Event Report: Inside the #SXSW2015 Phenom - Meerkat

R "Ray" Wang

Principal Analyst and Founder
Constellation Research

R “Ray” Wang is the CEO of Silicon Valley-based Constellation Research Inc. He co-hosts DisrupTV, a weekly enterprise tech and leadership webcast that averages 50,000 views per episode and blogs at www.raywang.org. His ground-breaking best-selling book on digital transformation, Disrupting Digital Business, was published by Harvard Business Review Press in 2015. Ray's new book about Digital Giants and the future of business, titled, Everybody Wants to Rule The World was released in July 2021. Wang is well-quoted and frequently interviewed by media outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, Fox Business, CNBC, Yahoo Finance, Cheddar, and Bloomberg. Short Bio R “Ray” Wang (pronounced WAHNG) is the Founder, Chairman, and Principal Analyst of Silicon Valley-based Constellation…...

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Tweeting Live Video Takes Center Stage At #SXSW2015

Live video service Meerkat's launch may well rise above the fray at this year's South by Southwest (SXSW) convention. After slews of invites the two weeks before, the service has taken off. Early users have found three major use cases as SXSW has proven to be the testing ground for live video in the twitter sphere:

• 1. Fixed feeds. Frank's pizza shop in Toronto went on full live stream of the kitchen. Given it was on for hours, almost everyone went first to that feed. In fact, early adopters realized that this could be a great way to tap into CCTV feeds and anywhere battery life would not be an issue for broadcast. Digital and social strategists should consider how to plan for live feeds at events and conferences. Meerkat could improve the service by creating a broadcast schedule or ability to follow a large number of feeds. Curation is key here.

• 2. Person on the street. Folks like David Armano quickly saw Meerkat as a great way to share thoughts and conduct live broadcasts (see Figure 1). The key challenge was to stay on longer than 5 minutes so folks could catch up to the stream and watch. However, this application has a lot of appeal for live coverage at action packed events. Digital and social strategists could employ a number of broadcasters on the street to cover an event, story, or issue. What would be nice would be able to pick different streams for a Hollywood squares like face off.

• 3. Scheduled broadcast. The scheduled broadcast model may prove to be the more reliable approach. Amanda Coolong was early to schedule her SXSW AI Future panel at 11:00 on Saturday March 14th. This approach has the biggest appeal as potential viewers would know when to watch. Kudos to Alan Gleeson got kudos as well for putting his Wales v Ireland game. This strategy may yield the most regular viewers and a programming guide and search would take the service to the next level.

Preorder Disrupting Digital Business, published by Harvard Business Review Press In Q2 2015. Learn more.

The Bottom Line: Meerkat Breathes New Life To Twitter Keep in in mind many live stream services have failed to date with Vine being the most recent example of what could have worked but didn't. Six seconds was just not enough. Success requires the viral nature of community and social graph. As David Armano noted in his Meerkat stream of consciousness this morning, Twitter engagement has shifted to more broadcast than engagement. Meerkat changes the content stream to improve engagement as live video can. Unfortunately, the recent battle by Twitter to cut off Meerkat will only add fuel to the fire as SXSW attendees rally to rebuild community and support. Meerkat will need to find a home for community and social graph but options such as LinkedIn and other networks may prove to be its savior should Twitter make the big fight about Periscope.

Your POV.

Ready for digital disruption by deploying an army of meerkatters? Are you meerkatting your event? Add your comments to the blog or reach me via email: R (at) ConstellationR (dot) com or R (at) SoftwareInsider (dot) org.

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Progress Report – Ceridian executes on product, next challenge – implementation capacity, then sales …

Holger Mueller

Vice President and Principal Analyst
Constellation Research

Holger Mueller is VP and Principal Analyst for Constellation Research for the fundamental enablers of the cloud, IaaS, PaaS and next generation Applications, with forays up the tech stack into BigData and Analytics, HR Tech, and sometimes SaaS. Holger provides strategy and counsel to key clients, including Chief Information Officers, Chief Technology Officers, Chief Product Officers, Chief HR Officers, investment analysts, venture capitalists, sell-side firms, and technology buyers.  Coverage Areas: Future of Work Tech Optimization & Innovation  Background: Before joining Constellation Research, Mueller was VP of Products for NorthgateArinso, a KKR company. There, he led the transformation of products to the cloud and laid the foundation for new Business Process as a…...

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We were invited to the Ceridian Analyst Summit in San Francisco earlier this week, and the vendor organized a great event. The event itself was extended from one to one and half days, with the first half day kicked off onsite at a customer location (a major retailer, name under NDA), that gave an insightful update on how and why they use Ceridian.

As usual with analyst briefing events – here are my top 3 takeaways:

A new UI – Ceridian has created a new version of the user interface for Dayforce, which addresses shortfalls of the previous user interface. In the last 20 month’s Ceridian has moved off a very Microsoft centric user interface, to a HTML5 based user interface that was and looked like a first version to now a good looking, dense enough for their heavy users and still visually appealing modern user interface. Sliders, guiding points, one consistent menu are some of the new design elements. And as usual, once you have a great new user interface in place, vendors need to make sure it becomes consistent across all products, which is Ceridian’s next milestone in the near future.

