2015 Industry Outlook: 46 Ideas from Channel Leaders

Vertical Systems Reseller Magazine this month published 46 predictions for 2015 by Channel Executives of all backgrounds.

Here are my Channel predictions for 2015:

Tell us the most significant changes you saw occurring in the channel in 2014.

The most significant change is around market sizing and demographics. We all expected the channel numbers to rebound from the 2008 recession along with the rest of the economy.

We are down 36% in total channel companies world-wide with another 10 to 15% decline expected in 2015. 

The other piece is the average age of the channel continues to increase – even with new born-in-the-cloud vendors hitting the scene. It is expected that 40% of current channel professionals will retire in the next 10 years.

Even more significant, is that the 75% of the entire channel will be made up of millennials by the year 2024.

What do you think will be the most radical shift for the channel in 2015?

There are very few radical shifts in the channel. The transformation from client/server and traditional break-fix into cloud, mobility & managed services has taken almost a decade – with no end in sight.

However, the trends we are seeing today will create some radical shift in the years to come. For example, the managed services market has stagnated – with flat growth over the past 3-4 years. 

Only 12% of channel partners drive over 50% of their revenue in a recurring model. Predictions from a few years ago would have over 50% of them driving their revenue this way.

What must solution providers do to stay relevant in 2015? Give us your #1 piece of advice.

Channel partners have always been highly adaptable and tend to gravitate towards opportunity. The shift of over 50% IT spending from the IT department to lines of business have partners building new relationships with sales, marketing, HR, operations and finance executives. 

Understanding how customers buy is also key to stay relevant. 

Researching real-world trends around cloud and SaaS purchases in your industry and geography, not what they hype would tell you it should be. Also, understand that the growth of software recurring revenue models hasn't translated into services and hardware recurring at the same level.

Does your company have tools or resources that may give solution providers a leg up in 2015? 

We build a mobile platform with numerous tools that solve big challenges for channel partners. Working with over a hundred vendors, we have found new and innovative ways to communicate, educate, grow and motivate partners.

Another area we are investing heavily in is “big data” for the channel. Understanding actions and behaviors and being able to predict and prescribe next best actions. Measuring the success of channel programs has always been difficult and many of the direct sales tools that have come to market in the past few years don’t work well in this environment.

What top 3 emerging technologies will be most important to the channel in 2015?

The proliferation of mobile devices and the management around them will continue to be hot. The 

average customer has 3 devices each today and that is growing to 10 by 2018. The internet of things will get a shot in the arm with the launch of the Apple Watch in 2Q.

The iPhone convinced people they needed 2 devices in 2007. The iPad and e-readers increased it to 3 in 2010. The Watch and other fitness devices will increase it to 4 and 5 by the end of 2015. The channel opportunity is when companies find valuable uses for these devices in the business world and need them integrated into the corporate network.

Software defined everything, hybrid clouds and 3D printing will also take hold and be the source of new practices being built by channel partners.

Summary

While the channel is experiencing some of the biggest shifts in size and demographics that we have seen in 30 years, the opportunity to recruit, develop and grow a highly engaged and motivate base of partners has never been stronger.

Those partners that survived (and thrived in) the past 6 years with massive economic and business model turmoil, are incredibly well positioned to take advantage of opportunities in 2015.

As the cloud matures, fear and uncertainty in the channel has turned into anticipation and even excitement. The complexity of IT continues to accelerate and the opportunities are growing faster than ever. 

Even the barriers to entry are increasing, meaning that new competitors, fresh from their A+ certification, aren’t setting up shop in your town.

Read the full article here.

10 Must-Try Channel Growth Hacks for 2015

Welcome to the future. Not the flying cars, robotic future that the Jetson's envisioned, or even the hoverboard, self-tying Nike's from Back to the Future.

The future of the Channel is grounded in new demographics, new business models and new definitions of partnerships. I talked more about these in a previous post:

http://thevarguy.com/cloud-computing-channel-partner-program/082514/10-things-i-learned-about-channel-summer-part-1

It doesn't come as a surprise to Channel Professionals that things are changing faster than ever across the partner ecosystem. A perfect storm of new technologies, transforming business models, rapidly evolving competition, consumerization and economic forces have fundamentally changed the traditional supplier/partner relationship.

Bill Gates keenly said that we overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten. Let's focus here on the next 12 to 24 months.

Not only are things moving much faster, the relationships have become significantly more complex. Ten years ago, a solid email, portal, phone, advertising and events strategy was all that was needed to communicate effectively to partners and customers.

Today we have more than 30 marketing vehicles in play, and the level of noise and clutter is, at times, out of control.

So with that in mind, how do we plan for 2015? How do we recruit the right new partners, develop our current partners to be stars, and take our top performing partners to the next level?


1. Go Mobile

Five years ago the average partner had one device (usually a laptop or desktop). Today the average is in the 3-4 range including smartphones, tablets and perhaps a rudimentary wearable device. By 2018, top researchers predict that number to be 10.

Cars, watches, smart walls, and other devices will drive new types of partner interaction and provide the platform for innovative selling and support tools.

Top vendors today are using technologies such as GPS, cameras, video and social in new and interesting ways that would have been unheard of even a few years ago.

Over 65% of partners report they prefer to use mobile as a primary source of doing business. With over half of all internet traffic now coming from mobile devices, many Channel vendors and distributors do not have a viable platform to leverage and grab a competitive advantage.


2. Leverage Big Data

Is your partner program still segmented by historic revenue? Perhaps you are thinking that a survey or partner advisory council meeting will give you the secrets to what is happening out there.

In reality, there are hundreds of data points that allow you to understand partner performance and loyalty to your brand. If you were able to combine these into one powerful set of predictive and prescriptive analytics, what changes would you make in your program?

