Professional Documents
Culture Documents
EMBRACE THE
DIGITAL MESH
DATA I S DEAD
BE THE MAESTRO
INTRO
EMBRACE THE
DIGITAL MESH
DATA I S DEAD
BE THE MAESTRO
INTRODUCTION
The illiterate of
the 21st century
will not be those
who cannot
read and write,
but those who
cannot learn,
unlearn and
relearn.
Alvin Toffler
Relearning is what brought the Apollo 11 astronauts home. Its what gave us the Ford automobile
instead of the faster horse. And its what will help your business thrive, as the coming years witness
the explosion of cognitive computing, immersive experiences, and a digital mesh that connects
people, things and various entities.
The value of unlearning, and learning again
As we experience the greatest shift in human productivity since the First Industrial Revolution
one that demands speed, agility and innovation businesses must relearn much of what they know
in order to succeed in the long term.
Why? Because the pace of change will never be slower than it is today. As counterintuitive as that
sounds, the nature of technology is such that if you havent started on your path today, you will
already be further behind tomorrow.
Its this sense of urgency we hope adds a little paranoia to business leaders reading this that if you
arent doing everything you can to advance your business, someone else will steal your customers.
Although, as they say, its not paranoia if what you fear is actually happening.
For Avanades Technology Vision 2016, we have identified the following themes that are
instrumental in fostering this transformation as you rewire your organization:
Mind the ethical fault line: Building trust in a digital world
Embrace the digital mesh: Leveraging the power of borderless platforms
Data is dead: Long live data currency
Be the maestro: Orchestrating an augmented workforce
Also included are two sidebars, one focused on design thinking and the other on
modern engineering.
INTRO
EMBRACE THE
DIGITAL MESH
DATA I S DEAD
BE THE MAESTRO
INTRO
EMBRACE THE
DIGITAL MESH
BE THE MAESTRO
DATA I S DEAD
TechVision 2015
Shifty to Individual
Centricity
Borderless
Platforms
Data Currency
TechVision 2016
Embrace the
Digital Mesh
Data is Dead
Orchestrating an
Augmented Workforce
INTRO
TechVision 2016
Embrace the
Digital Mesh
Data is Dead
Orchestrating an
Augmented Workforce
EMBRACE THE
DIGITAL MESH
DATA I S DEAD
BE THE MAESTRO
At first glance, many of the themes overlap. Borderless platforms continues to be the stance of
the future. Though, one year later, the stakes are far greater and the success stories more plentiful.
The need to scrutinize our big data habits still exists. Businesses all know, almost intuitively now,
that data in and of itself is not the value insight is. But its time we pushed harder for substantial
change in how we get to those insightful moments or we risk sitting on a landfill of dead data.
The artificial intelligence (AI) revolution continues to transform the workplace behind the scenes,
alongside ever greater and accessible automation, ranging from process automation on one
end, to cognitive computing on the other. But the alarmism surrounding cognitive technologies
is getting old and we are losing sight of what counts: You must put people at the center of a
machine-augmented superhuman workforce. Smart machines clearly offer benefits to the
enterprise, including the opportunity to increase revenues, optimize efficiencies and better serve
customers in a digital world. AI still has a long way to go and enhancing, rather than replacing
humans, is going to deliver the greatest value.
Last year we talked about the shift to individual centricity based on personalization; this year we
emphasize the importance of recognizing that personalization should be transparent and handled
in an ethical way. In fact, this year we lead with the theme of digital ethics and the need to actively
foster it as a central building block for everything you do.
Ethics has always been on the radar of enterprise leaders, whether it be in protecting privacy or
ensuring compliancy. But this year we stress the new level of importance this topic is taking on,
and how intimately ethics is tied into a successful, long-term digital strategy.
INTRO
EMBRACE THE
DIGITAL MESH
DATA I S DEAD
BE THE MAESTRO
As we are about to endow millions of vehicles with autonomy, taking algorithmic morality
seriously has never been more urgent.
So says a team of researchers, working on a problem that could only exist in the last few years.1
As self-driving cars enter the market, how do we handle the ethical dilemma of programming an
algorithm to save lives in the event of an unavoidable car accident? Should the car protect its owner
at all costs, or do its best to minimize the total death toll? Should the car do the smallest amount of
damage based on the insurance company coverage or rules? Should the car have allegiance to the
manufacturer and try to limit the damage if the other car is from the same manufacturer? Could
one of these latter scenarios actually prevent future self-driving car sales, and hence cause even
more damage by keeping dangerous human-driven cars on the road?
In the case of self-driving cars, trust is obviously a critical factor. Who is making sure each
manufacturers platform adheres to the same standards and that the platforms interact with each
other in the same way? And how do these platforms interact with the surrounding environment
roads, traffic signals, bicycles, etc., as well as the driving laws and accepted norms of the particular
city, region, state and country?