Ceridian Recruiting

Ceridian doing the ‘hard stuff’ – Ceridian keeps focusing on the hard compliance and software architecture issues that not many vendors tackle, in the areas of payroll, workforce management and overall compliance. Legislative and statutory changes overwhelm enterprises across the world, and it is good to see that Ceridian is a vendor that focusses in helping enterprises to address these challenges. As such the vendor invests and walks the extra mile – now it has to show value from that work, which is quickly apparent to the practitioner, but Ceridian now needs to find a ways to demonstrate the value on a CxO level, too. The ROI case studies shown on the first day of the analyst summit are impressive and form a compelling base for such a sales pitch and positioning. Ceridian also keeps showing the value on one integrated HCM system, which runs on a single schema, set of APIs etc. And it is a good point to emphasize for Ceridian, as long as Workforce Management is in the picture. Luckily that is 80% of the vendors customers, but it will be interesting to see how well Ceridian can create and maintain marketing momentum beyond the workforce management requiring industries. Or in other words, how well can Ceridian compete when the scope is only HR Core, Talent Management and Payroll.
 

Ceridian Performance Management

Ceridian adding some ‘soft stuff’ – The Ceridian team surprised the attending analysts with the unveiling of the acquisition of RelatedMatters. Founded by two former Ultimate execs, RelatedMatters has focused on how well people do relate (and with that work with /) to each other, a key psychographic element that is under represented in today’s HCM software. As Ceridian CEO David Ossip stated, RelatedMatters is an acquihire – not only does Ceridian get some interesting software and methodology on the psycho-analytic side, but also two HCM industry veterans. As for the RelatedMatters functionality, Ceridian had the guts to have the analyst use the tool, and most of them complied. The analyst crews can now see how well we relate to each other on a personality side – will be interesting to see how real we think it is. And that’s where all attempts of the HCM software vendors using personality and psychographic information stand right now, it intrinsically makes sense, but the methodology has to show its value for business uses day in and day out. Too early to tell for Ceridian / RelatedMatters – but kudos to Ceridian for the move, we will see how well it works in every day use.

The TeamRelate product

Analyst Tidbits

• Global remains a focus – Ceridian keeps investing into becoming more global HCM system provider. It has made a major push on the compliance side, which for a vendor with Workforce Management capabilities is a little more complex. With the adoption of the EU Work Directive in the product, Ceridian now has the common set of legislative requirements available in Dayforce to run compliant workforce management across the EU. Moreover the vendor now supports 12 languages in the product, making Ceridian a viable vendor option for global HCM system rollouts. 
   
• New Payroll for the UK – Ceridian is in a strong market position in the UK, being the #2 payroll provider, albeit its payroll is an older, legacy product. Last week at Ceridian UK’s user conference, the vendor already shared that it will build a new UK payroll, definitively a good but gutsy move. But if Ceridian succeeds, adding modern payroll techniques (and best practices) like continuous payroll execution, ad hoc payroll results for payees, instant overtime calculation etc,. it has a shot at the #1 market position in the UK.

• Talent Management build out continues – It was good to see that Ceridian keeps building out Talent Management as announced a year ago at the Boston analyst meeting. The vendor is on track with Recruiting being available today, Onboarding and Performance Management coming this year. At this point we can certainly say that Ceridian is on track to have a complete Talent Management suite in 2016, as the vendor announced in spring 2014.
   
• Loyal to the roots – On many occasions during the one and half days Ossip repeated that Ceridian – despite all the work on Core HR, Workforce Management and Talent Management – is committed to its Payroll and compliance business. That is a message that is good to hear for the existing customers, and certainly can be read as ‘protecting the core’ strategy. But Ceridian has the DNA and capability to make sure that other functions have a compliance value add, too – a differentiation that Ceridian needs to keep highlighting in the market place and should keep educating audiences about. 

• Improved Finance situation – Thanks to the sale of Comdata, Ceridian’s financial position has much improved, namely the debt the vendor carries from its past. CFO Lois Martin presented a favorable outlook in regards of debt due dates, which should give Ceridian the opportunity to invest into product and go to market activities in the next year. [Note I am not a financial analyst, check colleagues who are more in tune with that matter].

MyPOV

A much improved analyst summit by Ceridian from an agenda and venue perspective, again with tons of information and a well received focus on product. Marketing, Sales, Services and Support are all important functions and give ample room to hamper a successful product, but in the SaaS age it is the product capability, attractiveness and roadmap that sets up the success trajectory for a vendor. It was good to see Ceridian giving product so much ample room. Likewise it remains clear that Ossip is the intellectual driver behind Dayforce on a strategic level, very few CEOs of a 5000 FTE enterprise know their products on that detail level.

