Accenture technology-vision-2013

Accenture Technology Vision 2013
Every Business Is a Digital Business

Contents Accenture Technology Vision 2013

Contents

Foreword 3

Introduction 4

Relationships at Scale 6

Design for Analytics 18

Data Velocity 32

Seamless Collaboration 42

Software-Defined Networking 52

Active Defense 63

Beyond the Cloud 77

Conclusion 87

Research Methodology 90

End Notes 91

Contacts 97

2

Foreword Accenture Technology Vision 2013

Foreword

Technology is intertwined in nearly merely technology. We describe consumers, to further differentiate
every aspect of business today, the important technology trends themselves in the marketplace, and to
with information technology fast affecting organizations in both the expand their global footprint.
becoming a primary driver of market public and private sectors, and we
differentiation, business growth, and suggest that these changes signal a We hope that you find the Accenture
profitability. That is why we believe broader transformation in the role Technology Vision insightful as you
that understanding the technology of technology and in the business consider strategies for making your
trends that are changing the world models that will be required organizations even more relevant in a
as we know it extends well beyond for success. digital world. We wish you all the best
the realm of IT executives—to COOs, in your journey.
CMOs, and CEOs. As leaders, it is our We further propose that the time
collective responsibility to grasp the is now for leaders to act, in terms
importance of technology and to use of understanding the power of
it to deliver tangible business results new technologies and having the
for our stakeholders. foresight to adopt them. Around the
world, we see organizations using
The theme of this year’s Accenture the technologies described in the
Pierre Nanterme Marty Cole
Technology Vision is Every Business Accenture Technology Vision to adapt
Chairman & CEO Group Chief Executive - Technology
Is a Digital Business, and we see to a rapidly changing environment,
Accenture Accenture
it as a forecast for business, not to transform their relationships with

3

Introduction Accenture Technology Vision 2013

Every Business Is a Digital Business
Technology is changing the game

Enterprises have spent the last our enterprise, but it’s gone further we innovate and expand We no longer have to look far for
25 years working to peel away than that. IT has become a driving our business. examples. Here is Nike using wireless
the nonessential pieces of their force, in many situations the driving sensors and Web technology to create
businesses; focus on the core, force, for how we effectively grow There is a higher order of thinking—a a performance-tracking system that
outsource the rest. But in this our companies. Every industry is digital mindset—that will, we believe, allows it to create new services to
push to simplify, many companies now software driven; as such, every separate tomorrow’s most able monitor, and to improve and create
have relegated IT to “keeping the company must adopt IT as one of organizations from their lesser rivals. new training routines for athletes.
lights on.” Without information its core competencies. By this we Accenture observes that increasing There is Ford, using sensor data to
and technology, a business is blind mean that software is absolutely numbers of farsighted organizations monitor both how a car operates and
in today’s digital world. You must integral to how we currently run are recognizing IT as a strategic asset the driver’s behavior, and seeking to
change the way you think about IT our businesses as well as how we with which they can renew vital apply analytics to improve the
to map a clear path forward. reimagine our businesses as the aspects of their operations—optimizing experience for the next generation. i
world continues to change—how we at least and innovating at best. As
Every business is now a redesign and produce things, how we such, they are investing in the digital These companies, and many more
digital business. create and manage new commercial tools, the capabilities, and the skills like them, clearly see digital as
transactions, how we begin to to more easily identify useful data, a strategic imperative—a tool of
The world has already changed collaborate at unprecedented levels evaluate it, excerpt it, analyze it, derive competitive intent. They aren’t
around us, and IT is driving much of internally and with customers and insights from it, share it, manage it, waiting for new technologies to be
the transformation. IT is a minimum suppliers. In the new world, our comment on it, report on it, and, developed or to mature before they
standard for how we effectively run digital efforts will be the key to how most importantly, act on it. act. Nor should you.

4

Introduction Accenture Technology Vision 2013

The obligation for action is all over the horizon at the emerging hotel business. But ideally, a digital the best in its sector unless it
the more pressing because the developments in technology that mindset will enable enterprises to excels at understanding and
technologies to transform your should be added to the list of launch preemptive strikes of using technology.
business are here and now. They are technologies the enterprise should their own.
already good enough. Mobile, cloud, be prepared to take advantage of, Your stakeholders may not yet be
social, virtualization, big data—many from data visualization solutions It is incumbent upon the executive probing into how your top team
of the items continuously listed as and software-defined networks to leadership team to be stewards views IT. But it won’t be long before
“hot trends”—are quickly becoming moving-target-defense security of this new mindset. They must they do.
part of the current generation of systems. Just as importantly, though, recognize that it’s no longer possible
technology; they are well past the this year’s report communicates why to separate “the technology”
point where they should be areas every organization has to adopt a from “the business”; the two are
of exploration and experimentation digital mindset. At the very least, it too tightly intertwined. IT helps
and are quickly becoming the tools is necessary in order to anticipate redesign the company’s products
with which companies can craft fast, and respond to ongoing technology- and supports its processes; it drives
cost-effective solutions to some driven disruptions. Amazon.com its supply chains; it becomes part
of their toughest problems—and has disrupted retail sectors far of the products themselves and
greatest opportunities. beyond books and changed the creates new ones; it allows access
whole discussion about who “owns” to new consumers; it provides
As it has always done—as is its IT. Similarly, Airbnb is sparking a the frameworks to create net new
charter—our Technology Vision looks transformation in the traditional services. An organization cannot be

