would contend – is a big deal is the explosion of technology that the work out world is on the cusp of and what impact this is going to have on Health and Fitness (another 1970’s reference for you digital immigrants out there!) over the next few years. Sport is very much at the heart of the “Cambrian explosion” that The Economist highlighted a few weeks ago.

Let me walk through just a few quick examples of some of the things I’m seeing as I try and keep to my five-days-a-week regimen; and then a few thoughts from the couch as I recover and dream about the one handed backhand down the line winner on Championship point that brings me my first Wimbledon title. [“Unknown 51 Year Old Englishman Wins Wimbledon! Knighted on Center Court by Queen!” – The Daily Telegraph].

Nike Fuel Band – still a good conversation starter at parties (even though it’s been out a couple of years) the Fuel Band does a great job of tracking your movement and output count. And it’s a pretty useful watch when you wake up in the middle of the night. The dashboard on your computer/tablet is the best I’ve seen amongst the wearable monitors (much better than the Fitbit which I’ve also tried but didn’t take to). If you’re in a good work out groove the Fuel Band will probably make you feel pretty smug; if you’re not, it will only confirm what you probably already know – that despite your best intentions, you’re still a lazy bum.

BitGym - a running machine with built in TV screen that contains videos of runs you can do as you move precisely nowhere wherever you are. The other day I was in Orlando, FL and I did a 5 mile run through downtown Auckland NZ. Then a couple of weeks later I was in Auckland and not only did that real run but then ran the next day on a machine through London. Then last week I was in England and did that actual run. Someone needs to invent a word for how weird that is!

Garmin Forerunner 620 – the Usain Bolt of sports watches, this does everything except actually do the running for you. Apparently Garmin are working on that currently.  My only problem with it is that wearing it perhaps gives the impression to other folks that I think I am Usain Bolt. It’s very hard to convey irony through a watch.
Click Image to Enlarge

As the wearable, quantifiable self, Internet of Things wave continues to develop these early stage examples are going to become more common, more varied, and more useful as people see the impact even small data can have on their health and performance. Check out Novak Djokovic’s “Serve to Win” to get inspired by what you can achieve if you start really paying attention to the impact your diet has on your training program. Although also check out “Drop Dead Healthy” by AJ Jacobs if all you want to do is work out your inner cynicism!

The infusion of wearable sensors into clothing – like rugby shirts that monitor heart rates and tackle impacts – is just beginning. Soon your golf shirt will mold the perfect swing, your glasses will live stream your 10k PB, and your socks will tell you the optimum moment to rehydrate.

The digital perimeter advertising at soccer, Hawkeye instant replies in tennis, 10 yard line virtual overlays in football, which we’ve all grown used to, are simply the first waves of a new era of tech in sports which will see more change in how the world plays in the next 10 years than we’ve seen in the last hundred. It literally is going to be a whole new ball game.

One last thought; JetBlue DirecTV must be the apex of human achievement to allow you to follow live English soccer while flying from Boston to San Francisco. When I was my 11 year’s old age there was one live game of soccer on TV a year. Because it was so exciting and rare I sat in front of the TV from the start of the pre-game build up, six hours ahead of kick off, right through until the post-game wrap at 10pm. Nowadays, I can watch The Irons (West Ham United Football Club to you mate) lose – in color, in HD, while I’m sitting over Hastings, Nebraska. If that doesn’t blow your mind, I don’t know what will …


*************************************************************
Kevin Benedict
Senior Analyst, Digital Transformation Cognizant
View my profile on LinkedIn
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 digital transformation analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Mobile Expert Interviews: Feedhenry's CEO Cathal McGloin

I had the privilege of interviewing Feedhenry's CEO, Cathal McGloin on enterprise mobility, mobile strategies, mobility trends and how he is positioning Feedhenry to address them.  I also had the chance to ask him to share advice on what companies should consider when developing their enterprise mobility strategy and roadmap.  Enjoy!

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5M96IbOUu8&feature=share&list=UUGizQCw2Zbs3eTLwp7icoqw

Learn about mobile strategies in the retail, travel & hospitality industries with @Cognizant & @Moovweb on 2/6, 10am PST http://www.moovweb.com/webinars/cognizantrth/

*************************************************************
Kevin Benedict
Senior Analyst, Digital Transformation Cognizant
View my profile on LinkedIn
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 digital transformation analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Bracing for Change with Enterprise Mobility

I spent last week working with four brilliant technology analysts in Chicago.  It was -40 degrees Fahrenheit with the windchill. Who would schedule a meeting in Chicago mid-winter?  Even in the conference room it was cold, and we were all wearing coats and scarves! It made for a great adventure and after a brief 36 hour delay in my flight, I am back in the home office.

What did I learn last week?  For starters, more words to add to my vocabulary.  I learned how to use words like gravitas and nascent.  Two words rarely used in Boise, Idaho.  "That potato farmer has both expertise and gravitas, and he is always looking for nascent varieties of spuds."  Sorry, can't say I have ever heard that said.  I did, however, learn a great deal about how real analysts work and organize their research projects.  They taught me much about where technology is today, and where it is rapidly going over the next two years.

