The Internet of Things or the Internet of People ?

I’ve just finished reading through the Gartner ‘Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends 2016’(1) which I would have to summarise as ‘RUN FOR THE HILLS – THE MACHINES ARE COMING !’.  Much of it being about how the IoT (Internet of Things) will form a ‘mesh’ of data-enabled self-learning devices, become autonomous and takeover our lives.

On a more positive note the IoT was heralded at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos as driving the “Fourth Industrial Revolution”. Whichever one it is, I believe you should not see the Internet of Things (IoT) about ‘things’ but about us as consumers.

I came across both points of view while researching how the IoT will impact individuals and change Marketing and Customer Service. As individuals we have an increasing number of digital assets. These are the digital ‘Activities’ and ‘Actions’ we perform, that are already being used by savvy marketers.

The difference ? Activities I define as ‘continuous’ e.g. periods of time we spend in the digital universe – video clips we watch on the train, blogs we read at work, Snapchats we get, etc. Actions are ‘discrete’ e.g. the clicking on a ‘like’ button, the action of forwarding a link, dismissing an advert etc.

I think there is a third asset class I call ‘Associations’ – this is the data associated with these actions and activities. These would be items such as: Location – where was it performed: Time – at what time of day it happened: Sentiment – what did the ‘like’ indicate: Device – a mobile which indicates personal activity or an intelligent TV which might be group activity.

All together these could be called ‘Big Data’ but I believe the IoT will expose these Associations more easily, but companies that use this ‘Triple A’ data (Activities, Actions and Associations) need to be able to quickly exploit it and tune their activities. At the moment IoT devices are standalone, we’re told seamless connected consumer experience is years away.

However, looking at the investments being made by some of the key vendors at the moment that might be just a bit closer. Amazon, Google, Apple, MS et. al. are all fighting it out for the initial standard to glue every ‘thing’ together.

But what will the IoT mean for Customers ?

IoT moves us towards the marketing nirvana of the ‘Segment of One’ as it can add device and sensory generated data into Customer Service platforms holding buying behaviour and a social media persona. This allows an intimate level of customer engagement.

But does this means irresistible marketing ? Well, using a combination of context, data and analytics the success rate for an item offered typically comes in at a 40% – whereas mass marketing over traditional channels usually has a success rate of less than 5% (2).

However automation is needed to ensure you keep the cost of segmentation is low. Tools will be needed that capture, present and quickly analyse complex behaviour to offer consumers the ‘next best’ offer. I’m not sure people are quick enough to meet the demands of the IoT.

That’s where the automation of the virtual agent would work better – and in some cases is. For example between EBAY and Vodafone (through their SFR division) they already serve 1.5m customer ‘conversations’ using virtual agents (3).

So we might quickly have a scenario where your connected fridge is communicating with the virtual Customer service agent to decide what evening meal you would like. Both will have checked with the connected Microwave it can cook it and checked the automated bin that tells them both what parts of the last meal you threw away. Finally if you have one to many glasses of wine your health monitor wristband will alert your insurance company.

So perhaps Gartner are not totally wrong. Looking around though I don’t think the machines are coming – I suspect they are already here.

1 http://www.slideshare.net/denisreimer/gartner-top-10-strategic-technology-trends-2016

2 http://www.cmswire.com/cms/digital-marketing/marketing-to-the-segment-of-one-is-closer-than-it-seems-026973.php

3 http://www.businessweek.com/debateroom/archives/2010/07/virtual_agents_will_replace_live_customer_service_reps.html#share

 

 

Is Salesforce the mouse that gets the cheese ?

We all know the adage ‘The early bird catches the worm but the second mouse gets the Cheese’ and in my mind it’s got great parallels in the Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) vs Software as a Service (SaaS) debate.

Although Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the poster child for IaaS, Salesforce could be seen as the precursor to the revolution that we now call Cloud computing. Their vision was to provide a hosted Sales and Marketing solution that gave you a tool-set to quickly build integrated business solutions as well as the fully secure hosted environment – and that was in 1996.

AWS launched in 2004 eventually creating a global acceptance that IaaS was good for business and is now hungrily looking to local markets for growth.

To confirm this, three cloud articles popped into my feed last week. UK centric infrastructure announcements from AWS and Microsoft: large brands on the edge of the finance sector like Aviva coming out publicly saying that they have adopted AWS¹ and finally the recent public admission by the Guardian that their attempt to build an internal cloud turned into a ‘complete and total disaster’ and are now fully embracing AWS for a public cloud ².

