Description Mid-code Crisis http://www.symphonyteleca.com Thu, 21 March 2013 11:49:00 Thu, 21 March 2013 11:49:00 Ramesh Kumar R http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2013/demystifying-the-big-deal’-about-big-data.aspx This blog post was orginally published on CXOToday.com on March 21, 2013. To begin with, Big Data is not a product or technique, nor is it a newfound buzzword, when put in the right context. There are certain types of business problems that clearly fit into the category of Big Data and the reason the word Big Data came into existence. Social Media with its unstructured and semi structured data sets like tweets, chat messages, audio, video etc. is one such example. The sheer volume, variety of data sources and formats were not manageable with the - traditional database technologies at reasonable costs. Thus came into existence, Big Data with NoSQL, Hadoop and a whole new suite of techniques and technologies to address the problem of how to store, process, analyze and derive meaning from these data sets. New and evolving technologies in analytics have now made possible many aspects, which were considered impossible earlier. Data management systems handle a wide variety of data from social media, sensor data and web data. Improved analytical capabilities in predictive analytics and text analytics are also referred to as advanced analytics. Faster hardware with multi core processors and distributed computing have all made it possible to manage large and complex data sets. Big data involves bringing together these technologies and techniques to benefit the business. Mapping Big Data for the Enterprise Big Data has predominantly been described in terms of the nature of data - namely data volume, data formats and data frequency. For an enterprise, what is important is to map "so what" and "what now" from the business point of view. Businesses need to leverage the varying forms of data and not just limit themselves to structured data within the enterprise. Over 40 to 80 per cent of, an enterprise's stored data resides in an unstructured format in the form of text documents, web pages, media formats, (audio, video, photos), office software (presentations, project plans). Enterprises that are able to manage and use their complete range of data assets stand to have a competitive edge over their competitors. For example combining the information stored in an Insurance claim system in the form of text (semi structured) when parsed and combined with the information about the customer stored in a structured data set may provide valuable insight into fraudulent claims. Another example is a Retail solution, using real time targeting of recommendations to registered user while they are still actively looking up products on the online Retail store. This would involve combining, complex event processing (CEP) algorithms with metrics available on the customers and their purchase patterns. The richness of marrying the two is not just a "nice to have" functionality, but it is becoming a significant component of the reality, due to the influence of the digital world and the new and multiple channels like social media through mobile, tablets and the web. The biggest challenge faced by organizations is the integration of the data assets across structured and unstructured data and overcoming poor performance on a larger scale. Techniques of text analytics and distributed computing have matured and are being used today to address these problems. Using commodity hardware, cloud computing, off the shelf software tools and open source have all made it possible to take advantage of Big Data in cost effective ways. From Big Data to Big Decisions The need of the hour is to expand on the traditional Business Intelligence and bring in the predictive and advanced analytics like sentiment analysis; identifying Patterns to not only predict but prescribe the actions when they occur, and provide optimized solutions by leveraging multiple streams of data. Big Data is not a silver bullet; it needs a combination of the knowledge of business lifecycles and processes coupled with the new technologies and techniques. This is best done by combining the in-house expertise of business and subject matter experts, with an external partner who can get the required competency on the technology and techniques. It is important to understand the ROI using a controlled exercise, and validating it through a proof of concept before selecting the approach and implementing it for your business. The way to join the big data bandwagon is to be agile and go for the quick wins. Taking a low cost, low risk approach and gaining momentum on insight into your data that can then be used to build bigger and long term, compelling Big Data Solutions. The focus needs to be on the business problem you are trying to solve and not the technology. Ask the right business questions and engage with the right partner who can work with you in an agile mode to get you the quick wins. About the Author Ramesh Kumar R is a Senior Vice President within the Analytics Division at Symphony Teleca. Ramesh frequently writes about Big Data and data analytics. Connect with Ramesh on LinkedIn .    http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2013/demystifying-the-big-deal’-about-big-data.aspx http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2013/demystifying-the-big-deal’-about-big-data.aspx Thu, 21 March 2013 11:49:00 Andrew Till http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2013/why-blackberry-can-regain-momentum-in-the-enterprise.aspx This blog post was originally published on Forbes.com on 2/27/2013. BlackBerry has realized that in order to stay relevant the company must refocus on what it has always done best: delivering, first and foremost, enterprise messaging and productivity solutions. Once known as King of the Enterprise, the company's recent announcements should give them a fighting chance at earning back that title - that's if developers and third party consultants buy into it. Of course, Blackberry is now dealing with a very different enterprise market, where BYOD [bring your own device] has become the dominant model. Whether you're buying your own device or using a company supplied one, the key drivers for purchasers are strong email and personal information management software, a great phonebook and battery life of a full working day. Having spent some time with the platform, here are the advantages I believe BlackBerry has on its side: The BlackBerry 10 platform: This robust platform is fast and highly responsive, putting BlackBerry on a competitive level with other competing smartphone OS platforms. It is built on QNX, which has been the leading software platform for the automotive industry for many years. This means that although it's new as a mobile phone platform, unlike other new entrants it is far from being an immature platform. The lack of applications: Many see this as a weakness and a major barrier for the company, but I beg to differ. By not offering an overabundance of consumer apps, the company underscores its focus on the enterprise and productivity as its target market and shows decision makers that they are not getting lost playing the consumer hype game. Having the right apps that enhance the power of what is essentially a mobile productivity tool is much more important for BlackBerry's target market than having 30,000 different wallpaper themes. The user interface: Blackberry's new user interface has clearly been optimized around messaging with its unique hub set up which allows access to all your messages and conversations at any time, from any application. Also, the enhanced predictive text experience is simply a joy to use and is going to force a lot of companies to re-think how they optimize and speed up message input on their devices. Don't be surprised if you find that new Z10 users are sending you long emails that you never thought possible for someone to write without a physical keyboard. Secure access and remote management: BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10, the company's new version of its Web-based mobility management software, allows an enterprise to remotely manage security settings for all employees' smartphones and provide secure access to corporate data through the devices. BlackBerry Balance, a new feature, helps users keep their personal and work information in separate spaces on their phone (something that several companies have been trying to do without success on Android for some time). This feature works well and addresses a clear pain point for professional users. It's this type of thought and attention to detail, geared toward the mobile prosumer, that will enable BlackBerry to regain its high value position in the enterprise market. Keyboard options: The few who have stuck with RIM through its fall from grace say the keypad is what sets the phone apart from the sea of touchscreen devices. The company's announcement of both touchscreen and keypad models allows an option for both those who loved the old version and those who have been tempted by the Apple and Android products on the market. Another interesting aspect is the care and attention to detail in ensuring a strong level of commonality between the QWERTY and Touch models. This will enable users to seamlessly move between different form factors, which could prove invaluable in a world where people increasingly own multiple mobile devices. Cross Platform Integration: Perhaps more for the future, but QNX, the foundation of BB10 is still a leading OS for the automotive market. This will give BlackBerry the potential to develop innovative in-car experiences that could be highly attractive to the prosumer market. Seamless integration of voice, video and navigation experiences are still not where they need to be as a whole and no other company in the world owns the in-car and mobile device platform in the way that BlackBerry does. I believe BlackBerry has some of the key ingredients necessary to win back the hearts of those customers who left them for the sleeker, more popular Android and Apple devices. However, Blackberry's ultimate success will lie in whether or not developers who have shifted their attention to the more complex operating systems will support BB10. The fact that the company is no longer behind in the specification stakes - now using multi-core processors, high capacity imagers, full touchscreens, advanced graphics acceleration and a wide range of sensors - may help attract developers. But will it be too little too late? Only time will tell, but it is certainly fair to say that Blackberry has come out fighting above its weight and so far not disappointed. About the Author Andrew Till is the SVP and Head of Mobile and Media Devices within the Mobile & Connected Devices Division at Symphony Teleca. He's a frequent speaker on mobile device, the mobile industry and technology. Connect with Andrew on LinkedIn or leave a comment below. http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2013/why-blackberry-can-regain-momentum-in-the-enterprise.aspx http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2013/why-blackberry-can-regain-momentum-in-the-enterprise.aspx Wed, 27 February 2013 08:14:00 Andrew Till http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2013/the-smartphone-os-debate-to-stay-single-or-to-mingle.aspx This blog post was originally published on Wired.com on 2/25/2013. OEMs continue to be in a quandary if they should bet everything on one OS or should they spread the risk. Let's take a closer look at the pros and cons of embracing a single OS and multi-OS strategy. Although Linux was introduced in the open source space 21 years ago, it's only the last five years that have witnessed significant adoption on mobile platforms. Although Linux quickly found a home in the server and then desktop world, the mobile Industry was much slower in embracing it. In part, this was because most device vendors viewed their legacy platforms as containing their core DNA, which enabled them to differentiate in the market. It was Google's Android platform that predominantly drove the change. However, as iOS rapidly changed the market for Smart Devices by linking hardware, software and content in a seamless "consumer focused" package, many device vendors scrambled to compete and turned to Android as the answer. Now that iOS and Android dominate 90 percent of the global smartphone market, OEMs continue to be in a quandary if they should bet everything on one OS or should they spread the risk. With smartphone sales continuing to grow rapidly around the world, the high volume has provided an opportunity for OEMs to seriously consider alternative OS platforms as a route to differentiate their offerings and as a vehicle to reach niche markets that may not be fully accessible by iOS or Android. The Single OS Strategy Let's first look at a vendor on a single OS strategy and consider the pros and cons of such an approach. Clearly Apple is the best exponent of the single OS approach. What works: Apple's singular focus has enabled it to create a strong marriage between its SW, HW and content services that clearly are class leading. It is able to achieve massive economies of scale/price efficiencies through its manufacturing processes. Apple has pioneered "smart open sourcing". The App developers can achieve high levels of re-use thus making the platform more attractive. Simple and easy for consumers to move from one generation of device to another. New services and features can rapidly be deployed to the entire customer base (as seen with the recent update of iOS 5). What doesn't work: Challenged to support the mid- and lower-end of the market segment. While Apple would no doubt argue that this is not strategic to its brand, it does mean that it leaves the next generation of up and coming potential buyers to its competitors. If you make a mistake, as Apple recently experienced with the launch of its own Maps solution, it is replicated everywhere and the damage is amplified more quickly across the entire customer base. There is a potentially higher risk of exposure to change in consumer tastes and demands. Nokia, another vendor to adopt the single OS strategy with its Windows Phone, has suffered from wide consumer apathy towards the Windows Phone platform, and this being despite many positive consumer reviews of its Windows Phone handsets. Though Nokia has worked hard to bring a new range of devices to market and has delivered those ahead of many analysts' expectations, it is unlikely to emerge as the platform that restores the company to its former glory. Of course, one major difference between Apple and Nokia is ownership of the OS platform and thus the overall level of flexibility to drive product roadmaps and to rapidly respond to market conditions. Of course both these OS platforms are closed environments with only the device vendor able to modify the platform source code. Given the success that Apple has experienced with a single OS strategy why should OEMs consider a multi-OS play? The simple answer is innovation. The Multi-OS Strategy Today, vendors appear to find it more challenging to differentiate via hardware alone. This coupled with expectations, in terms of maximum value for money, is pushing the OEMs to constantly look for options to gain an edge in the market. So let's now take a deeper look at the pros and cons of embracing a multi-OS approach: What Works Leverage the best OS for a given market opportunity or market segment. Increased responsiveness to market changes - consumers suddenly favor OS A over OS B. Easier to experiment with new ideas without wider impact to the product portfolio. Decreases risk/ dependency on a single OS vendor. Can stimulate higher levels of innovation as the latest OS innovations will be available to in-house development teams. Ability to contribute to open platforms. What Doesn't Work Potentially higher software development costs Potentially higher hardware costs due to reduced economies of scale Lower levels of re-use between devices / OS platforms May reduce influence with OS owner / developer Hard for users to move between devices if they have different OSs A more complex environment for third-party developers The Middle Path While iOS and Android hold majority share in the  market, alternative options like Firefox OS, BlackBerry 10/QNX, Tizen, Windows Phone, Ubuntu Mobile to name a few, are available to OEMs. And of course device vendors are fully capable of leveraging the Linux Kernel to develop their own Linux-based platform. Perhaps the biggest entry barrier for a new OS to flourish will be in the downloadable apps area. One of the big advantages for Android is access to Google Play for the millions of devices. But Android too started from scratch. Apple's App Store has over 700,000 apps, while Google's Play is not far behind. So, any new player needs to be able to rapidly grow the number of apps available on the platform in order to compete with Google or iOS. Another challenge is that most of today's open platforms leverage open components but are not true open source platforms by most definitions. This can present users of such platforms with challenges in terms of upstreaming and maintaining their core platform as they implement enhancements, new features or unique differentiation. Thus there still remains space for a true open source platform in the market - Could Tizen take this position with Samsung's strong support? Open platforms too come with a fair share of challenges to the OEMs, posing a dilemma for OEMs in terms of being caught between upgrades to existing models and new phone creation. Upgrades bring a price as they still typically required device vendors to re-integrate operator specific requirements; any differentiated offerings, and perform thorough platform testing. As a final word, a hybrid of Closed and Open OS may prove to be the best strategy to support the core driver of the market- innovation. It also boils down to the OEM's aspirations and capabilities. Embracing a multi-OS strategy calls for a strong ecosystem management model to gain maximum efficiencies and operational economies of scale. This can leverage the best of both worlds for any device vendor. About the Author Andrew Till is the SVP and Head of Mobile and Media Devices within the Mobile & Connected Devices Division at Symphony Teleca. He's a frequent speaker on mobile device, the mobile industry and technology. Connect with Andrew on LinkedIn or leave a comment below. http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2013/the-smartphone-os-debate-to-stay-single-or-to-mingle.aspx http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2013/the-smartphone-os-debate-to-stay-single-or-to-mingle.aspx Mon, 25 February 2013 13:14:00 Dave Evans http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2013/6-points-cios-should-evaluate-for-embracing-soclomo-and-analytics-in-the-enterprise.aspx This article was originally published on Informationweek.com on 1/24/2013. The next great evolution in computing is driven by four key technology trends - Social, Cloud, Mobile (SoCloMo) and Analytics and the time is ripe for the CIOs to gear up to implement these enabling technologies to drive down costs and increase revenue opportunities. CIOs are today grappling with the next great evolution in computing, which is defined by the transformation of monolithic isolated silos of data and functionality into new enterprise platforms, which are built using a connected mesh of services, functionality and information. This evolution is fundamentally changing the way enterprises do business. It is breaking down traditional boundaries, changing the way enterprises interact with their customers and partners, and is creating new ways of generating sustainable competitive advantage and growth. Four key technology trends are driving this evolution faster and further ahead: Social, Cloud, Mobile ("SoCoMo") and Analytics. Social Platforms Social platforms provide a missing dimension to enterprise solutions. Previously, enterprise solutions knew only about 'widgets' and processes such as manufacturing and shipping.  