Follow the 'Leading in real time' research series: https://bit.ly/1VGax2E Sponsored by Cisco.

1. Leading in real time
An investigation of the impact of real-time business on strategy and management.
1 Cisco Technology Radar / More information at https://techradar.cisco.com
Business in a hurry
1. INTRODUCTION
At a transactional level, however, it is undeniable
that the pace of business is faster today than it
has ever been, thanks mainly to digital technology. It
was the finance industry that first saw transactions
reach a speed far beyond what any human being
could process. Equity trades, which once required
a physical exchange of documents, can now be
executed electronically in 10 milliseconds or less.
Today, high-speed, high-frequency transactions are
increasingly common in other industries as digital
technology becomes more pervasive. For exam-
ple, the advertising industry is applying algorithmic
trading techniques developed in the financial services
industry to create ad exchanges, where digital ad-
vertising space is sold to the highest bidder within
fractions of a second.
ASOS, a British online retailer, uses real-time software
to monitor blogs, social media, competitor websites
and emails as well as press mentions to keep a finger
on the pulse of real-time product trends. This informs
the company’s decision of which products to discount,
when, for how long and by how much, as well as in-
forming its buyers and merchandisers which products
its shoppers want “right now”.
“It is, unfortunately, one of the chief characteristics
of modern business to always be in a hurry.” This
familiar lament was published in 1884 in a US jour-
nal, The Medical Record, showing that the feeling
that modern life is accelerating is one of its most
reliable constants.
Written by The Economist Intelligence Unit

2. 2 Cisco Technology Radar / More information at https://techradar.cisco.com
And there are challenges too, of course. Many of these
are technical—processing and analysing real-time data
may require new techniques. But others are organisational.
Real-time transactions require organisations to make
decisions in milliseconds. This cannot be done by human
beings, so must be performed by algorithms—rules
and heuristics represented in software. Ensuring that
these algorithms are properly designed to serve the
organisation’s interests, without triggering unintended
and potentially damaging consequences, is a new but
increasingly vital capability.
Real-time business
This is what is known as real-time business.
As these examples show, the benefits vary
by industry, but there are some common
themes. Tracking customer buying signals in
real time, for example, allows organisations
to be responsive to momentary fluctuations
in demand. Monitoring operations in real
time allows issues to be addressed before
they inflict any damage, and for processes
to be instantly recalibrated in response to
events.
This assists pricing and range decisions as well as
stock control while reducing business inefficiencies.
Geoff Watts, chief executive of EDITD, a consultancy
working with ASOS, says: “All the risk carried by a
brand is around having the right product at the right
price at the right time.”
Maverick Transportation, one of the largest flatbed
transport companies in the US, uses real-time
analytics to enable fleet managers to supervise
around 50 on-the-road drivers. Information from
vehicle breakdowns and hard-braking incidents
to route and location updates are continually
transmitted from the drivers and their vehicles,
updating in real time on their managers’ software
“dashboards”.
Another emerging issue is optimising business
models for real-time transactions. Printed
advertisements are not auctioned through third-
party exchanges, but the ability to compare
bids in less than the time it takes for a web
page to render makes that approach viable for
digital advertising.
How might organisations identi-
fy and implement new business
models for real-time business?

3. Similarly, what organisational structures and
management practices are optimal for real-time
business? Are the ways in which labour is currently
divided, and knowledge shared, appropriate for
the real-time economy? And what role do human
employees play when operational decisions are
made automatically in an instant?
These are the questions that Leading in real time, a
Cisco Technology Radar research project conducted
by The Economist Intelligence Unit, will examine.
In a series of video interviews, executives from
organisations that are pursuing real-time business
initiatives will share their experiences of how it has
affected their organisation, its strategy and the way
in which it is managed.
Meanwhile, a global survey of business and
technology leaders will examine the significance of
real-time business for companies today, assess how
well prepared they are for its impact, and examine
how they believe it will influence their future. The
results of this survey will be analysed in a series of
articles focused on the following industries: retail,
manufacturing, healthcare, energy and utilities, and
transport.
The aim is to allow businesses to share in the
experience and analysis of their peers as they seek
to prepare their organisations for the impact of
real-time business. Every generation may feel that
the pace of business is accelerating, but for this
generation, it is not a feeling they should ignore.
- Written by The Economist Intelligence Unit
CISCO TECHNOLOGY RADAR
Americas Headquarters
Cisco Systems, Inc
San Jose, CA
Cisco has more than 200 offices worldwide. Addresses, phone numbers, and fax numbers are listed on the Cisco Website at www.cisco.com/go/offices.
Cisco and the Cisco logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cisco and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. To view a list of Cisco
trademarks go to this URL: www.cisco.com/go/trademarks. Third party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The use of
the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company. (1110R)
Asia Pacific Headquarters
Cisco Systems (USA) Pte. Ltd.
Singapore
Europe Headquarters
Cisco Systems International BV
Amsterdam
The Netherlands
This article, written by The Economist Intelligence Unit
and sponsored by Cisco, examines global organisations’
use of real-time information and its impact on strategy
and management. It is based on a global survey of 268
executives, just under one-third of whom hold positions
in the IT department, while 47% are members of the
C-suite. Respondents were drawn from companies in the
healthcare, transport, retail, healthcare, manufacturing
and energy sectors, 49% of which have annual revenue
over US$500m.