Smart Business Blog

All of the major categories of connected solution suppliers (IT, carriers, connectivity, integration, applications, product OEMs, etc.) have histori¬cally operated within well-established business models that reflected the distinctive compe¬tencies that each group believed to be at its core. The advent of Smart Systems is causing a blurring between these legacy business models forcing all the major suppliers to re-think their strategies.

Apple and some of its peers in consumer space present an interesting case for how Smart Business models are developing across B2C and B2B. Apple is primarily a consumer-focused tech vendor. Still, Apple provides a model for creating a Smart System solution that pulls together technologies from multiple domains and packages  in a way that wins buyer acceptance. Looking beyond Apple to Google, Amazon, Facebook and other players coming from  roots in the evolv¬ing consumer mobile internet arena, there are a variety of new business models emerging from cloud services and related  platform players that are the embodiment of Smart Systems. Add to this the momentum  these players are creating via collaboration with their app communities -- Amazon has over 100,000 developers building applications and businesses; Apple with its iPhone and App Store has created a phenomenal lead position -- they are all driving entirely new forms of collaboration and peer product development.

The traditional notion of M2M applications has largely grown up in a B2B context where  equip¬ment manufacturers develop remote services and support automation tied closely to their equipment services contracts. These models are focused almost exclusively on customer sup¬port and automation,  not on new Smart Services value beyond support. As these two classes of business models inch closer to each other in the marketplace it is increasingly evident that the consumer Smart Business models provide many lessons for the “cloistered” equipment manufacturers in the various B2B arenas.  But in both cases there are some common threads – connected smart devices, continuous always-on smart services and ultimately an increasingly complex set of interactions we have often called the “The Pervasive Internet of Interactions.”  

The business benefits of large-scale collaboration and social networking tools in the B2B arena are finally being recognized as is the impact of these forces on existing business models. What is a device, what is an application and what is a service will likely no longer be the same.  This means imagining new device and  service innovations that align with customer needs as they evolve in this new chapter of the marketplace.  In this chapter, experiences and solutions are likely to be very very different from even the most advanced of today’s user experiences. The experiences in this new chapter will cut across smart devices, smart services and pervasive interactions.

For individuals and businesses, new consumption & interaction models will significantly impact traditional business models. It’s inevitable. Delivering real-time interactions across apps, services and devices will require innovation in user experience, interaction models, application models, and delivery models. This will require, as we have often pointed out, new service delivery platforms that are considerably different than those that exist today.   It seems clearer and clearer that these platform innovations will happen in small steps, providing a significant opportunity for new players to potentially lead the way.

Devices, services and interactions, while all complementary, have historically had distinct business goals and divergent models. The ability to closely couple devices, services and user experience has emerged as a requirement to stay ahead of the innovation curve. The three thrusts need to be mutually supportive without inhibiting each other.  In the next chapter of Smart Business, the best innovators will come to see the continuously evolving relationship between and among smart devices, services and interactions as fertile ground for innovation. The three need to be interwoven and mutually supportive, and increasingly, success in each will go to the players that effectively utilize their combined potential.  The opportunities this opens up to forward thinking organizations are nearly infinite. Businesses can begin to explore many new possibilities for real-time solutions unthink¬able just a few years ago.