Your partners keep telling you that they want better communication and support from your team. That doesn't mean sending more emails - it means understanding your partner deeper and connecting in the way that they prefer.

What if your partner program was ultra-customized by individual person and company? Understanding the who, what, where, when, and why of each partner persona could be the biggest channel growth hack you can make in 2015.

3. Expand Automation

The recent surge in marketing automation popularity has not yet worked its way into Channel communication. The ability to set automatic triggers based on a partner’s behavior results in a new level of insight.

Scoring each individual partner based on their actions can improve future communication and content to be more relevant and focused.

The win here is implementing a drip campaign across the channel catering to each person based on where they are in the marketing/sales funnel.

4. Move Away from Partner Portal as Primary Contact

Surveys show that 95% of partners do not regularly use partner portals. In fact, unless they are forced to log in for deal registration or mandatory education to keep their status, many partners do not come at all.

Channel marketing and communication has increasingly become a push versus a pull exercise.

There is no magic in push - every individual is different and making your program easier and more accessible across the myriad of communication vehicles is a must (unfortunately).


5. Re-look at Communities

You think your company is complex to deal with? The partner ecosystem is large and diverse, with dozens of different specialties, business models and types.

There are many sub-communities that have formed to serve these differences. These take the form of associations, online forums, social media, media groups, vendor & distributor groups, user and peer groups.

Communities tend to be more focused and specialized and have people that support each other with common interests and challenges. What makes them powerful is the ability to influence through the implied endorsement of the larger membership.

In many cases, participation is the only cost of entry.


6. Put your Social Activities into Context

Social media is no longer the “new” platform and has proven not to be the utopia that was once promised.

That being said, social is very important and is a core platform for communicating with the Channel. It is a place to amplify content, handle real-time conversations and extend branding and promotion.

Running a mix of 5-6 social platforms as part of your overall communication strategy is important. Social media will provide a place where you can listen to your partners, engage on a different level and interact in real-time.

7. Educate your Partners - Stop Selling them

Content marketing is becoming one of the most important tools for recruiting and nurturing your Channel. Finding your brand voice and sharing your domain knowledge with your partners on a consistent basis will build trust and keep them plugged in.

When combined with #6 above, a solid piece of content will amplify itself across numerous channels and give multiple ways to re-purpose throughout the time period.

As the old saying goes, you can't kid a kidder. So stop selling your best salespeople. Strong content - especially technical in nature - will go a long way to driving attention.


8. Re-invigorate your Press Strategy

Much like communities in number 5 above, the channel media have cultivated strong followings across multiple vehicles.

Many vendors look at the media as a source of advertising and not much else.

Over the past number of years, industry media has been forced to expand their offerings and deliver more value to their readers and sponsors. Getting access to their community of readers through co-marketing, sharing your updates and content, webinars, events and newsletters can be a very effective way to reach your established and prospective audience.

It can be surprisingly cost effective as well with the right level of negotiation, time commitment and bundling.

9. Go Back to the Basics - Direct Mail

Yes, I said it. Direct mail!

Most companies have abandoned direct mail over the past few years as the number of marketing vehicles have exploded.

Depending on the size of your Channel, sending physical mail to partners can be a cost effective way to connect. Keep in mind the average age of Channel professionals has grown every year since the 1980s and this demographic tends to prefer face-to-face, mail and phone calls to electronic communication.

Sending out innovative and useful sales kits can be done for only a few dollars per partner (or prospect) and may cost less than attending a tradeshow. Plus, you can achieve a high open rate and your competitors are likely not doing it.


10. Double Down on Tradeshows

Many Vendors I talk to look at tradeshows as an industry "tax". It is an area where a lot of opportunity (and money) is wasted.

Some of the common errors include:

• Paying for platinum status without getting much more than a "logo on a page" in return
• Paying for a breakfast/lunch/party and getting small signage that no one notices
• Thinking that booth hours are where the real action happens – then the real action usually happens in the hallways and the hotel lobby bar late at night
• Not having a plan covering pre-show, show-within-the-show and post-show tactics
• Spending too much money on trinkets and giveaways
• Not having a visible leader in your business that can seek out the media, develop strategic partnerships, and recruit based on reputation alone.

The vendors who take advantage of the tradeshow circuit by avoiding most of these pitfalls report it is there number one way to grow channel revenue.

It all comes down to recruiting the right partners, developing current partners to be stars, and taking top performing partners to the next level.


Happy New Year - And good luck in 2015!

Pictures from VSR Business Optimization Summit San Diego - May 2014

Just stepped off stage from "Future of the Channel" keynote at Vertical Systems Reseller - Business Optimization Summit in San Diego

Honored to be featured in the Vertical Systems Reseller 7th Annual Review & Outlook

Popular magazine gathers channel leaders from around the world to predict the future of the IT Industry.

Upwards of 30% of channel partners that were in business a couple of years ago are no longer operating. This is double the traditional attrition rate that comes from businesses going bankrupt, being acquired, or just shutting down to pursue other opportunities.

Adding to reduction in customer spending due to the economic downturn, the channel has had to deal with hardware margins that have bottomed out, software margins collapsing due to the cloud and new licensing scenarios and, most troubling, the commoditization of traditional and managed services.

The good news is that partners that have weathered the perfect storm have likely transformed their businesses and are well positioned to take advantage of these future opportunities:

1. Channel partners evolving to be vendors

We have seen this trend escalate in the past number of years. Partners have developed such deep industry and customer expertise that they have built custom software, services and in some cases, hardware to solve specific customer challenges. As the world has become flatter, these partners are finding customers across the globe for these specific solutions. In 2014, we may see a cross-over point where there are more vendors than channel partners in the world.