With dual velocity being increasingly adopted and computing being more adaptable, responsive
and embedded in all aspects of our daily life the intended and unintended consequences of
technology require a new and different approach. Our digital behaviors, intent and movement
leave footprints across sensors, applications, workplace tools, social platforms and more. With
such an expanded surface area, spanning work and personal lives, the corresponding risk increases.
It cuts across technology, regulatory and legal issues, and cultural and social norms. This increased
risk must be accepted and managed. Which is why ethics needs to be the cornerstone in the new
digital economy.
1 Why Self-Driving Cars Must Be Programmed to Kill, MIT Technology Review, October 22, 2015
INTRO
EMBRACE THE
DIGITAL MESH
DATA I S DEAD
BE THE MAESTRO
The potential impact of unintended consequences is becoming apparent with new applications
such as familial DNA searching by law enforcement. The technology enables authorities to search
in DNA databases for genetic information indicating a relative of a person they seek to identify.2
However, that information may have been included in the database for entirely different purposes
for example, searching for relatives as part of a genealogy project or on a website. The current
state of the science is such that false positives are common, which can result in consequences that
include false arrests.3
From personal data and privacy, to compliance, trust and responsibility, ethics has never been so
important to the entire operation, success and longevity of any business. In this environment, a
deeply humanistic approach needs to be hardwired into businesses DNA everything must start
and end with people. Digital businesses that adopt an inherently humanistic and ethical point of
view and offer mechanisms that build and maintain trust will be the winners.
This fact has not gone unnoticed. In recent Avanade research, 92 percent of executives say they
believe companies will need to establish and adhere to digital ethics guidelines to be successful in
the future.4 But far fewer have started to address the issue. Only 43 percent of executives in our
survey say they are developing new roles that focus specifically on digital ethics.
Why now: 78 percent of executives not ready for digital ethics
Fundamentally, digital ethics is a concern about transparency, security, privacy and trust. As the
dual-velocity enterprise enables the business to reach new heights, and connect more intimately
and rapidly with customers and workers, fostering these different aspects of digital ethics is no
longer optional. It is mandatory!
And there is no time to waste. We found that 78 percent of executives say their organization has
not given enough thought to the workplace ethical dilemmas created by developments such as
smart technologies, yet those technologies are already here and growing rapidly.
2 Familial DNA Searches, FindLaw
3 Your relatives DNA could turn you into a suspect, Wired, October 13, 2015
4 Navigating ethics a new priority in a digital world, Avanade, March 2016
INTRO
LT LINE:
EMBRACE THE
DIGITAL MESH
DATA I S DEAD
BE THE MAESTRO
5 Parents urged to boycott VTech toys after hack, BBC, February 10, 2016
INTRO
EMBRACE THE
DIGITAL MESH
DATA I S DEAD
BE THE MAESTRO
6 Top 10 Technology Trends Signal the Digital Mesh, Gartner, October 7, 2015
7 How GE plans to act like a startup and crowdsource breakthrough ideas, Wired, April 11, 2014
INTRO
EMBRACE THE
DIGITAL MESH
DATA I S DEAD
BE THE MAESTRO
Borderless platforms and new digital ecosystems benefit large and small businesses alike. Ford,
for example, is looking beyond its traditional boundaries, exploring multimodal transportation,
which includes all manner of transportation that doesnt involve driving yourself in a car from
ride sharing to bike rentals.8 At the other end of the spectrum, farmers in India are using WhatsApp
not only as a marketing tool to connect to customers, but also as a support network to share
agricultural advice, interact with experts and learn new farming practices bridging regions,
languages and socio-economic issues.9
Why now: From data to dashboards, success is all about connections
The importance of borderless platforms and digital ecosystems will grow in the coming years as
massive movements such as the internet of things, big data and analytics evolve. As that happens,
the ability of businesses to plug into those connections through open standards and collaboration
will be an important factor in succeeding in the digital economy.