5

Accenture Technology Vision 2013

Relationships at Scale
Moving beyond transactions
to digital relationships

Trend 1. Relationships at Scale Accenture Technology Vision 2013

Relationships at Scale

Businesses need to rethink their digital strategies to move beyond e-commerce and marketing. Although
mobile technology, social networks, and context-based services have increased the number of digital
connections with consumers, most companies are still just creating more detailed views of consumers,
consumer attributes, and transactions. Individually, these connections may represent new types of user
experiences, even new sets of sales channels—but that’s not the real opportunity. Taken in aggregate,
digital represents a key new approach to consumer engagement and loyalty: companies can manage
relationships with consumers at scale.
It is time for businesses to return and with the introduction of IT.
their attention to their relationships Handcraftsmanship was replaced by
with consumers. Business success mass production. Advice delivered
has always been built on relationships over the counter was replaced by
and on the relevance of products global call centers. A human face
and services to buyers’ needs. Just making a sale was often replaced by
a few generations ago, consumers a Web page.
were often friends—and certainly
neighbors—of the local grocer, That might imply that a growing
pharmacist, and everyone else who distance between companies and
provided the things consumers consumers is inevitable—and over the
needed. But that model changed last few decades, many consumers
with large-scale industrialization might agree that they have been

7


treated with greater indifference and Specifically, enterprises are
far less personal attention. customizing the experience for

Yet now, the opposite is true:
every interaction they have with
consumers regardless of the channel.
“ Consumers are more than cookie file or
transactions, more than a
faceless digital
technology is finally at a point This mass personalization includes
where buyers can be treated like not only the interactions that
a transaction history or a demographic
individuals again. Consumers companies have with consumers but profile; they’re real people with real
differences.
”
are more than faceless digital the interactions that consumers have
transactions, more than a cookie with each other. The potential payoff
file or a transaction history or is two-pronged: a relationship with
a demographic profile; they’re the consumer your competitors don’t
real people with real differences. have and a differentiated brand. from those insights; by maintaining shoppers are in the store, offers
Companies now have rich channels integrated communications across can be personalized in such a way
through which to communicate with both physical and virtual channels, to provide not just a digital offer
consumers in a much more personal enterprises can use insight from but an offer that is relevant to
way. Farsighted organizations are Learning more than digital channels to improve service what shoppers are looking at in the
seeing a golden opportunity to use ever before in in-store situations as well. physical store at that moment.
mobile communications channels, For instance, Catalina, a global
social media, and context-based Businesses now have new ways to marketing company, is using These digital interactions allow
services to create truly personal learn about consumers based on consumers’ in-store location, companies to capture, measure,
relationships with consumers—but increasingly digital interactions, determined by the product QR codes analyze, and exploit social
digital relationships this time—and to whether through e-mail, social they scan, along with consumers’ interactions in new ways. By
leverage those relationships to drive media, Web pages, online chat, profiles to generate offers as simply being digital in nature, the
revenue growth. mobile apps, or tweets. And it’s not they shop for groceries.i With the interactions allow enterprises to
just online interactions that benefit understanding of exactly where actually measure the results of

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their sales and marketing efforts, past transactions to inform current Consumers aren’t just they’re travel guides. And, thanks to
scaling them when they succeed and conversations, using context to move buyers any longer mobility, they can do it where they
scotching them when they fail. from transactions to interactions, want, when they want.
and ultimately using their consumer Key to making this transition is
Using analytics can also establish insight to infuse the interactions understanding that consumers aren’t The Cleveland Indians, a Major
deeper consumer insights, with greater engagement and just buyers anymore—they’ve evolved League Baseball team, is actively
allowing companies to create more intimacy. into connected consumers. They’re working to use its relationships
compelling user experiences. This connected to social networks. They’re with its most avid fans to create a
concept of mass personalization connected to like-minded consumers. group of evangelists to promote the
ii
enables businesses to customize They’re connected to brands. That team. The Indians’ Social Media Club
every interaction. Essentially, means they also have the potential incents fans to create a buzz about
they can begin to establish a to be your advertisers. That’s a the team through a myriad of social
relationship with consumers, using powerful constituency to tap into. channels, from Facebook to Tumblr.
More than just pointing fans to social
Thanks to social media, consumers forums, they are actively incenting
have more opportunities than ever them to participate, offering ticket
before to express likes, dislikes, and discounts and, for active posters,

“ Using analytics canallowing companies
consumer insights,
also establish deeper recommendations. They aren’t simply
purchasing a product or service—
chances to be invited to a special
Social Suite in the ballpark and to
they are doing a lot more. On Yelp, share their comments about the
to create more compelling user they’re detractors or cheerleaders. game.
experiences.
”
On delivery.com and Menuism,
they’re reviewers and advertisers. On This paradigm brings immediacy to
Spotify, they’re DJs offering music social conversation—consumers have
recommendations. On TripAdvisor, the ability to bring friends together

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to share experiences and to report on to be highly personalized. They expect Even watching TV is changing. them. More important, they have
those experiences. These technologies to be given the ability to get pertinent, Accenture research shows that the opportunity to use these new
have permanently altered the ways in contextual information that relates more than 40 percent of consumers attitudes and technologies to create
which consumers share information, to their lives, their friends, their needs, are showing increasing “second relationships, which will result in
collaborate, interact, entertain and their pursuits. And because the screen” habits, using a smartphone customer acquisition and, for current
themselves, inform themselves, and experience is personalized it’s also or tablet while watching TV such customers, repeat sales.
maintain awareness of events around more powerful. Ninety-two percent that they are accessing multiple
them. Enterprises need to recognize of consumers globally say they streams of information at the same
the change and begin to harness it. trust earned media, such as word- time.iv This could mean tweeting on
of-mouth endorsements or a smartphone while watching a TV Moving the mindset
All of this contributes to a new recommendations from friends drama or viewing players’ statistics from transactions to
standard among consumers: they and family, above all other forms while watching sports. For the 2011– relationships
expect the mobile and social experience of advertising.iii 2012 season, the National Hockey
League deployed an online game to The goal is to use insight to
be played while watching the Stanley change communication with
Cup finals; fans won points by consumers from transactions to
correctly predicting outcomes on the interactions to an unprecedented
ice, like the result of a face-off. level of relationship and loyalty—
the equivalent of frequent-flier
Based on these new behaviors, programs on steroids. The problem
businesses face several related is that, until now, most enterprises
opportunities: Because many of these have viewed online channels
networks are public, companies have primarily as a way to reduce costs,
an unprecedented opportunity to not improve relationships. It’s time
track what people are saying about to shift that mindset.

