MS
buys Nokia, Verizon regains Vodaphone, ‘Google Now’ is all about Context, and
85% of large corporations will have API programs….Is all of this driven by
Mobile imperatives!
Folks...
This week started off with
some amazing headlines. From mega mergers to not so headline worthy news, and
it may be my imagination, but I think all of these big and small headlines are
not just indicative of industry evolution, but also driven by Mobile
imperatives. So let me discuss some of these:
1.
Microsoft
buys Nokia – Now this may be either strategic merger or a
life line for both Nokia and Microsoft, but one thing is for sure Windows
Mobile Operating system is going to be relevant. Not just in GMU (Growth
Markets) but the existing presence of Microsoft in their current accounts. The
Value of an integrated product (we have seen with Apple (iOS)) is immense. It
will be interesting to see how this will evolve Microsoft itself and innovation
it will bring to the market. And YES we need to understand this, as we have a
Mobile Platform that aim to address all Major Mobile OSs.
2.
Verizon
and Vodaphone – Capturing it’s own 45% market share and
access to some EU markets, Verizon aims to capitalize on the network investment
and boost it’s mobile services. Think of the ‘Infrastructure’ needed for expanded Mobile Services. I have always
believed that TELCO will play a pivotal role in our Industry and Mobile space,
and seeing boost in investment from all major Telco is not only encouraging but
also indicative of an industry trend. IBM as a technology and enterprise
software provider with our MobileFirst and Middleware Portfolio can play a
major role here.
3.
85%
of large corporations will have API programs – Past few of
my posts I have discussed the importance of API management. Recent news of
Apigee raising capital, layer 7 being acquired by CA, Mashery being acquired by
Intel, is not accident that large companies have figured that API management is
fairly important. I have discussed this before, and I reiterate that - API
management is extending into the software
defined networking market to connect data infrastructure
operations. Mobile computing on the rise will eventually converge with services
exposed in software defined (networked) marketplaces and evolve into the
ecosystem that Mobile application will learn to rely upon. We absolutely need
to find synergies between our own offerings before we begin to event attempt play
in the emerging open API marketplace. (Think – MA (PI) aaS – Mobile API as a Service.
4. Google is testing a local news “card” in its Google
Now service - Google Now is
a logical vehicle for local news because one of its primary functions is
knowing where you are and providing information that is “contextually
relevant” to you, as specified by your interests, the time of day, and your
location. We have always known that Mobile application discussions are always
about deepening engagements with contextually relevant engagement. There is a
lot of work Google is doing with its Google services and Google Glass platform,
to bring contextually relevant engagement to fruitful reality. Imagine U are wearing
Google glass and participating in social crime watch and alert systems, or
sharing an exciting offer with peers. So there is a lot of potential, we just
need to advocate a platform that can be the plumbing system or engine of sorts
to capitalize on this technology.
5. European mobile revolution and IBM is
very much a part of it - In Europe we are once again partnering
with Visa to revolutionize the mobile payment solutions. We will provide software, technology services and
consulting to help power these mobile ambitions. No reason why we cannot
replicate in other markets like US, LA and GMU. We just need repeatable pattern
(and may be a product combination). Mobile banking and mobile payments have
both been perennial conversations in financial industry and still is
relevant. We should look at our financial
services point of view and address platform and security challenges.
I have discussed a lot of business and
technology related to our industry. I do want to spend some time talking about what
I have learned with my recent engagement.
1.
Clients
do NOT want to have a product
discussion they NEED a solution
discussion. This has become a norm with Mobile discussions. Approach that I
have used recently is the Enterprise Capability Maturity Model
discussion (I have discussed this
in the past). Basically approach is:
a.
Describe
key initiatives, characteristics, and components of a world class mobile
enterprise
b.
Partner LOB and IT
stakeholders across the enterprise on mobile initiatives
c.
Create a gap
analysis, identifying areas of strength and areas where the return on
investment is the most impactful
d.
Deploy a progressive
business and technical strategy to adopt the technology, tools, and mindset
needed to become a MobileFirst enterprise
2. Mobile Discussions are still tiring,
and this is because everyone has an opinion on mobile apps, one thing we should
focus on is the fact that Mobile initiative is far beyond “bits on a mobile device” discussion.
So we should curtail a wish list discussion to the enterprise mobile objectives discussion.
3. Deconstruct
Mobile application Landscape.
Broadly speaking we should breakdown Mobile
‘External Eco system” (Stuff that we externally interact with) and Mobile Platform (Stuff that we need to
do to enable enterprise Mobile platform and services)
a. Mobile Application Design and development
b. Mobile Application test environment
c. Mobile – Cloud –External eco system
d. Mobile Device management
e. Mobile Security.
These are broad areas of discussion, but we
absolutely either need to structure our conversation or device a boundary. IMHO
this will make our discussions more productive and go beyond story boarding.
I
think I have rambled enough for this post. As always I welcome your thoughts,
critique and opinions.
Have
a great week ahead!
:)
Nitin
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