Mobility, Metamemory and the Connected Second or Third Brain

Does having a library close to your home erode your brain's ability to remember?  Unlikely right?  But many people continue to believe that having information available nearby, such as in your pocket or purse does.  I have heard people speculate that access to Wikipedia and other personal cloud or internet content via smartphones must negatively impact memory?  That claim just does not make sense to me.

Today, I read an article by Clive Thompson titled, "Is Google Wrecking Our Memory."  In this article Thompson says the short answer to the question in his article title is no.  Seems about 30 years ago Harvard psychologists Daniel Wegner, Ralph Erber and Paula Raymond noticed humans use a memory process called "transactive memory" whereby we remember where to find answers in other people.  For example Wegner's team noticed spouses often divide up who remembers what.  The wife might remember everyone's birthdays, but the husband remembers what kind of work all the various family members do and where they live.  Combined, the couple has a great memory. Uncoupled, their memory is incomplete.

It turns out we are all pretty bad at memorizing details (unless we are passionate about something), but really good at memorizing where to find information.  As a result humans quickly come to recognize who knows what and where to find answers.  The end result is a group of friends or family members quickly recognize who in the group knows about certain things - Ralph knows about cars, Mary knows about geography, Claus knows the Bible, Susan knows computers, etc.  This recognition of where to find information is called "metamemory." You know where information is stored and can retrieve it quickly from your friend's brain.  This metamemory expands your memory to a group memory, or a network of memories.

Before computers, the cave men knew which cave contained the painted story of a great hunt.  As languages developed, people soon recognized who amongst them maintained specialized knowledge.  A village leader may have been the person who used their networking skills and metamemory to get things done.  They knew which member in the village knew how to solve a particular problem.

Today, we use our smartphones' access to Wikipedia as the painting on the cave wall.  In businesses we know our customer and sales information is kept in our CRM system.  We recognize where the information is stored.  Our metamemory has expanded from cave walls, to people, to books, to Wikipedia and our business solutions.  We continue to develop our metamemory, it is just not limited by geography or people today, or is it?  Where are Mary and Susan when you need them?

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Kevin Benedict, Head Analyst for Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud (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.

State of Enterprise Mobility 2013 Survey Results, Part 1

I am working on the "State of Enterprise Mobility 2013" survey report this week and wanted to share some of the interesting results.  Here is the first question, "How important is B2E (business-to-employee) mobility to your company's success?"  Here are the answers:

• End users - 30% stated it has a large to critical impact
• Analysts -  69% stated it has a large to critical impact
• Consultants - 40% stated is has a large to critical impact
• Mobility Vendors - 51% stated it has a large to critical impact
• Software/ERP Vendors - 46% stated is has a large to critical impact

Here is the second question, "How important is B2C (business-to-consumer) mobile apps to your company's success?"  Here are the answers:

• End users - 40% stated it has a large to critical impact
• Analysts - 23% stated it has a large to critical impact
• Consultants - 33% stated it has a large to critical impact
• Mobility Vendors - 35% stated it has a large to critical impact
• Software/ERP Vendors - 29% stated it has a large to critical impact

It is very interesting that "end-users" value B2E less than the rest of the market, but value B2C more than the rest of the market participants.

It is also interesting that "analysts" place a much higher value on B2E mobility than the rest of the market participants, but value B2C less than the rest.

What are your interpretations of this data?

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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

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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.

Mobile Expert Video Series: Bob Egan, Part 2

Bob Egan is a friend, the founder/CEO of the Sepharim Group, veteran enterprise mobility expert and analyst.  In this interview Bob shares his thoughts on the current state of mobile devices, enterprise mobility and trends.  Enjoy!

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_vTZ44rRWA&feature=share&list=UUGizQCw2Zbs3eTLwp7icoqw

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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.

Extinction Events and Democracy - The Death of Blackberry

There is a saying in America, "Every dog has its day."  That idiom means everyone will at some time in their life have a moment of success.  That moment may be a second, a minute, perhaps a day, a week, several months or even years.  BlackBerry had its day.