So where will the next-generation business apps be built? Obviously the Cloud – but in my mind the infrastructure is an enabler and the business value is derived from the application.

So why do I think Salesforce will benefit from this? In close parallel to the growth of IaaS, Salesforce has been maturing its Software as a Service offering. Starting out with its CRM tool Salesforce now adds services to it’s own Cloud at an ever increasing rate (a Service Cloud, Social Media, Marketing, Analytics and even IoT are already there). It also encourages application builders to offer their products directly on the Salesforce Cloud through the AppExchange – all of which can be seamlessly integrated to Salesforce. This allows companies to following consumers and downloading what they want from the AppExchange.

Hopefully you can see the point I am driving at – AWS has made the public Cloud acceptable but will the real winner be Salesforce ?

Finally, don’t get me wrong – I still love the Cloud – but give me the Cloud with an application tool set ready to go and we’re really talking business. Whatever happens next it is going to be fascinating.

1. http://www.computing.co.uk/ctg/news/2435108/cloud-at-the-heart-of-aviva-s-plans-to-become-the-digital-first-insurer

2. http://www.computerworlduk.com/cloud-computing/guardian-goes-all-in-on-aws-public-cloud-after-openstack-disaster-3629790/

G-Cloud 6 : Life begins at 40

It was great to read that the Smart421 Digital Enablement Services Catalogue (DESC) framework was accepted in its entirety onto the Digital Marketplace last week. As the last major activity I worked on with the team as departing COO at Smart, I had hoped it was a going to be a successful entry.

This iteration takes the total services Smart421 offered to 40, but with a quoted 19,966 services available across the suppliers how do you stand out ?

This is why the DESC framework is so important. It enables Government departments to procure one or more individual components all of which work together and can be built upon to provide a comprehensive full cloud stack.

The success of the Digital Marketplace has already been demonstrated on two fronts: actual cash savings of up to 50% on ‘like for like’ services for government – and the easing of the procurement process (see Tony Singleton blog update from last April) but I also think there has been a spin off benefit for companies entering Public Sector market for the first time.

Thinking back, the development of the DESC framework was a watershed moment of maturity for Smart421 and our approach to Public Sector. I was keen on developing the G-Cloud entries (looking back we were early adopters) not only as an element in our strategy to build a Public Sector team but also as the act of completing the on-line forms made us think more constructively – which in turn sharpened the Enterprise offerings.

If I am honest though, the great product set we had was not really joined up in earlier G Cloud iterations and it was only by standing back, looking at how we would complete the new formats on G Cloud 6 and talking it through with our Public Sector Cloud partners Skyscape, that the transformational benefit of our approach surfaced.

I’m not sure what the digital equivalent is of the old cheesy sales joke about “buying more fax machines to accept the orders as they pour in” – possibly setting up more info@ e-mail addresses – but I hope the Public Sector team in Smart are doing just that.

Maturing Service Management in the Cloud (first published October 2014)

Think you embraced Cloud early and got and ahead of the pack?

Your journey was exciting – from the first moment you dipped your toe in the water with a proof of concept (POC) or you spun up Development and Test environments.

Finally you migrated your first production system to Amazon Web Services. And it’s there now, in the AWS Cloud, for all to see.

So you think you are done?

Did you remember to tell your Service Management team?

What do they make of the new environment? Have they installed security and monitoring tools that can cope with dynamic scaling? Are they pro-actively optimising your costs with uptime schedules and reserved instances? Are they keeping deployed systems up to date with the latest best practices?

In the same way that the application you deployed into the cloud needs to be architected properly to take full advantage of the features the environment gives you, processes also need to be updated to ensure you achieve both the control your business needs without sacrificing the flexibility and speed benefits cloud can bring.

This is something we are increasingly being asked to help our customers with – but why Smart?

Smart421 have a unique combination of three things – impeccable cloud credentials, proven delivery excellence and a demonstrable managed service heritage.

We embraced cloud from a position of strength, with our cloud support processes based on years of supporting mission critical applications for enterprises.

Merging agile development techniques, DevOps and a culture of supporting mission critical solutions, Smart have been able to successfully bring industry strength processes and standards to the support of cloud hosted services.

The services provided are also supplemented with innovative Smart built products, including theSmartWatcher solution for monitoring and alerting, SmartSentinel for managing AWS instances and SmartAuditor for security and change control. We also ensure full alignment with ITIL and ISO27000 processes and have been able to maintain the rigour and quality of these services and combines them with innovative cost models to provide cost effective charging models.