The good news for Ceridian, its customers and prospects is that the vendor shows solid execution on the product roadmap, and deserves respect for being the first major HCM vendor to lay out a multi year roadmap for product in general and e.g. the Talent Management completion in specific. Given the product progress, that of course Ceridian needs to maintain, the focus shifts to partners, mainly to address implementation capacity and know-how. Good to see Ceridian has the plans in place to address this, but it needs to execute to have more Dayforce implementations run by partners, to reach better economies of scale. The same is key on the go to market side, where Ceridian needs to create traction in Europe – beyond the UK. And an APAC strategy does not seem to be on the drawing boards yet (or I missed it). But having to focus on go to market issues and service delivery capacity is a good sign and a good problem to have, these will be the key areas to watch on how Ceridian makes progress throughout 2015.

Also on Ceridian

• Event Report - CeridianINSIGHTS 2014 - Ceridian innovates and adds key functionality - read here
• First Take - Ceridian INSIGHTS Day 1 Keynote - Top 3 Takeaways - read here
• Progress Report - Ceridian makes a lot of progress - but the road(map) is long - read here
• Ceridian transforming itself and with that the game – read here

And unrelated to Ceridian - but how important payroll can be for HCM innovation:

• Could the paycheck reinvent HCM - yes it can - read here
• And suddenly... payroll matters again - read here

ICYMM: Gartner Prophecy is Wrong (Says Someone Else)

ICYMM: Pointers to articles and posts elsewhere in the world where my work is featured.

This one is a good article that quotes me, but not based on an interview.  I really like it when someone takes my work and expands on it – it is what I always try to do.

In this case, Chris Ward from MyCustomer.com took a little bit of the work I did with IntelliResponse last year on Knowledge Management and cross-referenced that to some work that Gartner did on self-service.

In his opinion, and I kind-of agree, the present state of Knowledge Management as reflected in my research will prevent the prophecy from Gartner on self-service solutions to become reality.

Quote

“Doing self-service right means making the self-service experience available in a multitude of channels,” he states, in the report. “This appeals to a customers need for consistency of experience. Today’s best digital self-service technologies are channel agnostic, so that the customer can select the interaction channel of their preference and expect a consistent answer.”

He says that even though self-service has high adoption rates, the trends and data points will prevent it from reaching the 85% adoption that Gartner predicts by 2017.

Quote

The good news for self-service technology providers is that 64% of companies plan to invest more in self-service and extend it to other channels in the next 1 to 3 years.

He cross-references other data from different studies as well, but makes a good solid case for not reaching the goal.  Where is Knowledge Management and Self-Service adoption right now?

Read the article and find out…

What do you think? Is Gartner right? Short? Almost there?

Tell me your thoughts down below and will chat…

The State of Marketing in 2015 - Seven Actions to Prepare for Disruption

Vice President and Principal Analyst, Constellation Research
Constellation Research

Role: Vice President and Principal Analyst focusing on the IOT of Customer Experience and how the cloud is driving more flexible, agile, and robust customer service and customer experiences. In-app or in device customer service is the future. Coverage Areas: Next Generation Customer, Digital Marketing Transformation Bio: As a Vice President and Principal Analyst at Constellation Research, Inc, Petouhoff works with Fortune 100 and 500’s Senior Leadership teams to create strategic customer experience (marketing, sales and service) solutions which engage customers, build brands and grow businesses. Combining her experience as a former Forrester software analyst, PWC systems integrator and change management consultant, Petouhoff leads executive workshops to discuss to not only…...

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Marketing transforms faster than ever in the digital era. My newest report, “The State of Marketing in 2015" describes the current marketing environment and identifies the direction marketing will head in the near future. 

This report identifies seven measures early adopters must take to prepare for the disruptive forces influencing marketing. Use this report to benchmark and plan for your marketing future. 

Marketing Must Deliver Contextual Customer Experiences 

Free search, a misnomer

Steve Wilson

Former Vice President and Principal Analyst
Constellation Research

Steve Wilson is former VP and Principal Analyst at Constellation Research, leading the business theme Digital Safety and Privacy. His coverage includes digital identity, data protection, data privacy, cryptography, and trust. His advisory services to CIOs, CISOs, CPOs and IT architects include identity product strategy, security practice benchmarking, Privacy by Design (PbD), privacy engineering and Privacy [or Data Protection] Impact Assessments (PIA, DPIA). Coverage Areas: -  Identity management, frameworks & governance-  Digital identity technologies-  Privacy by Design -  Big Data; “Big Privacy”-  Identity & privacy innovation Previous experience: Wilson has worked in ICT innovation, research, development and analysis for over 25 years. With double…...