In an article titled, "The Fatal Mistake That Doomed BlackBerry," writer Sam Gustin identifies a number of critical points in BlackBerry's history that my colleagues at the Center for The Future of Work would describe as crossroads.  Good decisions at the crossroads lead to success, bad decisions at the crossroads lead to "extinction events."  Here are a few identified by Gustin:

1. BlackBerry failed to see the power shift from enterprises to consumers.  They focused on the enterprise until it was too late.  They thought decisions in the enterprise drove demand.
2. BlackBerry failed to understand and embrace the "apps economy" that started and fueled an uncontrolled frenzy of innovation from developers and demand from consumers.  BlackBerry thought they dictated and controlled progress and innovation.
3. BlackBerry failed to understand mobile phones could become more than voice and text communicators.  They missed the whole notion that mobile devices could be entertainment hubs for the masses.
4. BlackBerry failed to realize that bigger screens trumped physical keyboards.  Consumers embracing their devices as entertainment hubs wanted to watch videos, play games and view maps on bigger screens.  
5. BlackBerry considered providing secure email on a mobile phones the pinnacle of innovation, rather than just the start.  Apple and Android saw mobile phones as mobile computers that could support an unlimited number of software apps and functions.

I am struck by the amount of power and influence BlackBerry believed it controlled.  It seemed a kind of institutional arrogance.  The advent of the world wide web, wireless broadband and social media ensured a kind of democracy in technology.  The mobile world could and would no longer be controlled by a single company in Waterloo, but rather by the consumer.

Today, I still come across vendors who seem to believe they control the direction of enterprise mobility.  As soon as I observe this attitude, a vision of an extinction event fills my mind.  Vendors must innovate both in front of and in parallel with the the direction customers are heading.  They can no longer dictate and control the direction of the consumer.

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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

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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: Cloud Services and Enterprise Mobility Risks and Vulnerabilities

I had the privilege of recording a Google+ Hangout On Air with cloud services and mobile security expert Rajiv Gupta, CEO/Founder of SkyHigh Networks this week.  In this interview we discuss the risks and vulnerabilities of letting your mobile and enterprise users access cloud services.  This is a very interesting area that I had not spent much time considering.  Enjoy!

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

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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.

Power Projection on a Global Scale and Enterprise Mobility

Power Projection

Hillsong United, is a global musical powerhouse headquartered in Sydney, Australia.  While I was in Sydney recently I was able to attend a musical program led by Hillsong's Taya Smith.  Taya Smith is the singer of the popular christian worship song Oceans.  Last week, our daughter sang this song at Whitworth Univeristy in Spokane, Washington, and we heard this same song again in Austin, Texas over the weekend.  That is "talent and influence projection."  A musical group from thousands of miles away can project their talent into musical programs worldwide within days thanks to digital technology.

The term "Power or Capabilities Projection" is the ability to influence events and act from afar.  This is what enterprise mobility is all about.  It's the ability to provide better customer service over vast distances because you know where your 5,000 service technicians are located and the status of the jobs they are working on.  You can provide more accurate estimates of their arrival, more efficiently assign jobs and route them to the next location all from hundreds or thousands of miles away.

Companies that recognize the importance of "power or capabilities projection" and the role enterprise mobility plays in it, can develop economies of scale previously unimagined.  Today a company's SMEs (subject matter experts) can be brought to a job site "virtually" using mobile technologies.  The SME can view a job site via live video, ask questions, analyze data collected on mobile devices and assist in solving solutions remotely.  Rather than hire an SME for every location, one SME can now project their expertise globally, thus enabling better service and reducing costs.

In addition, mobile enterprise collaboration apps connected to cloud platforms can enable leaders and SMEs globally to work together to quickly and efficiently solve problems in distant lands.  This is a big deal.  Many countries may have a strong military able to defend their own borders, but few have the ability to "project" their power outside of their region which limits their influence and power.  Companies able to project their capabilities have nearly unlimited potential for growth.

Cloud-based solutions can also offer incredibly powerful capabilities to project your company, brand, products and services.  Today, a competitor's team can land in your market, connect to the Internet and have access to complete ERPs, CRMs, logistic systems and social/mobile marketing platforms in seconds.  That is a different level of competition and speed to market than many of us are accustomed to dealing with.  It takes a different game plan.

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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.

Digitizing Beds - Is Your Enterprise in Jeopardy of Digital Transformations?

Coin operated vibrating beds!!!!

In a recent report I read titled Q3 2013 iPass Mobile Workforce Report, mobile workers (1,375 of them) reported hotel WiFi was as important as a comfortable bed.  Seventy-four percent say a bad WiFi experience in a hotel would prevent a return visit.  BAM!