Three of my colleagues at Cognizant have just finished a book that will be in all the bookstores in a few weeks.  I had the chance to read much of it, and it provides brilliant insight into digital transformation across industries and markets and explains how to transform business models and IT infrastructures to be successful.
As a result of everything I learned last week, I am impressed that IT infrastructures must  be rapidly upgraded to support "real-time everything."  Mobile computing, the IoT (internet of things) and the advent of broadband Internet have transformed how we think, work, play, communicate and engage in commerce.  If we are going to host our memory, analytics, turn-by-turn navigation, business processes and business solutions in the cloud and access them through mobile devices, we have major work to do in backend infrastructures.  I believe the companies that will be successful in the next five years are those that can guide their organizations best through this age of digital transformation.

*************************************************************
Kevin Benedict
Senior Analyst, Digital Transformation Cognizant
View my profile on LinkedIn
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 digital transformation analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Using Mobility to Build an Empire

In this short video I explain the 15 ways mobility helped the Roman Empire, and how enterprise mobility can help your business today.  Enjoy!

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Hxt2yOkAaY&list=UUGizQCw2Zbs3eTLwp7icoqw&feature=share


The True Cost of Mobility - Companies are under tremendous pressure to develop and deploy mobile apps for their business systems, yet the traditional approach to mobile app development typically costs $250K+ and takes 6+ months for a single app. Today IT professionals are exploring platforms that radically reduce costs and time-to-market for their mobile initiatives, especially around complex applications such as SAP, Oracle, or custom applications. Download the whitepaper - https://www.capriza.com/resources/whitepapers/?resource=true-cost-of-enterprise-mobility&adgroup=MES

*************************************************************
Kevin Benedict
Senior Analyst, Digital Transformation Cognizant
View my profile on LinkedIn
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 digital transformation analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

14 Ways Strategic Enterprise Mobility Solutions Can Help Build an Empire

Roman Roads
In my recent studies of the ancient Roman Roads, I have found 14 ways the roads helped Rome build an empire.  It is also interesting to recognize these same 14 benefits are also available to businesses that aggressively adopt and embrace strategic enterprise mobility solutions today.  Here they are for your consideration:

Watch the movie here!
  1. Communications, command and control - Messages could be sent and received reliably from great distances in all seasons and weather.  This enabled a central management team to oversee huge geographical areas and large numbers of projects, campaigns, events and people from a distance.
  2. Situational Awareness - Commanders and managers had good visibility to events, activities, projects and campaigns around their entire empire so could effectively plan where resources needed to be sent and how they could best be used.
  3. Faster and better decision making - #1 and #2 (communications, command, control and situational awareness) enabled faster and better decisions to be made and communicated to remote locations.
  4. Efficient management - 180,000 legionnaires effectively controlled the entire Roman Empire.  How is this possible?  They were strategically located and were sent, when needed, quickly to the point of conflict along Roman Roads.  Fast messaging services enabled the commanders and legionnaires to understand the situation and to respond to events quickly. 
  5. Increased productivity - The Roman Empire was developed, expanded, managed and enemies conquered with relatively few resources as a result of the Roman Roads, fast communication and quick responses.  
    Roman Roads
  6. Speed - Roman legionnaires traveled at a standard rate of 20 miles in 5 summer hours with 60 lbs. packs on their back in all weather.  They could do 24 miles in 5 summer hours when pressed for short amounts of time.  This was only possible when using the Roman Roads.  Ultimately there were 29 great military highways and 113 provinces were interconnected by 372 great roads.  The whole road system comprised of more than 400,000 kilometers of roads.
  7. Predictability and standards - Knowing the location of Roman Roads and the speed in which your forces could move enabled more effective planning than was ever possible before.  
  8. Tactics - Given the predictability and standard movement speeds, plus fast communications, Roman commanders could employ tactics and effective planning in ways never before possible.
  9. Force projection - Because of the Roman Roads and all the benefits previously mentioned, the Roman commanders could effectively manage over much greater distances than ever before.  This enabled them to move further, develop a larger empire and to hold it for over 400 years.
  10. Market access - The Roman Roads enabled new markets to be opened and for farmers, craftsmen and merchants to predictably travel and transport products and services to new markets.  New all weather roads and bridges made the ability to conduct business much easier and less risky.
  11. Better logistics and planning - Perishable foods and products could move at predictable speeds in all weather and in all seasons.  Warehouses, markets, taverns and inns were located along the roads at standardized distances which greatly improved travel, safety and transportation.
  12. Optimal intersections - The Romans had maps, measured distances, solid roads, predictable troop movement speeds, supply depots, forts/outposts and knowledge about supplies and locations and events and activities. This enabled commanders and managers to effectively deliver troops, resources and supplies to specific locations at designated times (i.e. point-of-need).
  13. Swarming - 180,000 legionnaires conquered and controlled a population of over 55 million and a territory that covered the known world.  The Roman Roads allowed the legionnaires to quickly swarm to the point of need from various forts and outposts in an organized fashion because of the predictability and speed of travel that the Roman Roads provided.
  14. Culture - The Roman Roads enabled ideas, innovations, religions, scholars, philosophers, musicians and artists to travel to all the corners of the empire.  It enabled the best ideas from across the empire to travel back to Rome for examination and sharing.  This enabled the Roman culture to be fostered and adopted over great distances.
I would invite you to again read each of these 14 points, and then ponder how strategic enterprise mobility solutions implemented across your business could help your company become an empire.