2. Managing the Internet of Things

As we enter 2014, the average knowledge worker owns three devices that they are looking to add to the company network. This BYOD trend has been around since 2010, but will escalate significantly when the average worker will have 10 devices in the next five years. Planning, consulting, policy creation and deployment, provisioning, protecting, remotely managing, ensuring industry compliance and controlling data fragmentation and portability will drive significant channel opportunities over the next decade.

3. Infrastructure becomes important again

The channel WILL sell hardware and lots of it. The Internet of Things will drive significant upgrades in basic infrastructure such as wireless capacity, audio/video equipment, mobile printing, document management and building electrical. Yes, 10 devices will have 10 charging dongles. New hardware, such as in-memory computing, extreme low-energy servers and cloud enablement and security devices will provide additional opportunity.

4. Line of business overtakes IT

Key opportunities over the next few years reside outside of the IT department. Sales, marketing, finance, HR and operations are driving forward with technology requirements on their own because of the cloud and consumerization of hardware. Just look at the growth of companies like Salesforce, NetSuite and Marketo. These decisions are sometimes rogue in nature and bypass the IT team completely. BYOA, or Bring Your Own App, is also compounding this problem as (well meaning) individuals are adding consumer-grade apps onto their personal devices and using them for business purposes. Security, compliance and data fragmentation are usually afterthoughts.

5. Small data feeds big data

Small and medium customers drive important data that can be leveraged upstream. The future of Big Data actually resides in bringing together information from multiple smaller sources on demand, replacing the single data warehouse model. The channel will have the skills and connections to make this happen, driving new sources of business intelligence for customers that didn’t have this access before. All boats will rise.

The channel has always profited from confusion and complexity. While the cloud and pervasive hardware devices appear (to the customer) to simplify the environment, the opposite is happening. Managing security, compliance, data portability, fragmentation and supporting all these new devices will provide significant opportunity for channel partners in 2014.

Download full 65 page report here.

5 Future Trends that are Changing the Channel Today

By Jay McBain, Co-Founder of ChannelEyes – The mobile platform for the Channel

Upwards of 30% of Channel Partners that were in business a couple of years ago are no longer operating. This is double the traditional attrition rate that comes from businesses going bankrupt, being acquired, or just shutting down to pursue other opportunities.

Adding to reduction in customer spending due to the economic downturn, the Channel has had to deal with hardware margins that have bottomed out, software margins collapsing due to the cloud and new licensing scenarios, and most troubling, the commoditization of traditional and managed services.

The good news is that partners that have weathered the perfect storm have likely transformed their businesses and are well positioned to take advantage of these future opportunities:

1.  Channel evolving to be Vendors – We have seen this trend escalate in the past number of years.  Partners have developed such deep industry and customer expertise that they have built custom software, services and in some cases, hardware to solve specific customer challenges.  As the world has become flatter, these partners are finding customers across the globe for these specific solutions.  In 2014 we may see a cross-over point where there are more vendors than Channel Partners in the world!

2.  Managing the Internet of Things – As we enter 2014, the average knowledge worker owns 3 devices that they are looking to add to the company network.  This BYOD trend has been around since 2010, but will escalate significantly when the average worker will have 10 devices in the next 5 years. Planning, consulting, policy creation and deployment, provisioning, protecting, remotely managing, ensuring industry compliance, and controlling data fragmentation and portability will drive significant Channel opportunities over the next decade.

3.  Infrastructure becomes important again – The Channel WILL sell hardware – and lots of it.  The Internet of Things will drive significant upgrades in basic infrastructure such as wireless capacity, audio/video equipment, mobile printing, document management, and building electrical.  Yes, 10 devices will have 10 charging dongles.  New hardware such as in-memory computing, extreme low-energy servers and cloud-enablement and security devices will provide additional opportunity.

4.  Line of Business overtakes IT – Key opportunities over the next few years reside outside of the IT department.  Sales, Marketing, Finance, HR and Operations are driving forward with technology requirements on their own because of the cloud and consumerization of hardware.  Just look at the growth of companies like Salesforce, NetSuite and Marketo.  These decisions are sometimes rogue in nature and bypass the IT team completely.  BYOA, or Bring Your Own App, is also compounding this problem as (well meaning) individuals are adding consumer-grade apps onto their personal devices and using them for business purposes.  Security, compliance and data fragmentation are usually afterthoughts.

5.  Small data feeds big data – Small and medium customers drive important data that can be leveraged upstream.  The future of Big Data actually resides in bringing together information from multiple smaller sources on demand, replacing the single data warehouse model.  The Channel will have the skills and connections to make this happen, driving new sources of business intelligence for customers that didn’t have this access before.  All boats will rise.

The Channel has always profited from confusion and complexity.  While the cloud and pervasive hardware devices appear (to the customer) to simplify the environment, the opposite is happening.

  

Managing security, compliance, data portability, fragmentation and supporting all these new devices will provide significant opportunity for Channel Partners in 2014.

5 Life Hacks You Should Be Using Today

I have always enjoyed learning tricks and tools to make everyday tasks easier or more efficient.  It can be as simple as saving a couple of keystrokes to finding an App that shaves off hours.

Here are a couple of tools that I use today that serve this purpose.

1.  Mint.com (Cost: Free)

                                                                              Image from Google

I have been an avid user of Quicken and Microsoft Money since before I was a teenager.  Every penny I have ever earned, invested or spent is tracked, categorized and reported.  This takes a time commitment of 1-2 hours per month.  

Mint is great on a PC or smartphone and connects to every bank, credit, mortgage and investment account I have (US and Canadian) and pulls it all together in real time.  You can add assets such as cars and personal items which drives an up-to-date net worth in real-time.