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Consumers are already having It’s time for enterprises to reimagine
conversations about enterprises their consumer engagement
among themselves. Fueled by every strategy. Too many are still stuck in
new consumer service and every
new user experience, consumer
the days of ads and focus groups.
When they want to communicate
“ It’s time for enterprises to reimagine
their consumer engagement strategy.
behaviors have changed far faster
than businesses. Facebook, eBay,
to consumers, they broadcast a
message through their marketing
”
Yelp, Foursquare, and many other channels, and when they need to
companies in effect continue to hear back, they bring together a
train huge segments of consumers representative group from which
to communicate among themselves, they can extrapolate insights. That new consumer-engagement unified consumer strategy across
outside the purview of businesses, strategy will require aggregated all channels. Siloed approaches
coming back to a business site only Today, the channels are increasing insight across applications so that erode the value of integrated
to conduct final transactions. (think YouTube, Twitter, customer each channel feeds information customer interactions. Burberry,
service chat) and consumer into a holistic view of consumers. for example, jointly developed an
Companies may not be able to, and insight can come from a much That means more collaboration application with SAP that places
frankly shouldn’t, take complete wider sample of consumer and across sales and marketing and all the consumer information
control of the conversations their information sources: the Web, across digital and physical sales Burberry has from its separate
consumers are having in these new mobile technology, social- channels, and even the ability to customer channels in the hand of
electronic storefronts and plazas. media sites, and others. But it’s track and acquire information its sales associates.v In the store,
But they do need to figure out how important to remember in this beyond the business’s own they can use an iPad to access a
to become participants, react with scenario that technology is only channels. Businesses should break shopper’s profile that pulls together
relevant offers, and respond a tool. Reimagining a consumer down the internal barriers that contact details, transactional
to concerns. engagement strategy is not based segment consumer interactions history, lifetime spending statistics,
solely on technology. by channel in order to create a recommendations based on

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purchases, and social-media as varied as demographics or
comments regarding the brand. proximity to a buying decision;
one customer may prefer a digital “ Savvy companies understand thatto create
channels represent opportunities
different
interaction whereas another may
prefer to speak to a live customer- different experiences that truly leverage each
An omnichannel service agent. Unfortunately, channel. Having a portfolio of channels creates
relationship strategy businesses can’t automatically
the opportunity to give a consumer the right
replace some channels in favor
interaction at the right time.
Jettison the idea of a single
subgroup within the enterprise that
is responsible for the entire “digital”
of others; they must allow the
consumer to choose from among a
portfolio of channels, depending on
”
channel. Instead, the enterprise must the consumer’s needs at any given That said, every challenge reveals an represent opportunities to create
figure out how all the groups will time. opportunity. These new channels— different experiences that truly
work in concert. Each group should whether through mobile apps leverage each channel. Having a
work together toward an overarching, For example, Virgin America is on smartphones, through social- portfolio of channels creates the
omnichannel relationship strategy, offering customer service through networking capabilities such as opportunity to give a consumer the
one that promotes collaboration and Twitter and Facebook. Customer Pinterest, or through corporate right interaction at the right time.
sharing among channels to manage support monitors tweets and websites—allow new ways of
relationships with consumers in an Facebook posts to the airline for communicating with the consumer Consider the way a retailer interacts
ongoing fashion. indications that someone needs help, that help increase the quality and with a customer: a discount delivered
allowing consumers to make simple utility of interactions. It’s not a in an e-mail is often considered
Enterprises must find out how requests, like reserving a wheelchair question of replacing channels or “spam,” while that same discount
and where consumers are most for a flight, without waiting on hold even weaving them all together into delivered as a consumer scans a
comfortable interacting with them. for a call center rep.vi a single interface. Savvy companies product QR code is just good service.
That may depend on circumstances understand that different channels Understanding how, when, and

12


and ticking down by 1 percent every don’t. Better insight into customer
second until the consumer entered preferences allows businesses to
the Meat Pack store. When a discount iterate product development faster,
was redeemed, the person’s Facebook to scale up production or kill a
status automatically changed to feature or a service before too much
inform the world. is invested. They can build future
business cases on a more substantial
Similarly, businesses will have to disrupt and substantiated information base.
the mindset that says “relationships”
equate to “marketing.” This means Higher customer satisfaction
that IT must forge close links with equates to repeat customers
where businesses should contact capabilities beyond social media (such other groups that touch consumers and higher revenue through
consumers can create a brand as analytics and mobile technology) and reach out to business units, such increased volumes and lowered
connection that rivals the face-to- in order to reboot efforts to engage as product development, that manage cost of customer acquisition. But
face relationship associated with the consumers in ways perhaps imagined interactions with other communities. companies also gain from a better
small-town general store. but not implemented. For example, understanding of consumers. The
Guatemalan shoe store Meat Pack deeper the relationship with the
At the same time, businesses should looked to mobile interactions to customer, the more reliable the
recognize that social and mobile are pinch customers from competitors
Insight leads to metrics the customer provides.
not just a set of new channels for through a mobile app called Hijack.
vii
increased consumer Again, it’s the difference between
pushing information to consumers. When potential customers entered a satisfaction the vagueness of a focus group and
It’s about changing the channel’s rival’s store, they were detected using the specificity of actual consumer
function from push—ads, for example— the app and offered a promotion at With deeper interaction, businesses behavior—the importance of tracking
to services and value. Businesses Meat Pack. A discount countdown can more quickly understand what what consumers do, not what
must coalesce on a variety of new was displayed, starting at 99 percent consumers like—and what they they say.