The True Cost of Mobility - Enterprise corporations are under tremendous pressure to develop and deploy mobile apps for their business systems, yet the traditional approach to mobile app development typically costs $250K+ and takes 6+ months for a single app. Today IT professionals are exploring platforms that radically reduce costs and time-to-market for their mobile initiatives, especially around complex applications such as SAP, Oracle, or custom applications.

https://www.capriza.com/resources/whitepapers/?resource=true-cost-of-enterprise-mobility&adgroup=MES

*************************************************************
Kevin Benedict
Senior Analyst, Digital Transformation Cognizant
View my profile on LinkedIn
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 digital transformation analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Enterprise Mobility and the Roman Road - The Movie

There is no chance of winning an Emmy or Oscar here, but I hope you will find this short video I recorded last week comparing today's enterprise mobility benefits, to those of the ancient Roman Roads interesting.  Enjoy!

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcOUGIdWw0c&list=UUGizQCw2Zbs3eTLwp7icoqw&feature=share



The True Cost of Mobility - Companies are under tremendous pressure to develop and deploy mobile apps for their business systems, yet the traditional approach to mobile app development typically costs $250K+ and takes 6+ months for a single app. Today IT professionals are exploring platforms that radically reduce costs and time-to-market for their mobile initiatives, especially around complex applications such as SAP, Oracle, or custom applications. Download the whitepaper - https://www.capriza.com/resources/whitepapers/?resource=true-cost-of-enterprise-mobility&adgroup=MES

*************************************************************
Kevin Benedict
Senior Analyst, Digital Transformation Cognizant
View my profile on LinkedIn
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 digital transformation analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

The Roman Road and Enterprise Mobility

I had the distinct privilege of walking along several different Roman roads this week.  These roads have survived thousands of years worth of history and travel.  They were built using a standard design, engineering and construction methodology that was extraordinarily durable.  The paved roads of ancient Rome represent one of the most significant infrastructure and civil engineering feats in history.  They permitted the Roman Empire to flourish for over 400 years!

The way the Romans used the roads, and the benefits they gained, are very similar to how businesses today can utilize enterprise mobility solutions.  I know this is a stretch, but not a big one.  Let me explain.

The Roman Empire was big and geographically dispersed.  This fact presented challenges for managing, controlling and governing.   The speed in which messages traveled was critical and roads were a key means of transporting them.  Commanders and governors needed to know what was going on hundreds and thousands of miles away.  Distant forts, outposts and cities needed to receive instructions.  This is a similar challenge faced by companies today with a mobile workforce and remote jobsites and plants.

Let’s ponder the benefits of the Roman roads on the Roman economy.  The impact was huge, not unlike what the railways in the 19th century did for the West.  For the first time, products (among them tin, copper and salt) and services could be moved quickly and reliably transported during all seasons and weather conditions.  Today mobile apps and the Internet can help move digital products and services across the globe efficiently, while providing a means of payment, shipment tracking (for physical products) and order visibility.

The Roman roads and bridges enabled merchants to get to places that they had never been before. Places previously just too hard or expensive to get to.  Likewise, mobile apps and the Internet can instantly make products and services available across huge geographic areas that were just too hard to market and sell to before.

Today many companies have remote workers.  This presents a challenge to developing and sustaining the desired company culture.  In the Roman times, the roads they built served to help political and intellectual ideas spread quickly.  Scholars could easily travel, exchange ideas and collaborate.  Mobile apps and collaboration platforms can fill that void today.  By including even the most distant company outposts in discussions and collaboration activities, and involving them in new ideas and concepts, company culture can be developed, enhanced and expanded using mobile apps.

The Roman’s didn't limit the messages sent along their roads to just military messages.  Yes, military messages were important for maintaining control of such a massive territory, but so were letters sent between commanders, the Senate, the Emperor, merchants and cities.  Likewise, businesses will not just develop a single mobile app.  They will find that mobile apps can be used for all kinds of data collection, business intelligence, queries and commerce.

The Romans ultimately had more than 29 great military highways that led away from the capital.   113 provinces were interconnected by 372 great road links.  The whole road system comprised more than 400,000 km of roads, of which over 80,500 km were stone-paved.  This enabled them to flourish as a civilization for over 400 years.  Likewise, I expect businesses to ultimately have every ERP, back-office system and data source of significance connected to mobile apps so they can also flourish.