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Search engines are wondrous things. I myself use Google search umpteen times a day. I don't think I could work or play without it anymore. And yet I am a strong supporter of the contentious "Right to be Forgotten". The "RTBF" is hotly contested, and I am the first to admit it's a messy business. For one thing, it's not ideal that Google itself is required for now to adjudicate RTBF requests in Europe. But we have to accept that all of privacy is contestable. The balance of rights to privacy and rights to access information is tricky. RTBF has a long way to go, and I sense that European jurors and regulators are open and honest about this.

One of the starkest RTBF debating points is free speech. Does allowing individuals to have irrelevant, inaccurate and/or outdated search results blocked represent censorship? Is it an assault on free speech? There is surely a technical-legal question about whether the output of an algorithm represents "free speech", and as far as I can see, that question remains open. Am I the only commentator suprised by this legal blind spot? I have to say that such uncertainty destabilises a great deal of the RTBF dispute.

I am not a lawyer, but I have a strong sense that search outputs are not the sort of thing that constitutes speech. Let's bear in mind what web search is all about.

Google search is core to its multi-billion advertising business. A search result is not an unfiltered replica of something from the public domain, but rather the subtle outcome of complex Big Data processes. Google's proprietary search algorithm is famously secret, but we do know how sensitive it is to context. Search results change day by day and from place to place. And why is this?

When we enter search parameters, the result we get is actually Google's guess about what we are really looking for. Google in effect forms a hypothesis, drawing on much more than the express parameters, including our search history, browsing history, location and so on. And in all likelihood, search is influenced by the many other things Google gleans from the way we use its other properties, gmail, maps, YouTube, hangouts and Google+.

And here's the really clever thing about search. Google monitors how well it's predicting our real or underlying concerns. This is what Google really gets out of search: deep understanding of what its users are interested in, and how they are likely to respond to targeted advertising. Each search result is a little test of Google's Artificial Intelligence, which, as some like to say, is getting to know us better than we know ourselves.

As important as they are, it seems to me that search results are really just a by-product of a gigantic information business. They are nothing like free speech.

Defining the Business benefit and the knowledge for your IoT/IIoT project

Andy Mulholland

Vice President and Principal Analyst, Constellation Research
Constellation Research

Andy Mulholland is Vice President and Principal Analyst focusing on cloud business models. Formerly the Global Chief Technology Officer for the Capgemini Group from 2001 to 2011, Mulholland successfully led the organization through a period of mass disruption. Mulholland brings this experience to Constellation’s clients seeking to understand how Digital Business models will be built and deployed in conjunction with existing IT systems. Coverage Areas Consumerization of IT & The New C-Suite: BYOD, Internet of Things, IoT, technology and business use Previous experience: Mulholland co authored four major books that chronicled the change and its impact on Enterprises starting in 2006 with the well-recognised book ‘Mashup Corporations’ with Chris Thomas of Intel. This was followed in…...

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Right now it seems as if the entire Technology Industry is saying that the Internet of Things is the next big thing and will change everything for Digital Business. But can someone be more specific about where, and for what reason, my Enterprise should be deploying, or piloting an IoT solution?

For many people it seems as it we are in a hype cycle, something most of us have experienced before when a new technology is initially announced as the answer to everything. The limitations of early deployments cause the initial enthusiasm for the new technology to fall into the ‘trough of disillusionment’, before some clear messages reach the market as to exactly what is really delivered as Business value when deployed in the right way.

In this series of blogs on the Internet of Things, IoT, and the Industrial Internet of Things, IIoT, the focus has been about trying to build much greater understanding and appreciation of exactly what the technology is, and how it works. After all the crucial first stage in planning, where, and why, to use Technology is, of course, to spend time to understand its functionality.

This blog is different, it moves to examining the three principle focuses, or uses, for the Internet of Things, IoT, and Industrial Internet of Things, IIoT, that will provide most enterprises with a clear starting point as to what choices to make to align a deployment with their Business needs. For the sale of completeness the fourth focus that relates to Smart Cities is also included.

The diagram below shows the three individual focuses deliberately separated to indicate the starting point and place where Business value is delivered. In time all three will increasingly interconnect as Digital Business models change the flow of real time information and actions to move around the three in a radial manner, but for first round deployments it is best to stay focused. (Previous blogs in this series detail maturing integration)

The difficulty of adding a circle to represent a Smart City is due to the difficultly in understanding exactly what to focus upon, as it is a mix of all three-focus segments. A Smart City should embrace and interconnect People, Machines and Processes to deliver both new value and lower costs, but that makes it hard to define other than by individual projects.

The term Internet of Everything is often used in connection with the term Smart City to indicate the need to be inclusive of all types of Devices, Services, and People with the functional capabilities of a City.

The other three focuses also introduce particular terms coined by the community driving their adoption, and these terms relate not just their different focus, but also to the skills and capabilities of those communities. Taking each in turn and expanding on their role clarifies this;

1. Machine Reporting

The term Industrial Internet of Things, or IIoT, usually refers to deploying sensors on Industrial Machinery as an extension Industrial, or Operational Technology. This difference is important as it represents products, skills, technologies, architectures and formats, all of which are radically and completely different from those of Office based Information Technology.

