Now that I have your attention, let me explain why these three seemingly random events, like the new hit TV show Touch,really are all connected. There is a compelling case for their significant commonality.
Cisco BYOD
Results of the Cisco IBSG Horizons Study of 600 U.S. IT and business leaders were recently released in conjunction with Cisco publishing a study on its “Smart Solutions” for enterprises, services providers and end users to maximize the benefits of mobility. This is a case of “game, set, match,” in terms of the consumerization of IT.
The tsunami of bring your own device (BYOD) to work has quickly trumped IT desires to limit or totally deny their use. Ninety-five percent of respondents said their organizations now allow employee-owned devices to be used in the workplace. Plus, the study projected the average number of connected devices per knowledge worker will reach 3.3 by 2014, up from an average of 2.8 in 2012.
And to show how fast the tide has turned, 76 percent of IT leaders said this was either somewhat or extremely beneficial. What a difference a few hundred million device sales and a couple of months make.
Interactive Intelligence Interaction Mobilizer
Coming to Interactive’s CIC customers soon, the Interaction Mobilizer software platform makes the creation and publication of mobile apps that interact well with contact centers a breeze. It expands contact center touchpoints to fully engage not just external users on their tablets and smartphones with a richer experience, but internal employees and partners looking to tap the value of the contact center as the, “front door of enterprises’ supply chains.”
As the focus of enterprises is increasingly on improving the customer experience on all fronts, including leveraging the insights from big data from using sophisticated analytics on information from previously siloed databases – in many ways this put BYOD on steroids. It is a game-changer for many different reasons.
The Facebook IPO
No, this is not a mistake. As the stock continues to slide I find myself almost embarrassingly in the position of saying, “I told you so!”
Last week I had two articles that touched on why Facebook’s business model might be problematic. GM’s pulling of its paid ads because it did not see a good correlation between them and car buying by its target audience was the subject of one. Facebook’s losing its mojo because the switch to smartphones and tablets, mobile platforms where advertising has not taken off for a variety of reasons, was part of another that looked at what netizens can and will accept in allocating their time online. This is the BYOD effect in reverse. It is part of the twenty/twenty hindsight that has led investors to determine that the Facebook IPO was over-priced.
The connections tell the story
When viewed through the prism of BYOD, the commonality of these recent events is nothing short of striking. Cisco documented the trends and highlighted the challenges/opportunities. Interactive Intelligence is literally riding the BYOD and mobile apps wave and leveraging the centrality of the contact center in supply chains and business process automation to improve internal as well as external customer experiences. Facebook – and nobody is taking up a collection for those with founders’ stock – is finding out that markets can be cruel, especially if you publically admit, as they did in their amended pre-IPO filing that mobility was a significant gap in their portfolio.
The Facebook connection to the Interactive Intelligence announcement is very interesting. Every research firm that focuses on contact center solutions in recent months has stressed and/or validated the absolute importance that social media can and will have on the continuing evolution of contact centers from cost centers to vital cogs in business performance and sustainability. In other words, being Facebook-friendly will be vital.
However, what is good news for contact center operators is not necessarily good news for Facebook if it can’t figure out a better way to monetize the fact that the nature of traffic is shifting quickly and the overlap of those hundreds of millions of Facebook users with BYODers is only going to increase.
Cisco in a nice way told it like it is, and because of where they sit will be a major beneficial of the dynamic shifts impacting IT professionals as the consumerization of their environment picks up steam. As to the other two companies cited, to paraphrase the lyrics of the hit 1969 song, “Both Sides Now” by Joni Mitchell, clouds may not get in your way but BYOD and mobile apps will. Interactive Intelligence is ahead of the curve in catering to the crowd, while Facebook has more than a bit of catching up to do.