SMAC and the Transformation of Customer Service & Dialogue

"SMAC" is the a acronym for Social, mobile, analytics & cloud the four pillars of the fifth wave of technology as defined by  Cognizant Technology the  Teaneck, New Jersey headquartered ITES company (NASDAQ Symbol : CTSH).
SMAC will change the customer dialogue by leveraging on the collective strength of the Social Media Network, Mobile devices, Analytics driven by Big Data solutions and Cloud Computing as the underlying backbone of affordable and reliable engine for computation. 

Let us look at each of these components and their impact on our lives today:

1. Social Media - The Social Media has seen breakneck growth and significant valuation with the winners, we have the four undisputed leaders in this segment Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest  & LinkedIn with competition from Yahoo, Google and Microsoft and another hundred more social media sites of different hues and aspirations.  

2. Mobility - The way we handle and process information anytime anywhere  is significantly driven by Mobile Devices. Whether it is a mobile phone with two undisputed leaders Samsung and Apple, with two leading operating systems Google's Android and Apples iOS and two fundamental devices a phone or tablet or an hybrid Phablet.  The mobile is the most used device today to access, converse and interact in the internet. 

3. Analytics - Big Data and the ability to bring affordable analytics by use of cloud computing has transformed the way we dice and slice our data and we can do much more in nano seconds with our Terabytes of data to get a better understanding which influences our strategy and decision making. Analytics has invaded every aspect of business, financial markets, banking, healthcare, manufacturing, the potential is endless on how it can add value to bring insight into the way we do business. 

4. Cloud Computing - In a brief period of ten years the cloud computing has taken the world by storm and has been the catalyst for the growth of social media companies like Facebook, Youtube, LinkedIn, Twitter and more.  The pioneer and leader in the cloud computing space continues to be AWS with others playing catch up, the software giant's Microsoft, Oracle, the hardware giant's Dell, IBM, CISCO and HP.  Cloud Computing is today mainstream computing as more government and business adopt Cloud to bring about reliability, efficiency and cost saving. 

SMAC is the future of our digital lives and these four pillars in conjunction will define the way we deal with our customers.

Companies who have the right SMAC strategy will profit and grow in a flat world. 

Banks who shunned the cloud have taken to Facebook for Banking.

Newsprint companies have be on Twitter today if it wants to reach its audience and garner revenue.
If you want a job today the best place to begin is LinkedIn and if you have a pretty picture to share and profit look no further than Pinterest.

Retailers are discovering the joys of growing their business with a SMAC strategy, understanding their customers needs and serving them in more innovative ways. 

With SMAC we need business leaders who understand their customers lifestyle, use digital technology and the live in a world of social media.

A significant number of the customer base with spending power are GEN Y  today and without a SMAC strategy we may not be able to connect with the GEN Y customer.

The customer dialogue is real time and companies need to respond to this changing scenario.  

We will have companies giving away mobile devices free to their customers as a glue to customer dialogue and interface. 

Imagine a scenario of a bank, it is connected to its customer in a mobile world and the customer lives and thrives on Facebook, the Bank today builds its  banking services around the customer in the world of Facebook. A New Zealand Bank (ASB Bank) has been the pioneer in using Facebook in serving its customers and is laughing all the way to the Bank, other banks are playing catch up. 

Twitter announced its public issue in a Tweet and in day one of its public issue Twitter's offering price was $26 but by the end of the day the stock had risen dramatically and closed at $44.90. On day one of its public issue Twitter's market cap was USD 24.4 Billion ; opening value in the morning was USD 18 Billion; a cool appreciation of USD 6.4 Billion. You need look no further to understand the business dynamics of social media. 

Companies need to address SMAC as the most significant business strategy for their very survival in next few quarters, is your company ready to use SMAC to transform the customer service and  dialogue?

Dell Cloud Computing & Microsoft

This weeks headlines has been about Dell departing from Wall Street and becoming a private company under the leadership of Mr. Michael Dell . " Dell to go private in landmark $24.4 billion deal"

Source : http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/05/us-dell-buyout-idUSBRE9140NF20130205

We also see Microsoft helping Dell with this buyout which has caused speculation of a merger of Microsoft and Dell. " Microsoft and Dell what the buyout means for them " runs another headline lauding the synergies . 

Source: http://www.firstpost.com/tech/microsoft-and-dell-what-the-buyout-means-for-them-615566.html

In the past Microsoft and Dell had a great partnership  for 25 years, Microsoft provided the software solutions and Dell did the desktop

But then came along two disruptive technologies the Mobile and Cloud Computing,  the world of desktops and desktop software started to shrink. The partnership struggled to keep the Microsoft desktop and the Dell PC alive and relevant, but the writing on the wall was clear, there was no future in desktops.
Dell has seen the writing on the wall,  cloud computing and mobility is the future! 