Now, with the addition of a social dimension, enterprises can tightly link their business processes with their customer behaviors. Importantly, these social platforms are extending the enterprises own internal networks, allowing them to break down the barriers between the various business functions. Cloud Computing The commoditization of the computing stack by the cloud-computing paradigm has driven rapid innovation - from application development to service hosting. World-class, highly scalable and robust computing is now available to a much broader range of enterprises and applications: with Software as a Service (SaaS) applications growing to fill every niche.  The prevailing architectural approach used is a platform approach, enabling functionality to be rapidly 'plugged' together to create new and innovative solutions. For example, if a parcel delivery solution is required, express carrier and packaging companies can now provide fully packaged platforms that are ready to be quickly plugged into their unique solutions being built. Mobile Mobile data has exploded.  The rapid adoption in the consumer space has changed the expectations of the business user and has led to emergence of trends like 'Bring Your Own Device'. But perhaps the greatest challenge, and opportunity lies in how to extend the enterprise's own business processes so that they can benefit from their customers bringing own devices, which are powerful computing, communication and sensor devices. Analytics The use of SoCoMo technologies has resulted in an exponential increase in the complexity and cost of data analysis.  Today's enterprises demand insight and information. In other words, they want answers, not just data. Big Data technologies like Hadoop and Hana have increased an enterprise's ability to crunch large amounts of data in order to dynamically provide answers to the most difficult business questions. Yet, the biggest development in analytics has been the move from the descriptive to the prescriptive; rather than describing what has happened, enterprises want to be able to predict and model what could happen next. And this in itself has become more difficult. Simple data types are being augmented with new, rich data types - social graphs, imagery, videos, and locations are combined and analyzed in real-time. All this has driven the need for new technologies such as in-memory database stacks, rapid algorithm tooling, information visualization and distribution. By combining SoCoMo and Analytics with their existing platforms, enterprises can accelerate change better than ever before. They can create business processes that extend beyond their boundaries, drive costs down and increase revenue opportunities.  And the 'business of doing business' has started to automatically fine-tune according to prescriptive analytics based on real-time data feeds that are generated by socially connected business functions. Points CIOs Should be Evaluating IDC predicts that during 2012, 20 percent of enterprise IT spend will be on emerging technology areas, with 2012 beckoning as the year of mobile ascendency. The biggest barrier for enterprises in embracing SoCoMo and analytics is the incredible breadth and depth of technology and process challenges. Social brings with it a range of privacy and security challenges; cloud needs new operational processes and skill sets; mobile requires a host of new development platforms and testing methodologies, and analytics often requires higher 'PhD level' expertise. So how do enterprises overcome the above challenges and realize the gains?  Where is the right place to start?  First things first, enterprises should make an honest assessment of how well prepared their existing platforms are for these new technologies. For example, how many of the enterprise's existing solutions are truly Service Orientated Architected? What mobile devices are they already in use and how are these managed? What is the quality of the existing data and how well can it be 'moved around' the organization? Enterprises should also develop a holistic strategy in order to avoid the common pitfalls arising from the use of new technologies to deliver isolated projects. These isolated projects fail to deliver value because they lack a common technology basis and cannot be scaled to the rapidly changing business needs. Thus, an enterprise needs to ask itself the following questions: How can the social graph improve and transform our customer and partner interactions? What's more important - public or private social networks? What information can we realistically acquire to make better decisions? How do we use social networks internally? What happens to business processes when we put more of these into the hands of our customers, partners and employees?  How can the processes be revolutionized by mobility and the new device capabilities? How can we accelerate our ambition through the cloud? What criteria do we need so that we can safely deploy areas that are often mission critical areas outside the firewall? Where is the information that can change the game for the enterprise beyond its competition? Where will analytics specifically drive competitive advantage? How do we get the right skill sets for integrating this new insight into our business functions? CIOs who have got to the grips with SoCoMo and analytics have already begun to execute projects in key business areas, which can be supercharged by use of these technologies, by evaluating various technology vendors who can demonstrate capability in one or more of these areas and also have the credibility in delivering business transformation using all these technologies. About the Author Dave Evans is based in Reading, UK, Dave is the SVP & CTO of the Enterprise Division at Symphony Teleca. Dave brings with him over 25 years of broad experience in business and technonology and is a seasoned CTO both for established corporatations and start-ups. Comment on the blog post, leave Dave a message or connect with him on LinkedIn . http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2013/6-points-cios-should-evaluate-for-embracing-soclomo-and-analytics-in-the-enterprise.aspx http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2013/6-points-cios-should-evaluate-for-embracing-soclomo-and-analytics-in-the-enterprise.aspx Thu, 24 January 2013 10:16:00 Keith Higgins http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2013/transforming-retail-through-social-media.aspx This blog post was originally published on Voiceanddata.com on 1/23/2013. Review sites, social networking, and mobile devices are valuable tools for savvy consumers today. For retailers, these tools are creating a mountain of valuable data, which, if analyzed properly in real-time, can significantly transform the retail experience especially at point of sale. Here's how the 'meaning of like' is transforming retail today. The State of Social Commerce Research states that 64% of the smartphone users shop online using their devices, while over 167 mn people will shop online this year and spend an average of $1,800 per person. Online shoppers consider social sites as valuable and credible resources for searching products and services, with 40% of the users say that they search for products through Twitter, while 60% of the Facebook users say they would discuss a product or service if they were offered a discount or a deal of some kind. Around a third of smartphone users have shared their location with a retail company using a check-in service. Of the 6 bn mobile phone users across the world, 62% hope to use location based services one day. For example, Walmart's Facebook page has nearly 20 mn likes and over 1 mn people are actively talking about them. Walmart's efforts around the world, product advertising, and various forms of marketing make their way to Facebook. On Twitter, close to 7,854 accounts are created every day. On a day with high traffic, there are around 175 mn tweets. Another staggering example is of Starbucks which has over 2,800,000 followers, just for their Starbucks Coffee account. Google+ is another social media tool that is seeing phenomenal activity, having over 150 mn active users, and new updates or features being launched every day. For example, Samsung USA has 779,958 +1's on Google+, their approach being to provide updates about their newest products, occasionally using celebrities to promote them. Sites, Smartphones, and Socializing The statistics below are an interesting representative of how much social and community tools impact buyers: Customer Reviews-59% Question & Answer-42% Internet Forums-26% User-generated Videos-15% Facebook Fan Page-13% Facebook Newsfeed-13% Mobile-9% Twitter-9% Links to user generated content (eg, review sites, Facebook, Twitter) make up a quarter of the search results for the top 20 brands in the world. In the year 2014, it's predicted that internet will influence 53% of all retail sales, both online and offline. Analyzing the trends on how shoppers are using their smartphones, the following results came up: 33% of shoppers looked for sales and specials 33% checked store info 32% looked at product reviews and ratings 31% compared prices on Amazon 31% checked out an online store for a certain product 29% looked around at other online retailers other than Amazon 27% used a site that focuses on providing competitive prices 26% made sure the store had a product in their inventory 24% scouted the prices for certain products on a retailer's mobile site 85% of people anticipate a change in their shopping behavior in response to the growing number of user generated content. Changing the Retail Experience in Real-Time Using mobile point-of-sale (PoS) transactions, businesses, such as Apple, are working to eliminate long lines and reduce lost sales from long waits. More businesses are able to set up their stores faster and advertise exclusive deals and offers using tools such as Facebook places and Foursquare. Retailers are also able to use the information obtained from social media and smartphone data to supply consumers with targeted offers when it's relevant to where they're shopping. Aside from being a delivery mechanism for special offers, smartphones provide the location of a user and what they might be doing at a specific moment. Data Creation and Utilization Retailers use POS system data to analyze sales records, inventory, and consumer data. Knowledge obtained via loyalty data and individual transactions is used to better understand consumer spending patterns and, improve sales campaign targeting. Utilizing data obtained from social media is being actively implemented to analyze customer behavior and address their potential needs. Research indicates that online and web based American retail sales will become over half of all sales by 2013. The average retailer in the US has almost 700 terabytes of stored data. Utilizing big data could increase retailers' operating margins by 60%. It's also anticipated that there will be a 30% annual growth in the quantity of connected nodes. The further adoption and development of big data levers have boosted many retail companies' capacity to increase productivity by at least 0.5% every year until 2020. The effects on operating margins in various levers are indicated as marketing (10%-30%), merchandising (10%-40%), and supply chain (5%-35%). The decision for consumers to make a purchase is contingent on a number of factors in the modern age. These include comments made on review sites, through real-time updates via mobile devices, and numerous posts on social networks. By mining this mountain of data, retailers have the potential to further improve their point of sale experience. About the Author Chief Marketing Officer Keith Higgins provides a Symphony Teleca insider's perspective on technology innovation and customer challenges. Comment on the blog post, leave Keith a message or connect with him on LinkedIn . http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2013/transforming-retail-through-social-media.aspx http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2013/transforming-retail-through-social-media.aspx Wed, 23 January 2013 15:15:00 Alan Harlan http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2013/transformation-of-corporate-software-for-a-connected-world.aspx This blog post was originally published on Sandhill.com on 1/15/3013. Advances in mobile devices, wireless networking, the Internet and new technologies and apps delivered in the cloud have radically changed the enterprise software landscape.  To succeed, today's independent software vendors (ISVs) must find new ways to innovate and differentiate themselves within a highly competitive and increasingly complex marketplace where specialization and customization are taking the lead.  They must radically change their processes and strategies for designing, developing and commercializing products with speed and precision. In this new fast-paced and highly competitive industry, many ISVs are collaborating with product development specialists at the earliest stages - at the product ideation stage - to leverage their industry-specific expertise as well as best practices gathered from past experience to help ISVs successfully ideate, build and deliver superior products much faster than the competition. Product ideation partners are not only helping ISVs build superior products or enhance existing solutions for different uses, but also are helping them transform their core processes to impact the way they deliver those solutions to end users. High-growth markets, such as healthcare and smart energy, are realizing the benefits of bringing in product development experts at the ideation stage to conceive and deliver products that stay one step ahead of the fast pace of change and help them redefine their core processes and technology infrastructure. Below are some of the best practices that leading ISVs are implementing to transform the design development and commercialization of software. Leverage new usability design and technology: New design and technology approaches must keep pace with changing end-user needs. For example, the huge growth in smart phones, tablets and other connected devices creates a range of usability challenges for a consistent cross-platform experience that provides complete enterprise application functionality to end-users across devices.  Added to that, differences in screen size, processing power, wireless performance and new user interfaces make it necessary to leverage the most advanced and innovative UI platforms. According to NPD In-Stat, the connected device base will increase from 256 million devices in 2011 to at least 1.34 billion by 2016 (NPD In-Stat, Jan. 2012, "The Global Market for Connected and Smart CE Devices," #IN1204884RC). Key industries are leveraging this trend to differentiate themselves in a crowded market.  In the automotive industry, in-vehicle infotainment is becoming the mark of distinction. But how can an ISV provide complete functionality in a mobile environment while optimizing application performance?  The key is to implement the latest processes and technologies in UI design and testing. Address the software-as-a-service trend: Shifting from a traditional on-premises software delivery model to a hosted or software-as-a-service model has fundamentally changed the economics of software and also opened up new opportunities for software developers.  The nature of SaaS enables companies to reduce capital and operational costs and dramatically improve their business models.  Gartner predicted that SaaS revenue would reach $14.5 billion in 2012, with strong growth predicted through 2015 when the market is expected to reach $22.1 billion (Gartner, March 2012, "Forecast:  Software-as-a-Service, All Regions 2010-2015"). While this delivery model is a highly complex and multi-stage process, leading-edge software developers have embraced SaaS as a way to deliver applications to a wide range of customers, which previously were restricted because of the cost and IT requirements, cost-effectively and with little investment of customer IT resources. Capitalize on the power of real-time analytics: Given the growth of Big Data, one of the most powerful tools for companies today is their analytics capabilities. For many companies, huge amounts of dynamic, structured and unstructured data must be analyzed in real time in a secure environment in order to benefit the organization. According to IDC, the business analytics software market grew by 14.1 percent in 2011 and will continue to grow at a 9.8 percent annual rate, reaching $50.7 billion in 2016. Today's software developers must develop solutions that address the pressing need for solutions that enable companies to synthesize, analyze and act upon the knowledge gained through Big Data to provide predictive intelligence in real time.   Monetize new markets: Software transformation has the potential to open new markets and sources of significant revenue for ISVs.  For example, by simply mobilizing software ISVs can take their solutions to new markets or regions.  ISVs must leverage the innovation and proven product families - adapting the core technology features and tailoring them for new industries or users.  