*************************************************************
Kevin Benedict
Senior Analyst, Digital Transformation Cognizant
View my profile on LinkedIn
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 digital transformation analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Mobile Expert Interview: Mary Brittain-White

I am excited to share this interview with mobility expert Mary Brittain-White, CEO/Founder of Retriever Communications for several reasons:
  1. Mary is a long time veteran of the enterprise mobility market and she brings a unique perspective.
  2. Mary started her mobility career working with Apple's Newton.
  3. Mary is female.  I really want to include more ladies in my mobile expert interviews!  
  4. Mary's company focuses on "industrial mobility" and brings a view of enterprise mobility that is blue collar and evolved from the trenches.
*When I speak on this interview there is an annoying audio echo.  Sorry!  The good news - I don't speak much.  I hope you can overlook my audio challenges and learn from Mary's insights.

*************************************************************
Kevin Benedict
Senior Analyst, Digital Transformation Cognizant
View my profile on LinkedIn
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 digital transformation analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Mobile Expert Interview: Glenn Johnson and Kevin Benedict

I had the privilege recently to connect with mobility expert Glenn Johnson, Senior VP of Magic Software Americas, on a Google+ Hangout OnAir.  Glenn turned the tables on me and he asked the questions in this interview.  Enjoy!

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLnEeUZPDd8&list=UUGizQCw2Zbs3eTLwp7icoqw&feature=share&index=2



The True Cost of Mobility - Companies are under tremendous pressure to develop and deploy mobile apps for their business systems, yet the traditional approach to mobile app development typically costs $250K+ and takes 6+ months for a single app. Today IT professionals are exploring platforms that radically reduce costs and time-to-market for their mobile initiatives, especially around complex applications such as SAP, Oracle, or custom applications.

Download the whitepaper - https://www.capriza.com/resources/whitepapers/?resource=true-cost-of-enterprise-mobility&adgroup=MES

*************************************************************
Kevin Benedict
Senior Analyst, Digital Transformation Cognizant
View my profile on LinkedIn
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 digital transformation analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Mobile Expert Interview: Yuval Scarlat on Cloud Mobility

I had the privilege of interviewing the CEO of Capriza, Yuval Scarlat, last week.  We discussed a wide range of topics such as cloud mobility, MADPs, MBaaS, mobile strategies and why he thought the market needed another mobile solutions vendor.

On a side note, I think Capriza's website design is very effective.  Enjoy!

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4MQHp21k-w&list=UUGizQCw2Zbs3eTLwp7icoqw&feature=share


*************************************************************
Kevin Benedict
Senior Analyst, Digital Transformation Cognizant
View my profile on LinkedIn
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 digital transformation analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Mind the Gap - Enterprise Mobility and Digital Transformation

The phrase "Mind the Gap" was first introduced in 1969 in London as a warning for passengers to watch for the gap between the train door and the station platform.  The need to warn passengers is and was the result of some stations being located on curves and at varying heights relative to the tracks.  The warning is intended to prevent injuries.

Mind the gap is also a relevant warning for organizations today.  The gap I am referring to is the one between your customers' expectations and your ability to meet those expectations given your current IT infrastructure and legacy systems.

Today consumers have amazing power and real-time capabilities in their mobile devices.  They have incredible user experiences and powerful apps connected to real-time analytics, transactional services, turn-by-turn navigation, mobile payments and mobile commerce capabilities.  They have instant access to the world's largest knowledge base in the form of Wikipedia, and instant access to massive libraries of health care advice from companies like WebMD and Healthwise.  They have one-click ordering of millions of products with Amazon's apps and instant package tracking and alerts.  They can receive personalized entertainment and media services anywhere.  Most of us have completely integrated instant communications, collaboration, GPS locations, instant information and social media into our everyday lives.  Why would we expect anything less from the companies we are doing business with?

These capabilities were unheard of when most of our ERPs and core business systems were first designed, developed and deployed.  Most of the large companies I personally work with are experiencing an increasing gap between what their customers are experiencing at home and on their personal mobile devices and what they experience and can support at work.  They are concerned.  They see it.  They know they are falling behind.

This expectation gap between what we have and can do on our personal mobile devices and what large enterprises can deliver to their employees and customers is a problem.  For many companies the expectation gap is not narrowing, but increasing every day.  This gap, is an open invitation for competitors to fill the void.  If you don't fill it, others will.... I guarantee it.

It is important to recognize the source of this gap.  For most companies, buying or developing a powerful, user friendly and competitive mobile app is relatively simple.  It just takes a budget and experienced help. The increasing expectation gap is not simply the result of having better mobile apps in the consumer space.  In my experience the problem is most often related to having back-office and legacy systems incapable of supporting real-time mobile apps.  To close this gap, IT organizations must engage in an in-depth analysis and inventory of their IT systems and business processes, and flag for upgrade or replacement those that are preventing real-time support of mobility.

Mobility is a critical component of digital transformation, and a required element of success for nearly every business going forward.  Your IT environment can either be a springboard for success or an anchor that drags you to the bottom.  Which is it?
_______________________

The True Cost of Mobility - Companies are under tremendous pressure to develop and deploy mobile apps for their business systems, yet the traditional approach to mobile app development typically costs $250K+ and takes 6+ months for a single app. Today IT professionals are exploring platforms that radically reduce costs and time-to-market for their mobile initiatives, especially around complex applications such as SAP, Oracle, or custom applications.

