COLLABORATE - Gartner Webinars for Week 2018.4

MONDAY, JANUARY 22, 2018

The Top 10 Megatrends in Analytics Presented by: Gareth Herschel EST: 10:00 a.m. | PST: 7:00 a.m. | GMT: 15:00 The key trends in analytics What to consider when making choices for your analytics strategy How to identify and prioritize the right analytics trends for your organization REGISTER

TUESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2018

AI Strategy Special Report: What You Need to Do in 2018 Presented by: Whit Andrews EST: 10:00 a.m. | PST: 7:00 a.m. | GMT: 15:00 What level of adoption artificial intelligence has reached How you should prepare for artificial intelligence Examples of artificial intelligence in action REGISTER

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2018

Creating Digital Value at Scale: A Gartner Special Report Presented by: Jorge Lopez, Don Scheibenreif EST: 12:00 p.m. | PST: 9:00 a.m. | GMT: 17:00 What does scale mean in digital business and how you can leverage it to create value What are the key barriers to digital scale and how do you overcome them How you can use scale accelerators, such as digital dexterity, network effect technologies, and the digital platform, to deliver breakthrough value REGISTER

THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 2018

Supply Chain Organization Design for a Digital Future Presented by: Ken Chadwick EST: 10:00 a.m. | PST: 7:00 a.m. | GMT: 15:00 Key drivers affecting how we organize supply chain The challenges leaders must overcome in order to change Five organizational design strategies to implement successful change REGISTER

Developing a Cloud Strategy and Building an Adoption Framework Presented by: Douglas Toombs EST: 11:00 a.m. | PST: 8:00 a.m. | GMT: 16:00 How to foster and develop new job roles in the era of cloud How to evaluate applications (both new and old) against service offerings from cloud providers How to plan a cloud exit strategy and deal with concerns over lock-in REGISTER

Top 10 Predictions from Gartner

From Augmented Reality to Web Browsing Without a Screen

The sold out Gartner Symposium @Gartner_SYM in Orlando, Florida is being attended by C level IT participants from across North America.  Yesterday Gartner, revealed the top ten predictions for 2017 and beyond. They focused on three fundamental effects of continued digital innovation:

• experience and engagement
• business innovation
• the secondary effects of increased digital capabilities

Daryl Plummer, Managing Vice President, Chief of Research

and Gartner Fellow stated:

Gartner images

"Last year, we said digital changes were coming fast. This year the acceleration continues and may cause secondary effects that have wide-ranging impact on people and technology."

The top 10 Strategic Predictions from Gartner:

1. By 2020, 100 million consumers will shop in augmented reality.
2. By 2020, 30 percent of web browsing sessions will be done without a screen.
3. By 2019, 20 percent of brands will abandon their mobile apps.
4. By 2020, algorithms will positively alter the behavior of more than 1 billion global workers global workers.
5. By 2022, a blockchain-based business will be worth $10 billion.
6. By 2021, 20 percent of all activities an individual engages in will involve at least one the top-seven digital giants.
7. Through 2019, every $1 enterprises invest in innovation will require an additional $7 in core execution.
8. Through 2020, IoT will increase data center storage demand by less than 3 percent.
9. By 2022, IoT will save consumers and businesses $1 trillion a year in maintenance, services and consumables.
10. By 2020, 40 percent of employees can cut their healthcare costs by wearing a fitness tracker.

Read the entire content of these predictions.

Imagine these predictions acting on your business and your investment portfolio. You may wish to reset (future proof) your plan for the things that matter most.

Beware Those Who Don't Get the Microsoft-LinkedIn Deal

The graphic accompanying the announcement of the Microsoft/LinkedIn deal showed the World's leading professional Cloud and the World's leading professional Network collaborating to create a more connected, intelligent and productive experience.

However, post announcement analysis includes a number of nay-sayers. 

Peter Bright of ARS Technica wrote, "I’ve slept on it—I’m still baffled at Microsoft buying LinkedIn for US$26.2B. Microsoft is buying the cow when all it wants is some milk." He goes on to reflect upon the dismal record of other Microsoft purchases and the dismal performance (GAAP) of LinkedIn.

There are other similar opinions being expressed. Perhaps they have missed the fact the world has changed. Acquisitions in the emerging digital economy have little to do with GAAP or other legacy paradigms and much to do with time to market, cost of acquisition and the need to improve the experience or gain the trust of those who can be served.

The Canadian acquisition of Wind Mobile by Shaw late last year was puzzling to some analysts who examined the free cash flow of some 940,000 Wind subscribers (CA$18/mth) against the CA$1.6 billion cost of acquisition (CA$1,700+/subscriber). Perhaps they missed Shaw's need for a fast tactical and strategic realignment to the small screen. History will likely prove Shaw's acquisition was also a sound financial decision since acquiring subscribers exhausts time and resources like no other business investment.

Earlier today a comment about the Microsoft deal on the Harvard Business Review forum provided a different view. Doug Laney, VP and Distinguished Analyst, Chief Data Officer Research and Advisory, Gartner, suggests Microsoft may have stolen LinkedIn. At $26.2B or US$60.51/user Microsoft is paying less than investors valued both Facebook ($80.95/user) and Twitter ($101.70/user) at the time of their IPOs.

Other information appearing around the Microsoft/LinkedIn transaction provide clues about sources of revenue as well as the size and characteristics of LinkedIn's subscriber base: 433 million users on record, 105 million active members and 2 million paid subscribers. 

Investors should be cautious with financial advisers who don't understand this deal. The information available from LinkedIn may be a useful resource to model and evaluate other emerging networks they find interesting. 

We expect there will still be a strong return on investment and much opportunity for both Microsoft and LinkedIn to explore as they move forward.

About Executive Producer, Larry R. Evans:
Larry Evans is a futurist, a brand developer and a collaboration advocate. He is Principal of The Paradigm Corporation, which is headquartered at Thunder Ridge just outside Crossfield, Alberta, Canada. He is known for bringing a unique and predictive lens to paradigm shifts during a career that spans 45 years. Now from his wheel chair, he brings a grounded, tenacious view of brand, client rights and trusted relationships for the digital age. His perspective and values influence his life, business and ministry.