Additionally, ISVs are constantly looking at next-generation products and functionality product roadmaps and will need to rebalance subject matter experts on core products and strongly ideate to meet this challenge. Revisit current technology practices: Modernizing traditional software development practices such as Agile, multi-site development processes, quality, automation and outsourcing of non-core product lines to free up R&D budgets are some of the ways that leading ISVs are accomplishing their transformational initiatives or software development goals. They understand that they must leverage service providers to provide best-in-class practices around core processes, products and technology. This can be accomplished utilizing product development best practices, which should combine business-level KPIs and PDLC metrics that accelerate time to market, while managing distributed development methodologies, with the ultimate goal of producing the highest-quality source code possible. As the landscape for ISVs continues to change dramatically with innovative technologies, solutions and business models continuing to evolve, there is tremendous opportunity for companies to not only create next- generation products to meet newfound needs, but also to find new uses for existing products by adapting them to meet the needs of emerging market segments. When ISVs work in concert with product development experts to spark creativity and innovation in products, processes and technology, as well as collaborate on design, development and product delivery, true business transformation and success ensues. About the Author Alan Harlan is the Executive Vice President and General Manager for the ISV Division at Symphony Teleca. Alan has over 25 years of experience in the IT and outsourcing services industry serving in executive accounting, technology and sales roles. Connect with Alan on LinkedIn or leave a comment below. http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2013/transformation-of-corporate-software-for-a-connected-world.aspx http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2013/transformation-of-corporate-software-for-a-connected-world.aspx Tue, 15 January 2013 14:09:00 Andrew Till http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2013/4-ways-technology-will-enable-a-more-connected-2013.aspx This blog post was originally published on Forbes.com on 1/04/2013. The year 2013 has arrived and with it comes endless opportunities for companies to leverage the advanced technologies hitting the market. This is never truer than what the world gets to see at the first huge show of the year - CES - this month in Las Vegas. From devices that operate only by voice to in-car app stores, consumers are continuing to become more sophisticated in their use of mobile technologies and organizations are being forced to find ways to stay relevant. This year is bound to be exciting and full of incredible innovations, but it will also be a year where we see long-awaited technologies like Near Field Communication and remote vehicle management actually become commonplace. We'll watch as consumers become even more connected, creating opportunities for companies to further enable their mobile workforces and for brands to engage with customers on a multitude of new levels. Here are some of my predictions for 2013: User interfaces will be commanded by voice, not touch 2013 will bring an increased emphasis on voice recognition enablement technologies with devices able to recognize voices more distinctly than ever before. Speed will be a key focus, especially on higher end smartphones, as providing rapid user feedback is key to a successful experience. Developers who were spending time building intricate touch screens and do-all keyboards in 2012 will turn their attention to voice, creating devices that are more convenient to use, especially while multi-tasking. We should also expect to see more intelligent use of voice recognition capabilities linked to the task that the user is performing. For example if they are using a navigation application then the recognition engine should focus on street names and tasks related to navigation when trying to resolve conflicts. Consumers will maintain more control over their digital personas We will see a trend this year of consumers demanding federated control of their identities across platforms and devices, seeking to manage their digital personas not just on their own devices but across all devices where their profile is present. For example, instead of choosing the image that is associated with each person in your phonebook, those individuals will begin to choose how they are represented, unifying their online personality across devices. NFC will become the norm, enabling consumer lifecycle engagement A tremendous number of people will have devices with near-field communications, or NFC (Research In Motion, Nokia, Sony, Google and many others are now shipping devices with NFC) - a critical mass of NFC-equipped phones just may be coming together and it may find a home in the enterprise as well. NFC tags will also be on individual consumer products, allowing companies to engage and maintain a relationship with individual consumers throughout the lifecycle of the product. The interaction that used to end at the cashier will now extend out and brands will be able to send updates and analyze usage remotely. The car will become the new smartphone This year, the auto industry will act on the realization that they're facing the same challenges that phone and tablet developers faced in the last few years and will start to adopt similar approaches to their software development problems. The auto industry will also see a buying trend around infotainment capabilities and rear-seat features versus historic qualities of evaluation such as engine size or cabin room. Software and hardware developers all around the globe are spending endless hours inventing what will be the "next big thing," but thousands of IT experts will have their hands full helping companies understand how they can harness the remarkable technologies that are already invented. What will be the "best of" list for 2013? Only time will tell. About the Author Andrew Till is the SVP and Head of Mobile and Media Devices within the Mobile & Connected Devices Division at Symphony Teleca. He's a frequent speaker on mobile device, the mobile industry and technology. Connect with Andrew on LinkedIn or leave a comment below. http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2013/4-ways-technology-will-enable-a-more-connected-2013.aspx http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2013/4-ways-technology-will-enable-a-more-connected-2013.aspx Fri, 04 January 2013 11:01:00 Robert Kempf http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/hot-trends-at-upcoming-2013-international-ces-.aspx The 2013 International CES is just a few weeks away and we are all very excited to see a myriad of new products and services launched at the show. But just how will it different from previous years? Known as the world's largest "consumer electronics show", the International CES has evolved to become more of a "connected experiences show" in recent years. With its cross-industry relevance and increasing presence from the automotive, media and broadcast, software, healthcare and mobile industries, the International CES has became the event for learning about the latest and greatest trends in modern connected technology products. Visitors will be confronted with a massive line-up of enhanced Smart TVs and a growing number of Ultra HDTV resolution TVs like those from Samsung and LG Display . In addition, we will also see real human-machine-interface (HMI) innovation allowing for gesture or voice control of the TVs. Though gesture recognition is still in its infancy, it represents a promising attempt to make our remote controls obsolete in the near future. It may also lead to new HMI innovation in automobiles.  Speaking of remote controls, it surely will be another hot topic at the show, highlighting the increasing importance of wireless home automation and its connection to smartphones and tablets. Having control over lighting, shields, TVs and the stereo system through our smartphone, tablet and PC will only become more desirable. The 2013 International CES will show us the latest progress in this area and the complexity involved in enabling control from arbitrary devices and form-factors for the next generation digital home. This will include innovative systems like Loewe's Iris Smart Kit System for home protection that just won a CES Innovation Award. Equally important will be the on demand use of services for consumers requiring seamless cloud services integration with ubiquitous broadband connectivity. Accessing content on all devices at any given time will deliver the next wave of rich media experiences. This aspect will also become more important for the automotive industry with next generation connected cars delivering a much richer access to content and services via the cloud.  Mercedes-Benz, Ford, Honda and six other leading automotive OEMs will provide us the latest news in this area during the Consumer Telematics Show just one day before CES. The importance of the mobile apps ecosystems and the development and integration of applications across platforms, operating systems and device types will be another key theme again spanning all industries represented at CES. A surprisingly high number of 215 exhibitors for healthcare and fitness devices will also present solutions for accessing and managing biometric data. With modern sensors and connected smartphones, the 2013 International CES will likely showcase a number of very exciting mobile health solutions. We will also see the latest and greatest in wireless technology and the mobile wallet, which is still one of the areas where the exponential growth prediction is delayed year by year. From a technical perspective this topic seems now under control allowing for secure anywhere, anytime mobile payments and with NFC being a key enabler. However, with too many competing consortiums and individual companies trying to be successful in deploying wireless payment a broad consumer adoption is yet to be seen. Last but not least, I looking forward to see the latest innovation in 3D printing. Though still a niche appliance, it is one that might hit our homes soon in a more massive way as a new gadget! So there you have it, a preview of the upcoming 2013 International CES. If you are attending the show, be sure to come and visit Symphony Teleca's Connected Experience Center , located at the LVH, Suite #2588. Schedule a one-on-one meeting with us and learn more about our capabilities and offerings in mobile and connected experiences.  About the Author Robert Kempf is the VP and Head of Marketing & Technology for the Mobile & Connected Devices Division at Symphony Teleca. He frequently comments on key trends and challenges in the mobile connected devices ecosystems.  Connect with Robert on LinkedIn  or leave a comment below.   http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/hot-trends-at-upcoming-2013-international-ces-.aspx http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/hot-trends-at-upcoming-2013-international-ces-.aspx Thu, 13 December 2012 11:16:00 Dr. Peter Decker http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/five-factors-to-drive-market-for-automotive-telematics-in-europe.aspx When it comes to telematics development in Europe, one can't help but think back to the early days of Volvo OnCall, BMW Assist, Peugeot Connect, Citroen eTouch and many more. Since then, mobile data capabilities have dramatically improved, yet automotive telematics has remained a lackluster. To uncover the many issues surrounding this matter, 700 and plus industry professionals gathered at this year's Telematics Munich 2012 . After two days of intense group and panel discussions, it became clear that there are several key drivers that could potentially lead telematics to an explosive growth in Europe. Among these factors, five of them could bring immediate impact to the industry. Let me explain.    Tethered Smartphones Vs. Embedded Telematics Unit While the US market continues to be dominated by embedded telematics units , in Europe however, there are at least three setup options available currently, each attempting to address a specific consumer segment: the embedded telematics units for premium cars, tethered and then the un-tethered smartphone solutions. As a result, today we see different auto manufacturers approaching telematics differently. For instance, Ford has heavily invested in smartphone tethering with its SYNC AppLink Solution ; Mercedes-Benz on the other hand, has models that support both options in parallel. So what's a likely driver to increase telematics adoption in the European market and even globally? It comes down to availability - the availability of solutions that support all three telematics approaches. LTE Frequency Bands Aside from the different ways to treat telematics, how can 100Mbit/s data transfer be better supported by LTE is another factor to reconsider in the current telematics architectures. As high-end vehicles like the 2009 S-class Mercedes-Benz can easily has "millions of lines of code" to just get the radio and navigation system working, the urgency to move these parts to the cloud is high on the list of issues for OEMs to tackle. Thus enters LTE, which has been perceived by many as a natural choice with one problem - spectrum or frequency allocation and regional configuration differences. Fortunately, in recent years we have seen car manufacturers, service companies and telecom carriers join forces in developing new technologies that allow for global LTE use. So for Europe and globally, getting these issues resolved will no doubt help drive telematics growth. Governmental Regulation Government regulation is another important driver in telematics development in Europe. If you recall, eCall, an initiative intended to bring rapid assistance to motorists involved in a collision anywhere in the European Union was introduced in 2010. Though the legislation was delayed again and again, the EU has made it clear that it intends to ensure the automatic emergency call system is installed in all new models of cars from 2015 . This and other telematics related legislations in the working will sure boost the penetration of telematics units in new vehicles. Already, industry experts are predicting that by 2018 the telematics units used are likely to be around 16 million for average new cars in the EU. New Business Models With the demand for telematics continues to rise, other industry participants such as insurance companies are quickly drawing up new business models to better respond to the changing market dynamics. In the insurance companies example, as they normalize the cost for insuring cars equipped with telematics units or down in the future offer usage-based insurance packages, the shift will no doubt help telematics to further grow in Europe. It will not only encourage OEMs to bring more telematics to newer vehicles, it will also help consumers to better enjoy the benefits that telematics brings. New Consumer Opportunities Driven by Telematics Data In one of the panel discussions, representatives from Fiat spoke about how to engage and delight consumers in a more meaningful way by using telematics data , both allowing for growing brand loyalty and selling additional consumer oriented telematics services. Imagine advanced vehicle usage and health apps, location based marketing, service and warranty optimization, not to mention Firmware and Software updates Over the Air (F/SOTA). Another topic that raised a lot interest at the conference was the relevance of in-vehicle-infotainment (IVI) systems with regards to telematics growth. During the "User Interface in theCar" panel discussion, my colleague Dean Miles, Senior VP of our automotive business unit and his fellow panelists urged the industry to further explore the need for intelligent human-machine-interface (HMI) solutions. "The time is now" he said, "the auto industry as whole needs to come together to develop better solutions that will not only meet the different driver needs but also keep distractions to a minimum." So there you have it, the highlights of this year's Telematics Update Munich. In my opinion, globally and especially for Europe, there are many significant short-term and long-term opportunities for telematics growth. As a leading service company with a long-history and track record of working with auto manufactures in the areas of telematics, IVI, mobile application development, wireless connectivity and LTE integration, we're committed to innovation and helping our customers to explore the latest trends and develop and deploy superior technology solutions. About the Author Dr. Peter Decker is a Senior Business Development Manager for the Automotive Business Unit at Symphony Teleca, responsible for servicing the German market. Peter has more 15 years of experience in mobile technology and in-depth knowledge of the auto industry. Since joining Symphony Teleca in 2005, Peter has largely focused on helping German automakers by leveraging Symphony Teleca's leading mobile, software and cloud services. Leave a note to Peter below or connect with him on LinkedIn .   http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/five-factors-to-drive-market-for-automotive-telematics-in-europe.aspx http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/five-factors-to-drive-market-for-automotive-telematics-in-europe.aspx Fri, 16 November 2012 14:45:00 James Salter http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/the-race-to-html5-time-to-place-your-bets.aspx One of the hottest topics in the world of connected devices and applications today is HTML5.  Apple, Google and RIM among other major players are betting on HTML5 as it evolves to become the new, dominate standard or otherwise. Why?  Because it could just be that key technology to create a superior user experience on web-enabled devices. Think about this: the immediate impact HTML5 will bring to the mobile ecosystem will be to significantly decrease the need for native apps. This will help to foster new businesses and reduce costs for mobile operators and device manufactures supplying to a range of industries and service providers. With the announcement that Adobe will no longer support Adobe Flash Player on mobile devices after the 11.1 version release, the long time, de-facto standard to deliver video and audio across device categories and operating systems will cease to exist. For HTML5, with its completion in 2014, does this mean that web programmers and app developers will go for it en masse? Well, so far it appears that the shift to HTML5 is coming, if not already here - in an IDC 2012 study, 79% of developers surveyed said that they would be integrating HTML5 as a component into mobile apps this year. Strategy Analytics further believes that sales of HTML5 compatible phones will top 1 billion in 2013 and that ABI Research also claims that there will be over 2 billion HTML5 browsers on mobile devices by 2016 . So where exactly will HTML5 make the most impact? The answer, as I and many of my peers believe, is in consumer electronic products including smartphones, tablets, Smart TVs and automotive infotainment systems.  Whether or not every device OEM agrees with that notion, it does seem that HTML5 is gaining momentum and given time, I can see an even larger market becomes serious about adopting it in the near future as we get closer to 2014. The platform and device providers, the app developer community, and consumer demand will be the biggest influencers on how fast and how many HTML5-based mobile apps will emerge in the coming months. The smart move, as we have advised our customers, is to prepare for a world with both HTML5 browser-based solutions and applications. After all, HTML5's outstanding performance in delivering enhanced video and browsing experiences is just too great to ignore. The process of adopting HTML5 requires deep knowledge about device integration techniques, optimization of applications and user experience design in addition to compliance testing. On top of it, the urgency to consider readying your devices for HTML5 is now higher than ever - in this race, getting up to speed today to prepare for tomorrow is critical. How soon will we get there matters, but will you be ready when we get there is the real question.  