Download the whitepaper - https://www.capriza.com/resources/whitepapers/?resource=true-cost-of-enterprise-mobility&adgroup=MES
*************************************************************
Kevin Benedict
Senior Analyst, Digital Transformation Cognizant
View my profile on LinkedIn
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 digital transformation analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Mobile Expert Interviews: Vaidy Iyer on Cloud Mobility and PaaS

I had the privilege of interviewing mobility expert Vaidy Iyer today.  He is the founder and CEO of AppsFreedom a company focused on providing enterprise mobility solutions in the form of Multi-Channel, Multi-Device Platform as a Service solutions to the SAP community.  I asked if they could compete with SAP's mobile solutions - you should hear his answer!  Enjoy!

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vj35zoQ7bE&feature=share


The True Cost of Mobility - Companies are under tremendous pressure to develop and deploy mobile apps for their business systems, yet the traditional approach to mobile app development typically costs $250K+ and takes 6+ months for a single app. Today IT professionals are exploring platforms that radically reduce costs and time-to-market for their mobile initiatives, especially around complex applications such as SAP, Oracle, or custom applications.

Download the whitepaper - https://www.capriza.com/resources/whitepapers/?resource=true-cost-of-enterprise-mobility&adgroup=MES
*************************************************************
Kevin Benedict
Senior Analyst, Digital Transformation Cognizant
View my profile on LinkedIn
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 digital transformation analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

GEOINT, Google Field Trip, GIS and the Digital World

I have been blessed with the opportunity to conduct digital and mobile strategy workshops and speak in many places around the world.  Because of the frequency of these trips, I often don't have time to research in advance the locations I will be visiting.  That can be both good and bad.  I am often pleasantly surprised to stumble upon a famous historical landmark with little or no knowledge that I was in its vicinity.  Surprises are fun.  The downside is stumbling upon a recognizable landmark or building, but having little knowledge as to why it is recognizable, and having no time to look it up.  There is now a useful app for that!

Google Field Trip is a mobile app I downloaded recently that uses many different data sources, tied to GPS coordinates, to inform you about your location and environment.  Here in Boise, Idaho, it popped up messages about historic events that happened at locations near me.  I love it!  It informed me as to where the original trolley line was located, when the old granite penitentiary was built, and where geothermal springs are used to heat public swimming pools.  This information augmented my reality.  My knowledge about a location was augmented by over 170 different data sources that Google has aggregated and associated with geospatial data.  As the number of data sources continues to grows, it will become increasingly useful and valuable.

Yesterday I read the NGA's (National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency) 5 year plan.  Their motto is "Know the Earth, Show the Way, Understand the World."  Awesome!  Sounds like a super-secret, hyper-ambitious, massively powerful version of Google Field Trip.  Their job is to design, develop and support a geospatial intelligence platform that can be used by many different agencies to collect, analyze, share and collaborate around geospatial data for the purpose of national security and to help respond to natural and human-made disasters.

The NGA has a big job.  Their mission is to provide ubiquitous access to GEOINT (geospatial intelligence) by creating an intuitive online environment that facilitates effortless and seamless access to geospatial content--data and intelligence-- anytime, anywhere.  They want to help the "good-guys" spend more time analyzing data and doing "good", and less time trying to collect or discover geospatial data that is already available in another system or database.  They want to make it much faster and easier to find and use. Again, kind of like Google Field Trip, except instead of a historical marker popping up, it may pop up information about all known bad guy activities in an area as a convoy or patrol is moving through a region.

It is important to understand that GPS coordinates can be associated with all kinds of different information including physical features of the land, assets, natural and human resources, activities, cultures, religions and past events, etc.  Here is more on NGAs mission, "Our purpose is to provide deeper, contextual analysis of places, informed not only by the Earth's physical features and imagery intelligence, but also by human geography."  Human geography is the study of how humans, communities and cultures interact with and are impacted by the locations and physical features of the land where they are located.  Wow! That includes a lot of areas of study!

Let's stop for a minute and consider again the convergence of the physical world with the digital.  The physical world is being digitized through all kinds of collected and stored digital information about it.  This enables organizations, either government or commercial, to associate all kinds of information to a physical location and visualize it on a computer or print it on a 3D printer so you can run your fingers over it.  Once this information is analyzed, algorithms can be designed that make judgements and predictions about a location based on collected data and big data analysis.  The NGA calls this discipline, anticipatory GEOINT analysis.  The ability to predict different things based upon analysis of geospatial intelligence.

One of the biggest problems that NGA is trying to solve is data and organizational silos.  They want to find all of the data and content, and release it for discovery and use by all relevant and approved agencies and security levels.  The events of 9/11 taught us the disastrous results of not sharing data across agencies.

There are many lessons to learn from the technological, management and strategy advancements being made in and around geospatial intelligence that can translate into positive value in the commercial sector.  Companies like Amazon, Netflix, Zillows and many others understand the reality of the convergence between the physical and digital worlds and are embracing geospatial intelligence to their benefit.  They are winning with these strategies!
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The True Cost of Mobility - a new whitepaper - Enterprise corporations are under tremendous pressure to develop and deploy mobile apps for their business systems, yet the traditional approach to mobile app development typically costs $250K+ and takes 6+ months for a single app.  IT professionals are exploring platforms that radically reduce costs and time-to-market for their mobile initiatives, especially around complex applications such as SAP, Oracle, or custom applications.

