Welcome to the
Connected World: How Eight Trends are Radically Changing Work and Play
26 Sep 2006 12:00 GMT
New CSC Report
Details the Paradigm Shifts Driving Business Opportunity
EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Sept. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- An American
business traveler awaiting a flight in Rome uses SlingBox to view last night's
episode of CSI: Miami on her laptop. Wireless sensors inform workers of an
equipment failure in a remote area of an oil refinery, saving the company
thousands of dollars. Skype, an Internet company, shakes up the
telecommunications industry by offering conferencing services for free.
"Advances in connectivity and mobility are changing
everything," said Paul Gustafson, director of Computer Sciences
Corporation's (NYSE:CSC) Leading Edge Forum (LEF). Speaking about the LEF's new
research report, "Connected World: Redefining the Geography of Business
and How We Work and Play," Gustafson says technology companies have for
years boasted of "anytime, anywhere" capability, but that wasn't
really the case. "Today, we're much closer to that goal and 'anything' is
now part of the equation. The technology has advanced to the point that it's
really not about technology. It's about imagination and reengineering to adapt
to a new reality."
The report examines eight trends that illustrate what it
means to live and thrive in a connected world -- a networked world marked by
abundant bandwidth, powerful devices that leverage that bandwidth in new areas
and to new users, and changing work styles and lifestyles that are more mobile.
What business areas will be impacted? What will mobility look like in the
coming years? Who is in the lead and why?
The trends are
as follows:
All-IP
Enterprise
The concept of network is changing from one of plumbing to
platform. Using Internet Protocol (IP) at the core, companies can have a
single, converged network that carries all data, voice, video and applications.
In an enterprise environment, this approach unites previously disparate
organizations and systems, increases performance and reliability, provides new
capabilities and greatly reduces costs.
With voice absorbed into the network as just another data
type -- voice over IP (VoIP) -- voice networks will become obsolete. As
evidenced by Skype, VoIP can effectively eliminate long-distance and video
conferencing charges. This has presented a major disruption to every
telecommunications company, forcing a reinvention as market demand (both
commercial and consumer) rapidly shifts to providers who can offer converged
services.
Industry Crossovers
With IP the common denominator, companies are crossing into
new industries and businesses, colliding as well as cooperating in staking out
their digital turf. Television, music and computer companies are increasingly
focusing on mobile phones as the next entertainment platform. Examples include
MTV's alliance with Sprint and Google's relationship with CBS.
This crossover world was envisioned in the 1990s by computer
pioneer Gordon Bell, who painted a picture of the colliding worlds of telephony,
television and computing. This "triple play," which is often extended
to the quadruple play when mobility is added, is obliterating stovepipe
companies and services of the past, while ushering in new multi-service
scenarios.
Bandwidth at the Edge
A proliferation of mobile broadband networks is providing
access to the Internet and enterprise core networks at greatly increased
speeds, solving bandwidth issues. Until recently, access could be likened to
siphoning ocean water with a straw. Today large network pipelines are here in
the form of Wi-Fi, WiMAX, 3G and soon-to-come 4G wireless broadband.
"Bandwidth has been unleashed to the edge -- to the
home user, the mobile user and various remote locations," said Gustafson.
"Technologies that had sufficient bandwidth have extended their reach, and
technologies that had sufficient reach have gotten more bandwidth. The days of
un-connectedness are just about over."
FON, a start-up company in Madrid, intends to create a
global federated network of Wi-Fi hotspots. The goal is one million hotspots
worldwide by 2010 or earlier.
Networks in New Places
Networks are going into new places in new ways.
Organizations are bringing dormant environments to life by leveraging wireless
mesh networks and advanced radio-frequency identification (RFID). Not
constrained by physical infrastructure, these networks enable new forms of
machine-to-machine communication that automatically monitor, adjust and control
systems at significantly reduced costs, states the report.
The technology is helping oil refineries monitor equipment
and employees in remote and hazardous locations. It's also allowing buses to
become mobile Internet cafes. San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge has
approximately 200 wireless sensors monitoring its structural integrity.
Connected Things
Along with networks going into new places, new things are
being connected to the network. With this comes radical changes, for newly
connected devices access information and perform differently, or enable people
to perform differently. Such things range from personal devices like consumer
electronics and washing machines to hardware in broader systems like vending
machines, highway toll readers and electronic signs.