To delve move into this topic, I recommend that you download a copy of our latest whitepaper: The Race to HTML5 - Are Your Devices Ready? I'm always interested in hearing your opinions, so feel free to leave me a note or get in touch. Thanks. About the Author James Salter is the Marketing Director for the Mobile & Connected Devices Division at Symphony Teleca. He shares his observations of the journey to a mobile and connected world. Comment on the blog post, leave James a message or connect with him on LinkedIn . http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/the-race-to-html5-time-to-place-your-bets.aspx http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/the-race-to-html5-time-to-place-your-bets.aspx Fri, 02 November 2012 14:16:00 Paul Haskitt http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/sae-convergence-2012-emphasizes-new-in-vehicle-network-technologies.aspx Held once every two years, the SAE Convergence Conference & Exhibition in "Motor City" Detroit has for many years, brought together automotive technology leaders from across the industry to address the impact of electronics systems and the issues critical to mobility electronics implementation. This year's SAE was no exception - as I walked through the exhibit hall, I discovered an eclectic mix of automotive OEMs and suppliers showcasing exciting and new electrical components and software solutions like configurable instrument clusters and HTML5 technology bases services.   But among the many new innovations exhibited, I was particularly struck by the heavy emphasis on in-vehicle networks shown this year, for example, Ethernet Audio Video Bridging or EAVB.   If you're familiar with the development history of modern automobile, you'd recall that since the 1990s, cars have employed the CAN bus standard to send data between sensors and engine controllers. As more airbags and safety technologies such as vehicle stability control worked into the cars, these features started to taxing the capabilities of the CAN bus standard's 1MB per second data rate. In addition, majority of global OEM manufacturers today also use CAN bus for communication between ECUs, HU and interfaces. An interesting point about ECUs in today's vehicles is that it's proliferating rapidly - most cars have about 80-100 ECUs in them today. As you can imagine, because of that the wiring costs are escalating and demands on the CAN bus are exceeding its bandwidth capabilities. On the infotainment side of the bus, new demands are also surging to move rich media content with audio and video files. Throw in new camera requirements, these new demands are pushing the industry to adopted higher performing networking solutions.  As a result, higher speed buses have progressed from FlexRay to MOST and now to Ethernet and Ethernet AVB. The timing and sensitive nature of automotive systems require a synchronized network. Though Ethernet is generally not a synchronized network, AVB on the other hand enables network synchronicity and currently supports 100MB per second data rates with the potential for supporting 1GB per second rates, similar to that of the home networks. In addition, Ethernet can also operate on twisted pair wire, again significantly reducing the material and installation costs of vehicle networks. With these and other advantages, it's easy to see why Ethernet AVB solutions are generating large amount of interests in the automotive industry today. Experts believe the move to Ethernet in vehicles will lead to a switch to star network topologies, which require Ethernet switches and routers, from the current bus topology generally in use today. Coming back to the SAE Conference, in addition to our company Symphony Teleca, I saw a number of other companies also showcased their in-vehicle Ethernet capabilities. Cisco for example, recently acquired Jungo, which signaled its intention to expand its reach into the vehicle networking space. Broadcomm is the other contender, plus a new entrant called Excelfore.  Traffic at our booth was brisk throughout the conference with discussions centered on our Ethernet AVB solution . One thing is clear, we're all interested to see how quickly the industry will move away from low-bandwidth vehicle communication networking to take advantage of newer standards to provide better in-vehicle experiences to users.  In my experience, OEMs and suppliers who partner with those on the cutting edge of such technologies now will be better positioned in the near future. About the Author Paul Haskitt is the Solutions Director, Automotive within Symphony Teleca's Mobile and Connected Devices Division. Paul has over 15 years of experience of leading domestic and international business teams and is a recognized leader in the automotive connected vehicle infotainment sector. Connect with Paul on LinkedIn . http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/sae-convergence-2012-emphasizes-new-in-vehicle-network-technologies.aspx http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/sae-convergence-2012-emphasizes-new-in-vehicle-network-technologies.aspx Tue, 23 October 2012 11:23:00 Alan Harlan http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/injecting-a-dose-of-innovation-through-product-ideation-workshops.aspx I have had a lot of opportunities to observe software development companies and their processes from up close. There is a way or a specific process in which things happen in each company. In most cases, these processes have worked extremely well for a very long time. But when the market changes, when customer preferences change, when new technologies come in, some of these processes might just not work as they did before. I often tell my business colleagues at some of these software companies that they need a fresh perspective, a new point of view, or a different way of doing things. "That's why we have offsite programs and brainstorming sessions," some of them say. That's great, because such programs and sessions do get the creative juices of the team flowing. But I believe that product development needs interventions that go well beyond the company. Because product development is not only about ideas; it's about feasible ideas that can be implemented quickly. It's about getting access to expertise when it doesn't exist within the company. It's about experience that the company might not have, but now, let's face it, is the need of the hour. Consider the example of an industry-leading provider of license and certification examinations. The company's business is largely focused on one-off users.  But the company wanted to grow its value-added services and solutions, further engage their customers and improve their online experience. As a solution provider to ISVs, one approach would have been to create a list of recommendations and implement them. But, that's not the route that we took. Our team at Symphony Teleca conducted an early-stage product ideation workshop with the company's team and formulated a strategy. The workshop gave us a deeper understanding of the business impact other than what is possible from a regular information gathering approach. More importantly, the company was able to quickly see how they could leverage our expertise and knowledge of having worked with customers with similar challenges. We worked closely with the company's team to develop an online experience that can understand each user and deliver the right information based on their demographics, in order to encourage value-added services and increase customer retention. The company is now well on its way to develop advanced solutions for a dynamic market.  This is the impact we envisioned when we started conducting Product Ideation workshops for our customers over a year ago. The aim is to be able to increase revenues and bring demonstrable, measureable results such as improved bottom lines through product modernization and innovation. Our expertise in usability design, mobility, new markets, SaaS models, analytics, social media, development and testing optimization is now easily accessible to ISVs through our Product Ideation workshops. I look at Symphony Teleca's Product Ideation Workshops as a de-risking mechanism for Independent Software Vendors (ISVs). They can embark on great new changes, explore new markets and find a new segment of customers, without worrying about not having the right expertise, the know-how, or the scale and not really worrying about the risk of failure. Once all these risks are minimized, companies can find the space (and the spirit) to innovate. How does your product portfolio look? How can you optimize your products to enable growth? Do leave a comment below. I would love to hear from you. About the Author Alan Harlan is the Executive Vice President and General Manager for the ISV Division at Symphony Teleca. Alan has over 25 years of experience in the IT and outsourcing services industry serving in executive accounting, technology and sales roles. Connect with Alan on LinkedIn or leave a comment below. http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/injecting-a-dose-of-innovation-through-product-ideation-workshops.aspx http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/injecting-a-dose-of-innovation-through-product-ideation-workshops.aspx Wed, 10 October 2012 17:18:00 Andrew Till http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/apple-challenges-companies-to-decrease-time-to-market.aspx This article was first appeared on Forbes.com on October 1, 2012. With Apple's recent iPhone 5 launch, companies everywhere are being forced to re-think their go-to-market strategy and speed of innovation. Businesses that were building for iOS 5 may now have non-functional projects; those creating applications to run on the iPhone's Google Maps solution might be back to square one. Today, high-speed innovation is an industry-agnostic demand. Corporate development teams are increasingly looking outside of their organization to help keep up with marketplace demands and avoid the loss of market share that can happen with a sluggish or even delayed time to market. Of course, the idea of third party involvement is not new. Companies have been outsourcing product development for decades. What is new, however, is the way companies are engaging with these third parties, and at which point in the process. Organizations are now seeing third parties as partners of sorts that they can tap as a wider and deeper source of creative thinking. This shift in thinking around the nature of the relationship and the potential value derived from it (that competitive edge) has them engaging earlier in their process, at the conception and architecture design phase of their projects, rather than once they have the specification developed. In years past, outsourcers were given the specs and told to build to order. Now, a huge opportunity exists for these industry experts to deploy their knowledge culled from years of development work into the ideation process of a potential product. These third parties often have enough experience to have developed best practices that can be invaluable in the brainstorming process - especially when there is a compressed timeline. One could categorize this as an outsource no longer being viewed as an external third party but as an extended part of the internal development team. Initial brainstorming and planning for a solution that will effectively capitalize on the mobile opportunities in one's marketplace is often where the first critical mistakes are made. Even the most talented in-house executive may be buried too deep in the weeds to ask the tough questions and offer forward-looking thinking to avoid a product becoming obsolete before it even makes it to the market. It's often hard for companies, once they are set on a direction, to step back and question is this the right approach or have we missed something fundamental. Thus leveraging a third party development partner can often provide them with a much needed "fresh set of eyes." Companies like Apple and Samsung are rolling out products with advanced systems that are a challenge to keep up with. When these big name brands announce new features or experiences, it can catch people out. They have to react quickly and often don't have the capacity or know-how internally to do so. Open source also pushes companies to consider a new approach to ideation and product development - the days of people inside the company understanding every line of code are diminishing. Open source platforms are developed on a truly global scale as many companies and individuals contribute components to the final release. Thus, organizations need to be able to think and innovate in a similar way. Trying to develop with open source in the same way they did with a real-time operating system can be a very expensive (not to mention extremely frustrating) experience. With the iPhone 5, Apple is again challenging companies worldwide. If organizations want to capitalize on the mobile opportunities in their marketplace, there is no choice but to innovate faster than ever before. To meet this demand there's a fundamental shift happening in the enterprise - time to market is trumping the stigma attached to pulling over and asking for directions. About the Author Andrew Till is the SVP and Head of Mobile and Media Devices within the Mobile & Connected Devices Division at Symphony Teleca. He's a frequent speaker on mobile device, the mobile industry and technology. Connect with Andrew on LinkedIn or leave a comment below. http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/apple-challenges-companies-to-decrease-time-to-market.aspx http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/apple-challenges-companies-to-decrease-time-to-market.aspx Tue, 09 October 2012 11:28:00 Dr. Roger Hempel http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/auto-industry-meets-to-embrace-linux-for-developing-next-gen-vehicle-control-and-remote-management-software.aspx For those of you who're familiar with Linux probably have heard of the Linux Foundation, a non-profit consortium dedicated to fostering the growth of Linux. The Foundation launched its first annual Automotive Linux Summit last year and attracted auto industry professionals, Linux experts and software developers around the globe. Building upon the success, the 2nd annual Summit was held last week in Warwickshire, UK, where I attended as a guest speaker. Unlike the Summit before, this year's event focused on the use of open source software for developing in-vehicle control and infotainment units and it drew a variety of OEMs and 1st and 2nd tier suppliers servicing the automotive value chain. The presentations and showcases from these companies were particularly diverse, touching on multiple topics from in-vehicle device development, application development to cloud servers to fully integrated end-to-end services. The GENIVI Alliance, of which Symphony Teleca is a member, hosted a roundtable discussion then announced the inception of a series of new GENIVI led open source projects . The Linux Foundation also sought the opportunity and introduced its new Automotive Grade Linux workgroup. As the Foundation President Jim Zemlin put it, the new workgroup will cover beyond in-vehicle infotainment to include the application of Linux in other parts of vehicles (for example, the cockpit displays). It will also leverage many of the same ideas that the GENIVI Alliance was founded on, such as open source software development and open innovation in the automotive industry. Now as the amount of software in today's vehicles is already in the range of 100 million lines of code and still growing, safety and security were on everyone's mind at the Summit. Questions such as how best to ensure the safety measure of vehicle control units are met and how to effectively roll out software updates to vehicles in the field were hotly discussed. My presentation, titled "Keeping the Connected Car Current with SOTA/FOTA" was intended to explore these topics. Using Symphony Teleca's own cloud-based Vehicle Relationship Management (VRM) solution as an example, I demonstrated how the maintenance of in-vehicle telematics services, including software and firmware updates, status and configuration and inventory management, reporting and analytics can all be delivered safely and securely via the Cloud, "over the air". The concept of VRM caught the attention of the audience; as I explained, one of its great benefits is to extend the existing CRM services to the vehicles and their users and thus take the connected car experience to the next level. My peers agreed with me, they acknowledged that there is a greater need to manage vehicle software and to be able to push out updates more efficiently than ever before.  