Whitepaper download link - https://www.capriza.com/resources/whitepapers/?resource=true-cost-of-enterprise-mobility&adgroup=MES
*************************************************************
Kevin Benedict
Senior Analyst, Digital Transformation Cognizant
View my profile on LinkedIn
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 digital transformation analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

A New Perspective on Enterprise Mobility and 2014 Requirements, Part 2

If the changes rapidly occurring in the enterprise mobility market were mostly hidden from view in 2013, they will be center stage with a spotlight on them in 2014.  The Yankee Group predicts these changes will be so huge that entire categories of enterprise mobility like the MADP (mobile application development platforms) may transform into something new and different.  They believe mobile platforms in 2014 will emphasize features like:
  • open architectures
  • scalability
  • extensibility
  • flexibility
  • embedded API management
  • data orchestration capabilities
  • integrated analytics
  • agnosticism to tools, infrastructures and standards
The traditional vision enterprise mobility platform vendors have chased for so long now seems to be fading away.  The business plans they embraced depended upon a customer buying the mobile platform, staying on it and maximizing the numbers of users.  The cost per user, while expensive upfront, would over time become reasonable with economies of scale.  Once customers rolled out large numbers of users the barriers-to-migration would become so high that customers would in effect be locked-in, not necessarily by technology but by the cost of changing.  This is where the mobile platform vendor would theoretically achieve profitability.  In reality, however, not enough customers bought mobile platforms and rolled out large numbers of users at the rate required to deliver on the business plans of many mobile platform players.

In addition, the research and development costs of trying to be all things to all people were so high that only a mass market could sustain it.  This mass market has been slow to mature and unpredictable, which has led many vendors to invest large amounts of money in the wrong things.

There are so many inexpensive and powerful tools for developing mobile apps today, that the competitive advantages of having one as a core component of your MADP is minimal.  The cross-platform app development capability of many MADPs remains valuable, but the efforts of keeping one updated and relevant is cost prohibitive.

I continue to believe there is a huge market, and many opportunities for vendors to make money as a result of companies embracing enterprise mobility, but perhaps not in the areas first imagined.  The investments may be directed more toward updating and replacing existing infrastructures and systems to be mobile-centric and capable of supporting real-time data exchanges.  The actual investment in the development and integration of mobile apps may be relatively small compared to these infrastructure investments.

As I described in Part 1 of this article series, http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/2013/12/a-new-perspective-on-enterprise.html, IT organizations in 2013 realized that the major challenges with implementing enterprise mobility were managing the TCO (total cost of ownership) of mobile apps and upgrading legacy IT systems to support a real-time and mobile-centric landscape.  As a result, IT organizations are rethinking their requirements and taking a more strategic view of enterprise mobility and the role it will play.  In large enterprises, the word "strategic" is synonymous with slow.  It also means taking a deeper look at what needs to change overall in their IT ecosystem to support digital transformation.  This kind of in-depth research and analysis often leads CIOs back to their ERP and core system vendors for answers and solutions.

This is not good news for traditional and independent mobile platform vendors.  They prefer a market where there is a clean abstraction layer between back-office systems and mobile apps and platforms.  If the biggest challenges with enterprise mobility are actually with data integration, orchestration and security, then that opens up a much broader set of competitors and requirements.  To compete in that market requires a very different set of skills and plenty of funding.

So where does this lead us?  I believe it will lead to large investments in upgrading and replacing legacy systems and infrastructures that are unable to support a real-time, mobile-centric world.  This means big money for system integrators, infrastructure players and security solution vendors.  It means businesses are going to be hesitant to make big bets on specific mobile platform vendors and on-premise solutions as the technology is moving too fast to be confident in a selection.  It means businesses will favor open architectures that permit a vendor agnostic approach to mobility.  It means a keen interest in cloud-based mobile solutions and platforms that offer flexibility, minimal commitment, low costs and lightning fast innovation.

2014 looks to be a pivotal and interesting year for enterprise mobility.  Stay tuned for the latest.

For more opinions on the direction of enterprise mobility read this article from my colleague Peter Rogers, http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/2013/12/enterprise-mobility-2014-is-going-to.html.

*************************************************************
Kevin Benedict
Senior Analyst, Digital Transformation Cognizant
View my profile on LinkedIn
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 digital transformation analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

A New Perspective on Enterprise Mobility and 2014 Requirements, Part 1

Many of us have spent years (some of us decades) working on enterprise mobility designs, development and implementations.  These projects, for the most part, started as tactical implementations for specific LOBs (lines of business).  They involved usually one app, connected to a specific back end system and database.  Over the years these projects evolved to include multiple data sources and business processes.  Today, CIOs and IT departments are being tasked with mobilizing the entire enterprise IT environment.  This task, I propose, requires a new way of looking at enterprise mobility.