An example is Freeport-McMoRan, which is one of the largest natural resource companies in the
world. The company is creating an industrial IoT platform to help supervisors take actions based
on real-time information. This information is captured, connected and generated from trucks, drills
and other equipment and is used in conjunction with the companys legacy data investment to help
drive mine productivity and, as a result, revenue.10
8 The Commute of the Future? Ford Is Working on It, The New York Times, February 13, 2016
9 WhatsApp is changing how people grow and buy food in India, Mashable, February 11, 2016
10 Embracing digital transformation when digging for gold or coal or , Microsoft, September 14, 2015
INTRO
ERAGING
EMBRACE THE
DIGITAL MESH
DATA I S DEAD
BE THE MAESTRO
11 Spotify is turning Starbucks baristas into coffee shop DJs, Wired, May 18, 2015
10
INTRO
RTANCE OF A
KING APPROACH
EMBRACE THE
DIGITAL MESH
DATA I S DEAD
BE THE MAESTRO
11
INTRO
EMBRACE THE
DIGITAL MESH
DATA I S DEAD
BE THE MAESTRO
Its already started with examples such as BMWs Gesture Control, which enables drivers to operate
selected functions with defined hand movements. Another example is the Supermarket of the
Future, developed by Avanade in partnership with Coop Italia, an Italian grocery retailer. Digital
solutions, such as smart shelves and interactive food display tables, are operated by gestures and
interact with consumers, providing intelligent labels that include supply chain details and promote
healthy consumption.
The new IT reality: Security in the digital world
A design-centric approach is needed not only for creating better experiences and better business
outcomes. As we engage with technology in new ways, the surface area for attack expands. In this
new age of digital and immersive UX, a more security-minded design is crucial. A recent article in
Information Age noted: A more holistic approach to cyber security will be needed to protect and
make the most of our widely connected world.12
Thus, our definitions for security also need to be relearned. The idea of the perimeter is dead,
harkening back to a time where borderless platforms did not reign supreme. Gone, too, is the idea
of keeping your business safe from a breach. A more fluid, effective and accurate perspective is that
of the proactive, predictive security design. This notion takes the stance that experiencing a security
breach is a certainty and focuses on recognizing a breach and developing algorithms to flag risks
as they arise. This will lead the way to the notion of self-healing apps and Security-as-a-Service,
the latter a significant step as the dual-velocity enterprise continues on the path of optimizing its
capacity to innovate quickly and at lower cost.
THE IMPORTANCE OF A
DESIGN THINKING APPROACH
12 The connected world: the black swan of the global economy, Information Age, February 3, 2016
12
INTRO
EMBRACE THE
DIGITAL MESH
DATA I S DEAD
BE THE MAESTRO
DATA IS DEAD
LONG L
13
INTRO
EMBRACE THE
DIGITAL MESH
DATA I S DEAD
BE THE MAESTRO
Since data truly is the currency that drives new business models, what shapes and applications will
it take? We need to start tackling this essential question. We must rewire our organizational view
to recognize that data, on its own, is nothing, and that its true value lies solely in the information
potential it possesses. Its time to bring data back from the dead in a new form where it can be
analyzed and then spent in a manner where it delivers value.
Why now: The mess will only get worse
The internet of things is exploding, and the mesh of interconnected interactions is only getting
denser as devices proliferate across home, work, cars, recreation and more. The industrial IoT is
set to deliver over $15 trillion to the global GDP by 2030.16 And as the sensor-connected world
expands, so too will the amount of data and ambient information that is created, most of it coming
from the edge and in real time.
In other words: The mess will only get worse if you dont make sense of and find value in the data
flowing in. Businesses that fail to do so will find themselves sitting on a massive landfill of dead data.
The bottom line: Use data to create new value
A dual-velocity enterprise is armed with a concrete plan to get the most insight and information
from the data it collects in order to support both approaches. But where do you start? An iterative
approach to finding new ways to use data as a currency gives you learnings that can chip away at
the data landfill. Your ability to find new and innovative ways to connect data to insight can help
drive your digital business transformation.
To get there, businesses are pursuing a number of approaches. Many of them put the consumers
needs and experience in focus to see how data can be used to solve a problem or create new
value. GE, for example, has unlocked smart algorithms that let users charge electric cars only during
off-peak hours, saving them money without effort. The company expects to extend this area of
research to other applications that depend heavily on energy usage, such as data centers, lighting
and HVAC controls.17
16 Industrial Internet Insights Report, GE and Accenture, 2015
17 GE Uses AI to Charge Electric Cars Without Running Up the Bill, Wired, December 15, 2014
14
INTRO
EMBRACE THE
DIGITAL MESH
DATA I S DEAD
BE THE MAESTRO
Another example is SoFi, the social finance giant that is making banks think twice about the way
they underwrite loans.18 Rather than using traditional data like credit scores, SoFi leverages the
community close to its borrowers (called members, not customers) in order to unlock funds
at rock-bottom rates. Transactions that might have seemed too risky to traditional lenders are
approved, based on the underlying data and mesh density that reflects the trust and strong sense
of community SoFi fosters with its members.
The more trusted a brand is, the more willing users are to share their data. This can transcend
into programmable business models, allowing an organization to be opportunistic, dynamic and
predictive, and enabling it to capture the business moments.