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Your 100-day plan With consumers changing their about the consumer from the
attitudes about sharing and communications channels he uses to
In 100 days, refresh the mindset of your consumer chan- accessing information and becoming better understand his behavior and
nels to move beyond transactions to, in addition, drive willing to be more transparent, needs. Consumers newly accustomed
consumer interactions and relationships. forward-thinking enterprises are to accessing account information
realizing that they can benefit in corporate databases to transact
• Catalog your consumer interactions, tools, and channels. from an unprecedented granular and interact have ratcheted up their
view of consumers—not just what expectations about how businesses
• Educate your internal teams on the tools and channels they bought, but when, and where, will communicate and respond. But
currently available. and what they were doing before companies now have the ability to
and while they made the purchase make the consumer feel special, to
• Determine the questions to be answered to create a decision. Businesses can do this by increase engagement, and to develop
holistic view of your customer. taking advantage of internal data intimacy, as never before.
sources (that is, instrumentation and
• Identify metrics for tracking the success of your social quantification of decision making
and communication channels in terms of a consumer captured by their own software)
relationship. and external data sources (such as
social-media sites and information
• Begin “social listening” to build momentum toward your gathered by resellers and partners).
larger strategy.
The goal, to use a term that may
• Propagate current tools and channels across business sound contradictory, is mass
units where applicable. personalization—using technology
to provide resort service at a motel
cost. That is, using what you know

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A new level of richer the data collected becomes. This time next year
customer intimacy Companies can boost the quality
of data in much the same way In 365 days, reimagine your consumer strategy across
Companies that embark on this that night-vision goggles amplify the enterprise as a consumer-relationship strategy and
voyage of mass personalization can available vision: to shine a light on create the cross-organizational ties to drive it.
expect a variety of new benefits. data and behaviors, already present,
• Create a cross-functional team responsible for reviewing,
Because shoppers can move— but previously undetected.
updating, and improving your consumer-relationship
quickly and entirely digitally—from
strategy.
awareness to recommendation A new level of intimacy with
to purchase after interacting on consumers is now possible. But • Standardize your methodology around how consumer
blogs, Twitter, Yelp, and other social effectively scaling meaningful interactions are shared throughout the organization.
sources, it’s actually possible to relationships represents a real
• Redesign your organization’s communication-channel
compress the sales cycle. Offering change in the way companies
strategy in light of the holistic consumer-relationship
on-the-spot promotions through need to approach their consumer
strategy.
digital channels also potentially strategies. This shift is being
increases impulse purchases. enabled by technology; however, • Establish an environment to test and then deploy
Providers that are better at implementing it will require a new, technologies that will support your consumer-
controlling that experience will unified approach across IT and the relationship strategy.
benefit by lowering the costs of business. Now is the time to take
• Review your metrics and data to improve your consumer
sales and marketing and generating the next step. The customers are out
interactions and update your consumer-relationship
greater sales volumes. there; it’s time for the enterprise to strategy.
get to know them.
Personalization also creates a
virtuous loop. The more you
personalize the experience, the

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Sidebar: Gauging the Value of Trust

During its bankruptcy proceedings in potentially be used and, crucially, data—and we spelled out practical sensitive about the use of their data,
2011, Borders, the bookstore chain, won to give them a choice in the steps that would help companies even though more and more data is
judicial approval to sell its intellectual matter shows how companies and move toward operating models sought from them and more is
property, including a customer consumers may interact in the future based on trust. Even before the given by them, both willingly
database, to Barnes & Noble. The on issues of privacy. It’s also a prime age of social media and big data, and unwittingly.
issue at stake: shoppers’ data privacy.i example of the mobility of data our recommendations were clear:
these days—and a good indicator of companies must seek ways to use In general, individuals are more
Anticipating privacy concerns, the importance of establishing, let knowledge about their customers likely to think in terms of what’s in
Borders’ lawyers persuaded the court alone maintaining, accountability for to provide better services to them,it for them if they give out personal
to appoint an independent third such data. doing so in ways that increase trust,
data. “When you put information
party to consider the privacy impact not suspicion. about yourself out there, that’s a
on the 48 million Borders customers A decade ago, Accenture asked transaction,” Margaret Stewart,
whose personal information would whether enterprises could Ten years on, plenty has changed: Facebook’s director of product
be transferred with the sale of the differentiate themselves based on the entities collecting information design, told Fast Company recently.
intellectual property. In the end, the consumer trust. We flagged five
ii
are savvier than ever about data, and “But you need to feel that you’re
customers were given the chance to dimensions of trust—safekeeping of they have more channels through getting something back in return.
opt out of the transfer. personal information, control over which to gather it (think “big data”) When we start to provide things
the data, personal access to one’s and more powerful tools with which that feel valuable to people, it will
The bookseller’s readiness to tell data, accountability, and the benefits to extract insights from it. For make that transaction make sense.” iii
customers how their data could of letting corporations use one’s their part, individuals are far more

16


Accenture’s recommendations for that can build a reputation for Of course, a critical aspect of trust
businesses are even more relevant providing valuable services while building is the assurance that all
today, and the stakes have gotten using consumers’ personal data in of the business partners in an
higher—with consumers’ greater trustworthy ways will have a big organization’s value chain abide by
sensitivity being just one of the advantage over competitors. Its the same high principles. If a person
factors in play. Accenture believes brand will be more valuable, it will using a supposedly trust-based
that a vital component is still have more opportunities to attract solution is suddenly deluged with
missing from the privacy debate: and retain lifetime customers, and unwanted phone calls and e-mail
a proactive business perspective it can become a preferred partner from related companies, you can
focused not just on compliance in a larger value chain of goods bet that’s a customer lost forever.
with laws that protect privacy but and services.
also on the notion that companies
can generate business value by Implicit in this idea is the belief
earning consumer trust. that trust has an economic value
and, as such, can be used to win
To date, few businesses convincingly competitive advantage. In that
demonstrate that they grasp respect, thinking of trust as an
the notion that they need to go economic asset is not different from
beyond just collecting information how a bank views and manages its
about consumers. The company customers’ accounts.