With new open source software based in-vehicle infotainment systems to hit the market in the near future, the automotive industry is poised to reap the benefits of better leveraging Linux. But to do so, the industry needs leaders and trendsetters and that's why Symphony Teleca continues to be deeply involved in Linux-based projects for OEMs and their suppliers. With the whole industry coming together to support new initiatives and efforts of combating today's challenges, I have no doubt that the auto industry will continue to remain one of the most innovative forces in today's world. With that, you have my report from this year's annual Linux Automotive Summit and I'll be sure to bring you more news in 2013. About the Author Dr. Roger Hampel is Director, Automotive Solutions Development at Symphony Teleca, globally responsible for driving the development of Symphony Teleca's solution offerings to address the automotive industry's growing demand for connected mobile services as part of today's in-vehicle infotainment products. Working closely with customers, he identifies their challenges and leverages Symphony Teleca's extensive solution portfolio and partner network to support them. Roger has been with Symphony Teleca since 2004 and is based in Nuremberg, Germany. Connect with Roger on LinkedIn . http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/auto-industry-meets-to-embrace-linux-for-developing-next-gen-vehicle-control-and-remote-management-software.aspx http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/auto-industry-meets-to-embrace-linux-for-developing-next-gen-vehicle-control-and-remote-management-software.aspx Fri, 28 September 2012 11:21:00 Sohini Bagchi http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/an-effective-mobility-strategy-is-need-of-the-hour.aspx This article was first appeared on CXOtoday.com on August 30, 2012. Enterprise mobility has matured in recent times and is viewed as an important part of the organisation's IT strategy. However, with the proliferation of mobile technologies, CIOs often face certain challenges. In an exclusive interaction with CXOtoday, Keith Higgins, Chief Marketing Officer, Symphony Teleca Corporation, shares his views on the trends, challenges and opportunities in this space. Bagchi: What do you think are the recent trends in enterprise mobility? Higgins: Enterprise mobility has evolved, in light of the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) phenomenon, the wealth of new applications and wireless platforms and the general acceptance of go-anywhere communications. Enterprise mobility has matured past the point of early market penetration and the prototypical early adopters. Therefore enterprises have started to prioritse the management and security of their mobile infrastructure as a key objective for IT today. IDC experts believe that by 2013, 40 percent of the global workforce will be mobile. Most enterprises have made it clear they expect cloud computing and SaaS to become the dominant - if not exclusive - software delivery mode in the future. There is also an explosion in the growth of mobile commerce. While there are lots of new tools and mobile device management platforms out there, all of the above-mentioned moving parts need to be integrated and maintained. Bagchi: What challenges do CIOs highlight when it comes to dealing with mobility at the workplace? Higgins: CIOs and IT managers face numerous challenges as they embrace and support today's evolving mobile workforce, with increasing device options. Some of these include securing the enterprise, managing mobile applications, devices and expenses, opening existing business applications to mobile workers, and efficiently introducing new mobile-friendly applications. An effective mobility strategy is the need of the hour that can help CIOs address the key mobility fundamental challenges. Some of these include the need to drive agility through platform-agnostic applications. Secondly, CIOs along with other business decision makers can play a key role in setting a mandate to ensure the safety of corporate data. For example, to minimise security risks to an organisation's sensitive data, all mobile devices need to be connected to a centrally managed network to prevent rogue devices from accessing the network or applications. Filtering out information and tying available information to user privileges can also help to safeguard sensitive data. Bagchi: What do companies need to think about before implementing an enterprise mobility initiative? Higgins: To put a whole mobility management solution in place, we don't just need tools and smart applications, we have to get the right framework, the right strategy, the right solution in place - and manage it on an ongoing basis to deliver the expected productivity gains. When employees bring their own devices onto corporate networks, CIOs need to make sure their existing business applications are mobile-ready. Policy management, which enables businesses to decide who has access to which online applications and data, is also an important component to any mobility management strategy. Businesses should have the ability to lock and wipe data on mobile devices remotely in case those devices are lost or stolen. Above all else, the initiative should directly bear consequence on the company's bottom line. Bagchi: Please tell us about the Cloud storage and its implications to modern business with the proliferation of social and mobile technologies. Higgins: Most companies are quickly making cloud a technology of choice due to the benefits it offers around access to new markets, ability to create new revenue streams, lower costs, greatly enhanced flexibility and clear application differentiation. However the path to cloud has its own challenges like rightsizing the investment, addressing security issues, managing the change from software to services, identifying the target architecture, migration approach and managing operations efficiently. All this has to be done twice over, for the on-premise version as well as for the cloud version. It includes the options of migrating existing products to SaaS leveraging cloud platforms and infrastructure. Symphony Teleca Cloud Engineering Services Solution has three components under its umbrella each aimed at a different phase of the cloud journey - 'choose' that help choose the right option, 'hop' that includes taking your solution on cloud and 'stay' that implies how we manage the cloud operations. About the Author Sohini Gagchi is the Assistant Editor at CXOtoday.com, a leading online news site for business and technology leaders to connect, share and exchange ideas. About Keith Higgins Keith Higgins is the Chief Marketing Officer at Symphony Teleca. A frequent speaker on enterprise software, Keith has 20 years of experience in the hi-tech industry. Connect with Keith on LinkedIn . http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/an-effective-mobility-strategy-is-need-of-the-hour.aspx http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/an-effective-mobility-strategy-is-need-of-the-hour.aspx Tue, 25 September 2012 15:58:00 Andrew Till http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/ibc-2012-the-future-of-stereoscopic-3d,-4k-and-the-interactive-living-room.aspx Every September, I attend the International Broadcasting Conference (IBC) in Amsterdam and this year was no exception. Known as Europe's largest tradeshow for broadcasters, content creators, providers, broadcast equipment OEMs and others in the broadcasting industry, IBC is the event for surveying new products and spotting future trends. Speaking of which, I noticed that unlike previous IBC gatherings, this year's event felt somewhat less crowded and slower, it was obvious that the ongoing economic challenges in Europe is taking a toll on trade events, like all other business activities. In contrary, discussions of momentum in emerging markets, like Brazil and African countries were loud and clear; reconfirming industry-wide projections these marketplaces may generate lucrative growth opportunities in the coming years. Now let me comment on some outstanding products and services I saw at IBC. First up, stereoscopic 3D (3D without glasses). A big feature on a lot of exhibitor stands, stereoscopic 3D along with new lines of 4K resolution TVs were put front and center. I noticed that some of these new products have made significant advancements in viewing angle and smoothness of the image. Take Dolby for example, who was showing a wide range of displays design for handsets, tablets and all the way up to high end TVs. Whether stereoscopic 3D proves to be the turning point for 3D in the home is not yet clear (3D sales has been consistently slower than expected) but for those of us who misplace or lose the 3D glasses all the time, the change will be very welcomed. On the 4K front, there seems some uncertainty over if content producers will move to 4K for the home or wait for 8K resolution, which is expected to be commercially available in the next 18 to 24 months. Sony however, is betting big on 4K as it seeks to leverage its position in 4K for cinema projects to be delivered to the home market. Discussions were also raging around Ultra High Definition (UH D) as when we can expect to see it making its way to the market. Some commentators say that it's at least 10 years away, while others suggest that we could see initial U HD services at FIFA 2014 World Cup in Brazil. In my opinion, it's likely that it will happen somewhere in between. Moving on to the "set-top box" (STB) market, there was a wealth of interactive and content rich products on display. Everything from Android-enabled devices focusing on applications and web browsing to the latest YouView STBs (a UK-based HD IPTV service that launched in August that provides content rich interactive services and applications) from Humax and Hauwei. Though I'd say that Android is starting to make its way to more STBs, manufacturers don't seem to have come to terms with implementing custom user experiences surround enhancing the broadcast services. In most cases, the Android implementation looks like a larger version of that found on the latest generation of tablets. While this offers a familiar look and feel to consumers, it doesn't provide the "wow" experience - something that I expect to see improvements at IBC 2013. Applications for interactive TV and STBs were surprisingly few and far between, but plenty of next generation companion applications for tablets and smartphones were on display. One explanation for the lack of on-board apps appears to be the challenge in testing such applications from an end-to-end perspective and from a developers' perspective, namely the complexity in working with vendor SDKs (frequently developers are required to work with multiple SDKs in order to develop the applications). This is perhaps not surprising to many, given that it took a good 5 years for the mobile phone industry to mature the app development and testing environment and it still remains one of the most challenging parts of the ecosystem. I left IBC with an impression that this year was all about stabilizing and maturing the many innovations that were introduced in the previous 2 to 3 years. For each industry participant, OEMs, service providers, content creators and so on, it's time to think about where the future leads and how to succeed in an increasingly complex connected ecosystem environment. Coupled with slow-moving Western markets but fast-growing developing markets, the industry may need to refocus on exploiting existing investments while continuing to explore the potentials of 3D, smart and interactive devices and alike.  If you happened to also have attended IBC, I'd love to hear what your overall opinions were about this year's event. About the Author Andrew Till is the SVP and Head of Mobile and Media Devices within the Mobile & Connected Devices Division at Symphony Teleca. He's a frequent speaker on mobile device, the mobile industry and technology. Connect with Andrew on LinkedIn or leave a comment below.   http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/ibc-2012-the-future-of-stereoscopic-3d,-4k-and-the-interactive-living-room.aspx http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/ibc-2012-the-future-of-stereoscopic-3d,-4k-and-the-interactive-living-room.aspx Thu, 13 September 2012 09:27:00 Andrew Till http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/six-steps-to-moving-enterprise-software.aspx This article was first appeared on Wired Cloudline on September 4, 2012. The global enterprise software industry is in a period of rapid transition, with more companies and industries being run on software and delivered as an online service to a widening range of connected devices. Advances in processing, mobile devices, wireless networking, the Internet and other technologies have fundamentally eliminated the defenses of established industries, and software companies face unprecedented opportunities in the years ahead to deliver cloud-based solutions. As a result, leading independent software vendors (ISVs) are transforming their products and services along many dimensions for cloud-based delivery. Here's a look at the six most common steps they're taking towards cloud-based enterprise software: Leverage Latest in Usability, Tech The staggering growth of smartphones, tablets and other connected devices create a range of new usability challenges for cloud-based services. Differences in screen size, processing, power consumption, wireless performance, gesture and new user interfaces (UIs) such as advanced haptics and more create a clear competitive need to leverage the latest in UI design and usability best practices to successfully deliver cloud-based services. Optimize for the Mobile Ecosystem Creating complete functionality in a mobile environment along with optimizing application performance over various wireless networks - including cross-platform delivery to mobile devices - must be achieved. Testing all the various combinations of devices, operating systems and wireless networks also is a must for software delivered from the cloud. Embrace Traditional, 'As a Service'-Models Shifting from traditional software and delivery models to software as a service (SaaS) fundamentally changes the economics of the software industry. It also can open new markets, significantly reduce capital and operational costs and enable ISVs to dramatically improve their overall business model. Evolving to this model is highly complex and a multi-stage process with a significant number of technology decisions to make, but clearly a must do to remain relevant in the modern world of software and the cloud. Harness Real-Time Analytics One of the most powerful competitive weapons in the software industry today is analytics. Data - increasingly unstructured - is everywhere and the terabytes are piling up for many organizations. ISVs must have a clear plan to capture, analyze and create actionable, predictive intelligence in real time. This area continues to evolve very quickly and is likely to remain a key area of software transformation for years to come. Monetize New Market Opportunities Cloud-based software delivery has the potential to open new markets and new sources of significant revenue for ISVs. Simply cloud-enabling software can help ISVs take their solutions in new markets or geographies. In some industries, client analytics can also be significantly monetized. A goal of any transformation plan should be top and bottom line growth and mining new markets is the shortest path to success. Refresh Core Development Practices Modernizing traditional software development practices such as multi-site development processes, quality, automation and outsourcing of non-core product lines are just the beginning of core practices that may need a refresh for cloud-based delivery. Some of these can also yield the biggest gains in terms of immediate return on investment. The software market is undergoing a dramatic change. The cloud is not just redefining the ISV landscape, but also providing tremendous opportunities to innovate and create next generation solutions. Don't get caught behind the transformation curve as your customers won't wait. About the Author Andrew Till is the SVP and Head of Mobile and Media Devices within the Mobile & Connected Devices Division at Symphony Teleca. He's a frequent speaker on mobile device, the mobile industry and technology. Connect with Andrew on LinkedIn or leave a comment below. http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/six-steps-to-moving-enterprise-software.aspx http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/six-steps-to-moving-enterprise-software.aspx Tue, 04 September 2012 13:19:00 Andrew Till http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/three-steps-to-best-ride-the-mobile-wave.aspx This article was first appeared on Wired Cloudline on September 4, 2012. The advent of the cloud has made it easier for team members to access and work with content anywhere in the world. Similarly, mobile has made that even more true as workers can be entirely remote or on the go, adding value to your organization. But given this huge opportunity to benefit from more flexible working relationships, increased productivity, and employee satisfaction - why is mobilizing software still so hard and where should an organization start? We are at a major convergence of software, the cloud and connected devices and as Yogi Berra would say, "When you come to the fork in the road…take it." We're actually at a massive, multi-super highway intersection, not a simple fork, but we all still have to move forward. Here are some ideas on where to start. Drive Immediate Productivity Gains Everybody loves a strong return on investment (ROI), so start where you're essentially guaranteed a win. This includes basic company dashboards, visualization tools, job schedulers and expense management. The maturity of these off-the-shelf applications means they connect easily and securely to the back-end data sources you already trust. Customize Apps for Revenue-Driving Advantage Once you're comfortable with mobility, look at what can create a competitive advantage to generate new revenue. Some companies will try to cut corners by pushing their existing browser-based enterprise apps out to mobile devices. These companies limit themselves by not taking advantage of the unique features of mobile devices, and end up with low adoption rates. A mobile app can successfully achieve a subset of the functionality of a web app. Select a few things to do really well and continuously involve your end users in the design process. Employees are uninterested in using clunky apps so customize them to meet real needs that your employees tell you about, not that you imagine to be true. Become a 360-Degree Mobile-Friendly Company Winning with mobility means offering everyone in your organization the chance to do their jobs better with access to apps and the real-time productivity gains they provide. This means expanding your offerings to management, sales, service and support, and HR - it could also include inventory management, point of sale capabilities, sCRM, GPS locators. Chances are if you're doing it today, someone's out there building a way for it to be done on a mobile device. As smartphones and tablets continue to infiltrate our IT environment, it makes sense to put these devices to work. "Work" is the right word for what these devices can do. Of organizations that allow employees to use personal mobile devices for business, 65% report greater productivity, according to a study by IDG. Such improvements in productivity are quickly driving down the total cost of ownership (TCO) for mobile initiatives. Powerful, game-changing business drivers are inspiring enterprises to integrate mobility into their core IT strategy. These drivers include: increased employee productivity, fast return on investment (ROI), a desire to interact directly with the customer, and more reliance on mobile information workers and teleworkers. As such, mobilizing the enterprise is imperative for businesses through 2012 and beyond so take a minute to discover what salient functions your people need, design it out and get it done - but don't wait. While you're standing at the intersection weighing options other organizations are passing you in the fast lane. About the Author Andrew Till is the SVP and Head of Mobile and Media Devices within the Mobile & Connected Devices Division at Symphony Teleca. He's a frequent speaker on mobile device, the mobile industry and technology. Connect with Andrew on LinkedIn or leave a comment below. http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/three-steps-to-best-ride-the-mobile-wave.aspx http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/three-steps-to-best-ride-the-mobile-wave.aspx Tue, 28 August 2012 14:28:00 Andrew Till http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/apple-will-lead-the-way-in-nfc-why-rivals-must-act-now.aspx This article was first appeared on Forbes.com on August 28, 2012. The buzz continues to build around Apple's imminent iPhone 5 announcement, and for good reason. The real story, however, is what is going on behind the scenes at Apple - the soft rumblings that soon could create a dramatic shift in today's technology landscape and force competitors to answer. It comes down to three letters: NFC. Apple's preparations to become a leader in Near Field Communications are profoundly underestimated and competitors must realize that the company is working to lock customer in and manage the way consumers buy. Here's the plan: The phone will become the new wallet Mobile payments have been a hot topic in recent years and don't think Apple hasn't noticed. Given the company already has access to a slew of transaction data and payment information through iTunes and the App Store, the idea that they're gearing up to take over the payments space is not farfetched. Through NFC, Apple could potentially apply their "pay for music with-the-click-of-a-button" model to everyday purchases - completely changing the way people shop. Instead of reaching down to their wallet to get a credit card or cash when they arrive at the check-out, consumers could simply flash their phone to a receptor and wirelessly transfer their payment information. Passbook will increase Apple's loyalty play Passbook, the new iOS 6 feature, allows users to file their airline boarding passes, movie tickets, retail coupons, loyalty cards and more all in one place - their iPhone, iPad or iPhone Touch. Consumers aren't just uploading their credit-card information to their Apple device, they're uploading their entire commerce ecosystem - making it even less likely that they will switch to another brand of smartphone. While Android users can look to Google Wallet for mobile payments, the limitations of NFC stand in the way. If Apple introduces NFC features in the iPhone 5 in addition to Passbook, competitors are at risk if they fail to offer competitive capabilities. Apple's location-based technology opens the door to localized promotions When consumers are able to use NFC to pay with the wave of their smartphone, location-based technology will become even more critical. Point-of-sale deals and inventory scans will become common-place and advertisers will start to see the much anticipated world of mobile commerce and awareness opportunities unfold. When consumers can pay with their phones, not only will their geographical location be available, but so will their frequent shopping spots and recent purchases. The smartphone company that can best capitalize on this opportunity is likely to come out on top. NFC + Information = Global Impact NFC by itself is powerful, but when coupled with the wealth of consumer information that Apple has its hands on (credit cards, loyalty cards, frequent locations, travel plans, etc.), the opportunities are endless. Analytics, therefore, will play a huge role in the next year as companies try to make sense of the various information that is available to them when their customers are paying with mobile devices - the same devices they're using to buy music, watch streamed television, check-in for flight and keep track of all their loyalty cards. The iPhone 5 will prove to be an important announcement for the entire tech community but most especially for Apple's competitors as there's a chance that NFC capabilities will be one of the features announced.  