Dell has the best Supply Chain Management for hardware manufacturing, Microsoft has the best  supply chain for software, the only contender who combined both was Apple, but Apple is slowly rotting due to the demise of Steve Jobs. 

Microsoft has failed at capturing the imagination for its tablets and other devices which it has tried to market, at the heart of Microsoft mobile strategy is the mobile phone and its Windows 8, but it is dependent on mobile makers like HTC, Samsung and Nokia. 

Windows 8 for the mobile is good today, but Microsoft could not let go  its desktop genes;  so it decided to thrust Windows 8 on the desktops of its loyal subjects desktops and all hell broke lose, you cannot use a software made for a mobile with a touchscreen on a laptop, and Microsoft's market share numbers reflect this blunder.

Microsoft struggles to get market share for Azure as cloud computing solution; pushing desktop software to customers who are prisoners is different from selling an utility like cloud, Microsoft is still at the start line of this race and figuring on how to sell an utility in a non-proprietary world driving by open source software. 

But Microsoft is a juggernaut with huge Cash Reserves, it has got stamina and the money, it does not want to go the Digital, Nortel, Tandem , Motorola way, it wants to be relevant forever. 

So here comes Michael Dell a visionary and maverick strategist who sees that the desktop era has ended and it is time to move to an ecosystem that binds his customers to Dell, He sees how Apple has made its customer's fanatical, he understands that every fanatical following has a cycle of life, just like Lotus Notes many year ago and Blackberry more recently. 

Michael Dell and his team understand that computing is destined to be an utility and has reached an inflection point like electricity did about hundred years ago to become a commodity, today electricity is traded in Power Exchanges. 

Dell Will be the Rising Sun Again - The Samurai Warrior in Computing

No one knows commodity markets and customization better then Dell who changed the rules of the desktop, Dell have the strategy, vision and  ability to sell an utility called  cloud computing.

Dell understands how Apple has bound its customers to the Apple religion. 

Dell will do the same but to a different market segment, the one that buys Dell desktops and laptops and cannot afford the Apple ecosystem. 

The end point devices - mobility devices will be made by Dell, Dell will also own the applications in these devices and the cloud computing which allow them to work seamlessly from anywhere at anytime; Dell knows that Microsoft has the cloud and the end point solutions, what is missing is hardware an area which no one knows better then Dell.

Dell will not buy HTC or Nokia to fill this technology gap rather it will hire teams from these successful companies and maybe in the interim licence technology from Microsoft. 

Time to market  and competitive price points and distribution will be a breeze for Dell since it is a proven leader on cost optimization and real time supply chain better then anyone else in the computing world in this planet. 

Execution and Time to market is key for Dell; with  energy conserved from not dancing to Wall Street's tunes Dell can now focus on its core competence of making its large customer base happy by providing affordable computing which today only the rich can afford in its Apple Devices and is not met by the Google ecosystem. 

Dell will change the world with this approach and the carriers will have to again go back to selling bandwidth rather then holding mobile device manufacturers to ransom. The internet bandwidth is a commodity today and all that Dell needs is to buy a telecom carrier and they have all the pieces together and Dell can waltz to the bank and has no need to share its spoils with Wall Street.

Could Dell be the Knight in Shining Armor for Microsoft ?

This blog is posted from a Dell Inspiron with a Windows 8 operating system. 

Are Apple Devices Secure from Cyber Spying?

My friend who is a security expert showed me his new Apple iPad 2 fully loaded with 64GB RAM; I wondered with such a large global fan following "Are Apple devices secure from cyber spying ?".
A search on the web did throw out a number of security issues with Apple devices, I share some of the concerns raised in the last quarter of 2011.
a. Why You Shouldn’t Use H1Siri
http://www.idownloadblog.com/2011/12/06/why-not-to-use-h1siri/
b. GERMAN LEADERS QUESTION APPLE’S MOTIVES OVER USE OF CARRIER IQ
http://www.idevicenews.org/german-leaders-question-apples-motives-over-use-of-carrier-iq/225018/
c.Jailbreak 5.0.1 Untethered (iOS 5) – iPhone 4, 3GS, iPad, iPod Touch 4G, 3G
http://www.jailbreaknation.com/jailbreak-ios-5-5.0.1-untethered-iphone-4-3gs-ipad-ipod-touch-4g-3g
d. Here are some important concerns of NIST before the US Government adopts Apple Devices
1.NIST Tests Ways To Secure iPhones, iPads
http://www.informationweek.com/news/government/security/231300033
2. Vulnerability Summary for CVE-2011-3432
http://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2011-3432
Though these security issues are barriers I am sure Apple will fix them quickly .
The key security concern is the Nexus between an US Company (A Democracy) and China ( Communist); Apple has on all its devices "Designed by Apple in California USA Assembled in China.