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Trend 1. Relationships at scale Accenture Technology Vision 2013

Design for Analytics
Formulate the questions, and design
for the answers

18

Trend 2. Design for Analytics Accenture Technology Vision 2013

Design for Analytics

Business intelligence. Data analytics. Big data. Companies are no longer suffering from a lack of data;
they’re suffering from a lack of the right data. Business leaders need the right data in order to effectively
define the strategic direction of the enterprise. The current generation of software was designed for
functionality. The next generation must be designed for analytics as well.

Predicting the future isn’t difficult. unstructured data from previously
Predicting the future with some unplumbed sources (such as social
degree of accuracy is. Businesses are media, call center transcripts, and
under the impression that the more e-mail). They are working under
data they have, the easier it will be the assumption that “more data” is
to predict the future and thus secure equivalent to “better data.” They are
competitive advantage. only partially correct.

Collecting more data points makes The problem is no longer the
it easier to discern trends, patterns, absence of enough data. In fact,
opportunities, and competitive enterprises are now being flooded
advantage. That’s one of the reasons with new data, big-data tools
companies are focusing so heavily mine countless new unstructured-
on big data and the ability to utilize data sources, social media now

19


provide unprecedented information for the application to do its job. If capture more of it where they can. help the company achieve its most
about consumers, and sensors and an e-commerce application needs But generally they have not done this basic goals. With every data gap,
embedded devices expand the ability to know what device a consumer with any specific question in mind. enterprises miss an opportunity to
to gather data into areas where is connecting from in order to make better decisions or improve
computing power has never been authenticate the consumer, it So, when this data is repurposed how they run their business. To move
before. The problem now becomes captures that information; if the as an input to make strategic forward, to answer the question, you
the absence of the right data. application doesn’t need to know, decisions—such as entering a new have to adopt a data-first strategy
and knowing doesn’t support the market or pricing a new service— and plug the data gaps.
The IT world we live in today revolves user experience, it doesn’t. Most glaring information gaps often
around software applications. companies have also taken the next arise. The goal isn’t to amass data. Plugging these data gaps—that is,
Businesses have developed data step—for example, they recognize It’s about enabling the business getting the right data—requires
models to support application that consumer information is to answer a question, to create a fundamental shift in design
functionality, which is necessary valuable for future insight, so they insight, and to use that insight to philosophy for how new applications

“ The now being flooded with new data,of enoughtools mine countless new
are
problem is no longer the absence
big-data
data. In fact, enterprises

unstructured-data sources, social media now provide unprecedented
information about consumers, and sensors and embedded devices expand
the ability to gather data into areas where computing power has never been
before. The problem now becomes the absence of the right data.
”
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are built and existing applications To get the right data, you have to The result is the first stage of a data
are configured, instrumented, and design applications to explicitly supply chain, where applications
updated. Applications still must capture the specific data needed, serve not only their users but
meet users’ functionality needs, update user interfaces to get also the business as it looks to
but applications now must also be new pieces of data, and add applications’ data for answers to the
designed to specifically produce data data collection as a new set of questions most important to
that answers more of an enterprise’s requirements within the software the business.
questions. Technology is no longer procurement process. These
the barrier. The barrier is strategic capabilities become a piece of the
business foresight to formulate upfront processes for how you lay
the questions. out road maps for your systems, not
something that is added on after
the fact.

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The minimum What transpired before it happened?
mindset: data as a What transpired afterward? It could

strategic asset be a purchasing scenario that reveals
the associated items that customers
Businesses have the right idea: buy. But it could also be a failed
data is a strategic asset. Data (good online purchase. Did someone get a
data) makes you smarter. A recent coupon from Starbucks but go next
study of 179 companies, led by an door to Dunkin’ Donuts anyway?
economist at the MIT Sloan School
of Management, suggests that The desire to get these answers
companies that adopted “data- is why companies are investing
driven decision-making” have so heavily in big data, business Quantifying the tick. They must step out of the box
productivity levels 5 to 6 percent intelligence, and reporting tools. world around us and formulate the right questions
higher than can be explained by The fact that they are still investing that will help the business make
other factors, including investment means that they haven’t yet found When enterprises don’t have access strategic decisions. The data that’s
in technology.i the solution, even though so much to the right data, they need to start necessary will become evident. The
technology is available. looking differently at how they challenge, then, will be figuring out
Savvy companies are working to go about getting data. Companies not only how to collect it, but, in
discern more about transactions Companies need to start looking can’t rely solely on the limited many cases, how to create it.
and events than ever before. for the solution to the problem a universe of data that they already
They’re looking for context and different way. have. The focus now needs to Many software vendors are already
ways to make the insights they shift to quantifying the enterprise: starting to make it easier for
gain actionable. They’re trying to capturing the actions, interactions, enterprises to tackle this challenge.
understand not only what happened and attributes of the employees and Third parties are increasingly creating
but why. And, when did it happen? processes that make an enterprise Application Program Interfaces to

22


and their ultimate score but also The companies that have already
their keystrokes, how long it took defined their top-level strategic