Once Apple enters the mobile payments race through NFC, it is undeniable that there will be noise heard around the world as competitors begin to hustle to keep up. About the Author Andrew Till is the SVP and Head of Mobile and Media Devices within the Mobile & Connected Devices Division at Symphony Teleca. He's a frequent speaker on mobile device, the mobile industry and technology. Connect with Andrew on LinkedIn or leave a comment below. http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/apple-will-lead-the-way-in-nfc-why-rivals-must-act-now.aspx http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/apple-will-lead-the-way-in-nfc-why-rivals-must-act-now.aspx Tue, 28 August 2012 11:18:00 Andrew Till http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/vehicle-relationship-management-there’s-a-cloud-for-that.aspx This article was first appeared on Wired Cloudline on August 24, 2012. Over the past 10 years, the amount and complexity of software in vehicles has dramatically increased. Vehicles commonly have 80 to 100 Engine Control Units (ECUs) with hundreds of millions of lines of code (How It's Made has run great documentaries on the making of some of these automobiles). Interestingly, consumer expectations that are largely based on mobile platform experiences, are motivating rapid In-Vehicle Infotainment (IVI) head unit breakthroughs in performance and storage capacity. These advances in technology are made possible only by properly managing the convergence of the cloud, software and connected devices. As a result of this rising complexity, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of issues caused by software errors. These issues are raising customer satisfaction issues as well as negative industry publicity. In addition, the cost to OEMs for dealer-executed software updates is escalating correspondingly. As has often been the case of late, when software issues and costs rise, innovators look to the cloud for solutions that can both reduce complaints by consumers (through responsiveness) and lower costs. For the automotive industry, which has been under close scrutiny in recent years, selecting best-of-breed cloud providers for each discrete component of a Next Generation Infotainment (NGI) solution allows them to deliver cross-carline systems easily and cost-effectively. With the cost and longevity of vehicles, consumers are increasingly demanding capabilities familiar from their mobile devices, such as faster feature introduction and upgradability. The move to pervasively connected vehicles is both raising consumer expectations and enabling car companies to fulfill these expectations. The technology to connect to a vehicle and download software/firmware over the air (FOTA) has been proven out as a component to managing and updating software in a vehicle. FOTA is one component of the cloud-based management of vehicle data, termed Vehicle Relationship Management (VRM). A complete VRM solution not only provides the vehicle software configuration management (as-built, as-is, and should-be), but also provides the necessary workflow and control required to deploy such a system. Integration of provided modules with existing systems is critical to the success of implementing a great vehicle relationship management system. Whether you're working on Android, QNX, Genivi, Ubuntu, Tizen, or Microsoft in order to be relevant with your IVI solution you must be critically looking at all options regarding cloud solutions (VRM, FOTA/SOTA, in-vehicle app stores), HTML5 (design, unification, conversion, porting and development), Adobe (implementation, optimization), connectivity (in-car communication, verification, smartphone-connected solutions), IVI platform development (multi-platform support, turnkey solutions), Ethernet audio video bridging, and perhaps most importantly, UI/UX. There are modular products offering end-to-end solutions from vehicle software configuration management to software/firmware in the vehicle and more. If your organization is looking at these types of solutions it's important to look for the following: Portals to provide content management and reporting access/control for administration, suppliers, service center personnel, and end users. A platform that provides secure, cloud-based software configuration management by vehicle, component, and user, including robust data analytics as telematics data is received from vehicles. An agent that is resident in the updated device, manages communication to/from the platform, delivers the payload to the target device, and provides software/firmware update success feedback As always, it's important to find a trusted partner who can provide cloud-enabled software development expertise to automotive OEMs and suppliers across platforms in order to optimize your systems integration and bring your solutions to market faster than you may be able to on your own. About the Author Andrew Till is the SVP and Head of Mobile and Media Devices within the Mobile & Connected Devices Division at Symphony Teleca. He's a frequent speaker on mobile device, the mobile industry and technology. Connect with Andrew on LinkedIn or leave a comment below. http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/vehicle-relationship-management-there’s-a-cloud-for-that.aspx http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/vehicle-relationship-management-there’s-a-cloud-for-that.aspx Thu, 23 August 2012 10:12:00 Robert Kempf http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/the-race-for-android-brand-preference.aspx A look at the massive investments OEMs are making to become the defacto hardware platform for the world's dominant operating system. Being successful as an OEM in a transforming market environment like the mobile and connected devices space is an art form all of its own. With so many players trying to grab market share in a cost pressurized environment, fast changing technologies and powerful players that are able to direct the entire ecosystem around an OS in one or another direction, it is difficult to find a sweet spot that enables sustainable, profitable and differentiated growth. The primary monetization point for OEMs lies still with their hardware, demanding for an attractive industrial design, appealing performance figures and a compelling retail price point. Only some succeeded in delivering value added services with their devices creating additional revenue streams. So shouldn't OEMs just continue to focus on selling more hardware more frequently, driving replacement cycles, in order to be successful? Or are there other strategies that will foster sustainable success? Though it might sound tempting to sell new devices more frequently, the key question is how the ultimate buyer of these devices will react to this strategy. For certain, end users will continue to demand for devices supporting the latest technologies, but given the choice they have, ensuring customer retention and brand loyalty will be a key challenge for most OEMs. For companies, such as Apple, who own the devices, the content access and the delivery services this is an easy play, but OEMs missing the content story will need to be more creative. One natural approach to gain customer loyalty is - as in other areas of our life - service, service, service. Effectively this enables companies with service strategies and multiple monetization points to play their own game leaving hardware centric OEMs to fight it out in an ever more competitive and price challenged market. The other critical consideration is how the end users consider a device purchase. For most this is not only as a transactional exercise in which they pay for the device as is but rather they expect support for the latest software and features throughout the normal lifetime of the device. Looking into the mobile devices ecosystem the "always up to date" aspect and the impact on end users loyalty to a brand is still largely under-estimated. Take for example a consumer who buys a device and receives new updates every 4 to 6 months over the course of an 24 month ownership cycle versus one who never receives an update. Typically such updates will bring a number of compelling new features in each release. Our first consumer will have had multiple interactions with the device vendor and is in all likelihood much more likely to view the brand in a positive light. Our second consumer has had no contact and thus is likely to be much more brand neutral. Even worse if he is friends with our first consumer he may well feel cheated or undervalued. This is perhaps one of the key considerations often overlooked in that consumers do not exist in isolation from each other but more than ever they take notice of their friends, family and colleagues experiences making it a much more complex landscape for device vendors to positively influence how their brand is perceived. Thus the expense of providing an upgrade should not be seen so much as a "cost" but more as an "investment" in the customer relationship. The trigger for a user to buy a new device should be new technology capabilities enabled with new hardware and not missing software upgrades from the OEM blocking the use of new OS capabilities. Especially in the Android ecosystem this was one of the frequent complaints articulated by end users. The latter scenario will cause large dissatisfaction by end users and new players will emerge that will specialize on premium customer service and see a larger adoption of their devices as we are starting to see with Amazon's Kindle Fire. Though OEMs are hesitant to invest in timely release upgrades and software maintenance considering this just as a cost, there might be ways that will benefit end users and OEMs. Why not offer a 24 month software upgrade guarantee for $10 per device? There are many ways to create an attractive business case by being a bit more creative. In the end customer loyalty will be one of the important factors for success and it is time that OEMs put more thoughts into how to tackle this challenge. About the Author Robert Kempf is the VP and Head of Marketing & Technology for the Mobile & Connected Devices Division at Symphony Teleca. He frequently comments on key trends and challenges in the mobile connected devices ecosystems. Connect with Robert on LinkedIn or leave a comment below. http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/the-race-for-android-brand-preference.aspx http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/the-race-for-android-brand-preference.aspx Wed, 15 August 2012 09:40:00 Andrew Till http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/android-41-jelly-bean-breakdown.aspx Google's latest version of the Android operating system is here. Though you may argue that unlike the last iteration, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is more about refinement than revolution. But I think a few new and enhanced features have the potential to push our current smartphones to the next level. (Photo: GearLive.com) Hugo Barra, director of product management of Google, unveils Android 4.1 Jelly Bean mobile operating system during Google I/O 2012. Google showed off the newest Android 4.1 , code-named Jelly Bean, at this year's Google I/O (see my previous posts Google I/O Download Part I and Part II ). If you ask me, is the vastly improved performance delivered through new notification features, better voice dictation and search, integration with a better looking and working Google + and the new Google Now and so on really all that exciting? Well, after spending nearly a week with Nexus 7 , I'll say, yes, they really, really are. And here is a detailed list of worth noting features packed in the new Jelly Bean. Butter - a new UI rendering framework capable of delivering stunning looking UIs at 60 fps. Auto clean up of home screen icons and widgets An updated gallery application for view and managing images New gesture model and swipe commands Support for offline voice typing 18 new languages further increasing the platform's global reach Enhancements to Android beam focused on media sharing A radically updated notification experience with auto expanding notifications, embedded and customisable commands within the notification for faster user interaction. A new look and feel for Google's social network Google+ Improved voice search including card based responses and spoken feedback Google Now  taking location based services to a new level linking what you're doing or will be doing with information and the world around you An updated Google Play  experience with more content including TV Shows and the ability to buy movies and store them off line. Support for encrypted applications New application update features enabling developers to just push the updated components as opposed to the whole application. Offline support for Google Maps I expect that in the following months, we will see more and more interest from device manufactures and wireless operators for Jelly Bean - UK's Vodafone and O2 for example have already put out plans to work with manufactures that will be developing Jelly Bean devices . In the coming weeks, we will be releasing a white paper " Upgrading to Jelly Bean " for free download. In it you will find detailed information about the new Android as well as solutions to quickly upgrade your product and capture the market. About the Author Andrew Till is the SVP and Head of Mobile and Media Devices within the Mobile & Connected Devices Division at Symphony Teleca. He's a frequent speaker on mobile device, the mobile industry and technology. Connect with Andrew on LinkedIn or leave a comment below. http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/android-41-jelly-bean-breakdown.aspx http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/android-41-jelly-bean-breakdown.aspx Mon, 16 July 2012 13:12:00 Keith Higgins http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/m-powering-the-next-generation-enterprise.aspx This article was first published on CIOL.com on July 9, 2012. Enterprise mobility is emerging as an important tool to enhance productivity, engagement and drive profitability in organizations, with companies implementing mobility practices internally to empower their mobile workforce. With BYOD, new applications and diverse wireless platforms and devices moving into the workplace, it has become important for organizations to develop proper mobility strategies that help aligns user needs with strategic business priorities, all without disrupting production or innovation. CIOs and IT organizations face numerous challenges as they embrace and support today's evolving mobile workforce, with increasing device options and the need for secure access to information on the go.  Some of these include securing the enterprise, managing mobile applications, devices and expenses, opening existing business applications to mobile workers and efficiently introducing new mobile-friendly applications. A strong mobility strategy needs to address three fundamental challenges while bringing in a rich user experience and minimizing risks: Driving Agility through Platform-agnostic Applications With enterprises endorsing a wide range of mobile platforms spanning BlackBerry, Android, iPhone, Symbian, Windows Phone 7 and WebOS devices, identifying and deciding on the right platform for deploying mobile applications is important for IT departments. The right choice of a mobility partner who has deep knowledge across a range of development languages/IDEs is critical in order to keep up with multiple software development kits (SDKs) and integrated development environments (IDEs) for each platform. Device-agnostic apps that can be deployed across multiple platforms and come with a " Develop Once and Deploy Anywhere " paradigm help to reduce development time with significant cost savings are becoming popular. These apps help to centralize mobile device specifics and development semantics onto a sophisticated development and deployment platform. This in turn allows the complexities of coding, application representations, form factor handling and other device idiosyncrasies to be handled at the platform level, while providing a unified, intuitive and consistent experience to the developer. The adoption of the platform approach also insulates development teams from changes and updates in the device OS and while providing easy scalability to the ever changing device landscape. Managing Data, Devices and Security CIOs can play a pivotal role in setting a mandate and enforcing a stringent mobility policy to ensure the safety of organizational data. To minimize security risks to an organization's sensitive data, all mobile devices need to be connected to a centrally managed network to prevent rogue devices from accessing the network (or applications). Filtering out information and tying available information to user privileges can also help to safeguard sensitive data. Planning for local data storage onto the mobile device is helpful to address customer requirements when the app is not running. But this should also encompass standard encryption mechanisms that are available with the platforms or devices. Placing device restrictions based on the user workflow enable dynamic selection between data that can be shared . Using server back-ends, aspects like workflow aggregation and data exchange between multiple corporate systems, data hiding and workflow simplification for the mobile user can be controlled. This ensures that the enterprise has control over its data and easily adapt to changes in the workflows, privileges and devices. Spend Management An effective enterprise mobility strategy has a direct bearing on an organization's bottom line. While helping in faster deal closures, mobility strategies also help to establish strong relationships with customers, partners and suppliers. But mobility comes at a price, with fixed and mobile communications services being among the top five business expenses for enterprises. Leveraging robust telecom expense management and device procurement managed services, organizations can engage outsourced mobility managed services experts to manage their mobility strategy. An efficient and cost-effective approach towards managing device procurement, security, service agreements and contracts, device provisioning and support, etc. can help organizations to focus IT resources on strategic business initiatives. Hence an effective mobility strategy can help CIOs to drive strong business outcomes and deliver real time business insights and drive profitability for their organizations.   