WHY IT MATTERS: Digital Transformation

The article conclusion says it all:

"One survey, by Gartner, predicted that by 2015, 35% of the money companies spend on IT will be spent by employees who don't even work for the IT department. And PricewaterhouseCoopers found that at companies it rated as "top performers," more than 50% of IT spending was already happening outside the IT department. This suggests that firms concerned about the security issues of shadow IT are missing the point; the bigger risk is not embracing it in the first place."

Great IT research paper on BYOD , with statistics on adoption and recommendations on how to implement it.

Google has done it: a true self-driving car. Not a production car that they retrofitted with technology but one designed and built from scratch. Wow. See the video, impressive - even though the design is questionable the technology is overwhelming.

This really make a huge leap to demonstrate what future transportation systems may be like. Think of a mini office or entertainment on wheels. Kind of like a train or a plane, you become a passenger.

Businesses should look at this carefully as it paves the way for revolution in the supply chain - non wonder this comes out of military projects looking to make the supply of armies more efficient and less costly. When will we see a retailer - a grocer for example - embrace this technology to deliver groceries at your door? Amazon?

Very useful insight on how we perceive detail using peripheral vision. Useful for my friends that are ux designers.

Simple chart that proves what I've been seeing in organizations large and small: excel rules analytics. It is simple to use, relatively powerful, un-intimidating for users, usable without technical help or IT involvement. 

It is also dangerous, because the analysis performed are often used to create new information - such as sales forecast for example - which then are distributed using excel spreadsheets and not via proper enterprise-controlled databases. This leads to data duplication and multiple versions of the truth. 

I try to help my clients to better use Excel and leverage its power to create data that go back into an enterprise database. simple to conceive, very difficult to implement and to enforce. Unfortunately.

A good primer on NoSQL. Worth noting, the heat map from Gartner that shows big data opportunities by industry. Banking, government and manufacturing are big data hot beds.

Also see, in french

Blogue Direction Informatique - Comment MetLife a résolu un problème vieux de huit ans en trois mois http://myi.tw/1kCw74w  un billet de Farid Mheir @fmheir

Many wonder what the "net neutrality" is all about and what the big deal is. This chart says it all, along with the comment by Jay. We have been blessed with uniform access no matter who we are (OK you have to pay to get high speed Internet access over dialup) but once you do, there is no limit.

Detailed comparison of landing page development tools, including one from Montreal, unbounce. Members of the mtl+ecommerce group get 50% off!

I have not seen the 60minutes report but this post raises an important question for anyone interested in digital transformation: how to future-proof your solutions?

It is of great importance. Will my data be readable 40 years from now? If so how? Will cloud computing and SaaS provide a solution, migrating and evolving the data over time as the application changes.

(article is in french) looks like Canada is catching up in the cloud computing world- Forbes 2012 article was clear about that. Governments, in particular the Quebec government are now targetting local cloud providers with servers in their jurisdiction as preferred partners. 

The decision will in the short term limit solutions - not all SaaS solutions can guarantee hosting in a specific country. On the other hand this will spark a higher level of local investment in the field, which is good.

I also like the IDC Canada - Telus report cited in the article, which provides some interesting survey data about the state of the cloud computing in Canada. I like their simple diagram that shows the progression of IT sourcing methods, it says it all.

This goes along with the realization that the cold Canadian weather and low electricity costs may actually be the best to host large server farms. It may actually be a better use of our Hydro energy that the production of aluminium?

Not only is this a great idea - a modular phone where you can exchange parts - it brings a new look at product design in general. It may actually open the world to much more eco-friendly designs and even - who knew - bring back the repair shop where you would actually keep electronic devices and repair them when they fail or some part becomes obsolete. Just like in the old days. Maybe we have come full circle...?

Also have a look at this other engadget post and watch the 2 minute video on the ARA project where you'll get to see a behind the scenes view of Google team and partners. Very cool.