Last year at Mobile World Congress (MWC), we saw the reality of the IoT come to fruition. We saw leaders like AT&T showing their prototypes of connected cars, containers, agricultural sites, homes, etc. And it's got me wondering what we'll see at the 2016 MWC.
In 2015, communications and media companies scrambled to ride the digital wave. I met with dozens of executives to talk about harnessing and monetizing all this new digital data. The first step always involves looking at your IT infrastructure and the way you consume and explore various data. If you rely on IT or data scientists for critical analysis, then the executives need to take action to create a more agile and democratized approach to data exploration.
In Oct 2015, IDC put a stake in the ground and released its Digital Transformation (DX) report which states that “by 2020, 43 percent of IT budgets [will be]tied to new DX initiatives."
The reality is every company on the planet is focused on digital transformation. Those who don't will die. Some key areas where we're seeing investments are in the areas of cybersecurity, fraud, customer decisioning and data management with a focus on analytics.
With security and fraud – the thinking is not so much about prevention but rather immediate detection. Networks will be breached and fraud will happen; the bad guys are just that good. So quickly detecting and removing the threat is the best strategy for keeping your enterprise safe.
Customer interactions have evolved. Everything is now digital. Traditional marketing is ineffective. Now marketers and customer care executives are focused on omnichannel communications, the customer journey and how to use rich digital as their best competitive weapon. The focus is more on having a customer decision hub where all the decisions can be made with the customer at the center and have these decisions flow out to the channels instead of having silos of channels with independent decisioning.
The transition to all things digital, plus the need to provide relevant communications in real time has driven a revolution in data management and changed where analytics occur in an organization. Analytics at the edge or event stream processing allow decisions to happen while data is in motion (like IoT and network data). Using event stream processing, we're seeing 10% plus lifts in offer acceptance.
If you want to learn more about these DX enablers, please stop by the SAS booth at MWC, Mon – Wed at 15:30 – 16:30. We'll have experts presenting:
- Customer Decision HUB (Monday)
- Digital Transformation/Network Analytics (Tuesday)
- What's Hot in Big Data Analytics (Wednesday)
So what are my predictions for MWC 2016? I think we'll see a proliferation of wearable device prototypes and digital services. I think Mark Zuckerberg will tantalize us with more of his unique leadership. I think we'll see even more cross-industry presence as mobile becomes the center of everything we do. I think we'll see further affirmation that mobile is everything – and we'll see a follow on frenzy of executives looking for ways to have approachable analytics implemented throughout their organization.
We hope to see you in Barcelona!
