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Showing posts with the label mobile strategy

What is the Destination of Technological Progress?

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Definition of Progress – a forward movement toward a destination. I have spent several decades working in and around the Silicon Valley where progress is measured by how many new ideas you can get funded, developed, scaled and sold.  The problem is Silicon Valley’s definition of progress is controlled by a relatively small group of investors focused on ROI.  I don’t think it’s such a good idea for investors to be the guardians of our progress or its destination.  Human progress is more than investor returns.  It should include a longer and better-quality life for a larger proportion of people, equality and justice.  Many of these qualities, however, don’t attract a lot of VC money. When the destination for progress is good - humanity benefits.  We must all remember that the past wasn’t so great, and progress helped us improve it.   Analyst Marian L. Tupy described it as follows, “For most of human history, life was very difficult. People lacked basic medicines and died

Analyzing Retail Through Digital Lenses

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In 2016, total worldwide retail sales reached $22 trillion, of which digital commerce makes up $1.9 trillion, or 8.7% of the total. While the majority of retail sales still occur in brick-and-mortar stores, overall growth is predominantly driven by digital commerce, which was expected to expand rapidly worldwide at a 23.7% growth rate in 2016, and by 2020 to represent 14.6% of total retail spending of $27 trillion.  Of course, digital commerce numbers vary depending on the product category. Online sales penetration for many product types – electronics, apparel, furniture, home improvement, etc. – are significantly higher than worldwide retail sales projections, while categories such as petrol, convenience and grocery have a much lower penetration. In the U.S., sales at department stores fell almost 6% in 2016, while online retail sales rose 11%.  As a result, bricks-and-mortar retailers have been forced to re-evaluate their business performance, and many, such as Sears, Macy’s, Ae

The Role of Digital Thinking

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The military strategist Colonel John Boyd wrote that success depends on three things, 1) People, 2) Ideas, and 3) Things, in that order.  People have to be trained to think and do the right things, using the right ideas (doctrines, strategies and tactics) and then utilize the best things (equipment, materials, design, etc.) that you can.  In my new report, “How Digital Thinking Separates Retail Leaders from Laggards,” we focus on the differences in thinking between leaders and laggards.  Here are some of our key findings: Digital commerce outpaces brick-and mortar. Already a significant retail driver, digital commerce is predicted to increase in importance by 68% for surveyed retailers between now and 2020. This trend has motivated many retailers to invest strategically in digital technologies. Digital leaders outperform digital laggards. There is a correlation between companies with strong revenue growth and digital leadership, and retailers with a higher percentage of online

Measuring the Pace of Change in the Fourth Industrial Revolution

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Technologies help us deliver on a business strategy.  Without a strategy, there is no rationale for deploying technologies.  In addition, there is no rationale for digital transformation, unless there is a need for business transformation.  If you believe this as we do, then strategy development will be a priority.  Strategies, however, are developed under the guidance of a doctrine.  The purpose of a doctrine is to create a high level understanding of what we we want to achieve with our strategy, and the concepts that must be employed to achieve it. An organization’s doctrine will guide strategy development, and the tactics needed to achieve a goal. An example of a doctrine is, "We will be a fast follower, and excel at quickly manufacturing and delivering popular fashions." With this doctrine, the company can now develop strategies that align with the doctrine. Many executives consider digital transformation important, but an IT issue.  We, however, believe IT serves

Kevin Benedict's Mobile World Congress 2013 Interviews: James Naftel, Part 2

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Forgive me for the opening section of this video.  My fantasy life has spilled over. This is Part 2 of my interview with SAP's Director of Product Management, Mobile Security, James Naftel.  In this interview we discuss what to expect in 2013 from SAP's Afaria, and current pricing models that SAP is offering for this MDM solution.  Grab some popcorn! Video Link:  http://youtu.be/VBcaeuRw4QY  ************************************************************* 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 an

