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.

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Kevin Benedict, Head Analyst for Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud (SMAC) Cognizant

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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.

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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.