You can easily look at your complete financial world, have it report on bills due and large transactions. 

Individual account balances fluctuate but the net worth number is the one number to focus on month to month.

2.  Credit Karma (Cost: Free)

                                                                           Image from Google

I used to check my credit score every 6 months via one of the "FreeCreditScore.com" type of sites. Problem is that they are not free and you have to give up your credit card number.  If you don't cancel (via a long painful phone call to customer service) you are charged.

Credit Karma finally changes that.  In addition to the score, it gives you detailed information and breaks down the impact of each item.  You can even run simulators on what taking out new credit will do.

Having only moved to the US in 2009 - my biggest challenge was length of credit history.  While I can't change this item, I didn't realize that by having only 8 credit accounts that it was hurting my score.

Anyway, combined with Mint.com, I can stare at 2 numbers and have access to a wealth of information about my personal finances.

3.  23andMe.com (Cost: $199)

                                                                           Image from Google

Switching gears from financial to health.  As a futurist, I used to speak with such awe and inspiration as they mapped the human genome.  I originally had my DNA mapped when it was $400 and I thought it was a steal.

23andMe was started by Anne Wojcicki, the (separated) wife of Google founder Sergey Brin, and looks to cure disease by solving the age-old nature vs. nurture conundrum. I joke with people that 23andMe gives me a stack-ranked list of the 600 ways I am going to die.  

Knowing what diseases that are built into my lineage does 2 things for me:  

- drives me to better understand the disease, follow the latest medical science surrounding it and take precautions against it

- live everyday to the fullest

By the way, both of my grandfathers died at the age of 64 and 2 out of my top 5 propensity areas that 23andMe highlighted are the diseases that caused their deaths.  This is powerful stuff.

The software also has 3 other neat areas:  

a) A list of interesting personal things ranging from what type of ear wax to the muscle twitch determining speed.  My DNA predicted that was in the top percentile for fast muscle twitch and that I likely won the 100 meter in grade school - which is correct.

b) Genealogy on steroids.  Your DNA is tracked back thousands of years and you can see if you are related to royalty back in the day.  The most interesting thing is seeing where your mother and fathers lineage was 500 years ago (before mass travel).  Mine was 100% correct - Inverness, Scotland and Nottinghamshire, England.  Yes, I am the direct descendant of Robin Hood and the Loch Ness monster.

c) Social network of your family based on DNA.  I have openly accepted all "friend" requests of those people who are related to me.  This covers all regions of the world and I literally have hundreds of 10th, 11th and 12th cousins who are sitting on the same genetics that I am.  Fascinating.

4.  Amazon.com (Cost: $99 for Prime)

Many people know this one but it is worth repeating.  

I will not buy ANYTHING anymore without checking Amazon first and then eBay second.

With Prime you get free 2 day shipping on virtually everything and the savings are usually in the 30-40% range from normal retail.  With the mobile app I also buy things in real-time.  

In the garage and need a tool?  Buy and ship from phone.

In a store?  Use the built-in barcode reader and do a price check.

Need a small item for the kitchen?  Instead of trying to remember or adding to shopping list, just buy on the spot.

5.  YouTube.com (Cost: Free)

YouTube serves 2 purposes for me:

a) The new "mix" tape.  Find music you love and add to playlists.  You can play from your phone or a computer hooked up to your TV.

b) Mr. Fix-it.  This is the main reason for YouTube for me.  I was able to follow step by step with an amateur video and tear down my dryer and replace a faulty part for $40.  This saved about $300 in labor and I saved over a hundred on the part (eBay).  I have replaced several things on my Mercedes ML430 SUV (second worst vehicle all-time for reliability behind the Ford Focus) by following videos and buying parts on Amazon or eBay.  I even trust myself to change the oil in my Porsche 911 by buying the right parts from Amazon and following along.

All of the service repair industries will be in serious peril as younger generations start to turn to DIY - even for tasks that were once thought untouchable. 

____________________________________________________

I will write another blog on business hacks - things like Wordpress, Act-on, Manageflitter, Google Analytics and Google Apps that make life so much easier.

How Disruptive Technologies Drive Innovation in the Channel

A look at disruptive technologies such as the internet of things, pervasive computing, consumerization, connected advertising and marketing, smart factories, intelligent traffic management, parking space management, waste management systems, smart electricity grids, smart water systems and smart warehouses will drive future profit and innovation for the technology channel.

The latest numbers on BYOD, BYOA and 7 futurist predictions on what the next 10 years will bring for the IT industry.

How Disruptive Technologies Drive Innovation in the Channel from Jay McBain

8 Future Technology Trends in the OR

How hands-free AV control will revolutionize medicine and improve patient outcomes.

The “internet of things” is a fascinating way to envision the future.  We are in the middle of witnessing a significant change in computing where every electronic device is becoming internet aware.  Having dozens of sensors and devices around our homes, cars and work are driving endless amounts of data and inspiring a new generation of innovators.

While the development of new smartphone and tablet technology commands a lot of attention, behind the scenes we are seeing things like internet enabled toothbrushes and basketballs test the limits on how much extra value-add we need in our lives.

It is no secret that consumerization is driving technology into the workplace at an unprecedented pace.  In the healthcare industry you don’t have to look much further than CES (Consumer Electronics Show) to get a sense where things are headed.

Looking specifically at the OR environment, it is interesting to look at how wireless AV systems and gesture-controlled technologies will revolutionize medicine and improve patient outcomes. Surgeons will be able to view images and other content as well as seamlessly communicate in real-time with experts around the globe.