Earlier this month (December 2013) I spoke on a panel with Forrester Research's John McCarthy in London.  We were discussing the current and future state of enterprise mobility.  McCarthy stated that 2014 would be the year of "complex mobility" and would cause "Y2K-like" events in many enterprises.  He added that ERP like investments may be required in many enterprises in order to prepare them for a mobile first world.  Herein lies the challenge.

Complex and mission critical IT systems often include legacy systems.  In many cases these legacy systems were not developed to be real-time, or designed to support the speed or operational tempo of emerging business models and mobile environments.  These are where both the complexities and the Y2K-like events will be found.  Legacy systems will either need to be updated to support real-time and mobile environments or replaced. Given these challenges, business analysts will need to understand what parts of their IT systems and infrastructures are problematic.

In order to better understand their IT system capabilities, it seems there is a need for tools and dashboards designed to help the IT department understand which systems are mobilized, which are not.  I can envision a tool/app that provides:
  • a strategic view of enterprise mobility in a dashboard format that provides visibility into which systems are mobilized and which are not within the IT environment
  • a view that shows mobile app security levels, security configurations and data access rights
  • a view that demonstrates the speed in which data can be collected, analyzed and reported for all business processes (i.e. will this process takes 3 weeks, 3 days, 3 minutes or 3 seconds, etc.)
  • a view that shows the time required for all queries and reports to be produced and distributed
  • a view into which systems are capable of supporting a real-time environment and which are not
  • a view that shows all IT systems connected to sensors in the IoT (Internet of Things)
  • a view that shows the budget, plan and priority level for upgrading or replacing each problem IT system that is preventing real-time and mobile support
If market forces and the digital transformation of your industry are driving you to a more online and real-time operational tempo, then what IT systems are or will prevent that migration?  The systems that are preventing that migration must be flagged for an upgrade and/or replacement.

While you are engaged in this process, why not identify blind spots that are forcing you to manage with "conjecture" rather than based upon real and accurate data?  Often mobile apps and sensors connected to the IoT (Internet of Things) can help fill in the blind spots.  These blind spots can be caused because the data is not collected, or not used, or is analyzed so slowly that the usable shelf-life has passed by the time you get it.

Don't worry...we won't run out of things to do in 2014.

Read Part 2 of this article series here - http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/2014/01/a-new-perspective-on-enterprise.html.


*************************************************************
Kevin Benedict
Senior Analyst, Digital Transformation Cognizant
View my profile on LinkedIn
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 digital transformation analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Operational Tempo, Faster than Real-Time, Enterprise Mobility and the Next Y2K Event

I often discuss the concept of operational tempo in my digital transformation and mobile strategies sessions.  I define operational tempo as the speed or pace of operations.  The advent of broadband Internet, mobile devices and mobile applications have dramatically changed our expectations for the operational tempo of businesses.  None of us are willing to wait 8 minutes for a response on a product availability query from our smartphone.  None of us want our turn-by-turn navigation app on our iPhones to update only once every three minutes.  We seek real-time operational tempos, or perhaps even faster than real-time.

How can a mobile application be even faster than real-time?  It can know what you need before you even ask!  Mobile apps that are context aware can predict what you will need without you even asking for it. Let's imagine a service technician driving to his/her next job site.  The apps (and connected back-office systems) review traffic flows, guides the service technician to the optimal route, checks the client records for all relevant SLAs, warranties, financial issues, equipment location and past maintenance and repair records and service notes and provides them without being asked.  As the service technician nears the customer site, a text is automatically sent to the customer announcing his/her's imminent arrival.  In addition, the mobile application has checked the service vehicle's inventory of parts and creates a list of available on-board parts that are likely needed for the job.

The scenario we have just considered is real and can be done today with software from companies like SAP (SAP Workforce Scheduling and Optimization by ClickSoftware solution).  This system includes an artificial intelligence agent known as ClickButler that is tuned into the needs of mobile workers.

In order for artificial and context aware systems to provide their promised value, they must be connected to real-time data.  In addition, this data must be analyzed by a system fast-enough to support the operation tempo required by the users.  It is this challenge that Forrester's John McCarthy states will cause another Y2K event in many enterprises.  In other words, it will force companies to replace systems that are incapable of supporting real-time processes that are required to support mobile users.

In 2014, all companies should be reviewing their back-office systems to identify and replace the systems that simply cannot function in a "real-time" environment where the operational tempo requires instant everything.

*************************************************************
Kevin Benedict
Senior Analyst, Digital Transformation Cognizant
View my profile on LinkedIn
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 digital transformation analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Digital Transformation, 3D Laser Scanning of Assets, Mobile Devices and Field Services

It this short video I share more on the merging of the physical world with the digital and how that is impacting industries, markets and businesses in many different areas.  Learn about 3D Laser Scanning to create digital representations of physical objects to improve field services and asset management.  Enjoy!

