BIZTECHBUZZ in the world of social, cognitive, IoT and startups

Tag: best of social

3 Thoughts on Internet of Things

einstein

Now, I’m no Einstein, but I do want to offer you three thoughts in the spirit of this quote. Three key ideas to keep in mind when developing or optimizing your strategy for the Internet of Things.

First, the IOT is both like, and unlike, the Internet. Based on our experience across a diverse set of industries and clients, …

… there is an approximately 70 percent overlap between the two. So there is no question that if you have a highly effective Internet strategy, you’re far ahead of those who don’t. Because that Internet strategy proves that you’re already well equipped for the majority of what the IoT will throw at you.

But it also means there is a 30 percent piece that is unique.

And like most things, the devil of the IoT is in the details. In other words, to be successful moving forward, we must focus on the unique aspects of the IoT. And the truth is that if we don’t respect those differences, failure is inevitable.

OK, then what are the aspects of the IoT that make it unique from the Internet? For simplicity, we’ve categorized those things into four primary areas.

1. Different devices.  And more of them. And new ones being invented virtually every day. It is within those devices that the potential to create this common language of the IoT begins; that is the genesis point for unity.

2. Different protocols.  Different rules for data exchange between different systems. Again, if we think about the Tower of Babel analogy, the potential exists with the IoT, but if we aren’t speaking the same language, or at least using protocols that are compatible, what good is it to us?

3. Different types of analysis.  And of course, different types of data that are all growing at an exponential rate. And then there’s all the historical data, ripe with value, that has yet to be tapped. How will it be analyzed? How can you refine your focus and make this now seemingly unmanageable task manageable once again?

4.  And different partners.  Yes, of course it is good to be strong in business processes and operations. But achieving IoT success means having the skills and capabilities that neither IT organizations nor industrial organizations have alone. It will require the right kind of partnerships, the right teams coming and working together to achieve a common goal.

So that’s the first key idea, the importance of focusing on that which differentiates the IoT from the Internet and refining your expertise, skills and partnerships to capitalize on those differences. To transform those technical challenges into business opportunities.

We’ll see the other 2 ideas tomorrow!!!

Not Seven of Nine – Eight of Nine! IBM Clear Leader in Social Business according to Experton

Back in 2011,  I told you about my trip to Germany and what I learned about German companies adopting social business principles at great rate, companies like Bayer and Sennheiser.  Even GAD as on stage to tell their Social Business Success at IBM Connect!

And just today, other amazing news has arrived from Germany! It’s about IBM and about our service and product offering being assessed by an external research, advisory and consulting company alongside over 90 other vendors.

Experton, the European Analyst firm, did this extensive vendor benchmark on Social Business for the German market. They are – at least to my knowledge – the first ones collecting data from Social Business Services up to different software components playing into the Social Business space. Just published early 2014 their study shows 9 different quadrants.

SB medium_ExpertonSocialBusinessLeader

And the results remind me of Star Trek Voyager  — 7 of 9. Why? IBM is in the leader quadrant in 8 of 9 quadrants. The only quadrant not listing IBM as leader is the one for Social CRM. And that’s just because IBM doesn’t have an offer in this space…

This is an outstanding and impressive achievement and shows the companies commitment in the Social Business space. You can find more information on the results here including some impressive numbers for the social business market in general.

According to Experton, the market for social business for communication & collaboration (SB4CC) even outpaces cloud computing as IT and business driver with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 50% by 2016!

You want to get a summary of the study? Send a note to Stefan.Pfeiffer@de.ibm.com. He will make sure, that you get the PDF as soon as it’s available.