Here are 8 trends growing rapidly in the consumer space and I predict will find their way into the OR in the next few years:

1. Surface computing – Integrating new technology into the OR can be a challenge for integrators.  The lack of space, flexibility and power make this a unique environment.  Surface computing takes advantage of super thin, strong and bendable glass and will replace walls, counters and even floors with viewable touch screens to interact with content.

2. Wearable computing – If having a computer on every surface isn’t enough, having technology woven directly into clothing and shoes can provide an even more intimate way to communicate and access information.  This moves with the medical personnel and allows a more fluid interaction with technology.

3. Google Glasses – A technology that will reach the consumer market in late 2013 will have an almost immediate impact in healthcare.  Almost in the same way that iPads proliferated healthcare, I predict that transparent wearable glasses will provide surgeons with the latest research, techniques, and imagery in real-time.  The ability to video tape and narrate from the eyes of the doctor and share seamlessly will revolutionize education and training.

4. Motion – With sensors built into clothing, surgical equipment and even the patient, new levels of insight into specific procedures and outcomes can be analyzed.  Best practices may be multidimensional in the future – going far beyond text books and lectures.  This also introduces the possibility of robotics – but that is too far out in time for this article.

5. Voice – A key technology in a hands-free environment is voice.  With improvements in natural speech recognition, as well as expanding languages and accents, the OR will become an environment that can adapt quickly to different scenarios.

6. Gesture – The OR is an environment where gestures play a huge roll.  Much of the communication between the medical team is of a non-verbal nature.  Technology has improved significantly in recent years understanding hand, body and eye movements.  Having sensors that are built into surgical devices and monitoring equipment that better understand verbal and non-verbal communication will improve automation in the OR.

7. Eye movement – It is rumored that eye tracking technology will be introduced in mid-March into the bestselling smartphone in the world.  Augmenting voice and gesture recognition, eye tracking technology can drive new levels of sophistication – even in the most focused, hands-on moments of a surgery.

8. Location tracking – Similar to how GPS technology works outdoors, indoor location tracking can be used in a number of ways in the OR.  Understanding who is in the OR and when will ensure that accurate scheduling is achieved, improving patient safety. 

Integrating these technologies in a safe, secure and frictionless way will provide levels of automation and measurement never before achieved.  Studying OR outcomes, combined with “big data” analytics enabled by these hands-free innovations, will make today’s healthcare professionals better and will revolutionize medical school going forward.

In the end, patient safety and improved outcomes are the primary objective. Several of these technologies are likely to make a remarkable difference in the efficiency and effectiveness of the OR in the next few years.

Future is about context not content

The future is about "context" not content - think sensors, wearable computing, big databases, social network behavior, motion and as the real-estate industry would say, location-location-location.

Get a sneak peak into the near future by the very people that are creating it:

http://scobleizer.com/2012/12/17/the-contextual-and-exponential-future-of-facebook/

Replacing Drywall with Knowledge

The latest innovation in healthcare involves the use of walls and surfaces as computing devices.  It is a natural extension to a digital signage solution and improves communication while contributing to safer patient outcomes.  Located in a number of different healthcare facilities including hospital operating rooms, education centers and research labs.

Walls of Knowledge provide Integrators excellent opportunity around the consulting, design, hardware sales and installation, software integration as well as ongoing maintenance and professional services.  These are unique and highly customized solutions that automatically gather critical information from diverse systems, synchronize it with people and processes, and present it on rich displays.

The integrated displays have a measurable impact on the work of operating room teams and medical education professionals.  Pilots are currently underway across the world with numerous case studies available from the likes of Columbia University Medical Center, Weill Cornell Medical Center and Saint Luke’s Healthcare in Kansas City.

A major benefit to a Wall of Knowledge is Telementoring.  Medical specialists are sharing knowledge with one another across the world through virtual tools. With advanced audio, video and IT capabilities, the operating room has become a virtual classroom.  Additionally, with permission and web access, viewers not only see and hear a surgeon at work, but also observe the operation in context.

Remote viewers see all information on the patient and procedure as it appears on a dashboard during surgery. Other information, such as PACS, pathology specimens, and lab reports, are also on display for the remote viewer.

How to sell a Wall of Knowledge

The solution drives better outcomes by integrating information from critical clinical processes in the operating room, enhancing overall workflow, while focusing on patient-centered care.  It provides the surgical team with a complete picture of what’s going on in the operating room precisely as its happening.  Among the innovations involved, it automates the “safe surgery checklists” prescribed by the World Health Organization, the Joint Commission, and other groups.

Most software solutions are structured in a dashboard format, helping to reduce surgical errors and complications by helping team members to document compliance with protocols, and confirming the correct patient, procedure and site prior to surgery.  The Wall of Knowledge will ensure pre-procedure verifications are documented and the Time Out checklist is completed.

Other benefits of this solution include improving awareness and communication in the operating room, increasing the safety of medications, and reducing the risk of infections.  By facilitating teamwork among caregivers, it ensures that information is managed in real-time, properly handed off and staff is accounted for as they enter and leave the environment.

Designing the Solution

The technology must be central to the action, accessible, but not intrusive to the high-paced environment.   The user experience must be focused on ease of use, while acknowledging that healthcare professionals using the system will range from early adopters to laggards.  The audio visual system will need to support modern healthcare facilities and be compliant for this ecosystem.  Operating rooms vary considerably from facility to facility.  An Integrator will be able to assess the environment and recommend the best solution.

Quality of the AV hardware is very important for displaying surgical and endoscopic video, pathology specimen, PACS, and other images as well as providing telecommunication links between the operating room and other areas.  The Wall of Knowledge should support one-touch control for managing monitors, lighting, cameras, temperature, and other environmental settings as well.

Increasing the efficiency of your healthcare customer will yield more profitable reimbursements and lead to higher patient and staff satisfaction. 