15
INTRO
EMBRACE THE
DIGITAL MESH
DATA I S DEAD
BE THE MAESTRO
16
INTRO
EMBRACE THE
DIGITAL MESH
DATA I S DEAD
BE THE MAESTRO
Microsoft is a good example of modern engineering in action as it works to turn around its core
engineering and product teams. Windows is one of the largest code bases on the planet, and in
the past a typical release was multiple years in the making with all aspects of the operating system
debated at length. With 20-plus years of backward compatibility, and hundreds of millions of users
and machines, each small decision had a potential far-reaching impact. But this also meant that
Windows was challenged in keeping up in some areas in terms of technology, security and agility.
Today Windows releases average two per year, with Microsoft expecting to speed things up to
one a quarter. This has huge implications on the enterprises that use Windows and requires that
they start thinking more near term when it comes to adoption and installation. Take the example
of the U.S. Department of Defense, which recently announced it was adopting Windows 10 across
4 million computers over a period of 12 to 24 months. This represents a significant shift for the
department and shows how they are adopting dual velocity; previously the military was likely to
upgrade long after the general public.19
For a business, these pillars of modern engineering form the foundation on which they can build
higher-order functions and areas such as predictive security, mesh architectures, IoT platforms
and more, which can help them identify, capture and exploit the business moments.
17
INTRO
EMBRACE THE
DIGITAL MESH
DATA I S DEAD
BE THE MAESTRO
BE THE MAESTRO
18
INTRO
RCHESTRATING
RKFORCE
EMBRACE THE
DIGITAL MESH
DATA I S DEAD
BE THE MAESTRO
the enterprise. In our research, a significant number of executives say they are ill prepared to deal
with the onset of smart technologies in the workforce. Staying ahead of the curve wont be easy for
any IT department.
The bottom line: Keep people front and center
Our advice for business leaders is to change the conversation from what if machines enter the
workforce, to how to use these technologies to enhance humans and human judgment and
action in the physical world. Its all about orchestrating the new superhuman augmented workforce.
The human workforce will need to learn new skills (such as natural language processing and
machine learning), which not only complement smart machines but also extract and enhance the
efficiencies from the machines. Even a large and seemingly traditional business like AT&T, with $147
billion in revenue, $400 billion in assets and 280,000 employees, sees the need to retool itself in
order to survive against new competitors like Amazon and Google. This recognition has led the
company to embark on a corporate-wide training and education program to modernize skills.23
Keeping people front and center will be a key to success. Humans not machines will need to
apply compassion, empathy and sheer common sense as smart technologies take on a bigger role
in the workplace.
The changing workforce encompasses more than just smart machines, however. Businesses also
need to consider the emergence of a new digital-enabled workforce that includes a growing
number of millennials, who expect different interactions and ways of working.
23 Gearing Up for the Cloud, AT&T Tells Its Workers: Adapt, or Else, The New York Times, February 13, 2016
19
INTRO
EMBRACE THE
DIGITAL MESH
DATA I S DEAD
BE THE MAESTRO
CONCLUSION
20
INTRO
EMBRACE THE
DIGITAL MESH
DATA I S DEAD
BE THE MAESTRO
To win in the modern digital economy, businesses must start now to relearn in order to create
better, more sustainable and flexible outcome-based approaches. Those that embrace the cultural
and business process changes while implementing a dual-velocity strategy and building on the
concepts of modern engineering will thrive in the coming years. With business life and death at
stake, organizations that unlearn and then relearn will create a massive uptick for their company,
drive customer loyalty and differentiate their brand.
For more on Avanades Technology Vision 2016, please visit:
www.avanade.com/techvision.
About Avanade
Avanade leads in providing innovative digital services,
business solutions and design-led experiences for its
clients, delivered through the power of people and
the Microsoft ecosystem. Our professionals combine
technology, business and industry expertise to build
and deploy solutions to realize results for clients and
their customers. Avanade has 27,000 digitally connected
people across 23 countries, bringing clients the best
thinking through a collaborative culture that honors
diversity and reflects the communities in which we
operate. Majority owned by Accenture, Avanade was
founded in 2000 by Accenture LLP and Microsoft
Corporation. Learn more at www.avanade.com
North America
Seattle
Phone +1 206 239 5600
America@avanade.com
Asia-Pacic
Singapore
Phone +65 6592 2133
AsiaPac@avanade.com
South America
Sao Paulo
Phone +55 (11) 5188 3000
LatinAmerica@avanade.com
Europe
London
Phone +44 (0) 20 7025 1000
Europe@avanade.com
Africa
Pretoria
Phone +27 12 622 4400
SouthAfrica@avanade.com
2016 Avanade Inc. All rights reserved. The Avanade
name and logo are registered trademarks in the U.S.
and other countries. Other brand and product names
are trademarks of their respective owners.
21