An entire environment with specific skills, data formats, communication protocols and architectures has been built up to support Digitally controlled complex production machinery. Extending, and integrating, new supplementary data from being able to add many new low cost sensors to monitor elements of a complex multi function piece of production machinery is the basis for Industrial Internet of Things, or IIoT, projects.  The desired outcome, or Business Value lies in operational improvement in throughputs, lower down time, better maintenance, etc. from continuous monitoring of key aspects in (near) real-time.

Industrial Internet of Things, IIoT, focuses on the efficiency of Industrial Machines and is driven by the recognition and desire to manage these expensive assets better.

2. Enriching Process

The generic term Internet of Things, IoT, when used by Information Technology practitioners refers to the ability to add additional data to existing Applications, and thereby improve the business value of an Enterprise Process.

As an example an ERP production-planning application can offer near real-time adaptive capability by using Internet of Things, IoT, sensing at critical elements along the production process to dynamically re-plan the entire production flow in response to reality. The overview of the entire production process from an Enterprise point of view is markedly different from the goal of operating individual production machinery as efficiently as possible.

3. People Empowerment

Increasing the abilities of ‘smart’, or ‘mobile’ workers using cloud based Services, or Apps on mobility devices by providing information on real-time events and situations. It might still be called the Internet of Things, or IoT, but the skills are those of the new wave ‘Digital’ experts.

One of the most marked changes introduced by new technology in the last few years has been the addition of people centric capabilities via Internet based Apps and Services. Usually delivered onto Mobile Devices via Graphical User Interfaces there is less difficulty in integrating the data models, but there has to be more focus on alignment to contextually relevant Services. Sales, Merchandising, or as Service Engineers, and others, have all seen their personal productivity increased, but at the same time they demand a different type of information structure to that of the computer driven machines or processes.

A further characteristic of many of these roles is that they are event responsive, in many cases more so than process driven. A Service Engineer may have a planned round of routine maintenance for the day, but a breakdown will change the plan immediately. Enabling People with increased information about the real-time events in their area of responsibility is an obvious next step.

The Internet of Things, IoT, when applied to providing real-time event information for people through graphical information is a hugely flexible tool as many of the limitations of Machine or Process computer integrations simply don’t apply! BUT remember that this is usually driven from external cloud based Services and is not usually about traditional Information Technology skills.

That said there are other issues; such as complexities of determining who gets what data, from where, as relevant additional information, as well as combining the IoT graphical view with aligned existing legacy date files. As an example a sensor alarm signal from a merchandising machine approaching empty needs to also provide the location details, the type and number of merchandise held, the owner, and similar details.

4. Smart Cities

The flexibility of People driven Internet of Things, IoT, is a key aspect of the first wave of many Smart City initiatives. People can choose Apps that provide Information they want and can interpret the graphical results on their Browser. This conveniently avoids many of the complications of managing the connections, and data flows with complex integrations, whilst still providing new capabilities that offer value to Citizens.

Summary;

Planning to make a first successful move into any of the various forms of Iot/IIoT should be driven by understanding which of the three major focuses will align most successfully with the biggest Business benefit. Having made this decision it is important to note which environment based on what skills are aligned, and choose the project owner and team accordingly. Here is a summary table;

As these early well-focused Business successes develop there will be a natural move towards integration between all three focus groups within the Enterprise. It is wise to make sure that in each of the aligned technology areas there is an IoT/IIoT nominated liaison person who can be kept aware of activities of the other Technology delivery groups. This person can determine if any of the other activities could provide a beneficial link or integration with their own business requirements.

#AdobeSummit WOWs With IoT, NextGen Apps Announcements

Vice President and Principal Analyst, Constellation Research
Constellation Research

Role: Vice President and Principal Analyst focusing on the IOT of Customer Experience and how the cloud is driving more flexible, agile, and robust customer service and customer experiences. In-app or in device customer service is the future. Coverage Areas: Next Generation Customer, Digital Marketing Transformation Bio: As a Vice President and Principal Analyst at Constellation Research, Inc, Petouhoff works with Fortune 100 and 500’s Senior Leadership teams to create strategic customer experience (marketing, sales and service) solutions which engage customers, build brands and grow businesses. Combining her experience as a former Forrester software analyst, PWC systems integrator and change management consultant, Petouhoff leads executive workshops to discuss to not only…...

