Automation and leadership

One topic that has been getting people excited over the last few years is that robots are going to replace many jobs or make some jobs much more boring. That is not even touching on the whole autonomous robot rebellion crowd’s concerns (I posted about an AI risks related podcast on NPR just last week).

Robotics is taking important roles ranging from milking cows, to working in kitchens, to logistics and order fulfillment. Now they are taking on more important functions in our business processes that used to be the domain of knowledge workers (even though it is happening slowly).

I do believe that the increased use of automation should shift how enterprises architects think about the enterprise and how that environment is structured. Automation is just another enterprise resource that needs to be defined, understood and optimized. The leaders are going to have to include these possibilities in their thought processes too.

These changes are inevitable. That got me thinking about a post that McKinsey put out about beating the transformation odds – after all automation efforts will be a transformation. Most of the article focused on the need for executive vision, clarity and communications. It also discussed the need for continuous improvement as part of the plan. Too often teams and breathe a sense of relief once a project is deployed, when in reality that is just point where it was given birth and now needs to develop and mature. Automation efforts are no exception.

Transformation is hard work, and the changes made during the transformation process must be sustained for the organization to keep improving.

Service Innovations over time…

I was in an exchange with Jim Spohrer (of IBM) the other day about Service innovations and he gave me the following lists dealing with service innovations:

Top Ten Service Innovations in all of History
1. Division of Labor – an entity gets to do more of what they do best, and less of what they do less well
2. Cities – local concentration of division of labor, including security and protection
3. Writing – allows communications over distance and time
4. Written Laws – brings more objectivity into governance and justice
5. Money – brings efficiency into exchange transactions
6. Universities – local concentration of division of knowledge, including preparation of next generation
7. Democracy – collective decision making via voting (citizen -> decision)
8. Republics – two stage collective decision making via voting (citizen -> representative -> decision)
9. Checks – safer than carrying paper money
10. Banks – safe storage of money, and compound interest/loans

Top Ten Service Innovations of Last 100 years
1. Universal Education – increases capability of population, and allows more complex problem solving
2. Universal Service – even rural people can communicate, and have right to communicate efficiently
3. Rural Electrification – even rural people can have lighting and access to modern appliances
4. Credit Cards – convenience and safety
5. Loyalty Programs – incentives for usage
6. Franchises – standard service in multiple places
7. FedEx – overnight package delivery
8. Automobile Transportation – systems of filling stations, roads, laws
9. Internet & Worldwide Web – access to information
10.  Wireless Communication Networks – Radio & Television – conquest of distance and access to service

Top Ten Service Innovations of Last 10 years (or so)
1. Amazon – market for books and things
2. eBay – market for personal stuff
3. iTunes – market for music
4. Etsy – market for home made things
5. Uber – market for rides
6. AirBnB – market for rooms
7. Smart Phones & App Economy – access to information, communications, and other mobile services, including cognitive assistants
8. MOOCs – massively open on-line courses to augment education
9.  Mutual funds – finance investments that provide benefits of diverse portfolios
10. Global IT-enabled Outsourcing – division of labor between nations and large corporations

I’d add 3D printing to this list myself, but that may be just me.

Top Ten Service Innovations that broke out in 2014
1. TransferWise – lower transaction cost of transferring money
2. Coinbase – bitcoin digital wallet
3. Apple Pay – easier to pay money out
4. Lending Club – easier method to get investments in and out (founded in 2006)
5. Quirky – inventor community (started in 2009)
6. Bill.com – small business pay bills better (started in 2008)
7. Betterment.com (investment personal assistant)
8. Kickstarter – crowd funding (I think this actually started in 2009)
9.  Amazon Echo (home assistant)
10. Google Nest (home assistant) (actually the first Nest appears to be released in 2011)

Some things to think about…
What would be on your list? What should make the list for 2015? Do these innovations have anything in common?

7 Questions to Help Look Strategically at IoT

There are still many people who view the Internet of Things as focused on ‘the things’ and not the data they provide. Granted there are definitely some issues with the thing itself, but there are also concerns for enterprise, like the need to monitor the flow of information coming from these things, especially as we begin to automate the enterprise response to events.

A holistic perspective is needed and these are the top issues I believe an organization needs to think through when digging into their IoT strategy:

1. What business value do the devices provide – independent of the data they collect?
   Having said that it is not really about the devices, it remains true that the devices should be delivering value in themselves – the data may be just a side effect of this role. Understanding those functions will increase the reliability and usefulness of the data over the long haul. No one wants to put an approach consuming a data stream just to have it dry up.
2. What access will the devices have to the enterprise?
   Is it bi-directional? If it is the security risk of the devices is significantly higher than those that just provide raw data. If a positive feedback loop exists, it needs to be reinforced and secure. If the data flow is too narrow for this level of security, the need for bi-directional information flow needs to be scrutinized – if the interaction is that valuable, it really needs to be protected. Think about the issue of automotive data bus attacks, as an example.
3. If attacked, how can the devices be updated?
   Does the devices support dynamic software updates and additions, if so how can those be delivered, by whom? Users of devices may download applications that contain malware, since it can be disguised as a game, security patch, utility, or other useful application. It is difficult for most to tell the difference between a legitimate application and one containing malware. For example, an application could be repackaged with malware and a consumer could inadvertently download it onto a device that is part of your IoT environment. Not all IoT devices are limited SCADA solutions, they may be smartphones, TVs… pretty much anything in our environment in the future.
4. How will the data provided be monitored?
   Wireless data can be easily intercepted. When a wireless transmission is not encrypted, data can be easily intercepted by eavesdroppers, who may gain unauthorized access to sensitive information or derived behaviors. The same may be true of even a wired connection. Understanding the frequency of updates and shifts in data provided is usually an essential part of IoT’s value, and it should be part of the security approach as well.
5. Can any personal or enterprise contextual information leak from the device connection?
   I blogged a while back about the issue of passive oversharing. As we enable more devices to provide information, we need to understand how that data flow can inadvertently build a contextual understanding about the business or the personnel and their behavior for other than the intended use.
6. Is the device’s role in collecting information well-known and understood?
   No one like the thought of ‘big brother’ looking over their shoulder. People can easily feel offended or manipulated if a device enters their work environment and provides data they feel is ‘about them’ without their knowing this is taking place. A solid communications plan that keeps up with the changes in how the data is used will be a good investment.
7. Who are all the entities that consume this data?
   As IoT data is used to provide a deeper contextual understanding of the environment, the contextual understanding may be shared with suppliers, partners and customers. These data flows need to be understood and tracked, like any consumer relationship, otherwise they may easily turn into a string of dominoes that enable unexpected shifts in results as they change. Awareness of enterprise context management will be growing in importance over the coming years – note that was not content management but context management.

All these issues are common to IT systems, but with an IoT deployment, the normal IT organization may only be able to influence how they are addressed.