“Internet of Everything” Chief Talks Digital Disruption Implications at IWNY

Challenge what you believe to be true every day.

Joseph M. Bradley – IoE Evangelist and Vice President IoE Practice, Cisco Consulting Services – May 20, 2015

I didn’t know what to expect from Internet Week New York, the annual celebration of technology’s impact on business and culture held last week.

It was cool to hear from the well-known — like Chelsea Clinton and New York City’s Police Commissioner William Bratton  —  and to learn from new people like Cisco’s Joseph Bradley.

Bradley was in New York to talk about the Internet of Everything (IoE) and to encourage the leveraging of “dark assets.”  The word “evangelist” isn’t in his title by accident.

Bradley is a dynamic speaker and presenter.  He commands the stage, engages with stories, and comes across as someone who knows what he’s talking about. That’s a rare combination.

What stood out for me were Bradley’s “Top 5 Implications of Digital Disruption:”

1. Innovation is more than ideation. Invention + Execution = Innovation.
2. Context is king.
3. If it doesn’t work on mobile, it doesn’t work.
4. Real-time is too late.
5. Data is everywhere but insights are scarce.

These five points have broader, day-to-day meaning for marketing and business professionals.

To begin, execution is an often overlooked and perhaps non-sexy concept.  But, without it, you’re dead in the water.  If you don’t have people who understand how to get organized, set and keep priorities, make on-strategy decisions, and keep the team running in the same direction, you’re in trouble.

“Real time is too late” needs explanation.  Bradley gave the example of an oil gauge warning system going off and then the car breaking-down.  The gauge worked in real-time, but in this example, real-time is too late.  What the driver needed was advance warning, actionable information to prevent getting stuck on the road.

Point 5 about data is so true.  Data overload isn’t new – it’s probably just worse. Extracting learning and meaning from data is a timeless and priceless capability. Putting those insights to use across your organization to engage customers and drive performance creates the real payoff.

By the way, you may be wondering what’s the difference between the terms “Internet of Everything” and “Internet of Things?”

For Cisco, the Internet of Everything (IoE) is the networked connection of people, process, data, and things.  The reason it’s preferred over Internet of Things is because:  “the IoT just connects objects, but this IoE uses a network to correlate people, process, data and things to become ‘intelligent.’”

“Cisco projects these connections to surge from 13 billion today to 50 billion by the end of the decade.  With a total value of $19 trillion from 2013 to 2022, IoE is a profound market transition.”

Back to those “dark assets,” which Bradley defines as something not connected that could be connected.

In his IWNY talk, Bradley spoke about how to make dark assets usable.  The challenge and opportunity are to apply the People (1) | Process (2) | Data (3) | Things (4) approach.  Importantly, he scaled each component on order of value.

By ranking “People” first, Bradley demonstrated that he thinks like a real marketer.  There’s no value if the “connections” don’t benefit end-users.

Harvey Chimoff is a marketing and business team leader who drives performance in consumer products and manufacturing companies.