Networked TiVo brings Internet life to the digital video
recorder box. In healthcare, Bluetooth wireless technology enables devices to
monitor blood pressure and glucose levels and heart and pulse rhythms within a
10-meter range, freeing patients from hospital beds. Utility companies are also
starting to use this technology to remotely monitor meters and detect and
resolve issues.
Liquid Time and Place
Time and place shifting began with TiVo and is now enhanced
by technologies from companies like Sling Media and Orb that allow viewers to
watch TV from a laptop connecting to home remotely. Orb says that it takes the
"home" out of home entertainment. But this trend is much larger than
TV. Companies are shifting work to cut costs, speed operations and free up
local employees to do other work. Fixed time and place are becoming liquid as
the boundaries defining work and home dissolve.
"Today we have liquid time and place like never
before," said Gustafson. "In the past we were limited by where we
could run wires, but we're no longer confined by wires or clocks. The network
facilitates new dimensions of reach, new spaces to infiltrate and new
innovation."
Pervasive Presence and Location
As connectivity increases, understanding someone's context
before communicating to them is increasingly important. The person's availability,
presence and location provide key information that improve communication and
enable new, location-aware services.
The defining moment for presence was the emergence of
instant messaging (IM), which "announces" an individual online, in
real time, states the report. Presence boosts productivity by enabling
individuals and teams to communicate in new ways, brainstorm and solve problems
faster. For example, the technology supports homeland security efforts by
facilitating emergency response effort coordination. It also allows commercial
companies to provide real-time customer service for online shoppers.
Mobility: The Next Frontier
"Mobility offers major opportunities for business
growth and innovation," said Gustafson. "The culmination of all the
preceding trends, mobility is made possible by the connected world and the rich
underlying network. E-mail is just the start. The real power comes from
mobile-enabling operational processes such as sales, supply chain and field
service. Wireless phone badges, electronic clipboards and text messages are
bringing about dramatic changes in a variety of industries.
"The enterprise mobile market is in transition,
shifting from point solutions to leveraged platforms, with consolidation around
major players," he added. "Some analysts say mobile opportunities
have the same potential impact as the Internet to drastically change
business."
Conclusion: Rethinking Business Connectedness
If the world is only two seconds away, what does this mean
for business? What do corporations and organizations need to do to survive and
thrive?
"Today we are in the exact same position as in the
1980s pre-reengineering era, but with more complex technology and more complex
issues that need to be addressed," said N. Venkatraman, David J. McGrath
Jr. professor of management at Boston University and one of the experts cited
in the report. "The connected world is at a point where we need to have a
conversation with business managers about how to create new business models. We
need to reengineer for networked business."
The report recommends examining nine business areas when
assessing the organization's connectedness: value systems, business models,
ecosystem role, service delivery, customer focus, stakeholder alignment,
employee model, industry shape and IT shape. Detailed descriptions and
guidelines regarding these areas can be found on page 82 of the report.
To view a downloadable copy of the report, please visit
http://www.csc.com/aboutus/lef/uploads/csc_lef_connectedworld.pdf. To
participate in the Connected World blog, visit www.csc.com/lefblog.
About CSC
Founded in 1959, Computer Sciences Corporation is a leading
global information technology (IT) services company. CSC's mission is to
provide customers in industry and government with solutions crafted to meet
their specific challenges and enable them to profit from the advanced use of
technology.
With approximately 78,000 employees, CSC provides innovative
solutions for customers around the world by applying leading technologies and
CSC's own advanced capabilities. These include systems design and integration;
IT and business process outsourcing; applications software development; Web and
application hosting; and management consulting. Headquartered in El Segundo,
Calif., CSC reported revenue of $14.6 billion for the 12 months ended June 30,
2006. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.csc.com.
FCMN Contact: mediarelations@csc.com
Source: Computer Sciences Corporation
CONTACT: Janet Herin, Manager, Media Relations, Corporate of
Computer
Sciences Corporation, +1-310-615-1693, jherin@csc.com
Web site: http://www.csc.com/lefblog
Web site: http://www.csc.com/