So if you want to know more, please visit us at the AWS Enterprise Summit next week in London organised by AWS (@AWS_UKI). See you there.

So is my old Digital watch trendy again ? (First published in February 2014)

Photo: Scott Stein/CNET http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10287438-1.html

Getting ready for the 2014 conference season, it struck me that the technology revolution has moved from “E” to “D” – by that I mean Digital has replaced Electronic (as in E-Commerce) as the new “must have” conference title.

I remember back in the 1970’s when Digital was replacing Analogue – with the mass introduction of digital watches and calculators – so it amuses me to see it re-cycled. Obviously the generation adopting the word today don’t see the irony in it – nor do the companies inventing Digital divisions.

The serious point is that we’re struggling to articulate the impact of disruptive change on many axis simultaneously. Led by Cloud and Mobile and closely followed by Social Media, Big Data, the need for a secure on-line Identity and even ‘wearable’ technology (back to my old digital watch again) how do enterprises encapsulate the change ?

Cloud is probably the easiest to grasp as it is the most mature and is already releasing its technology potential, but now it needs to be recognised as commercial disruptor – it has already impacted traditional hosting vendors and subjugated “lock-in” contracts they felt were safe. Cloud provides not only a natural ‘leap frogging’ for new entrants into markets by reducing up front set up costs, but can also be a defensive strategy for those businesses trying to adapt to meet rapidly changing customer expectations and behaviours.

Mobile is a key driver changing behaviour – where the acceleration of mobile and tablet (e.g. non-PC) platform adoption is changing the location of the commercial interaction with customers. The mobility of smart phones and tablets has released the consumer from a seat at the desk (office or home PC) and consumers are “inviting” enterprises onto their commuter trains or into their sitting room as they ‘browse in the morning’ and ‘buy in the evening’.

Social Media has benefited from this informal interaction and given access to every review, post, tweet and blog – allowing research ahead of an eventual instore or online purchase – and making C2C communications the primary channel for feedback. Not only do we look up facts at the dinner table using our smart phones but we’re looking at everyone else’s opinion of that new camera, car or city-break as part of the selection process.

All that “opinion” needs a home and – adding it together with all the data produced from location tracking, monitoring and automated machine to machine communication – we have the exponential growth in the volume of data. Then you need tools and techniques to analyse that data (back to Cloud again).

Consumers are also demanding personal interaction which drives the need for Identity – allowing industries to start to drive up the quality and richness of exchanges to enhance customer experience.

So finally I come back to my original question – is my old Digital watch trendy again ?

Is AWS the Enterprise’s ‘Dirty Little Secret’ ? (First published September 2013)

Great event this week – the AWS Enterprise Summit in London on Tuesday.

From the Blade Runner-esque three story neon tube in the main exhibition area, to the conviction of the customers speaking about their adoption of Cloud – it truly felt that Amazon Web Services was coming of age.

What really hit me at this event though, was the number and variety of Enterprise clients coming to me and ‘confessing’ that they had dabbled with AWS and now needed help.

I think that stems from the ‘just put your credit card in to get started’ message of early AWS marketing. It’s been easy to get started – but it’s the equivalent of buying a fast car and turning up at an F1 event thinking you are ready to race.

Yes you have some storage and yes you have compute provisioned but in the same way that you and Red Bull both have 4 wheels and an engine, the complexity and scale of the next steps are beyond what most people want to do on their own – without an expert on hand to help.

So back in my confessional – I blessed a few, cursed a few but more-over offered solace by confirming that they were “Not Alone”.

We’re all guerilla developers again now (first published September 2013)

In the 1980’s, I was a typical PITA user, developing applications behind the backs of the IT department, even bringing my own PC and software into work. Eventually the IT department ‘took me under their wing’ and I was the one fighting off guerrilla developments from the user community, but by providing them with better, faster and more flexible technology, we won the day.

Now I find myself on the other side of the fence again.

I don’t develop anymore, but I’m watching the world of Cloud encourage self-service in the technical user community and leave IT departments behind. It’s a theme I have returned to before – the “democratisation of compute power” – served up brilliantly through the AWS IaaS model. We’ll see more examples of this at the AWS Enterprise Summit mid-September that Smart421 is sponsoring.  ( hashtag#AWSsummit )

However, it’s not just the Cloud that is challenging IT departments.

