Cloud computing is so prevalent now that it’s taking a backseat to what really matters to most companies: sales.
In 2015 we’ll see more focus on the social mobile and analytical selling capabilities that cloud empowers than we will about cloud tech. We’ll see corporations leveraging what cloud lets them do, and that’s how it ought to be. That means cloud has grown up, and it’s now time for business.
Not to diminish the technology aspects and bright future of cloud because there’s lots going on there too, such as the recent ISO standards around cloud, the rush towards portable VMs using Docker and related technologies, and the explosive growth in importance and usage of Platform as a Service (PaaS). But the “killer app” for cloud has always been the promise of cognitive technologies – now made possible from vast computing power mixed with customer preference and location information. What cloud analytics makes possible dwarfs cloud tech.
Business people talk about selling, marketing and satisfying customers. They care about identifying prospects, increasing customer loyalty and driving sales. Management icon Peter Drucker said that the reason companies exist is to “create and keep customers,” and cloud delivers on that observation in spades.
Cloud computing makes sales happen, and it’s selling that matters most to companies, not the technology (cloud) that let’s them sell. It’s the same old saw: technology doesn’t matter; it’s what technology makes happen that matters.
In the Social Mobile Analytics Cloud (SMAC) acronym, cloud comes last as the engine that powers the social and mobile lifestyle that analytics can mine for commerce.
IBM Chairman, President and CEO Ginni Rometty said, “This isn’t just an era of new technology, it’s a new era of commerce.” Cloud lets companies build relationships and trust “like never before,” while enhancing the customer experience. She also noted that 80 percent of the world’s data has been created in the past two years, most of it in the form of personal expression from potential customers.
Those companies that have already moved to cloud computing are reaping nearly insurmountable commerce leads over those who have hesitated. The winners are mining, correlating and using all that customer social information and mobile location data to sell more, and sell in ways never before seen.
Cloud is important, don’t get me wrong, but what cloud lets companies accomplish is what truly matters. Cloud is the engine of todays social mobile everything. Social technologies are integrating into virtually all enterprise applications. Personal social media use (on mobiles largely) is now a strategic component in virtually all customer engagement and marketing strategies. That’s because all that social-ness coupled with mobile location awareness equals a huge marketing opportunity. It was called analytics in 2014, and big data in 2013. Now they call it cognitive tech (think Google or IBM Watson).
Data from social mobile applications will feed the product and service development process for the express purpose of driving advertising and sales!
Consider this:
- What if your thermostat sensed your body temperature and fed that to Google to make you an offer on cold tablets as you walk past the sinus section at the drugstore?
- What if your shopping cart suggested items you need based on where you were in the store and what was already in your cart?
- What if your intelligent home hub (aka your ‘fridge) added items you need like furnace filters to your shopping list, or better yet just ordered them for you?
- What if Amazon knew what books you would like and sent them to you automatically?
These aren’t idle questions; this is corporate life-and-blood in 2015+. Oh, and by the way, all of these are happening right now, online or in a retail outlet near you.
The Internet of Things (IoT) is what’s hot now, also powered by cloud. It’s hot because it generates even more customer data. Google didn’t spend billions on a thermostat with temperature sensors and an Internet connection (called the Nest Learning Thermostat) for naught after all.
Or consider the recently FDA-approved radio-frequency identification (RFID) chip for pharmaceuticals. Every pill can now monitor its effectiveness and surroundings and communicate that to — you guessed it — your mobile, which in turn can share that socially. Think about that. Pills that help make sure you take all your pills.
IoT is big because of the way it helps track behavior and activity. Coupled with cloud’s killer app, it will also push commerce. It can also improve customer satisfaction, loyalty and ultimately, corporate profits.
Expect 30 billion autonomously connected end-points and 100 billion computing devices connected to the Web by 2020. IoT looks to generate $8.9 trillion in revenue and forces corporations to manage 50 times the data they do today. Just think about all that customer and competitive intelligence. Combine that with cognitive technology and it’s a sales, marketing and advertising bonanza!
So it’s only proper, now that cloud has done its job and delivered on its promise, that it steps back and allows its benefits to take the limelight. Cloud computing is ubiquitous, and for most people it sets the stage for competitive advantage — which soon becomes table stakes. It’s not too late for those who haven’t moved to cloud, but that door is closing.
Don’t think it doesn’t apply to your market either: consider iTwinkle. A set of holiday lights that integrates with your cloud-powered smartphone. It syncs to music for near-Disney class artistic syncopation right in your living room. It puts you in control — and it has built in social integrations to let you share your masterpieces. Hey, wait a minute! I thought we were talking about holiday lights. (Oh, and did I mention you pay about $2 per bulb for iTwinkle vs. $2 per strand? Talk about marketing…)
Welcome to 2015.