Walls of Knowledge are a true win-win for the Integrator and healthcare decision maker.  The complexity of the solution, combined with the level of design, consulting and integration will drive projects that are longer term, revenue intensive and highly profitable.

Why Mobility Could One Day Save Your Life (and Business)

By: Jay McBain

One of the most exciting areas in healthcare is the emergence of new telemedicine technologies.  The use of long-distance video and data hookups linking remote community hospitals with specialists in large centers is saving lives.  In fact, recent studies have shown that telemedicine can provide the same level of care as having everyone in the same room.

New technologies are being introduced that are significantly improving the quantity and quality of patient outcomes.  Adding to this, a new level of specialization is emerging, allowing a much broader application of these technologies:

Telecardiology                                  Telepsychiatry                                Teleradiology

Telepathology                                   Teledermatology                             Teledentistry

Telesurgery                                       Teletrauma                                     Telerehabilitation

Telepharmacy                                   Telenursing                                     Telestroke

Here are some key trends driving new possibilities and challenges in remote healthcare:

Mobility – We are currently experiencing the first phase of pervasive computing, where billions of people will be leveraging trillions of devices and sensors.  The surge of smartphones and tablets, combined with the saturation of laptops, is driving a global phenomenon where society is connected all the time, regardless of location.  Thousands of new mobility products are emerging such as the connected automobile, refrigerators, glass surfaces right down to WiFi enabled toothbrushes.  Hundreds of WiFi enabled medical device categories have also emerged from simple weight scales, blood pressure monitors to more complex remote diagnostic equipment.

Ubiquitous Connectivity – One of the main limitations of early telemedicine solutions was the cost/complexity of obtaining quality bandwidth.  According to the World Bank, over 75% of the world’s population now has access to cell phones with over 6 billion devices now in use.  These cell networks are steadily improving and the majority of them now support seamless video across broadband level speeds.

Cloud Computing – The transition of key healthcare applications into the cloud has been growing steadily over the past few years.  It got a relatively slow start due to factors such as country specific regulations, fears of patient record security as well as industry demographics.  Applications are becoming smarter as more critical information is shared and more accessible as mobility and connectivity are driving more use cases.

Demographics – Doctors entering the system now, the so-called “millennials”, were born into the PC generation and have likely carried a mobile phone for over half their lives.  In fact, a recent study reported 70% of younger doctors report they use their smartphone clinically.  Healthcare will continue the virtual trend as baby boomer doctors retire and new generations of technology inclined doctors take their place. 

Consumerization – With the growth of consumer devices for self-diagnosis and treatment, combined with the proliferation of personal social networks, a number of potential pitfalls could arise in delivering telemedicine.  Imagine diagnosing a patient in 140 characters over Twitter or an impromptu Skype session dealing with sensitive medical issues.  While this may seem insecure and ineffective, consumer behavior may demand the health industry explore these mediums.

At the speed these new technologies are driving telemedicine, there remains significant barriers to adoption in emergency and critical care units. One major barrier is the regulatory challenges related to the difficulty and cost of obtaining licensure across multiple states, malpractice protection and privileges at multiple facilities. 

Another barrier is the lack of acceptance and reimbursement by government payers and some commercial insurance carriers creating a major financial barrier, which places the investment burden squarely upon the hospital or healthcare system.  Finally, cultural barriers exist driving a lack of desire of some doctors to adapt clinical paradigms for telemedicine applications.

How do Technology Providers take advantage of these trends?

The future of healthcare will be very personal and in real-time.  Facilities will need to be connected with the latest video, audio and networking technologies to enable specialists to connect with their patients immediately and deliver the quality necessary to improve outcomes. 

Health professionals will need to be armed with these tools regardless of their location.  Telemedicine will evolve from point to point connections across facilities to person to person across pervasive devices.  The doctor may be in his car while the patient could be out in the middle of a farm field – with other specialists and local emergency response teams all listening in.

The opportunities around consulting, integration, technology deployment, remote management, industry compliance management and service will grow significantly over the next 5 years.  Understanding industry and technology trends and being able to deliver the services, hardware and software to enable specialized solutions will be the key.

Will HDBaseT Replace HDMI in Healthcare?

HDBaseT is poised to replace HDMI as the new A/V/control standard in clinics, hospitals and other healthcare environments.

HDBaseT technology runs over standard Cat5e/6 cable and implements something it calls 5Play, a feature-set that converges full uncompressed HD video, audio, 100BaseT Ethernet, and various control signals. Perhaps the most compelling difference is that it transmits up to 100W of power - enough to drive a 37-inch TV. The inclusion of power within the feature set is particularly applicable to the healthcare market where installers are often burdened by the requirement for proximity to an outlet.

Another benefit is that it can extend up to 100 meters passively. HDBaseT has the bandwidth to support the highest video resolutions such as full HD 1080p as well as 3D and 2Kx4K formats. It is promising to be the first to provide all-in-one connectivity, making it possible for a single-connector TV to receive power, video/audio, internet, and control signals from the same cable.

Without jumping into too much of a technical discussion, HDBaseT is able to send much more information than HDMI over a set of 8 wires within a standard Cat5e or Cat6 cable because it uses much lower frequency modulated packets. These are not IP packets like you find in Ethernet and are not subjected to typical electromagnetic interference. Thus, the cables can run alongside medical devices and other infrastructure and not suffer signal degradation.

5Play – The future of networking in healthcare?

HDBaseT's protocol allows you to network your displays and other sources, similar to a home data network. The HDBaseT Alliance organization calls this 5Play and they demonstrated healthcare specific applications at the HIMSS (Healthcare Information & Management Systems) conference in February.  Future capabilities include diagnostic and testing machines, creating a new method of testing patients where the technician doesn't have to be in the same room.  This could be a breakthrough in healthcare and increase the efficiency and safety of medical professionals.

