Irecently attended the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference in Aspen and was struck by how many discussions revolved around the idea that business winners—regardless of industry— would be those that quickly adopt new platforms, technology
stacks and tools that streamline workflows. The concept of “always on”
was noted as a potential distraction
for workers and that those enterprises
that will be market leaders are those
that turn devices and constant access
into an asset versus a burden to focus
and productivity.
I couldn’t help but see the parallels
between today’s workflow technology
opportunity and the Industrial
Revolution of the late 18th to early 19th
centuries. It’s similarly historic and just
because the pace of change is so
accelerated today, I’d hate to see
people not note it as such. The
opportunity for enterprises to optimize
their performance by incorporating
technology into their workflows is
very real. The difference in this new
revolution, however, is that it won’t take
60 years, it’ll be closer to 5–10 years.
The opportunity is so significant that
companies founded today have a
marked advantage over the historic
giants and incumbents in all markets,
due simply to the challenge of aging
infrastructure (technical and human
too, in some cases). Today, every part
of the supply chain process can be
re-imagined and technology isn’t just
disrupting certain roles but how roles
interact with one another and impact
potential or expected outcomes.
Updating entire infrastructures to
take advantage of cloud and mobile
is easier said than starting a new
business built to be optimized for
these game-changing innovations.
Mobility as a workflow asset was one
of the largest opportunities discussed
at the conference. Conversations were
happening left and right that evidenced
the commitment by mobile technology,
unified communications, and connected
device leaders to continue pioneering
as their innovations change the world
around us. Being able to make mobile
connectivity cheaper, longer-lasting
and more advantageous for businesses
provided attendees with some of the
most interesting soundbites and
announcements of the conference:
• IBM introduced a new “graphene”
microchip, vowing to extend battery
life within phones to a week without
requiring a charge.
• Ericsson CEO, Hans Vestberg,
claimed that for “every $10 decrease
[in device price], mobile connectivity
becomes affordable for 100M
more people.”
• Cisco CEO, John Chambers, said
that there are “13B connected
devices today, a number that will
grow to 50B by 2020 and 500B
by 2030 … resulting in $19 trillion
in profits and cost savings in the
private and public sectors.”
Imagine the possibilities. These
massive shifts in the accessibility to
and application of mobility reflect the
opportunity facing all entrepreneurs,
especially those with a keen focus on
MICHAEL DEFRANCO
Founder and CEO of Lua, a communication
system for mobile workforces. DeFranco
has been invited to speak alongside world
leaders on panels at Bloomberg, corporate
conferences and universities.
the enterprise market. Businesses
today are striving to become more
connected even in the face of rapid
expansion. In another enterprise
announcement at the event, Aaron
Levie of Box proclaimed the “end of
storage wars” with unlimited storage
for Box’s enterprise clients meaning
that many businesses can now
streamline where their information
is stored and accessed. This alone
solves a major workflow conundrum
that many users face daily.
At the end of the event, in reflecting on
the Industrial Revolution parallel, I
found myself nodding at an ironic
twist. In the 18th century, manufacturing
began to move from human hand to
machine. Today, innovation in machines
and devices has put the power to
transform business back in our hands—
all day, every day. The key to your
business’s competitive advantage is
knowing what to do with those very
devices as the workflows they enable
will be the determining factor in
your success.