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFKfsE28Lms&feature=share&list=UUGizQCw2Zbs3eTLwp7icoqw




*************************************************************
Kevin Benedict
Senior Analyst, Digital Transformation Cognizant
View my profile on LinkedIn
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 digital transformation analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Digital Transformation, Mobile Technologies and Customer Engagement Models - Transilio

Imagine this scenario if you would - you pick-up a prescription at the pharmacy.  At the POS (point-of-sale) the pharmacist asks permission to send informational video clips related to the medicine you are taking and the health issue you have.  These are sent to your mobile device, tablet and/or laptop.  You agree.  At 6 PM you receive a text or email with a link to a short video that opens with a greeting from your local pharmacist and then continues educating you about the medicine and the correct way to take it.  The following day, at 6 PM, you receive another education video from your local pharmacist with information about exercise and other dietary advice related to your medicine and illness.  This continues for 5 days on a schedule.

This same technology platform can be used to send short form video clips of information, on a schedule, related to any complex product or issue - think human resources, financial services, technology, equipment, etc.  This technology platform represents a digital transformation in customer and employee engagement models.  In this video, I interview Transilio's CEO Michael Boerner (michaelb@gotransilio.com) on how this kind of technology will revolutionize many different kinds of engagement models.  Enjoy!

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwHZ21N22NE&feature=share



*************************************************************
Kevin Benedict
Senior Analyst, Digital Transformation Cognizant
View my profile on LinkedIn
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 digital transformation analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Merging the Physical with the Digital for Optimized Productivity

I write and speak a great deal about digital transformation, however I don't think I have yet clearly defined it and its relevance to businesses.  Let me step back and start by saying my working definition of digital transformation is the application of digital technologies in a manner that enables new types of innovation, businesses models, behaviors, products and services.  Often digital transformations disrupt the status quo, traditional business paradigms and accepted best practices as a result of the merging of the physical world with the digital.  The process of merging, changes many things and we will consider a few of them here.
Figure 1

In a study conducted in October 2013 by Cognizant, 247 executives were surveyed and shared that 73% of core business processes will need to be modernized to meet cost, agility and new market pressures over the next 24 to 36 months.  I believe these "new market" pressures are a direct result of digital transformations happening all around us.

In figure 1, we see an example of the 3D laser scanning of a physical object (the bridge).  The 3D laser scans a physical object, and then creates a digital representation of it.  This digital representation is precise. Once the digital representation is in your computer, you can import it into asset management, maintenance, service and other kinds of software systems.  Here you can add notes, tags, location data, maintenance schedules, inspection reports and regulatory and compliance documents.  All of these data points allow the organizations responsible for maintenance and services to have a very clear understanding of the asset and the services required.  Maintenance and services performed can be tagged to exact locations and documented precisely.  For example, you can mark an iron beam, a bolt, a weld and document maintenance done to each.
Figure 2

The digital representation of the bridge can then be added to a map.  Now you have an exact location and an exact digital representation of the physical object on the map.  These precise digital representations enable the organization that owns the digital content to have a significant competitive advantage over companies that don't.  They can use this data to optimize planning and SLAs. The digital content has an economic value.  It provides a competitive advantage.  You have precise data that your competition does not.

Stored digital content about a person or object is often referred to as a "code halo."  The code (digital content) surrounding something can be used to develop all kinds of new and innovative services, products and businesses.  In figure 2, we have a digital representation of a plant.  Plants need to be maintained and location data, maintenance schedules, maintenance history, parts, materials, SLAs, warranties, service providers, manufacturers, production schedules, costs etc., can all be tracked for every part, machine, pipe, belt and component of the plant.  Sensors with wireless embedded chips connected to machines, equipment and other key components of the plant can monitor the operational status of the plant and can provide additional digital representations of the health of the plant.  Problem areas can quickly be identified, isolated and visualized.  Maintenance and repairs can then be conducted on an optimized plan and schedule that minimizes downtime.

A plant that is digitally transformed is likely to be far more productive and profitable than one that is not.  We have been considering digital transformation in the context of bridges and plants here, but these same types of transformations are impacting retail banks, insurance, healthcare, education etc., as well.

Over the next 5 years we will witness the rapid digital transformation of just about every industry and market around the globe.  The winners in the global marketplace will be those companies that best understand how these digital transformations can be used to lower costs, increase situational awareness, improve productivity, customer service and sales.

Software companies like ClickSoftware, the leader in Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Field Services three years in a row,  are investing heavily into digital transformations, utilizing real-time enterprise mobility, geospatial data and artificial intelligence to optimize workforce and service scheduling.

In the book industry, physical books were transformed into eBooks. Physical bookstores were transformed into online digital marketplaces.  Book warehouses were transformed into databases. Physical transportation and logistics services were transformed into digital downloads.  In music and entertainment, physical records, tapes, CDs, DVDs, etc., were transformed into digital downloads.  Physical music and movie rental locations have also been replaced by digital markets.  In retail banking, mobile apps are quickly replacing physical bank branches.  The transformations are endless.

It is each of our roles to monitor our own industries, markets and businesses and to embrace the digital transformations taking place and to position ourselves to be in the the winners column.  We must continually ask ourselves, "Are we acting strategically enough to matter, and at the pace of innovation required to succeed?"

*************************************************************
Kevin Benedict
Senior Analyst, Digital Transformation Cognizant
View my profile on LinkedIn
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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