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The #AdobeSummit has begun and the news below, for the 6,000 digital marketers and senior leaders from the world’s top brands is being digested, while sharing best practices and networking. As a marketer, there never seems to be enough time to learn everything, but soak it up. It’s all here! And if you are here in person or not… here’s a round-up of what’s happening here:

• Adobe Pushed Boundaries of Marketing at Summit 2015 – At Summit 2015, Adobe is showcasing a range of innovation across its Adobe Marketing Cloud, including the unveiling of two new Adobe Marketing Cloud Solutions – Primetime and Audience Manager. Press Release
• Adobe Brings Digital Marketing to Internet of Things (IoT) – Adobe Marketing Cloud extends personalized experiences to physical spaces and machines; New IoT SDK enables brands to measure and analyze engagement across IoT devices. Press Release
• Adobe Streamlines Mobile Marketing and App Development. – Adobe is unveiling significant enhancements to Adobe Mobile Services, a Core Service across Adobe Marketing Cloud, that include a fully integrated mobile app framework. The new mobile app framework delivers the complete, integrated solution in the industry for developing and managing apps, and is the first to eliminate marketers’ dependence on an array of disjointed point solutions. Press Release
• Adobe Marketing Cloud Unites Data-driving Marketing and Ad Tech – Adobe is unveiling a new algorithmic engine and advances in Audience Core Services that enables brands to connect massive audience and behavioral data from a broad range of sources, while a new set of algorithms allow them to reach those audiences through Adobe Media Optimizer. Press Release

Joint Partner Announcements:

• Adobe and IBM Interactive Experience Announce Global Partnership – IBM Interactive Experience will build specialized enterprise consulting capabilities for Adobe Marketing Cloud. Combining the capabilities of Adobe Marketing Cloud with the design, digital and technology expertise of IBM Interactive Experience, enterprises can comprehensively integrate all the touch points of a consumer’s journey. Press Release.
• Accenture and Adobe Create Innovative, Pay-Per-Use Digital Marketing Service to Drive Greater Marketing ROI – Today Accenture and Adobe expand their alliance with the launch of Accenture Customer Engagement, a cloud-based managed service that simplifies the development, execution and measurement of digital marketing. Accenture Customer Engagement features digital marketing services from Accenture Interactive wrapped seamlessly around Adobe Marketing Cloud solutions. Press Release.

Partner-Issued Adobe Marketing Cloud Announcements:

• Kochava Partners with Adobe to Expand the Reach of Both Companies’ Mobile Analytics Capabilities
• Vibes Partners with Adobe to Help Power Mobile Marketing Campaigns in Adobe Marketing Cloud
• appFigures App Store Data To Be Integrated Into Adobe Analytics
• Razorfish Unveils the “Future NOW” of Retail at Adobe Summit
• Rosetta Launches Engagement Engine Powered By Adobe Marketing Cloud
• Put Your Calls Where Your Clicks Are ­ DialogTech Announces Two New Integrations with Adobe Marketing Cloud
• Digital River Integrates with Adobe Experience Manager
• Searchmetrics Helps Adobe Experience Manager Users Build Superior Web Content Using Analysis From Millions Of Search Queries
• Agility Multichannel Collaborates with Adobe to Bring Brand and Product Experiences to Life
• BrightEdge Unveils LPO Intelligence Integration for Adobe Experience Manager
• Crittercism Joins Adobe Digital Marketing Solutions Partner Program
• Fiksu Announces Integration with Adobe Marketing Cloud
• IGATE Announces Integrated Customer Experience (CX) for Adobe Summit 2015

Adobe Blogs Provide Additional Information on the Latest News from Summit:

• ADI “Best of the Best 2015” Report: How Does Your Brand Stack Up Against The Best Of The Best?
• Introducing New Adobe Experience Manager: Innovations for Digital Experience
• Digital Asset Management & Rich Media Innovations Unveiled at Adobe Summit
• Adobe Campaign Announces New Solution to Enable Better Customer Engagement
• The Mandate for a Better Marketplace
• Adobe Marketing Cloud Drives Future of Programmatic Ad Buying
• Adobe Primetime, Marketing Cloud and the Future of TV: Personalized, Portable, Profitable
• Contribution Analysis Turns Days and Weeks into Seconds and Minutes
• Adobe Mobile App Analytics Puts a Play Button on Your Data
• Customer Attributes: The More You Know, The Better You Connect
• Transform Self-Serve Analysis with New Metrics Capabilities in Adobe Analytics
• Adobe Summit: What You’re Missing in Social
• ADI: M&E Master Of Mobile Domain, Apple Dominates Video

If you want all Adobe Summit announcement highlights, videos, images and more, you can go here: http://www.adobe.com/news-room/summit2015.htm

And you can follow the Twitter feed using the hashtag: #AdobeSummit

As you can see Adobe is addressing many of the issues that plague marketers, working to simplify, while giving marketers more control and options. As marketers are called to do more than just “push” messages and rather engage customers, more and more capabilities are required. The future is here, now. Digital Marketing education is not only necessary, it should be a requirement in every university!