Competition among hotels over who has the most comfortable beds just got digitized!  In a flash, the competitive arena changed from beds to WiFi and beds. It is happening all around us today.  The problem is many three-year strategic plans don't anticipate this rate and pace of change and digital transformation.

I see digital transformations in retail banks today.  Banks have been investing in interior designers, foot-traffic experts, retail and customer service gurus and neighborhood banks blessed with good feng shui (a Chinese philosophical system of harmonizing the human existence with the surrounding environment), but no one is going to banks any more.  The competitive arena moved to the mobile retail banking apps and mobile banking services.  BAM!

How would you like to be in the paper map making business, or even a dedicated GPS device company like Garmin or TomTom?  BAM!  The maps are digitized and the GPS is in your smartphone.

The insurance industry is also experiencing major digital transformations globally.  Traditional brokers and agents, and even claims adjusters, are being displaced by mobile apps, call centers and websites. BAM! Insurance companies are hesitant to embrace the digital transformation for fear of alienating their traditional sales channels, but the digital and mobile public are migrating there rapidly.

The retail industry is struggling to understand the best strategy for responding to shoppers who use their smartphones in stores to comparison shop.  How do you prevent people from taking a picture of a book and then ordering it from Amazon?  If I see a good book on the shelf, I want to know if it comes recommended, if it is available in paperback and are there good used copies to be found for less?  I can't get that today by looking at the shelf.  BAM!

Last week I was in Copenhagen, Denmark with a hankering for Indian food.  I used my iPhone to search for Indian food and found a number of restaurants listed.  As I was walking to a location listed on the map I passed several Indian restaurants.  These restaurants were in digital blind spots.  They did not appear on Google's search engine, and they lost my business.  BAM!

I just recently discovered my DirecTV is available on my iPad.  Who knew?  I can watch my recorded shows from anywhere in the house on my iPad while pretending to watch re-runs of West Wing or Pitch Perfect for the 18th time with my family.  BAM!  My big screen TV just got less cool since it is fixed to my wall and must be shared with others.

I can image a scenario where restaurants must change the way they operate because of digital transformation.  Perhaps you are in a food court environment and you can pull up the individual menus of all restaurants in the building and aggregate them automatically into one giant menu.  You can now pick a hamburger from one place, fries from another and a Milkshake from still another.  You purchase through your mobile app, and the food is delivered to your table.  You can unlock food choices and options from paper menus and customize your own meal.  You could then create your own food favorites list.  BAM!  Just like in the music business where you can purchase one song at a time and create your own play lists.

In the lobby of my medical doctor's office, they are promoting their new electronic patient records system and the benefits it offers patients.  This is huge! BAM! If any of you have had to deal with multiple doctors, multiple tests, multiple locations, multiple prescriptions and multiple treatments, then you already know how obviously valuable electronic patient records and how much potential there is for positive benefits.  I would change doctors to get the listed benefits!  The competitive environment suddenly is shifting from bedside manners to digital capabilities.

I would encourage everyone in every industry to take a long hard look at what SMAC (social, mobile, analytics and cloud) trends and digital transformations are doing and will do to the traditional way your business operates and how this will impact the competitive landscape of your industry.

For more information on digital transformation and how these changes are impacting industries, markets and businesses, I would invite you to visit, www.unevenlydistributed.com.

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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.

The Industrial Internet and SMAC - Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud

The Industrial Internet refers to the world of connected sensors on people, equipment, machines, parts, assets, vehicles, inventory, etc.  These items are connected by embedded wireless chips that monitor sensors and wirelessly send data to a server somewhere in the world.  Here is an example of how one of the largest companies in the world is utilizing the industrial Internet.

Every major part of a GE jet engine, locomotive or turbine is equipped with wireless sensors that continuously measure and wirelessly send every aspect of performance to a central server that is often in the cloud. As the data is received by the server, it is analyzed by big data analytical solutions and the results are used to improve everything from the flight path to energy efficiency.

This same kind of Industrial Internet platform could also be used to monitor and improve the health of large populations of people as well.  I think immediately of the elderly, those with chronic diseases, those recuperating from any kind of health issue.  If they can be monitored and cared for while staying at home, that is a far more comfortable and less expensive place to stay for many.  I can foresee a time when we will subscribe our elderly parents to a full time health monitoring plan.  Our elderly parents will wear a bracelet that contains a large number of sensors that monitor a spectrum of things from location to activity levels, temperature, pulse, heart rate, etc.