http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/m-powering-the-next-generation-enterprise.aspx http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/m-powering-the-next-generation-enterprise.aspx Mon, 16 July 2012 11:38:00 Andrew Till http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/google-io-download-(part-ii).aspx Before I go on and if you haven't already, you don't want to miss Part I of this blog post  where I talked about the key themes at this year's Google I/O. Okay, let's start with Android. As expected, the new Android 4.1 Jelly Bean  was formally unveiled to much excitement from the audience. Extending the focus from Ice Cream Sandwich, Jelly Bean further enhances the Android UI and firmly puts it on par with iOS-based devices from a speed and fluidity standpoint. Google has also been busy implementing numerous user-friendly features such as an "auto clean" home screen and enhanced voice search. In addition, there's a wide range of new services such as Google Now  or revamped experiences, such as the way that application updates can now be delivered. And of course there's the much-anticipated full integration of the Chrome browsers . It browses fast, searches fasts with unlimited tabs and an easy navigation. If you're interested in a close look at the new Jelly Bean , I have a detailed feature list written up in the blog post Android 4.1 Jelly Bean Breakdown . Now let's talk about Nexus 7 . This sleek, 7-inch, Tegra 3 powered tablet runs on the new Jelly Bean. Priced at USD $199, Nexus 7 is all about media consumption - as Hugo Barra, Director of Google Product Management put it, it's "built for Google Play". In my opinion, Nexus 7 is Google's answer to the popular Amazon Kindle Fire and after spending a few days with it (yep, I got one), I'm sold. The New York Times called it "a tablet to rival the leader " and I agree, Nexus 7 will surely give its rivals a true run for their money. (Photo: Wired.com) Google also unveiled Nexus Q , its first consumer electronics device. Positioned as an Android-powered computer, the Q has a unique spherical design and is intended to be a media streaming hub connected to Google Play. You can control the Q from your Android handset or tablet and use it to play media content. One interesting aspect of the Q is that it's a "social friendly" device. Multiple users can connect to a single Q at the same time and share their playlist. While the initial use cases for the Q may be limited, I suspect that there will be an aggressive upgrade cycle to give it more features and to make it a central part of the home experience. With all that said, however at USD $299 it may take some time for the Q to find a market and compete with rivals such as Apple TV or even, Google's own Google TV .  Also, just as a side note, Nexus Q is not particularly liked by airport security scans, so if you're planning on taking one on your trips is definitely worth while arriving at the airport early (see, I learned my lesson). (Photo: Wired.com) Perhaps the most intriguing announcement and certainly the most audacious, was Google Glass .   Looking like an ultra cool set of sunglasses from the Terminator, Google Glass has a built-in streaming camera and heads up display. The wearable device is so powerful, Sergey Brin took to the stage and introduced us to his friends sitting about a mile above the Moscone Center in a blimp. They then base jumped and streamed their entire journey down via Google Glass' built-in camera and aired it through Google+ Hangouts. It was certainly one of the most impressive product introductions I've seen to date. So there you have it. New OS releases, new devices, new services and a myriad of application updates. And did I mention the extra long queues for the keynotes, the now "a tradition" first day mad dash to collect the giveaways at the end of day (a tip here, you can also collect them the following morning and avoid the crush) and the awesome after parties?  It sure leaves your head spinning but it's one hell of a fun ride. In the coming weeks, we will be releasing a white paper " Upgrading to Jelly Bean " for free download. In it you will find detailed information about the new Android as well as solutions to quickly upgrade your product and capture the market.   About the Author Andrew Till is the SVP and Head of Mobile and Media Devices within the Mobile & Connected Devices Division at Symphony Teleca. He's a frequent speaker on mobile device, the mobile industry and technology. Connect with Andrew on LinkedIn or leave a comment below. http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/google-io-download-(part-ii).aspx http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/google-io-download-(part-ii).aspx Mon, 02 July 2012 10:40:00 Andrew Till http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/google-io-download-(part-i).aspx (Photo: Reuters | Mobile & Apps) As expected, Google demonstrated loads of new software and hardware updates at this year's Google I/O. Being at Google I/O is like being trapped inside a tornado. It leaves you dazed and your head spinning for weeks while you try to make sense of the massive data download. This year's event was no exception. It was filled with presentations of new technologies and some eye-opening stunts - including the world's first skydiving streamed live via Google+ Hangouts . After all, what better way would there be to show off the futuristic Project Glass ? Regarding Android, I noticed that this year's event was subtly different from previous ones regarding Android. For instance, it had less focus on the core platform technologies but more on user experience and how to create high quality applications. It was evident that Google has been concerned about maintaining the quality of the ecosystem. As a result, many of this year's sessions  were focused on ensuring that developers know how to utilize the right APIs and that they respect system rules and are focused on delivering high quality code.  Another key feature was the enabling of cloud-connected applications to run offline - be it Google Maps on Android  or Google Docs on Chromebook  for those long international flights (I would like that). This move will certainly help Google push more aggressively into the emerging markets with, for now, less sophisticated infrastructure that doesn't need to be connected to the web to run all the time. The modern home was another core focus this year. New announcements around Nexus Q and Google TV revalidated Google's desire to step up the game in the consumer electronics market. And when it comes to media content for consumption, Google Play  was brought to the front and the center. A demonstration by Chris Yerga, Google Play's Engineering Director, portrayed the recently redesign Google Play as the ultimate cross-platform source for entertainment content - all your books, subscription magazines, movies, music, etc, all of that can be synchronized and delivered across devices. How to enrich social interactions was also a key theme. Google is merging several popular features such as Google Voice, Photos and Videos with Google+  to provide an integrated social networking platform. Via Google+ users can easily share updates, conversations and group experiences in real-time. Since launching it last June, Google+ has evolved into a social media magnet. Brands big and small are embracing it, including Symphony Teleca - add us to your Google+ circle ! On the enterprise side, "infinite scalability" and "collaboration" were the buzzwords. With the enhancements of C2DM (now called Google Cloud Messaging) , Hardware-as-a-Service, Google Drive and the ability to sync content across devices and do collaborative development on that content, you bet that Google is delivering on its vision of scalability and ubiquity for developers and enterprise customers. Of course the fun did not stop with the release of the new Android 4.1. The real excitement came as some amazing Google devices were introduced… Next. Google I/O Download (Part II)   Google Glass, Nexus 7, Nexus Q and how the new Nexus 7 compares to rivals like Apple TV. About the Author Andrew Till is the SVP and Head of Mobile and Media Devices within the Mobile & Connected Devices Division at Symphony Teleca. He's a frequent speaker on mobile device, the mobile industry and technology. Connect with Andrew on LinkedIn or leave a comment below. http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/google-io-download-(part-i).aspx http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/google-io-download-(part-i).aspx Mon, 02 July 2012 10:35:00 Dave Evans http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/enterprise-mobility-from-new-devices,-platforms,-applications-to-new-priorities.aspx The ever-changing landscape and innovation in the mobile industry continues to confront us with multiple smartphone and tablet platforms, myriad development and middleware environment and countless new applications. Throw in the need for mobile device management, security and telecom expense management - no wonder enterprises are overwhelmed. But we can help. Some believe that we are entering a new age of computing - an age where workers can interact with their enterprises at anytime and anywhere; where data is stored in the cloud, commands are made through touch and speech and results displayed on multiple screens. Others point to trends such as BYOD, adding how it's raising the complexity of the enterprise environment to a whole new level. What's clear is that enterprises are rapidly embracing distributed cloud computing and adopting new mobile devices, all of which are fundamentally changing the way they do business. Examples are everywhere if you look, but most often mission-critical functions such as sales and customer service are the first to get a taste of the new technology and the refreshed business process. In this case however, they are not only charged with delivering the benefits to customers but also spreading the knowledge to the wider enterprise. As with other computer revolutions, the rise of the web has created whole new categories of solutions and service organizations (think salesforce.com) and enterprise mobility management is nonetheless the same. The emergence of Oracle and Sybase and enterprise platforms such as SAP and Lawson have allowed workers to go beyond emails to access HR, finance, sales information and more, enabling greater productivity and efficiency. And there are no signs of slowing down. With the world quickly approaching billions of web-connected users, tens of billions of connected consumer electronics and hundreds of billions of mobile devices, enterprises are truly faced with a "live or die" scenario - it's either adopt to emerge or refuse to change and be swallowed. That's why enterprise mobility continues to rank top priority for IT executives in 2012 and investment in all aspects of mobility is set to rise. As our customers turn to us for solutions that would dramatically reduce the complexity in mobility management , we recognized the need for a managed mobility service platform that will allow enterprises to launch and scale mobile offerings in a most rapid and yet cost-effective way. In May we introduced m-Suite , our end-to-end enterprise mobility solution that takes account of the entire mobile strategy. Its three key features, create, distribute and manage, help enterprises to rapidly create and distribute software solutions for mobilizing the enterprise across multiple platforms while staying in control of IT government and telecom spend.  I often tell my colleagues that having a great solution is only part of the jigsaw, adding that with great customers and channel partners complete the puzzle. That's why every time I review our customer and partner portfolio, I feel the excitement. AT&T, HP and Accenture are just few examples among many others in the finance, retail, pharmaceutical and manufacturing sectors we're looking to build relationship with. And with m-Suite, the net is even wider - it includes network operators, device manufacturers, business partners, application developers and others in the mobile ecosystem. It's designed to support commerce, inspire innovations and transform businesses. As we get ready for an exciting ride surfing the wave of enterprise mobility, I invite you to embark on the journey with us. About the Author Dave Evans is based in Reading, UK, Dave is the SVP & CTO of the Enterprise Division at Symphony Teleca. Dave brings with him over 25 years of broad experience in business and technonology and is a seasoned CTO both for established corporatations and start-ups. Comment on the blog post, leave Dave a message or connect with him on LinkedIn . http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/enterprise-mobility-from-new-devices,-platforms,-applications-to-new-priorities.aspx http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/enterprise-mobility-from-new-devices,-platforms,-applications-to-new-priorities.aspx Mon, 25 June 2012 17:15:00 James Salter http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/a-new-era-of-web-connected-applications-and-services-for-automotive.aspx The annual Telematics Detroit is one of the most influential business focused conference and exhibition for the automotive telematics industry. For me, it's also a great place to gauge the state of the connected car and spot trends. And this year's show saw several developments that could soon reshape in-car technology.  In early June my colleagues and I attended the Telematics Detroit 20121 conference in Novi, Michigan. This annual automotive telematics event is known for gathering top-level decision-makers for two days of networking, learning about key trends and meeting with suppliers for their upcoming projects. This year was no exception - more than 1,800 senior executives participated and some 100 companies took to the exhibit hall, including Symphony Teleca. Amongst a variety of topics discussed, emerging development in In-vehicle Infotainment (IVI) and the future of telematics drew most interest. For instance when Thilo Kowlowski, an analyst from Gartner ICT (Information and Communications Technology) took the stage and shared the findings of an upcoming Gartner report, it immediate evoked exchanges among the attendees. Two pieces of data from him presentation that I thought was most important include: 30% of drivers polled by Gartner reported that they want to access wireless data in their car 21% of those specifically want embedded wireless access and altogether 47% wants to be able to access wireless apps in their future vehicles  Gartner further predicts that by 2016, connected vehicles will be a common desire for consumers and that the demand will continue to uptrend and may even become parallel to the level for connected personal electronics. With consumer appetite keeps growing, we've seen automotive OEMs, suppliers and dealers all rushing to develop and deliver viable solutions and services. That's why vendor offerings built upon promising technologies such as HTML5 and FOTA (firmware-over-the-air) were most evident at this year's show. By the way, my colleague Keith Higgins, in an earlier post explored just how these developments are dramatically transforming the automobile industry. Another interesting observation was that this year more wireless operators were present at the show, Verizon Wireless, Sprint, Orange and KPN among them. With handset saturation nearing 100%, it's only natural for them to look into the machine-to-machine and connected vehicle markets for growth. Verizon for example, just recently announced purchase of Hughes Telematics and surprisingly on the first day of the conference unveiled the formation of a 4G Venture Forum for Connected Cars with BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Kia and Toyota. It said the forum will focus on developing ways to integrate LTE connectivity into vehicles and promote the technology among suppliers and app developers. It was certainly an engaging show and it appears that more exciting changes are in store for the industry (here's a nice infographic that illustrates that). It's not just the technology that is changing but also the service offerings and how expectations for the car seem to be falling in line with other consumer technologies. The way I see it, connectivity and advanced entertainment options will clearly take a leap forward in the next few years. About the Author James is the Marketing Director for the Mobile & Connected Devices Division at Symphony Teleca. He shares his observations of the journey to a mobile and connected world. Comment on the blog post, leave James a message or connect with him on LinkedIn . http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/a-new-era-of-web-connected-applications-and-services-for-automotive.aspx http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/a-new-era-of-web-connected-applications-and-services-for-automotive.aspx Mon, 18 June 2012 14:10:00 Andrew Till http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/4-trends-and-revenue-opportunities-to-monetize-through-mobility.aspx Beyond developing innovative, differentiated products, the number one challenge today for software makers globally is finding new sustainable sources of revenue. For most, mobilizing their products offers significant new monetization opportunities, driven by four key industry trends: Explosion in Connected Devices: According to IDC, the worldwide smartphone market grew 