Mobile too seems to be spawning a new generation of Garagists*.  Either bright individuals buried in large companies or small one or two man bands creating mobile applications – building on core components (hosting/logon/mapping/location) provided by Apple, Google etc. by adding layers of creativity.

So what’s the problem – the real point here ?

The issue is security. When I was hacking out applications and getting sneaky access to CRM databases and pricing algorithms, everything was safe inside the corporate firewall. Nowadays it is mobile and cloud based.

Both of these technologies I wholeheartedly support, but like everything it has to be done in the right way. So if it was up to me again, I’d develop a Cloud strategy and Mobile architectural guidelines ASAP – before the Horse has bolted, the Cat is out of the bag and the Gorilla (sic) is in the mist.

^* “The word Garagiste refers to the great Enzo Ferrari’s hatred of the multitude of talented, but small, Formula 1 teams that were emerging out of Britain in the late 50′s and early 60′s … were basically garage workers (grease monkeys in less formal parlance) compared to the engineering might of his Scuderia Ferrar. These teams didn’t produce their own engines or other ancillaries (aside from BRM), specialising mostly in light, nimble chassis”.http://dancleggf1.wordpress.com/2011/12/12/italys-garagistes/

When will the Apple fall from the tree ? (First published June 2013)

How long does it take for the disrupters to become the establishment ? An interesting topic raised during a talk at the Gartner AADI event that Smart421 were sponsoring a couple of weeks ago.

I was thinking specifically about Microsoft when I started this train of thought. Once the new kid on the block with DOS, the PC and Windows – they are now the prime target of the new disruptive vendors (Google etc.).  I remember Microsoft holding sway for a generation.

Now Apple is the establishment, I give it five more years. Facebook three – as it’s now being colonised by the 50+ generation – gen X and Y don’t think it is cool any more.

The internet and YouTube allowed everyone to showcase their ‘talent’ to the world. Mobile and ubiquitous connectivity disrupted monopoly distribution channels for film and music – allowing micro-trends to surface.

Amazon Web Services through Cloud, democratised the technology landscape environment where ideas are the currency and access to compute power does not stand in the way of creativity or a business ideas.

What we are seeing now is a multitude of Vendors, Mobile Devices, Platforms and Social Media fads rising and falling in cycles. When these cycles converge it creates a paradigm shift in the system.  We’re seeing it now with the fall of the PC and the rise of Tablets (or portable surfaces) etc.

Any Futurologists out there that want to bet on the next ?

Do you employ any native Gamers ? (First published May 2013)

One of my team pointed me at a recent Forrester report on how businesses need to ensure that Gamifcation meets its objectives and it reminded me that Gamification has been around in many forms for many years.

Take the grading and reward structure in large companies; are you a grade 12, 13b or 13c; what car did you get – the GT or the GTi, or only the basic LX; and did you ever get that key to the executive toilet ?

Technology, firstly the PC, then console and now interconnectivity and truly mobile platforms have accelerated the social aspect of gaming in the last few years. Accepting or even desiring a level of ‘play’ will be a growing trend as the generation who are native gamers have grown into the ones we need to attract to buy from us, or work for us.

But in the same way there are 100’s of game apps available and only a few get played compulsively, there must be a hook in any corporate application making them fun, simple and able to reward players immediately, to lure them to the next attempt. There must be some element of enjoying the ‘game’ element, immediate feedback and not just the reward at the end. That’s where the steady corporate approach, the work ethic and the long term plan will fail you.

Smart421 has developed a few applications with Gamification at their heart and my #1 rule would be to give the specification and development of these to your youngest team, you know – the ones with no discipline, who come in late and who you can’t understand what they are saying. (!)

And don’t forget Gamers make better decision makers (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11295257) so you might want to encourage those guys to contribute to your business strategy too.

Third Generation Outsourcing – SIAM (first published April 2013)

It was great to see National Rail Enquiries (NRE) win an award at the European Outsourcing Association Awards in Amsterdam last Friday (26 April).

In recognition of their SIAMoutsourcing strategy (Service Integration and Management), NRE won the award for Best Multi-sourcing Project of the Year , beating strong category finalists 60k and Centrica (Centrica won this category in 2012).

Smart421 is pleased to be a large part of that initiative, performing the Managed Services element on top of an AWS Cloud platform for several key NRE applications.

As customers struggle with the chains of traditional SI relationships, Smart421 is providing agile delivery and innovation methods in the IaaS world.

Many analysts see this as “third generation outsourcing” and a change for good – and so do I.