Original vs Fake Apple both Made in China , courtesy
http://techielobang.com/blog/2009/05/13/this-is-not-an-iphone-video-within/

How does Apple ensure that the firmware and the software loaded by its Chinese suppliers are Secure? Apple's track record in standing up to the Chinese has not been spectacular, it bent backwards on the Dalai Lama issues by blocking all reference to the Dalai Lama on its devices sold in China, its security team seems to be drawn from Pfizer's Viagra team, hopefully making their efforts potent http://www.phonearena.com/news/Apples-counterfeits-team-powered-by-the-Viagra-security-force_id21785 A web search could not provide answers for the above question neither did Apples website or from other security forums address these concerns. 
The big concern is are users of Apple devices secure from the Chinese collecting data from their devices? As corporate and governments  migrate to Apple devices they maybe vulnerable to the Chinese who  are  leaders in espionage and cyber spying.

Blackberry Outage strengthens the Bond between RIM and Business

Blackberry has become the standard for business mobility today be it a SOHO, SMB or Enterprise.There are many outstanding features that make Blackberry Business's favorite mobile device a few key features are:
a. Innovation
b. Reliability
c. Security
d. Business Applications
e. Ease of Use.
BB eats breathes and lives Business in its phones and also provides awesome compliance which has resulted in Bond based on TRUST between RIM & Business.
This weeks BB outage would not have affected Business that had reliable Business Continuity Plans; rather  the BB disruption has been a good test of their business continuity planning and technology resilience in adversity.
BB has gone beyond messaging, the BB devices today support some of the most intuitive business applications for quick deployment and acclimatization.
Business leaders will return to their Blackberry Phones with a vengeance this weekend and those that deserted Blackberry in this crisis should review their Business Continuity Plans and get back to their BB devices.
The Blackberry Outage has strengthened the bond between RIM and Business. 

Banking on Digital Money, Cloud & Mobile

When the world decides to Bank on Digital Money we will Go Green and change the way we handle Money!

Will Banks change to Digtial money, in the last five decades I have see the face of Banking change globally and Digital Money will also be the future of Banking.
My first experience with Banks was when I  operated a Children's Saving Account with a Bank in Bangalore. I could not  see the bank employees face at the teller for many years, I was too short to reach the window. But my father persisted that I learn how to Bank and he taught me to get my bank statement (held in little note book called a passbook) manually updated from huge paper based ledgers. The bank used to  give me a nice metal token when I had to withdraw money, the process of getting your money from your Bank those days did take a while, so I always carried a  book with me. Most of this remains true even today for traditional brick and mortar banking in India. 

My first tryst with electronic banking was when I joined the local partner of Unisys in India and had to support Unisys Banking Solutions. 

My first usage of electronic banking was at Adelaide, Australia (1990) where the Unisys solutions were used for retail and wholesale banking. I opened a bank account at Adelaide and closed my bank account in Sydney before I left Australia; this was not possible in India even in 1990. 

Later I learnt how to use ATM's in a Building Society in UK  (1991) where you could not only withdraw money from the ATM but also manage the money you had with the Bank. Today I do most of my banking on the Internet and Mobile Banking is already making its entry into India.

The global electronic banking experience motivated me to join the team setting up India's first automated Exchange targeted at SMB companies know as the OTCEI, we used dial up phones to put through stock transactions on an X.25 overlay network known as I-net, and our brokers could trade. We could reach  pan India with technology, but unfortunately the Indian Banks were not geared for T+1  settlement cycle, we had to lean on Citibank India  for a pan India electronic clearing network in 1992. I cite the OTCEI example for the skeptics who believe that technology cannot be harnessed in developing or under developed countries.

The photo above captures the sunrise of Banking on Digital Money,Cloud and Mobile,
but we see an eclipse starting at the top of the photo, because of resistance to change by Bankers.

With the advent of Digital Money the way we bank will change forever, imagine if Central Banks did not have to print money and the economics of printing and transporting cash changes.  

Digital Money is a reality and has been successful in many countries but the cost of technology for transaction still remains an issue for poorer and developing countries.  

If we can roll out the Banking applications on the Cloud, Temenos has already shown us how to do this, then banks in poorer countries could harness the cloud and deliver banking on Mobile devices to their customers. 

Add a robust wireless network and we have Banking on Digital Money working on the Cloud with the mobile as the end point device!.

This would be the future,where we can discard our credit cards, bulky wallets with travelers cheques and cash and commercially transact from our mobile devices.
Imagine  more than half of the population of the world which is un-banked can now handle money and understand finance; imagine the cultural changes this transition will bring about !

Information Security will continue to be a barrier, but Banks have continued Banking even with many security breaches in conventional banking. Security solutions will be found  for Secure Banking on Digital Money on the Cloud and Mobile Device.
Many countries have demonstrated the success of Mobile Banking, but Digital Money will change the  face of Banking as we know it today.
The potential of Digital Money banked on the Cloud & Mobile in tandem with a robust wireless network is Immense!

Note this blog is inspired by Mr. Krishna Kumar's article "  Mobile Commerce Awaits a Rural Destiny in India."

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