WHY IT MATTERS: Digital Transformation

Finally the media seems to have shifted their attention from personal wearables to business-led applications of those wearables - except for yesterday's coverage of Apple iWatch. 

This article raises a good question : will you bring you wearable to work - your NFC smartphone can replace you company badge (or badges in case of consultant like me) - or will corporation issue you a company approved Google Glass or some other device? Anyone considering the introduction of wearable technology should consider this point carefully.

Say you want to introduce Google Glasses for all your field service employees so that they have access to the repair manuals and seamless hands-free communication to head-office experts for on-site support. Or you want to introduce an in-store order picking Glass solution to improve your eCommerce efficiency. Or maybe you have a use case for employee heart rate monitoring that drives a business case to reduce your insurance premiums. Short-term benefits will require you provide company issued devices - no one will buy a 1500$ Google glass today.

But in the mid-term, 2 or 3 years down the road, similar or competing devices may start to appear on the consumer market. Will you design your original solution to support BYOD or mandate the use of company devices, at the risk of alienating your employees with sub-par devices or multiple devices that are incompatible with one another?

Think about it, define a strategy and set a clear path towards it.