HDBaseT healthcare use cases could include display installations in patient rooms, lobbies, triage, waiting areas and more. HDBaseT can also link medical imaging devices such as CT and X-ray scanners to remote monitors, reducing technicians’ exposure to radiation.

The AV industry has become weary of new standards, many of them never hitting the market. HDBaseT took special precautions by founding the group with heavyweights like LG, Samsung, Valens Semiconductor and Sony Pictures and waited to announce and promote the new standard until after the HDBaseT 1.0 specification was finished. Work is already underway on 2.0, but 1.0 is announced and available with products supporting it out of the gate.

HDBaseT does bring a true standard - a unified and simplified protocol - to the market, not just a new cable.

What's Next?

Today, there is a growing abundance of content in the healthcare facility, including video, images and data. As HDTVs and other devices proliferate throughout the industry, the amount of content, and the ability to move it around the facility, becomes more complicated for integrators. The next stage in networking is the ability to control and distribute this content securely and be able to manage it effectively.

HDBaseT does have some weaknesses and needs to planned and managed carefully. Since HDBaseT is IP-based and carries a lot of data intensive information, it can easily overrun network traffic. It is important to isolate the data stream from the video stream which may mean running a local network for AV signals with a bridge to a data network for control and management. Expect commercial level products to come to market that have separate ports for signal transport and data/control transport.  Length of cable is still important for image quality and some legacy clinics and hospitals have challenging cabling environments.

Given the pros and cons, HDBaseT technology is well-positioned to offer a simple solution to meet the healthcare industry’s growing needs and will likely be an important consideration in the years to come.

The Future of Healthcare Runs on an iPad

The iPad has taken the healthcare industry by storm. In only 20 months since its launch, it has spread virally throughout clinics and hospitals in the US as well as around the world.








In fact, Tim Cook, the new CEO of Apple recently stated “over 80 percent of the top hospitals in the US are now testing or piloting iPad.” Other studies have shown that over a third of US doctors have fully implemented the iPad with another third are very close behind. These are impressive numbers for an industry known to be a laggard when it comes to technology.






With over 300 EMR companies scrambling to build mobile versions of their software as well as stimulus from governments around the world, this trend will undoubtedly continue. In the US, a free EMR app (native to the iPad) was recently certified for “Meaningful Use” allowing doctors who store and track patient data access to $44,000 in federal incentives.






EMR adoption still faces numerous challenges around the world including patient privacy, data security, resistance to change as well as cost of initial conversion of records. Recent versions of the iPad have delivered improved security such as more robust password handling and remote wipe. This has allowed Integrators to support the device in full HIPAA and HITECH compliant projects.






Experts are recommending an optimal security solution that is server based architecture with the iPad as a dumb terminal. Ensuring that the wireless access is securely encrypted and protected and patient records do not reside anywhere but on the server. Over time this will transition to the cloud, but major organizations are still building back-office infrastructure for compliance purposes.








iPads are also being used in other creative places in healthcare. For patients, they can act as a source of entertainment or distraction, providing a way for those who are bed-bound to browse the web, engage in social media, play games or watch a movie comfortably and privately. Doctors can use them to consult more easily while out of office as patient records are more convenient and accessible. Doctors are also using them as bedside education tools as well as registration and self-triage.






Integrators in the AV industry already have numerous solutions built on the iPad and these can now be ported into the healthcare industry. With over a million of these devices in healthcare organizations already, now is the time to deploy solutions that can make patient care more effective and productive.






Popular solutions include panels in the clinic room (projecting from the iPad) to self-service kiosks for registration and self-triage. The opportunities are endless for driving better patient outcomes as well as lowering the cost of providing healthcare. There is now a dedicated healthcare App store on iTunes that is quietly attracting thousands of developers.






Another trend following iPad adoption in healthcare is the increased use of smartphones. A recent study looking at doctors and residents found that 85% owned a smartphone and 56% of them reported using it in clinical practice. Age played a major factor with 70% of residents using their smartphone clinically, while only 39% of doctors practicing for more than 15 years reported the same.






For both iPads and smartphones, there is a significant difference between healthcare specialties. For example, only 52% of younger surgeons reported using their smartphone clinically, despite an ownership rate of 98%.






Integrators in the healthcare industry can expect the trend of consumerization to accelerate into the future. Healthcare professionals will continue to demand greater levels of integration with all of the technology in the environment, from medical devices and equipment, printers, scanners, computers and AV equipment.






This is an opportunity for Integrators to drive solutions that include a unique packaging of hardware, software and services.

Bring Your Own Device & Apps: The Consumerization of Healthcare Is Happening Now

If you haven’t been following the debate on BYOD – Bring Your Own Device – you soon will.  The debate was fueled by the rapid and surprising success of $300 Netbooks four years ago. IT providers as well as AV integrators were successful, for the most part, in keeping those consumer devices off the corporate network due to lack of security, manageability and weak horsepower.

Fast forward four years and the healthcare environment is changing significantly. Connectivity is moving towards ubiquity, the cloud business model is real and the tablet was released in 2009 that forever changed the hardware landscape.

The tablet market is growing at a dizzying pace. Gartner is calling for 294 million units worldwide within four years, while Forrester is expecting 82 Million of them in the U.S. alone by 2015.  Apple commands almost 90% share, but more than 125 other tablets have come to market by mid-2011.  In fact, recent studies have shown a quarter of all physicians in the US already using the iPad, with a commanding 79% preferring that over other tablet brands.

