One trend I am seeing across my client base of B2B enterprise software clients is what many of them are calling “The Digital Transformation.” There’s a growing acknowledges that more and more things and people are connected digitally, and that as more data is being generated. Savvy enterprise software companies are moving quickly to leverage the digital transformation to help customers to take practical action.
According to Wikipedia, The Digital Transformation is defined as follows:
Digital transformation refers to the changes associated with the application of digital technology in all aspects of human society. Digital transformation may be thought as the third stage of embracing digital technologies: digital competence → digital usage → digital transformation, with usage and transformative ability informing digital literacy. The transformation stage means that digital usages inherently enable new types of innovation and creativity in a particular domain, rather than simply enhance and support the traditional methods.
If you are a B2B software vendor, what are you telling customers about how you plan to help them through the Digital Transformation?
Business Process Management (BPM) solutions hold out the promise of bringing a process-centric view to IT solutions. But are they living up to that promise? How can manufacturers unlock the potential of BPM?
In an interesting white paper written by iGrax, the company suggests that BPM will enable companies to “implement systems that support, simplify, enable and automate the way a business operates.”On their own, however, the paper states, BPM systems are not the complete answer. Business Processs Automation (BPA) solutions that effectively span the various process improvement needs within the organization will help unlock the potential of BPM systems by bridging the chasms between the major organizational constituencies and providing a common language for the progressive, agile enterprise.
According to the white paper:
Process initiative practitioners stand to gain significant benefits from a BPA solution through the ability to use solutions that meet their specific process-oriented needs while at the same time synergizing with the efforts of the rest of the organization. By supporting process centric initiatives or requirements like Six Sigma, Lean and Sarbanes-Oxley, the BPA solution enables these practitioners to integrate with the broader organization without compromising the needs of the methodology. A BPA solution also enables process initiative practitioners to have an even greater impact on the results of the organization. By using a solution that bridges the organizational gaps and facilitates cross-functional communication, the results from process-centric initiatives can feed directly into the implementation environment.
Do you agree?
FishSentry, an innovative fishing rod and associated app by FishSentry, LLC, officially launches an Indiegogo campaign to fund the production and distribution of the product. FishSentry, with its patent-pending technology brings the first complete connected fishing experience.
“We’ve developed the next generation in connected fishing equipment,” says Spencer Worley, CTO of FishSentry, LLC. “The FishSentry rod will immediately notify you when you need to check your line. FishSentry will eliminate the need for constant monitoring and shorten the time your line has lost bait, tangled weeds, or missed strikes.”
The FishSentry Rod uses its sensors at the tip and base to monitor and detect changes in rod movement. The monitoring occurs dozens of times every second, and once a change in movement is detected, the rod will communicate to the FishSentry app on the user’s mobile device via Bluetooth communication.
Fishing environments vary widely and the FishSentry App gives fishermen the controls to adapt the alerts. The FishSentry Rod will be available in three different sizes: 8’6 Med Heavy, 9’0 Med Heavy, 9’6. In addition to alerting the fisherman to check the line, the FishSentry app also records trip time, date, location, tides, moon phase, weather, catches and stores data for future use and/or sharing. The FishSentry app will be available for iOS and Android devices.
“Successfully raising the funds will enable the first totally connected fishing rod,” says Worley. “I believe the FishSentry App and Rod will revolutionize the way outdoorsmen fish, interact with each other, and inspire the next generation of connected fishermen.”
Since it is well known that cybersecurity is a major concern of industrial organizations today, it’s little surprise that ARC Advisory Group would want to canvass B2B market participants on this topic. ARC Advisory Group has launched two industrial cybersecurity research initiatives to help companies understand and address these hurdles. One focuses on the protection of plant systems. The other explores cybersecurity issues constraining broader adoption of IIoT.
According to ARC, “A successful cyber attack on a plant could result in significant damage to a company’s financial, safety, and compliance performance. Lack of clear cybersecurity strategies for new technology like the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) are hampering efforts to improve key metrics like asset reliability and operational effectiveness.”
Who should participate in the survey and why?
These are important issues for every industrial organization. If you are involved in industrial cybersecurity we [ARC] hope that you will participate. By completing one or both of these surveys you will be helping to ensure that your industry is secure and remains a difficult target for would be attackers. As an additional incentive, ARC will provide everyone who completes a survey with a free summary report that they can use to evaluate their own cybersecurity concerns.
Here are links to the studies:
Wences Casares, CEO of Xapos, speaking on EconTalk in July, posited an interesting way to create a relatively low-risk hedge against the potential explosive rise of Bitcoin over the next decade.
Here’s what Casares suggested during his appearance on EconTalk:
I happen to believe that there’s more than 50% chance that Bitcoin succeeds; and if Bitcoin succeeds, I believe that a Bitcoin is going to be worth more than a million dollars. I believe that some time in the next 10 years, one Bitcoin is going to be worth more than a million dollars. So, just like it would be very, very irresponsible to own an amount of bitcoin that you cannot afford to lose, it would also be silly not to own a little bit of Bitcoin. To put more than 1% of your savings in Bitcoin. Because if I am wrong, your downside is cut at 1% to hurt you very much. So, let’s say that your savings are $100,000. So, what I would say is you should have $1000 in Bitcoin.
If I am right, those 4 Bitcoins [value was $250 per Bitcoin at time of podcast] will be $4 million. Which is 40 times your entire savings. So it’s not like you will say I wish I had more. You bought plenty. So it’s asymmetrical that to have a little makes sense. Do not have enough Bitcoin that you cannot afford to lose, but have a little bit.
Russ Roberts, EconTalk’s host, said in response to Casare’s recommendation: “This could be life-changing… this is practical. It’s a very interesting way to think about it.”
Casares’ one percent solution to hedging the rise of Bitcoin seems practical to me, too, and, if it makes sense to you, use my link and complete a purchase of at least $100 worth of Bitcoin and Coinbase will send us both $10 worth of Bitcoin for free.