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Showing posts from November, 2013

Where the Physical Meets the Digital - GIS and Enterprise Mobility

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One of the mega-trends I write often about is the merging of the physical with the digital and the resulting impact on businesses.  A key element of this trend is the association of geospatial or location data with events, tasks, projects, processes, assets and resources.  I asked my civil engineering friend and hero of all ducks, J.D. Axford, to teach us a bit about graphical information systems (GIS).  Here it is for your reading pleasure. Three broad categories of information are combined in GIS.  As a point of reference, let's consider how a utility company would use these three: Landbase information typically comes from outside sources and depicts the natural (earth) and built (man-made) environment in which the utility operates – roads, rivers, and so on.  Grid information, defining the physical system (power lines, transformers, substations, power generation sites) the utility owns and operates, this information comes from their engineering, surveying, and maintenance

Enterprise Mobility is a Component of Digital Transformation

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Companies don't want enterprise mobility.  They want increased sales, lower expenses, better products, improved customer service and more profits.  They want to be survivors during this period of massive digital transformations.  What do I mean by digital transformation?  I mean the fact that entire industries are being changed before our eyes because the physical world is merging with the digital.  I mean big data analytics, mobile applications and broadband connectivity to the internet through mobile devices that introduce completely new business models, processes, products and markets.   In order to be a survivor in this competitive climate, companies must have a clear understanding and vision of what digital transformation is, and how it is impacting their industry, market, products and company. I met with a large national paper manufacturer today.  They have yet to start any mobile application projects internally.  I wonder if they have ever read about the impact of digital

The Race for Sensors to Supply Big Data and Enterprise Mobility

Today's competitive marketplace requires companies to collect more data, analyze more data and utilize more data to improve customer interactions and engagements.  Mobile devices are exceptionally designed to assist in this effort.  Apple's iPhone comes with an inventory of sensors: Touch Voice GPS Proximity Ambient Light Accelerometer Magnetometer Gyroscopic I listened to an IT expert in the CIA give a presentation on how they could use the sensors on a typical smartphones to uniquely identify the walking style and pace of individuals.  For example, the intelligence agency may suspect a person carrying a phone is a bad guy.  They can remotely switch on the smartphone's sensors and record the walking style and pace of the person carrying the phone and match it with their database records.  SCARY ISN'T IT!? Those are just a few of the sensors available that integrate the physical world with the digital.  Read this article I wrote to learn more about the i

Strategic Enough to Matter, Code Halos and Mobile Apps

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Gartner IT Budget Forecast If a massive herd of elephants were charging at you from 20 meters away, would taking a small step forwards or backwards improve your safety? NO!  In many situations it seems that is how companies are approaching mobile strategies.  They are staring massive marketplace transformation in the face, but responding by just starting a few mobile app POCs (proof of concepts). In James McQuivey's book titled, Digital Disruption:Unleashing the Next Wave of Innovation , he states that competition in business is rapidly moving to a focus on knowledge of and engagement with customers .  Companies are developing an understanding of " code halos " (their customers' digital footprint or history of activities on the web, at a location and in various database systems) and they must now use this data to better engage with customers through their customers' " engagement format of choice " which is increasingly on a mobile device. Finding

Enterprise Mobility and the Gift of Time

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McCall, Idaho - Winter Wonderland I was standing next to a grizzled old man (definition: anyone older than me that can grow a beard), at the coffee shop today.  He said he had been standing in lines all day.  I said, "Makes you appreciate smartphones, doesn't it?"  He agreed and added they save me so much time! That comment is a perfect example of "blogger's inspiration!"  I said, "What do you mean by - "It saves you so much time?"  He said his work is closely tied to the weather.  He runs snow removal services in beautiful McCall, Idaho.  As a result, he must carefully monitor the weather including wind direction, precipitation forecasts and the beginnings and endings of storms.  He can now do all of this precisely from his smartphone.  He said he is absolutely more productive. He went on to say, "I want to start working at the tail-end of a storm to maximize my productivity and customer services."  If he starts work too ear

Mobile Expert Video Interviews: Regev Yativ

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I had the privilege of interviewing Regev Yativ, the CEO/President in the Americas of Magic Software this week.  Magic Software is over 30 years old, which gives them a unique and interesting perspective on enterprise mobility and what makes a good solution and mobile strategy.  Enjoy! Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uAWK2RlZPQ&feature=share ************************************************************* 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.

Satellites, GPS Tracking, Artificial Intelligence and Mobile Technologies

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My good friend J.D. Axford, a civil engineer and hero of all ducks for his wetlands work, sent me a very interesting (if you are into GPS tracking, GIS, mobile technology, artificial intelligence, accelerometers, etc.) article he wrote on how the physical is meeting the digital in the world of construction and engineering today.  I am including it here for your pleasure and education. Compaction, in heavy construction, is the application of energy to soil, crushed rock, or asphalt to increase density by driving out air, which enables the finished, compacted material to support buildings, roadways, and other structures. Compaction is specified as a percentage of the maximum dry density determined in the lab. During construction, compaction is most often measured using a nuclear densitometer. Other reliable methods include the use of sand cone (ASTM D-1556) and rubber balloon (ASTM D-2167) methodologies; less formal tests used in the field include soil probes (a pointed steel rod p