@drnatalie

VP and Principal Analyst, Covering Marketing, Sales, Digital, Social and Customer Service to Create Amazing Customer Experiences

Personal Log: Our Alliance With Digital Clarity Group

R "Ray" Wang

Principal Analyst and Founder
Constellation Research

R “Ray” Wang is the CEO of Silicon Valley-based Constellation Research Inc. He co-hosts DisrupTV, a weekly enterprise tech and leadership webcast that averages 50,000 views per episode and blogs at www.raywang.org. His ground-breaking best-selling book on digital transformation, Disrupting Digital Business, was published by Harvard Business Review Press in 2015. Ray's new book about Digital Giants and the future of business, titled, Everybody Wants to Rule The World was released in July 2021. Wang is well-quoted and frequently interviewed by media outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, Fox Business, CNBC, Yahoo Finance, Cheddar, and Bloomberg. Short Bio R “Ray” Wang (pronounced WAHNG) is the Founder, Chairman, and Principal Analyst of Silicon Valley-based Constellation…...

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5 Reasons Why Apple Watch Will Not Be Awesome

This is why I got the Google Glass, and then never touched it after six hours; why I wore the Fitbit for three days, and why I flew my DJI Phantom 2 drone all but once!

Second, let us describe what tipping means, because to see mass adoption, you first have to tip! To understand tipping, we have to go back to the theory of diffusion of innovation form Everett Rogers, Geoffrey Moore's Crossing the Chasm and, Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point.

I will spare you the pain of reading three books. See the image below.

What you are looking at, is the theory of diffusion of innovation, meets the chasm, meets the tipping point. You are welcome -- three books in one image.


 

Essentially, you need to get to 16 percent of your total addressable market (TAM) to "tip" the scales, and then eventually see mass adoption. Lets have some fun with what mass adoption looks like in various markets.

There are roughly 300 million individuals in the U.S., let us estimate half would possibly wear a smart watch and of that half, one third can afford a $400-600 smart watch. So we are looking at one sixth of the U.S. population as the TAM for the Apple Watch.

This means, in the U.S., Apple has to sell 50 million watches to claim mass adoption, and with the world's population at seven billion, and a TAM at one twelfth globally (instead of a TAM of one sixth in the U.S.) Apple would need to sell almost 600 million watches to claim "mass adoption" globally.

I am being too overzealous, lets say the tipping point is half my back of the napkin math above, and getting to mass adoption is easier than Everett Rogers estimated in the theory of diffusion of innovation, because after all, this is Apple.

So mass adoption is 25 million in the U.S., and 300 million globally.

Here are five reasons why this will not happen (any time soon).
 

1. The ownership experience. According to TIMEX via Bloomberg, the average American male owns/wears five watches. The males in the TAM of the Apple Watch probably own on average 7.5 watches (higher disposable income). The ownership experience of a watch is one-to-many. If you are replacing my watch, you have to replace 5 to 7.5 watches. I am going to let you guys comment on how many watches the average American woman owns. This is not a simple replacement product launch, I am not swapping my Blackberry for an iPhone. I am not purchasing an iPad which is a completely new category, this is a one-to-many attempted replacement of all.


2. The vanity of human kind. Watches are not completely owned for function; they are many times owned as jewelry. This means they likely serve our vanity, more than our need to tell time. The choice of a watch, is largely driven by vanity. There are currently almost 200,000 types/designs of watches for sale on Amazon.com. To get half of this number of choices for consumers, Apple would need 20 watch face designs that can go with any watch band? And 20 watch band designs that can go with any watch face? OK, I was a math minor, and this is still hurting my head. It is way more than 20 face designs and band designs!


3. The iPhone. I am of the opinion that if the Apple watch can do it, the Apple iPhone can (or should) do it. No seriously. Plus, how many times I am going to upgrade my watch? Apple Watch 2.0, and 3.0, and 4.0. Nope, that is for my iPhone, not my watch. Watches stay, you fall in love with them.


4. The barrier to entry. When the iPhone was introduced, the barrier to entry was high (many of those innovations are now commoditized), and the competitors were less than half a dozen. The barrier to entry for a smart watch is pretty low, Microsoft and about a dozen others a very close behind. Here is the kicker, Rolex and other luxury brands are probably even closer! The Apple watch simply does not have the runway like the iPhone had to see mass adoption.


5. The smartBack. I know what you are thinking, what is a smartBack? It is my free idea to you. We need to invent a smart watch back, that I can purchase and retrofit onto my existing watches. It should have sensors, and other gizmos and I should be able to move it from watch to watch. If you make it big with this idea, be sure to pay it forward!


6. I will buy one (and will probably write a review on it); I will probably only wear it six times, so watch out Apple.

See what I did there?

We need to invent a smart watch back, that I can purchase and retrofit onto my existing watches.
I write as a labor of love, in exchange I ask that you share this writing if you think others may find value.

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Event Report: Inside The Apple #SpringForward Event

R "Ray" Wang

Principal Analyst and Founder
Constellation Research

R “Ray” Wang is the CEO of Silicon Valley-based Constellation Research Inc. He co-hosts DisrupTV, a weekly enterprise tech and leadership webcast that averages 50,000 views per episode and blogs at www.raywang.org. His ground-breaking best-selling book on digital transformation, Disrupting Digital Business, was published by Harvard Business Review Press in 2015. Ray's new book about Digital Giants and the future of business, titled, Everybody Wants to Rule The World was released in July 2021. Wang is well-quoted and frequently interviewed by media outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, Fox Business, CNBC, Yahoo Finance, Cheddar, and Bloomberg. Short Bio R “Ray” Wang (pronounced WAHNG) is the Founder, Chairman, and Principal Analyst of Silicon Valley-based Constellation…...