Enterprise Mobility, Legos and Mobile Trends in 2013

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I have a world class collection of Legos.  With the exception of a few pieces lost to predatory vacuum cleaners, I have preserved them in a large Rubbermaid container throughout the years as our children have grown.  Legos are very simple.  They are blocks of varying size that all fit together in a standardized manner.  So as long as you don't mix non-standard pieces in with the standard, they all fit together with ease.   As simple as these blocks are, however, masterpieces can be made with them.   It is not the pieces that are interesting, it is the objects you can design with them.  I view mobile solutions in much the same way. I believe 2013 will be the year of mobile strategy and design.  The components necessary for implementing enterprise mobility solutions are all in place.  Answering the questions of what to do with these components, optimizing ROIs and designing the best solutions that will offer the most competitive advantages should be the primary focuses. I have no

Notes from the Enterprise Mobility in Defense Conference

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I spoke at my first military oriented mobility conference today.  It was located in Washington DC, and while attending the other sessions I was able to fill seven pages of notes.  I will refrain from posting all seven pages and just give you the highlights here. Companies don't own brands any longer, their consumers do .  Their consumers can do whatever they want with your brand in the social media space - freedom of speech.  Companies need their consumers to protect and promote their brands since companies can't control the message any longer.  That means a completely different brand strategy.  I credit Fred McClimans, Managing Director, McClimans Group for this insight. Generals today must learn about mobile technologies and social networking from their young enlisted men and women.  The younger generation has a more complete understanding of these technologies. Americans, unlike many countries, raise soldiers accustomed to independent thought and action.  In many count

SAP and the Internet of Things (M2M)

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I had an interesting discussion with SAP's new VP of the Internet of Things, Suhas Uliyar recently.    He was still in the process of deciding whether VP of the Internet of Things was the appropriate title, or if it should be VP of the Connected World or something more representative of how the technology was evolving.  He did not like the traditional M2M (machine to machine) reference as that reflected too much of the old model.  He wanted to reflect the future direction of this technology. Suhas is an industry veteran and mobility expert.  We have spoken numerous times over the past decade as he was leading efforts at a number of MDM (mobile device management) and enterprise mobility companies.  He is very knowledgeable about the needs of large enterprises. Now back to the topic of M2M.  The traditional use of M2M technology was a sensor would capture data in the field and feed it to an embedded wireless chip that would send it to a server.  As long as the data was communicat

Gartner's New 2012 Magic Quadrant for Field Services

Have you seen the new 2012  magic quadrant on field services from Gartner?  It is quite strange.  SAP is listed in the bottom left even after the Syclo acquisition?  I thought Syclo was all about mobile enterprise asset management which is very closely aligned with field services (think preventative maintenance and repairs). ClickSoftware , however, is listed far above everyone else in the top right quadrant.  The strange part is that SAP resells ClickSoftware's solutions as the SAP Workforce Scheduling and Optimization solution and it utilizes the SAP Mobility Platform.  What a small world we all live in.  It seems the Gartner analysis is less about the technology, and more about how it is positioned in the market.  I say that because you can get the same solution from both companies yet they are far apart on the MQ. My analysis is that field services is much more than just a mobile app platform.  It includes dynamic scheduling, rostering, forecasting, time sheets, planning,

Kevin Benedict's What's New in HTML5 - Week of September 30, 2012

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Some of the biggest news around HTML5 this week actually came from a hardware manufacturer.   Intermec , the makers of ruggedized and industrial grade mobile barcode scanners, RFID readers and smartphones has released a browser for Windows Mobile devices that supports HTML5.  That is very interesting for the millions of companies running Intermec ruggedized devices.  Theoretically it will greatly extend the kinds of mobile apps that owners of ruggedized devices running old OSs can utilize. On a related note, Motorola Solutions, a competitor of Intermec, finalized its acquisition of ruggedized handheld manufacturer PSION this week as well.  I mistakenly said Intermec acquired Psion in the first version of this article...sorry PSION and Motorola!   Read Press Release Now for the news... Intermec has announced a new HTML5-capable browser “allowing for the development of OS agnostic web applications that can run on iOS, Android and select Intermec rugged mobile co