Using Artificial Intelligence in Health Services Requires Real-Time Enterprise Mobility

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I am intrigued by the increasing use of artificial intelligence in areas like field services management and home healthcare services.  I read a use case  ( http://www.clicksoftware.com/Collateral/Documents/English-US/KinCare-Case-Study.pdf ) this morning about KinCare and ClickSoftware in Australia.  KinCare provides all kinds of home and healthcare services across a wide geography in Australia.  They are one of the largest providers of in-home care and assistance in Australia and they get paid by providing documented services compliant with government regulations.  There are designated fees for each service and there are little to no margins for errors. It is very easy to screw up and to lose a lot of money in this kind of operation. Let me provide an example of KinCare's services: Nursing care Personal care Domestic assistance Social support Respite care Transportation Case management Some of their clients need all of these services.  These services are often provid

Mobile Expert Video Series: Romeo Elias

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I had the privilege of interviewing mobility and BPM expert and the CEO/President of Interneer , Romeo Elias on their company's products and strategies for providing a cloud based enterprise mobility solution.  Enjoy! Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cwygz5F80nI&feature=share&list=UUGizQCw2Zbs3eTLwp7icoqw ************************************************************* 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.

Digital Millennials and The Real Reason Employees Want BYOD

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" Thanks to the merger of globalization and the I.T. revolution that has unfolded over the last two decades - which is rapidly and radically transforming how knowledge and information are generated, disseminated and collaborated on to create value - the high-wage medium-skilled job is over ." ~ Stephanie Sanford, Chief of Global Policy and Advocacy for the College Board. The middle-class jobs of the past, the jobs you and I could start with and retire from, are mostly gone today.  It is much harder for millennials to find jobs that require simply hard-work, responsibility and dedication.  In today's world, in order for a millennial to live a traditional middle-class lifestyle that supports home ownership, cars, a college education and a family, it takes a different mindset and inventory of skills.  A set of skills our education system has yet to fully understand and embrace.  These are the skills of a digital millennial (DM) . DMs depend less on company issued lapto

Supporting GIS and Mapping Solutions on Muddy Tablets

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J.D. Axford, P.E. CESCL I want to introduce you to a long time friend of mine J.D. Axford .  He is a civil engineer with all kinds of acronyms after his name (P.E., CESCL, etc.), who has worked for most of his career in the Northwest of the USA in and around water and mud.  He is a hero among the duck population for his many years working with wetlands.  He is you may say, an expert in outdoor field data collection. I can remember a time about 25 years ago when J.D. and myself were perched above a waterfall along the East Fork of the Lewis river in Washington state measuring water flow and collecting data together.  It was, in fact, cold and muddy work. He shared with me recently the list of things he typically carries in his service backpack to collect data: bubble levels incline-ometers rangefinders GPS accurate enough to serve as an inspection-level pre-survey grade checker wet papers job reports field notes redline drawings change orders He is a big fan of findi

Selling and Buying Enterprise Mobility

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One of my first jobs after I graduated from Portland State University was to work at Dale Carnegie and Associates .  I helped sell and teach all kinds of professional development classes on public speaking, management and sales.  I still remember one of the rules we taught in the Human Relations Approach to Sales class, "Customers don't want to buy your product or service, they want the results of your product or service."  I believe that rule applies equally well today to enterprise mobility platforms, mobile security and development tools. What do you think are the results of enterprise mobility platforms that customers want to buy?  I will start the list and you can finish it: Increased speed or tempo of operations to gain a competitive advantage Efficient data collection so better and faster business decisions can be made Quicker reporting of events and KPIs to a wider audience to provide full situational awareness and promote good decision making and issue res

Mobile Strategies, Cloud Computing and the Role of Speed and Agility

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If I can develop and pursue my plan to defeat you faster than you can execute your plan to defeat me, then your plan is unimportant. ~ The Art of Maneuver by Robert Leonhard In our world of near ubiquitous connectivity, the competitive arena in many industries has moved from the physical to the digital, and from the tempo-of-old to the tempo-of-the-new.  The word tempo means the rate or pace of activity (aka, business operations).  Any IT decision made today should consider how different options and choices will impact today's and the future's tempo of operations.  Can and will the solution you choose support tomorrow's required tempo of business? In many countries in Latin America new and emerging e-invoicing requirements have been passed by national tax authorities.  In some countries today, the seller of a product needs to electronically record a sale/invoice (in real-time) with the tax authority before a product can be delivered.  The tax authority issues a real-ti

Where the Physical Meets the Digital in Field Services and Asset Management

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I am fascinated by the notion of the physical world converging with the digital world and the benefits that become possible as a result.  Not in the context of a humanoid weeding my garden, although that would be nice, but in the context of making better business management decisions based on more efficient data collection and reporting.  The term digital transformation is often used to describe this convergence. Think of growing the best possible garden full of award winning fruits and vegetables.  The garden may consist of some physical things like dirt, seeds, containers, plants and tools, but the key to success is the information about the garden.  The information about the soil, types of plants or seeds, appropriate time to plant and harvest, weeding and watering schedules, the best fertilizers to use based upon the soil conditions etc.  This information can be collected and input into a software application as digital information.  Once digital, software applications can analyz