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Apple Event Announcements Shows Continued Progression In The Digital Lifestyle

The Spring Forward Apple event at Yuerba Buena gardens brought forth a slew of major announcements that pointed to the continued build out of the Star Trek roadmap.

Figure 1. Tim Cook welcomes the crowd at the #SpringForward event

The analysis of key announcements include:

• Growth in Apple Stores in China .  The event kicked off with a touching video of the latest Apple store opening in China.  The Hangzhou West Lake store is the 18th in China and strategically located in one of the hottest areas.   Tim Cook emphasized the commitment to adding more stores in China.
  
  Point of View (POV): Apple’s aggressive move to build out China makes perfect sense in not only combating the piracy of fake Apple stores, but also creates an opportunity to build that direct customer experience with the fastest growing global market.   In a conversation with someone familiar with Apple’s privacy efforts, there may be thousands of workers who believe they work at an Apple store but in fact do not.  The real Apple stores will most definitely help combat the fake ones.

• HBO distribution agreement with Apple TV. One of the surprises was the HBO Now limited exclusive arrangement with Apple.   The service is set to be offered at  $15 per month.  In addition, Apple announced a price cut on Apple TV to $69 per box.
  
  (POV): Just in time for Game of Thrones, the direct to consumer streaming video service showed how the content producers intend to by pass the middlemen.  Constellation expects other direct digital distribution deals to emerge.  However, the market can expect more blurring between technology providers, content producers, and distribution networks.  As for Apple TV, expect a new one to replace the outdated 2012 technology.  Reliable sources predict the announcement as early as the Worldwide Developers conference in June.

• New Retina Macbook. The new device sports a 2 pound design point, 13.1 mm thickness, Intel Core-M processor, fanless design, all day battery, new butterfly keyboard, force touch pad, and USB Type C port.  Available for sale April 10th, the Retina Macbook will come in three colors: gold, silver, and space gray.
  
  (POV): The first impression of the new Macbook was the weight. At half a pound heavier than an iPad 3, the device seemed light as a feather. Typing on the new Macbook butterfly keyboard quickly brought back memories of a great IBM Selectric feel.  Despite the slower clock speed at 1.1 GHz to 1.3GHZ, the device serves its purpose as a light-weight easy to use laptop .

• Apple Research Kit.  The new iPhone open source platform helps researchers create apps that collect data for medical research while enabling opt in permissions on sharing that data with privacy controls in tact.  Five apps available include Asthma Health by Mount Sinai – Download, GlucoSuccess – Download, MyHeart Counts – Download, Parkinson mPower – Download, and Share the Journey – Download
  
  (POV): The move to create Research Kit provides a complement to Health Kit.  Researchers now have a platform to address the two biggest issues – low sample sizes and poor normalization of data collection.  Partnerships with global research institutions help cement the role Apple has in serving as a catalyst and nexus for medical research.

• Apple Watch. The much anticipated event was the launch of Apple’s newest product line.  The watch is available in three tiers Apple Watch Sport ($349 to $399),  Apple Watch ($549 to $1100) and Apple Watch Edition ($10,000 to $17,000).  As one of the first smart watches to offer Apple Pay, users can use NFC for payments.  The watch also sports a haptic feedback interface (Taptic Engine), digital touch direct communication, and magnetic charging cable.  A key use will be fitness apps which tack into the accelerometer, heart rate, and estimated calorie burn.
  
  (POV): Despite the slew of smart watch announcements at Mobile World Congress, few consumers and industry watchers showed interest in competitors ahead of the Apple Watch launch.  A key topic to watch will be how quickly developers rush to provide new apps and build out this new platform.  After year’s of not wearing a watch, will this be the catalyst to drive watch adoption?  This remains a wait and see.

Figure 2. The Scene From the #AppleEvent at Yuerba Buena Gardens

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The Bottom Line: Choosing What Not To Do Remains Apple’s Core Strategy

Given the massive resources Apple has at its disposal, including almost $180B, and a massive patent trove, Apple’s shown great discipline in the core tenant of strategy – deciding what not to do.  Apple has successfully expanded its networked economy that spans content, technology enablement, and direct to consumer distribution.  Building on a trusted platform, the advancements in continuity of experience, digital life style services based on trusted identity, and a value exchange system rivaled to none, show how the Apple strategy is paying off for not only consumers, but also those who expect the art of the possible to come to life.

Your POV.

Ready for a watch from Apple, research kit, and the new Macbook?  Add your comments to the blog or reach me via email: R (at) ConstellationR (dot) com or R (at) SoftwareInsider (dot) org.

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