“ Whenthey need todon’t have access to the right
data,
enterprises
start looking differently at
them to answer individual questions,
and if they stopped in the middle of
questions are striking first.
Many companies in logistics,
an assignment or question. “We're transportation, and energy, for
how they go about getting data. Companies physically collecting thousands of instance, have already clearly defined
can’t rely solely on the limited universe of data data points per student per day,” said their need to track the movement of
that they already have. founder and CEO Jose Ferreira.iii goods and the usage of power.
” Companies are also looking to the UPS has developed a system of
blossoming of sensor technology in-vehicle sensors and handheld
allow data to be more easily extracted help improve its recommendations to fill data gaps as they arise. This computers to track information not
from software products, including engine, Netflix tracks how customers technology represents a way to only about its shipments but also
packaged software applications. interact with on-demand film create and collect information from about its trucks’ movements. This
This further puts the onus on downloads. It looks at metrics physical environments and devices is what helped it determine that
companies to figure out what data such as when customers pause the that today represent blind spots in a making left turns slowed deliveries
they should be gathering from movie and what scenes they watch company’s data portfolio. Research and increased fuel costs as a result
their systems to answer the over again.ii In another example, to company Strategy Analytics predicts of idling; it used the information
company’s broader questions. continuously improve the quality that cellular machine-to-machine to create routes that minimized
and effectiveness of its online class (M2M) connections necessary to left turns, saving the company 9
v
Companies are also increasingly materials, Knewton incorporates the transport the data from distributed million gallons of gas annually. In
adding instrumentation to their ability to track specific data about sensors to the data center will grow addition, knowing when trucks are
custom applications, designing them how students use its software. It from 277 million in 2012 to 2.5 going to reach their destinations
to collect and report transactions, tracks not only how long it takes billion by 2020.iv helps UPS’s employees ensure that
activities, or logs. For instance, to students to complete an assignment there are sufficient resources to load

23


and unload them. Knowing where the wireless information network the quantification of the consumer. and transmit information, primarily
shipments are in transit (and sharing enhances well efficiency and reduces Facebook has ingrained a propensity in the personal-fitness space. The
that information on a website) aids operating costs because workers no for people to share their likes and Nike+ FuelBand collects data about
customer service. longer have to physically visit each dislikes. Businesses have known calories burned, for example, and
well to collect operating data and for years that customers prefer FitBit collects data regarding users’
In the energy industry, Shell joint reconfigure the system. This also recommendations from known sleep patterns. Personal fitness
venture Petroleum Development contributes to personnel safety. sources. The ability to cultivate and and social media also overlap on
Oman (PDO) has deployed a wireless harvest customer information for websites where people track their
system in its oil field. It is currentlyQuantifying the sales, marketing, and advertising diets. A lot of consumer data exists
wiring 5,000 wells, which technicians consumer represents a rich opportunity to grab today, but companies need to
remotely monitor and manage, to some of the data that they need in determine the right data for them
provide real-time communication To date, of course, the ripest area order to resolve questions about and then start processes to acquire
vi
and control. According to PDO, for the collection of data has been their consumers that have long been that data.
left unanswered.
Websites already have multiple

“ The ability tofor sales, marketing, and
information
cultivate and harvest customer The aggregation of social and mobile
capabilities through applications
capabilities for tracking activity, but
sometimes what is needed can be
such as Waze (a crowd-sourced gleaned by simply asking customers
advertising represents a rich opportunity navigation app) and Yelp (online and prospects for input. However,
to grab some of the data that [businesses] consumer reviews) has heightened it’s important to note that often it’s
need in order to resolve questions about the ability for consumers to quantify better to track actual activity than
themselves. But there’s also been to poll—there’s typically a delta
their consumers that have long been left an associated increase in personal between what people say they want
unanswered.
” electronic and medical devices,
beyond smartphones, that collect
and what people actually want.

24


Businesses also have a newfound What do these examples portend? into new products (think insights) Once you’ve designed for analytics,
ability to utilize pieces of data that Opportunities for consumer data as you look at different pieces of how do you actually conduct
they may already possess but that feeds are everywhere. You just need data in aggregate. Just as important, the analytics? Analytics have
previously hasn’t been easily usable: to form the right questions for your companies should be able to feed always been a challenge, but
unstructured data represented by business and start strategically information back to their suppliers partially because businesses have
free text in e-mail, tweets, and other quantifying the world around you. in order to help them incrementally often conducted the process in
media; audio files from call center improve the latter’s data collection— an exploratory fashion—they’ve
conversations; and video from sites just as an auto manufacturer must collected available data and then
where customers interact Creating a data report component failures back to analyzed it, rather than assiduously
with products. supply chain suppliers in order to improve quality. determining what data will aid their
business strategy and then ensuring
Finally, consider the availability of It’s time to start treating your data Once you identify the data supply that the right data is collected to
information that’s been collected less as a warehouse and more as a chain, how do you harness it? analyze. They can derive increased
by others for integration into your supply chain. Having identified your
analysis. This could come from a sources of data, you must corral
variety of sources—service providers, it for analysis, in the same way
social networks, search engines, even that the various components of an
vendor software already running automobile from multiple suppliers
in your data centers. For instance, come together on an assembly line.
Intellicorp has developed a software Recognize that the data won’t be
product that can analyze changes static; it will be manipulated as
within SAP ERP applications; it sells it goes through the supply chain,
the product to SAP customers for added to other pieces of data,
data-management and data-life- updated as more recent data comes
cycle uses. along, and sometimes transformed

25


value by collecting data with the working, but they do see that they’re Foresight: specific questions they are trying
real end purpose in mind. The result: relying more on electric power, establishing a to answer; many will not be able
better data, which equals which delivers higher levels of to, and fewer still will have those
better insight. customer satisfaction.
feedback loop questions documented and feeding
for insight into teams to answer them. Though
Ford Motor Company research In a short time, savvy businesses obvious on the surface, this task
logically deduced that the customers can create a virtuous feedback loop What will the feedback loop look should not be underestimated. It is
of its hybrid vehicles preferred using that allows them to collect, analyze, like when software is designed for not trivial. And it is not something
electric power as much as possible. and respond in an increasingly analytics? It starts with setting goals for which most companies have a
However, the system was originally agile manner, and then revisit their and creating questions that need formal process. They need to
designed to deploy electric power questions on a periodic basis in to be answered. Ask the leaders of create one.
based on other parameters, such as order to continuously assess new organizations within your enterprise
amount of battery power remaining. data in the context of changing if they can clearly articulate the key
But Ford developed an algorithm business conditions and strategies.
using data from the cars’ built-in This will require the integrated
GPS systems to track when drivers involvement of IT with the business,
were close to home or frequently because IT may need to tweak data
visited locations close to home.
Knowing that the vehicles were
vii
collection mechanisms, including
user interfaces, on mobile apps and
“ What softwarefeedback loopfor analytics?
when
will the
is designed
look like
more likely to be within the range enterprise applications in order to
of a battery charge, the engineers acquire additional data points. It starts with setting goals and creating
questions that need to be answered.
”
were able to adjust the powertrain
controls to rely more on electricity
than on gasoline in those scenarios.
Customers don’t see the algorithm

