Military Revolutions, Code Halos and Enterprise Mobility

Revolution in Commercial Affairs

In the US Army they have a term called "Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA)."  It is often associated with the use of modern data collecting technologies, communications technologies, information analysis and the use of these technologies to improve strategies, doctrines and organizational structures.  The Army believes that in future warfare, the size of the opponent and their platforms [weapons], will be less reflective of military power than the quality of sensors [data collection] systems and mobile communication links and their ability to utilize information to their advantage.

I see a "Revolution in Commercial Affairs" happening today.  The same concepts and strategies learned  in the military have relevance for the enterprise.  Companies that can more effectively use "Code Halos" - the information that surrounds people, organizations, processes and products will be the winners.

What does this mean for your company strategy in 2014?  It means your enterprise must digitally transform and focus on improving its capabilities to:

• Collect information faster
• Communicate information faster
• Analyze and filter information faster
• Report the analysis faster to decision makers
• Strive for the goals of being a "real-time" and "data-driven" enterprise

Mobile technologies play a critical role in this transformation.  However, it is very important we understand mobility is but an enabler of an overall "Code Halos" strategy.  The success of our enterprises over the next few years will largely be the result of how smart we are with the use of information.

There are at least three components required for digital transformation:

1. Technological innovation
2. Operation concepts and Strategies
3. Organizational adaption

It doesn't help much if one person at the top has a good strategy and buys innovative technologies, but the rest of the organization does not understand the concepts behind it, or the role it plays in being more competitive.  Technological innovation needs to be a part of a strategy.  A strategy that changes the way the business operates in a manner that makes it more competitive in the market place.

Every organization needs to understand the seriousness of the Darwinian theory of survival of the fittest. Every employee should be seeking ways to innovate and contribute to making their company as competitive as possible.

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Kevin Benedict

Writer, Speaker, Editor

Senior Analyst, Digital Transformation, EBA, Center for the Future of Work Cognizant

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Recommended Strategy Book Code Halos

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***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 Data, Filtering and Real-Time Decision Making

Yesterday I was reading an interesting whitepaper titled Don't Get SMACked - How Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud Technologies are Reshaping the Enterprise by Malcolm Frank, EVP of Strategy and Marketing at Cognizant.  In this paper he writes, "The rapid growth in computing devices and data will soon drive many industries to a "tipping point," where the economics of information will usurp those of capital and hard assets."  This statement aligns with an article written by Gartner's Douglas Laney titled Infonomics: The Practice of Information Economics, where he states, "Information should be considered a new asset class in that it has measurable economic value and that there are significant strategic, operational and financial reasons for doing so.”  The bottom line is that companies that can better utilize information have a massive competitive advantage.

If you can collect data, communicate data, analyze data and report on data faster than your competition, and get it to the right people, at the right time, in the right amount on the right device, then you will have a great advantage.  These abilities, Laney proposes, will have a significant impact on a company's bottom line.

In the military today they have a term called "Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA)."  It is often associated with the use of modern data collecting technologies, communications technologies, information analysis and the use of these technologies to improve strategies, doctrines and organizational structures.  The US Military believes that in future warfare, the size of the opponent and their platforms [weapons], will be less reflective of military power than the quality of sensors [data collection] systems and mobile communication links and their ability to utilize information to their advantage.

What does this mean to your company in 2013?  It means your enterprise must transform and focus on its abilities to:

• Collect information faster
• Communicate information faster
• Analyze and filter information faster
• Report the analysis faster to decision makers
• Strive for the goals of being a "real-time" and "data-driven" enterprise

Mobile technologies play a critical role in this transformation.  However, it is very important we understand mobility is but an enabler of an overall information strategy.  The success of our enterprise over the next few years will largely be the result of how smart we are with the use of information.

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Kevin Benedict, Head Analyst for SMAC, Cognizant

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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.