Blog - Page 21 of 40

Oct 23

Soft Watch at the Moment of First Explosion by Salvador Dali c. 1954

Procrastination and the Internet of Things

By Joe Barkai Internet of Things (IoT), IT Strategy One Comment

Time Value of Information

Fans of Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink will surely agree: In many situations, it makes sense to act promptly and decisively upon arrival of information indicating a problem.

You can clearly apply this logic in industrial manufacturing setting. For instance, if a machine on the manufacturing line has drifted out of spec and starts spewing bad parts, it should be shut down immediately in order to reduce the number of bad parts it produces. Then, the machine needs to be repaired equally expeditiously in order to restore production as soon as possible. In this example, the impact, or the business value, of the decision is the highest when a quick and decisive action is taken. The longer we wait to shut down production, the more bad parts are going to be produced and scrapped.

As Lee Iacocca remarked: “Even a correct decision is wrong when it was taken too late.”

Oct 11

The Return of the Real-Time Enterprise

By Joe Barkai Cloud Computing, Internet of Things (IoT) No Comments

Real Time?

The term real time was originally used to imply a predictable and guaranteed response time to computer-generated or observed events. For example, a real-time process control system is architected to respond to readings from sensors and switches within a predefined latency in order to keep a process going, respond to alarms, and so forth. In other words, real time doesn’t necessarily mean “extremely fast”; it merely means “fast enough” for the purpose of the process it controls. Of course, in industrial applications that may mean within a few milliseconds, but the point is that real-time systems are optimized for timing predictability, whether measured in milliseconds or minutes.

Somehow, over the last couple of decades, real time became to mean “very fast.” Until recently, we didn’t think of Internet connectivity and cloud-based apps as being capable of very fast response time. We certainly know from everyday experience that response time isn’t consistent and definitely not predictable.

But the improved throughput of wired and wireless IP networks and abundance of Internet resources is improving both speed and response-time predictability of cloud-based applications.

Oct 04

Innovation and the Inherent Bias of Technology

By Joe Barkai Innovation, Internet of Things (IoT), IT Strategy, Manufacturing 2 Comments

The Imherent Bias of Technology

“Technology is neither good nor bad; nor is it neutral” declared Melvin Kranzberg.

Indeed, not only is technology un-neutral, it has an intrinsic bias. In the process of defining and implementing software to perform certain tasks and solve particular problems, the designers make many assumptions and decisions—most of which are irreversible—about the intended tasks, workflows, work environment, and user profiles. Unintentionally, the marketers and designers of software tools introduce a bias.

Douglas Allchin maintains that in itself this inherent bias does not pose a problem, but it does dictate how the technology is being used, and who can and cannot use it. Consequently, the innate bias influences the ability of the organization to realize the full value of the technology.

Sep 24

IoT, Hummus Containers, and a Heap of e-Waste

By Joe Barkai Internet of Things (IoT) 2 Comments

A Growing Heap of e-Waste

Driven by the insatiable appetite of consumers for new products and fancy gadgets, designers of consumer products and wearable devices flood the market with snazzy gizmos loaded with “cool” (and all too often meaningless) features. But they also face fierce competition in market segments that can become saturated overnight and demographics with a limited spending budget and brand loyalty that can turn on a dime.

These companies strive on what product strategist call “planned obsolescence”: they design their products to become out-of-date, out-of-vogue, or useless within a short period of time. And they design new products with features that entice consumers to purchase a replacement for a perfectly good product that just a short year or two ago was grabbing headlines and getting rave reviews.

Sep 15

“Uncool” Is Not a Business Problem

By Joe Barkai Business Strategy No Comments

How Cool is it to be a Gartner Cool Vendor?

So your company has been named a “cool vendor” in a recent Gartner report. Once the celebration is over, you might want to pause to think about what does it really mean to be a cool vendor. What impact, if any, will this have (or should have) on your future?

What Does It Mean to be a Cool Vendor?

Gartner describes a Cool Vendor as typically a smaller, lesser-known technology or service provider that offers innovative and potentially game-changing and disruptive technology, business model, or service offering:
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