The industrial Internet will result in massive amounts of new data being added to wireless networks.  MNOs (mobile network operators) make less money supporting a small embedded wireless chip in a piece of equipment than adding a new iPhone customer, but the embedded wireless sensor chip is unlikely to change carriers, call a support center, or dispute an international call; so although the embedded wireless chip is not as profitable as a smartphone customer, the cost of sales and support are far lower.  This area is considered one of the major growth areas for mobile network operators and is currently being heavily promoted by MNOs.

In the enterprise, the ability to know about your operational area is critical.  If you are managing a fleet, it is important to know where they are, which vehicles need new tires, oil changes and other maintenance.  It is important to know and plan for how much money you need to spend each month/year on maintenance and replacement costs.  If you know the location of your fleet, you are better able to provide least cost routing, improve scheduling, avoid traffic and weather hazards and improve overall profitability.  The industrial Internet connects managers with real data, in real-time.  The Industrial Internet proves that knowledge is power.

What is the connection of the Industrial Internet to SMAC (social, mobile, analytics and cloud)?  Let's consider the description above of how GE is using the Industrial Internet.  Every major part of a GE manufactured jet engine has a wireless sensor.  These sensors are continuously sending data to a server.  Many of those major parts are manufactured by third parties - contract manufacturers.  When strange data starts coming in from several parts - I can image there is an immediate need to analyze, communicate and collaborate among many different teams.  As many of your smartest key people are mobile and traveling, you will need mobile communications and the ability to review shared data (a good use case for a cloud-based collaboration environment).

The Industrial Internet has the ability to transform working environments, strategies, industries, processes and methodologies in big ways, just like mobile devices have changed entire businesses, industries and processes.  These two trends are not separate. They build off each other, and because of this the changes and transformations introduced will not be linear.  They will introduce exponential change at a pace most are not equipped to handle.

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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.

Mobile Expert Video Series: Kevin in Copenhagen

This week I am working in beautiful Copenhagen, Denmark.  I've had the opportunity to work with a large bank and CPG company and to learn a great deal over the past couple of days.  Today, however, I spoke at the 600minute Executive IT conference.  My session was called, "Mobile Strategies, SMAC and Digital Transformation."  In this short video I highlight the key points in my presentation.  Enjoy!

Video Link: http://youtu.be/bC8rLS5_-q4

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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.

How Do You Fund Innovation for Mobile and Digital Transformation?

Last month while in Sydney, Australia I participated in an interesting session taught by my colleague Ajoy Mallik on how to organize a continuous innovation program in-house.  Our client had asked us to help them develop this program.  It was while participating in this workshop that I recognized the value.

Fast forward to today and I am in Denmark experiencing late summer rain and working with a large CPG company and sharing our latest research on Code Halos, enterprise mobility, SMAC strategies and digital transformation.  During the workshop one of the attendees asked the question, "How do you motivate executives to fund innovation?"  It was a great question!  That is a challenge for most companies. Someone needs to pay for it!

The first question might be,  "Can't we just replicate innovation when we find it?"  My answer is that your frontline employees are in the best position to recognize where innovation is needed and how it could most benefit your company.  That kind of specific innovation requires motivation, collaboration and organization, ie., funding!

Your company needs to recognize the importance of continuous innovation - not project based innovation, but systemic.  A system that is continuously asking questions like the following:

• How are SMAC (social, mobile, analytics and cloud) developments and trends going to impact your markets, customers, partners, suppliers and your industry?  How are these developments going to change the future, and are your budgets aligned with those changes?
• How is the process of digital transformation going to impact your products and services?
• How are mobile technologies going to impact your brand, marketing, sales and business models?
• How are social media channels changing your market and industry?
• How can you deploy enterprise collaboration solutions to your advantage?
• How can you become more agile as a business, when your ERP and technology vendors are constantly trying to lock you into their expensive and slow paced technology cycles?
• What opportunities and risks are presented by the transformation from controlled PR, branding and messaging, to real-time social media feedback and swarming market behaviors?
• What new risks are being presented to your business models and markets because of all these changes?
• What changes need to happen within your ERPs and IT infrastructure to support a move to real-time information and updates?
• How does your company's organizational chart need to change in order for managers to respond quicker to real-time problems and market opportunities?

All of these issues are here today.  Companies must be continuously addressing these changes and trying new ideas, innovations and processes.  This is at the least, self-preservation, and at the most an opportunity to capture market share and achieve competitive advantages.  The future, if a company is to have one, must be funded.

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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.