26


harvesting obvious to the user yet driven or at least to work with them

“ You will need to your software data
unobtrusive. As part of an update to to provide the required data. Procter
to distribute the its online marketplace, eBay posts & Gamble and Walmart actively
requirements development photographs of merchandise to share supply chain information with
users, Pinterest style, based on data each other to help reduce inventories
team, of course, but also begin working with derived from previous purchases, while increasing sales by focusing on
your partners and software vendors so that previous searches, and stated rapidly changing customer demands.
ix

they can begin to collect data as well.
”
interests. A better user interface,
yes, but this design also gives eBay Businesses must also think about
the ability to get deeper insight into how they can maximize the
its users not only by simply asking availability of data sources. Look
With a process in place, you then Then you are ready to close the them for their preferences but also at currently packaged software
need to align the questions with loop. To whom will the information by looking at how they interact with applications or SaaS applications
viii
data requirements and disseminate be distributed so that it can be the pictures shown to them. for how they can be reconfigured or
those requirements accordingly. acted upon? Designing the process how APIs can be utilized to supply
You will need to distribute the data so that information flows into the Developers must use design data. In existing applications, think
requirements to your software organization is equally important. methodologies that allow rapid about how the interface can be
development team, of course, but testing, updating, and reconfiguring. updated for better data gathering—
also work with your partners and The cultural shift to an insight- In that way, businesses can for instance, adding new entry
software vendors so that they can driven business will also require determine which methods work points to accommodate inputs
begin to collect data as well. Finally, different thinking about personnel best in acquiring the strongest data. about seasonal needs or short-term
think about other sources of data and partners. Corporate developers Businesses will also have to rethink promotions. In new applications,
you want to incorporate for analysis. will need to focus on incorporating their relationships with partner designing for data capture should
methods of data harvesting into user organizations in order to persuade carry as much weight as the initial
interface designs, making the data them to become equally insight- application requirements.

27


Changing a looking for ways to collect better Your 100-day plan
corporate culture data, more data, fresher data.
It’s not just the software that In 100 days, define the key strategic questions for the
Designing for analytics is about should be refreshed to collect data business and the data needed to answer them.
more than simply adding a few and conduct analytics—it’s the
data requirements to a software employees, too.
development cycle or an RFP; it is • Update or build your data catalog, identifying what data
the next step in transforming the By deploying these capabilities, you have.
enterprise culture to become insight- businesses will move themselves
driven. It’s about blurring the lines closer to the goal of being • Determine your in-flight analytics projects and what
between business functions (as the completely insight-driven, of questions these projects are trying to answer.
consumers of business data) and IT being the kind of company that
(as the purveyors of data) to make systematically uses data at all levels • Prioritize the existing strategic questions your
both more effective. of the organization to become organization is working on.
smarter and more successful. It’s
Pushing these ideas, many time to take the next step. It’s time • Begin to catalog new data sources (internal and external)
enterprises will go so far as to to evolve applications and products needed to fill in critical missing data elements.
create a prominent new role in beyond just user functionality
the organization, a chief data and make them actively feed your • Tap the new data sources where they fill identified data
officer, a data champion whose analytics. Give the business not just gaps.
responsibilities encompass the data, but the right data.
collection, prioritization, distribution, • Define the required skills and experience needed to create
and analysis of data. But, with or data champions across the organization.
without a data champion, each
employee must be tasked with

28


This time next year
In 365 days, establish your data supply chain across the
enterprise, quantifying the world around you to address
strategic gaps.

• Create data champions across the organization, for
example, a chief data officer.

• Work across the organization to determine and prioritize
your future strategic questions.

• Look at your data catalog and determine the long-term
gaps.

• Fill these gaps in the data catalog—purchase data,
develop new APIs, and ask your partners.

• Embed new data requirements into software road maps
and procurement plans.

• Begin designing software to capture new data within
custom development and software update cycles.

• Develop a data creation strategy to attain data through
the setup of new data sources: M2M, new software, and
data creation from partners.

• Put the data cycle in motion, revisiting data needs as new
strategic questions arise.

29


Sidebar: Why the Business Now Needs to Care About APIs

In earlier times, applications (and APIs—the “glue” that connects The beauty of APIs is that they data and services to meet
their data) didn’t really travel far in apps with business processes and uncouple the “front end” service— business goals.
the enterprise. Applications were with each other—have typically the business access—from the IT
specific to jobs, and the data they been a fairly low-level concern for mechanisms that support it. As user The benefit of discrete API
produced remained locked inside, programmers and architects. But with groups and use cases change, access management is that it keeps
rarely fulfilling its true potential for the business’s increasing reliance on and management-policy updates complexity under control. Specifically,
the enterprise. Data on consumer data and services—both public and don’t affect IT implementation, and the API management solutions
segments used by the marketing private—and the growing reuse of vice versa: APIs can provide self- now offered by providers such as
group would rarely have been sought those building blocks, APIs are rapidly serve access for developers—internal, Apigee, Layer 7 Technologies, and
by engineering or manufacturing, say, becoming a strategic concern. For partner, and independent third party— Mashery make it possible to organize,
or even offered to external parties. example, the car-sharing service giving others the power to create expose, and monetize APIs. The
RelayRides relies on an API created new and innovative use cases. And organization benefit is very real:
Things are different today. It’s by General Motors and OnStar to IT updates can happen at any time formal management of APIs deals
becoming increasingly important for access some of the remote control without users knowing it, or needing with the sprawl, redundancies, and
the underlying data and business and telematics elements of the to know. Managed well, APIs can inefficiencies that will proliferate as
functions to be made available service.i Organizations must now help enterprises handle complexity as increasingly quantified enterprises
for general use—able to be quickly consciously manage the proliferation the need to access data and services begin to share many more data
reworked in ways that help shorten of increasingly important APIs. grows. In an increasingly quantified sources and services, both internally
cycle times, cut costs, or accelerate digital world, API management and externally.
revenue elsewhere in the business. provides a mechanism to leverage