55% year over year in 2011 to 472M, and will reach close to 1B units by 2015. Gartner is predicting worldwide tablet sales to exceed $200M by 2014. These devices come outfitted with an array of real-time user content capabilities such as location, preferences and historical information, creating significant opportunity for new types of software and applications. New Revenue Opportunity: Exploit new context-aware capabilities such as location and real-time updating of core datasets. Surge in the Mobile Workforce: IDC also says that the mobile workforce reached a staggering 1.1B people in 2010. And by 2013 IDC expects that 40% of the global workforce will be mobile. This trend clearly indicates that significant software usage will be done via mobile devices, resulting in significant additional monetization opportunities. New Revenue Opportunity: Establish core mobile workforce offerings and expand usage to increasingly nomadic employees. Shift to SaaS: Most enterprises have made it clear they expect cloud computing and SaaS to become the dominant - if not exclusive - software delivery mode in the future. With less than 5% of total revenue from the largest software companies delivered this way today, there are clearly first to market revenue opportunities across a range of applications for those who get to a SaaS delivery model quickly. New Revenue Opportunity: Gain 1st mover advantage as less than 5% of software is SaaS-enabled today. Growth in Mobile Commerce: Forrester Research predicts US mobile commerce will grow from $3B in 2010 to $31B in 2016. As the fundamental path of commerce shifts to mobile devices, more and more revenue will flow to companies with compelling, innovative mobile software experiences. New Revenue Opportunity: Position yourself as a key value chain player and capitalize on the purchasing shift to mobile. With less than 5% of software SaaS-enabled today and predictions for 50 billion connected devices with 40% of the global workforce being mobile, software makers face tremendous new business and product development challenges and opportunities. Don't miss out - this direction is pretty undeniable when you look at the numbers! About the author: Andrew Till is the SVP and Head of Smartphone and Consumer Electronics within the Mobile & Connected Devices Division at Symphony Teleca. He's a frequent speaker on mobile device, the mobile industry and technology. Connect with Andrew on LinkedIn , send him a note or leave a comment below. http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/4-trends-and-revenue-opportunities-to-monetize-through-mobility.aspx http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/4-trends-and-revenue-opportunities-to-monetize-through-mobility.aspx Fri, 15 June 2012 15:51:00 Keith Higgins http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/wheels-of-tomorrow.aspx Digital technology isn't just reshaping smartphones, homes and business, but also something else we spend a significant part of our time in - our cars.  We want them to be as connected as everything else in our lives - with entertainment, information and an integrated experience at our fingertips. Here's a look at how these developments can transform the automobile industry in the coming months and years. Digital technology isn't just reshaping smartphones, homes and business, but also something else we spend a significant part of our time in - our cars.  We want them to be as connected as everything else in our lives - with entertainment, information and an integrated experience at our fingertips. Vehicle telematics will combine instrumentation, advanced communication technology and software, in order to make management of remote drivers in cars more efficient. Cloud computing will power much of the audio streaming and dashboard apps. Safety, connectivity and intelligence will be integrated into vehicles seamlessly. We are heading towards the age of driverless cars - an advancement already in development by the biggies of the automotive industry. Here's a look at how these developments can transform the automobile industry in the coming months and years. Limitless Connectivity One exciting technology is Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) communication, which will allow cars to broadcast their direction and speed, minimizing the number and severity of car accidents. Sometimes V2V warnings could lead to a car taking action, like braking to avoid a collision, helping cars communicate with signs and street lights and alerting drivers that they are approaching a school zone or a red light. In the future, this technology could even be used in mobile phones to warn pedestrians of approaching vehicles. The Cloud is also playing a role in car connectivity, with many car systems connecting to the cloud via 3G, 4G or Wi-Fi. About 15% of American households will have vehicles with connected communications in 2012 and that figure will increase drastically with time. Enhanced Infotainment and Navigation The app dashboard experience is just around the corner for the automobile industry. GM did a demonstration of what it would be like to have 4G LTE in your vehicle . With this technology, passengers could watch YouTube videos, access text notifications about car-related issues and location-filtered restaurant recommendations. The new Mercedes GL has screens on the back of the passenger's and driver's seats for this. Lexus vehicles have apps displayed in the center of their dashboards, but limited, for safety purposes. Storefronts will also be open. Navigation services will tie back to connectivity and allow systems to be more automated and futuristic. For example, Audi offers lane-departure sensing alerts for another car when it is in a blind spot. Innovation HMIs Human-Machine Interface , or HMI will improve future driving experience by giving the driver a lot more control over car systems. Ford HMI allows drivers to use either touch or voice-control to select settings for systems like audio, navigation and cruise control. Audi is working on enhancing HMI with gesture controls for both driver and passengers. Improved Safety Controls Telematics will improve car safety in areas like accident avoidance, detection and recovery, at a faster pace. GM OnStar is an example. Personalization and access to medical records will allow First Responders access to specific medical information resulting in faster and higher quality medical care. About 70% of 2011 cars had telematics. The demand for telematics in electric vehicles means that almost 9 out of 10 plug-in electric cars sold this year will have the technology. This percentage will increase to 94% by 2017. While many individual safety features exist, GM is taking it a step further. They're producing the 2013 Cadillac XTS with a wide range of safety features that, when combined, will help make up a 'sensor fusion'. Features will include multiple inputs for intelligent brake assist, automatic collision preparation, adaptive cruise control and heads-up display - a step towards bringing automatic cars to the market. Improved Remote Maintenance As software becomes more prevalent in cars, a need to update software remotely and safely has grown. This can be done using firmware over-the-air (FOTA) technology , which will become standard and allow for continual software add-ons and upgrades, while the car is operational. Remote diagnostics will play a huge role with insurance companies in the coming years. Safely maintained vehicles could equal better rates for drivers. New insurance business models such as "Pay as You Drive" will blossom. Remote diagnostics will enable manufacturers to reset an electronic process in the car, run apps to mitigate issues and organize for necessary alerts and repairs. GM OnStar is a popular example of remote vehicle diagnostics where monthly reports about vehicle usage and maintenance can be channeled. Some of the hundreds of diagnostic checks include air-bag system, antilock brake system, tire pressure and engine checks. Some of the automobile industry's current concepts and technologies are only a glimpse of what is to come. The Wheels of the Future are coming faster - across vehicles, infrastructure and services. About the Author Chief Marketing Officer Keith Higgins provides a Symphony Teleca insider's perspective on technology innovation and customer challenges. Comment on the blog post, leave Keith a message or connect with him on LinkedIn . http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/wheels-of-tomorrow.aspx http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/wheels-of-tomorrow.aspx Mon, 11 June 2012 12:00:00 Andrew Till http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/get-ready-nfc-is-nearing-its-tipping-point.aspx This article was originally published on VentureBeat's mobile section as a guest post on March 30, 2012. The mobile experience is in a renaissance period, from phones to tablets to autos and more. We're seeing multi-core processors come to mobile devices to enable new applications like intense gaming and HD video playback, and we're seeing advanced user interfaces, such as gesture and eye tracking, that could greatly improve the mobile experience. Then there's Near Field Communications (NFC). Many predict NFC will bring one of the most significant improvements to the mobile experience of all. Imagine optimizing your in-car controls by taping your smartphone to the dash of your car: GPS and Bluetooth capabilities engage, Google navigator launches, and the mirrors, seat controls, and steering wheel adjust to fit your body perfectly. Throughout the day, a single touch of your mobile device lets you purchase your morning latte, enter the secured parking area, and unlock your office door. Once at your workstation, one touch aligns your computer environment for maximum productivity. When you're ready to turn in for the night, you touch a discreet tag next to your pillow to automatically set your home alarm, mute your phone, and turn off Wi-Fi to save battery life, plus set the radio to wake you at 7 a.m. the next morning. This level of ease and control is a reality: these one-touch technologies are all in the pilot stages or already available on the market. Within a few years, NFC has evolved from a promising concept to a fully realized technology. NFC allows electronic devices to securely communicate across short distances. These communications can take the form of commands, data exchange, authentication protocols, and even financial transactions. Today, NFC capabilities are cropping up in everything from mobile devices to tiny Xperia SmartTags from Sony that you can place anywhere in the physical environment to trigger a customized series of wireless commands. For consumers, NFC offers a new level of convenience and ease when conducting a wide range of day-to-day activities. NFC Systems Reach Vertical Markets But NFC does more than enhance consumer technology. Its capabilities are now rolling out across a wide range of industries, including security, commerce, retail, automotive, transportation, and logistics. For example, NFC is currently being piloted as a way to control an organization's security access, with an NFC chip embedded in each employee's smartphone providing a specific level of access to a facility. This type of wireless security could allow a company to see significant savings over the installation and maintenance of a hard-wired system. In the retail industry, Google's recent announcement that it's replacing its Google Checkout offering with NFC-enabled Google Wallet has many retailers looking more closely at this technology. As well as offering a fast, secure transaction process, NFC systems offer retailers powerful marketing capabilities. Eventually, NFC technology could enable retailers to anticipate shoppers' needs as they enter the store and to push after-purchase support and promotional opportunities to buyers. The transit industry is also showing increasing interest in contactless payment following the successful rollout of London's Oyster program , where travelers use a plastic smartcard on the Tube, National Rail, tram, and bus instead of paper tickets. The original Oyster system was based on RFID, but it's now being upgraded to support NFC devices. Most recently, Scandinavian Airlines and Japan Airlines began using NFC technology to enable "smart" boarding passes that function as a mobile payment system, wayfinder, and booking system for hotels and transportation. Massive NFC Boost Set for 2012 NFC will benefit from global exposure during the London 2012 Olympics. Two of the event's official sponsors, Visa and Lloyds TSB, will be offering a special NFC-enabled "Olympics phone" that will allow attendees to make one-tap payments throughout the site. Technology experts will be watching closely to gauge the success of the world's first "touchless Olympics." In addition to this high-profile boost, big brands such as Barclaycard and McDonald's are launching awareness campaigns in 2012 to educate consumers about the benefits of the technology. And in addition to the impact of Google Wallet on the consumer population, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon will be launching Isis , an NFC-based virtual wallet and payment system, later in 2012. Exponential Growth Predicted A lack of NFC-enabled handsets on the market has held NFC adoption back in recent years, but analysts say this trend is about to reverse. Deloitte predicts the number of devices with embedded NFC will reach 200 million by the end of 2012 and that by 2013, 300 million NFC smartphones, tablets, and e-readers will be in consumers' hands. Gartner estimates that by 2015 a full 50 percent of smartphones will be NFC-enabled and NFC semiconductor revenue will reach more than $1 billion. Enhancing your vertical offerings with NFC If your organization is beginning to explore NFC's potential for the products and services you deliver to consumer or B2B markets, it's important to understand the possibilities and limitations of the technology. Here's a set of best practices to keep in mind: Keep the wide variety of execution environments in mind. NFC involves a variety of execution environments, with components residing in the back end, on the handset software, and on the secure element. This kind of sophisticated technology requires a development team with a suitable breadth of knowledge and experience and a holistic understanding of all execution environments. Take contiguous technologies into consideration. NFC deployments must be designed with a clear understanding of the payment instruments, business models, and value chains they're built on, along with an understanding of the complex relationships between these elements. Find the right balance between safety and ease of use. NFC must be designed with a strategic balance between security and usability in mind. Veer too far into locked-down security, and the user experience becomes cumbersome. At the same time, users won't embrace functions unless they know their data, privacy, and financial assets are protected. Aim for "invisible elegance". Above all, NFC functions must be designed to be unobtrusive. The best NFC deployments will be virtually unnoticeable, weaving themselves undetectably into the functionality of the device, reducing user interaction into a single "magic touch". About the author: Andrew Till is the SVP and Head of Smartphone and Consumer Electronics within the Mobile & Connected Devices Division at Symphony Teleca. He's a frequent speaker on mobile device, the mobile industry and technology. Connect with Andrew on LinkedIn , send him a note or leave a comment below. http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/get-ready-nfc-is-nearing-its-tipping-point.aspx http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/get-ready-nfc-is-nearing-its-tipping-point.aspx Fri, 01 June 2012 13:14:00 Sanjay Dhawan http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/why-mobilizing-software-is-so-hard.aspx While software is "eating the world" , mobilizing it is causing all kinds of problems. The most visible recent examples being tech giant IBM's admission it has been stung by BYOD pitfalls and the story about Facebook's amended IPO filings , where it admitted its weakness in mobile warning "if users increasingly access Facebook mobile products as a substitute for access through personal computers, and if we are unable to successfully implement monetization strategies for our mobile users, or if we incur excessive expenses in this effort, our financial performance and ability to grow revenue would be negatively affected.". One of the biggest contributing factors causing this is the traditional silos of software and mobility. Historically there have been software people and there have been mobile people. And until recently they sat in separate meetings, solved problems that did not overlap and were measured very differently. The bumpiness in convergence of software and mobility is widely documented. A recently Gartner report on companies with expertise in Mobile Enterprise Application Platforms (MEAPs) showed about 12, many in early stage and no one in the leaders category. The enterprise app store situation is very similar. We are just now working on simplifying and automating the cross platform delivery of commercial software at this new junction where software and mobility converge. The second challenge is the variety of devices and operating systems. Smartphones, tablets, cars, set top boxes, personal health devices combined with ever evolving operating systems like Android, iOS, Windows mobile and more. Just recently, we published a couple of infographics showing what your next device is likely to look like and what you might see in your car in our Wheels of the Future initiative. Ensuring your software works across all these different use cases is extremely daunting, primarily given that purchasing and operating the necessary testing and automation tools is no longer an option for most companies. The third challenge is purely the scale of this problem. Some predict connected devices will surpass 1.3 billion by 2016. That's a lot of devices to keep track of, especially for an enterprise. Securing and managing mobile software in the enterprise is an extremely fragmented approach today, with MEAPs and App Stores, MDM, expense management, analytics and more. We did an infographic recently on that too, called the Anatomy of Enterprise Mobility (I think our marketing team really likes infographics) that shows just how complex the matter can be. Until we can really bridge the software and mobility worlds at a detailed technical, architectural and operational level, we will continue to see some bumps. But we're definitely making progress with our clients today, helping them make software for a cross-platform world, deliver new connected devices and delivering enterprise mobility as a managed service. This very interesting journey continues. About the Author: Sanjay Dhawan is the President and CEO at Symphony Teleca. Connect with Sanjay on LinkedIn , send him a note or leave a comment below.   http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/why-mobilizing-software-is-so-hard.aspx http://www.symphonyteleca.com/about-us/newsroom/co-create-blog/posts/2012/why-mobilizing-software-is-so-hard.aspx Tue, 29 May 2012 15:38:00