GSMA report predicts that there will be 24 billion connected devices by 2020. That's roughly 4 devices per person, if you look at a population of seven odd billion. Internet of Things (IoT), Internet of Everything (IoE), Global Integrated Network of People and Gadgets (GINPeG)... call it what you want but, if this doesn't count as an idea whose time has come, I don't know what does.
The coming reality, and the complexities and challenges that comes out of it, is keeping me and just about every CXO I know, awake and fretting at night. The excitement of the technological advances haven't overpowered the confusion and anxiety that seems to mark this painful transformation into the digital age.
Add to this customer experience as the only real business differentiator, with a customer, highly empowered and mobile, far more comfortable, at home and work, with these technological innovations, and desperately seeking the eco-system to keep pace. Screen on, game on, as our colleagues at marketing say.
Cloud, Mobility, Big Data analytics, Security...
Content Marketing, Marketing Automation, CMO-CIO alignment...
Not a day goes by without these words being bandied about, and with good reason, for they are all important topics and trends shaping the times we live in.
But it can all get rather overwhelming, without any real clarity on the way forward; on the strategies and technologies we need to adopt to navigate through the hyper-personalized landscape we are about to enter, where expectations are sky-high (54% of customers expect a company to respond to their social media query or complaint regarding their brand in less than 15 minutes), and experience can make or break a business in double-quick time.
So, what are the trends and challenges ahead? What do the pundits say? How can the stressed out Enterprise world respond to the challenges, opportunities, and of course threats (Data Security is high on everybody's mind) to deliver excellent CX and retain customers for life?
The questions are many.
And the answer is... it depends.