30


API management tools help expose who is using your APIs and which growing global workforce, it would is based on the same core “building
a common platform of functionality. APIs are most valuable, as well as be increasingly critical for business block” concepts as SOA, but it has
They minimize rework. And they traceability of IT capability against users to have access to enterprise and evolved to take advantage of the
accelerate development, which is a business use, ensuring business application data in real time in order agility and simplicity of cloud and
key first step when embarking on process alignment and verification to scale up those applications. Web-based approaches.
cloud, mobile, or social roadmaps. against business cases.
Just one snapshot: construction and The IT team opted to build an API So the next question is, Who needs to
engineering company Bechtel has an A case in point: Accenture is carefully layer that would make available the be responsible for API management?
API strategy that provides relevant managing APIs as a key step to enable various data and business functions Currently, the only people who know
information to its global teams from cloud and mobile strategies across for general use and standardize or care about APIs are found on the
the data generated and stored as it our global workforce of more than access across users. The APIs could development teams. But there’s a
executes its projects, thereby enabling 250,000 people. With as-a-service then be used to help implement new need for a centralized function that
the teams to be more agile and better and mobile-device models playing services and to provide new user brings some order and discipline
equipped to make informed decisions.ii larger roles in Accenture’s delivery experiences on mobile devices such as to today’s random and informal
of functionality for activities such as tablets and smartphones. interactions between business users
Finally, API management makes time entry, hotel reservations, and and IT staff. Does the buck stop on
it possible to measure the value business travel, Accenture’s internal If API management sounds a lot like the CIO’s desk? Or is this part of the
of APIs. Imagine a scenario that IT team realized that integration service-oriented architecture (SOA)— purview of a newly minted chief
involves explicit governance of APIs; with disparate systems was going an influential technology concept a data officer? In either case, the API
you have visibility and control into to become challenging. And with a decade ago—that’s because it is. It management role must be defined.

31

Trend 1. Relationships at scale Accenture Technology Vision 2013

Data Velocity
Matching the speed of decision to the
speed of action

32

Trend 3. Data Velocity Accenture Technology Vision 2013

Data Velocity

Business leaders have been bombarded with statistics about the soaring volumes of data that they can
mine for precious insights. They have been deluged with articles describing the incredible variety of
“external” data hidden in everything from tweets and blogs to sensor outputs and GPS data from mobile
phones. But the next perspective on data that deserves attention is data velocity—the pace at which data
can be gathered, sorted, and analyzed in order to produce insights that managers can act on quickly. As
expectations of near-instant responses become the norm, business leaders will rely heavily on higher data
velocities to gain a competitive edge.
It’s become an article of faith data from platforms like Twitter,
among business leaders that Facebook, and Pinterest to second-
their data contains a treasury of guess consumer behavior, increasing
powerful insights that can help their sales conversion rates by 10 to 15
organizations make money. They’re percent in the process.i
also getting used to the idea that
“data” can mean what’s gleaned But there’s another aspect that
from Facebook postings or remotely business leaders have yet to fully
located machines just as much as grasp: data velocity. That concept
what’s in corporate data centers. by itself is not new; together with
Just ask Walmart, which deployed “variety” and “volume,” it has been
a new search engine last fall part of the “three Vs” construct for
on Walmart.com that relies on talking about data—a construct

33

Trend 3. Data Velocity Accenture Technology Vision 2013

developed in 2001, long before “big explained that he’s not seeking new
data” became such an overused term.ii
And at the most fundamental level, “ Today, it’s of the organization’s actions to
the speed
increasingly important to match types of data; what he wants is to
get everything from point-of-sale
there is nothing novel about the data to statistics on inventories and
the speed of its opportunities.
idea of faster flows of data helping
organizations get more done in
less time.
” shipments more frequently and far
faster, in more granular form
than ever.iv

But the notion of velocity has been to generate actionable insights, the decision makers do business.iii The In all of these discussions about
largely eclipsed by the many recent organization will start losing out to old model, he said, would mean data velocity, note that we’re not
advances in technologies that have more responsive competitors. More that analysts would get back with talking about striving for some
unlocked significant increases both worrisome, if the business hasn’t answers in two weeks. “You need real-time nirvana. What’s crucial
in available volume (zettabyte upon begun using data-driven insight to to be able to answer that question is an improving rate of response,
petabyte) and in variety (spanning detect and evaluate opportunities immediately,” he told the magazine. regardless of the rising volumes of
unstructured data such as pins in the first place, it runs even data to be accessed and analyzed
on Pinterest as well as structured greater risks of falling behind. P&G is investing in virtual, “instant and irrespective of their proliferating
records of supply logistics and Consumer goods giant Procter & on” war rooms where professionals sources. Going forward, it will no
customers’ purchase histories). Gamble is acutely aware of what’s meet in person or over video around longer be about the size of your
at stake: CIO Filippo Passerini told continuous streams of fresh and data—it will be about matching the
Today, it’s increasingly important InformationWeek that if P&G can relevant data, inviting the right velocity of your data to how fast
to match the speed of the eliminate the “what” discussions and experts as soon as a problem your business processes need to
organization’s actions to the speed some of the “why”, and decision- surfaces. P&G’s objective is to give act on it.
of its opportunities. If too much makers can jump right to how these decision-making forums
time elapses between acquisition of to solve a problem, that radically access to data as soon as possible
data and the ability to use the data increases the pace at which the after it has been collected. Passerini

34

Accenture technology-vision-2013

Accenture technology-vision-2013

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