Some of the early limitations of tablets, like the Netbooks before them, included lack of security, manageability and compatibility.  Newer devices have improved and now offer PKI authentication certificates, biometrics and remote wipe capabilities making them acceptable to many health organizations.  One lesser known limitation is if the device is subject to a legal hold – the health organization is in a legal dispute of some kind – the end user will lose the device for an extended and unpredictable amount of time.

The story isn’t just about integrating and managing secondary and tertiary devices from the consumer market.  Industry experts as well as futurists are calling for more devices, perhaps dozens per individual, gaining access to each medical office.

What is BYOA?

The consumerization of IT isn’t just about hardware – we are at the beginning of another interesting trend:  BYOA – Bring Your Own App.  Some have predicted that the explosion of over 1 million apps may spell the end of the traditional desktop internet.  While that is likely premature, apps could provide some real advantages in the healthcare industry including cutting down on training time, allowing health professionals to feel more invested, and replacing costly software licensing with cheaper apps.

However, there are several issues with BOA including:

• ·         Compliance and regulations with regards to HIPAA, HITECH and others
• ·         Security of the data on public clouds and intermixing with consumer data
• ·         Portability of the output – getting the data back if something happens to company
• ·         Information fragmentation – decentralized data across hundreds of data centers and apps

We are already seeing examples where corporate communication has been fragmented into public clouds including personal email, LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+, Twitter, and a growing number of other social media tools.  As other app categories get more popular, such as practice management, human resources and expense reporting, integrators and IT personnel will be challenged with supporting this rapidly growing ecosystem.

It is an opportunity

IT and AV professionals will be crucial in managing this complexity of dozens of devices and perhaps hundreds of apps per person.  The necessity to collect and securely display the output of these applications pervasively throughout the health environment will be critical.  New services and practices will evolve that focus on enhanced security layers, compliance, data organization, data protection and vendor management in this increasingly fragmented world.  New revenue models will also evolve including micropayments by device and app – in many cases, pennies per month per individual.

To be effective in managing this potential chaos and, more importantly, profiting from it, integrators will need to have built a solid business foundation with predictable and repeatable business workflows.  Without “off the shelf” solutions, the level of complexity as well as the new micro-financial model could add significant risk.

The Future: A world with 100,000 Channel vendors?

Jay McBain, Senior Vice President, Autotask Corporation

What does a Channel look like that has 100,000 vendors? With all of the talk about mergers, acquisitions and disruptive cloud business models, the pundits have predicted a consolidation in IT vendors over the next couple of years.

I strongly believe the opposite will happen.

Here are 8 reasons why:

1. The barrier to entry is approaching zero. Ubiquitous connectivity driving thousands of inexpensive purpose-built devices supports a cloud environment where traditional research, development, manufacturing and distribution costs evaporate. Highly specialized “apps” solve specific problems and grow organically through word of mouth and unique marketing techniques.

2. A “good enough” philosophy has driven the software industry for decades – this doesn’t improve in the cloud, but in fact gets worse as different business models emerge. Specializations by industry, technology, geography, language, demographics, business models and cost drive the amount of permutations and combinations up substantially.

3. The emergence of freemium price strategies and recurring micropayments attract a new generation of entrepreneurs who grew up in the iTunes generation. The Long Tail of vendors will continue to grow as new monetization scenarios evolve. In a world where the number of eyeballs rule, media and ad supported companies will flourish (check out Spiceworks)

4. Consumerization in the enterprise. Again, somewhat generational is the change of
perception of what makes up a commercial level product versus a consumer one. As a category commoditizes, the price drops dramatically and the device become disposable. The same can happen for software in the cloud, as prices reach zero the category becomes transient in nature.

5. Social media is driving the cost of marketing towards zero. One intelligent and savvy professional can appear like an army and participate in hundreds of conversations per day. While not the top influencer of behavior, social filters are quickly growing in importance in the business community and will take top spot within 3 years.

6. Communities and peer networks have grown in the past 2 years to become the top influencer of business customer buying behavior (Channel behavior as well). Participating in communities does not carry the cost of traditional Channel marketing, but again takes a small number of savvy, plugged in extroverts who appear larger than life.

7. Connectors rule. With thousands of vendors, the importance of social media and communities will continue to grow. When people experience information overload, the common reaction is to shut down and seek out personal filters – even if those filters come from your competitor. Connectors have an innate skill of piecing together a complex ecosystem and making the right social connections. They are usually not technical experts – but relationship experts.

8. With a growing number of communities spread across industry, technology, geography and business model, multiplied by the growing number of communication vehicles ranging from 140 character tweets to multi-day major events, Dandelion Marketing will win the day. Another example of a low cost marketing model, the marketer will pervasively engage in hundreds, if not thousands, of conversations every day. Adding value as opposed to selling, and making the right connections without regard to success or failure of each seed will make these marketers stand out on top.

Now, some of the proof points:

The predictions above are not based on fuzzy math or some level of quantum mechanics. They are simply an extension of trends that are already apparent.

The first example is on the technology vertical side – specifically, CRM. Salesforce.com broke this category wide open but quickly was challenged by over 1,000 competitors. Every single vendor in this space has built a differentiated value proposition, based on some of the things I mentioned above such as industry, product scope, price and customer business model as well as about a dozen more points of specialization.

CRM is the first of more than 40 technology categories that will reach multi-billion dollar status and thousands of competitors.

The second example is in the healthcare industry vertical. The buzz over the past few years has centered around Electronic Medical Records (EMR) and the stimulus funding in the United States. We quickly saw 300 viable EMR solutions surface in the US, with hundreds more coming to market each year that further specialize into the hundreds of niches in this highly regulated market.
EMR is only one category of medical software, with practice management and all of the specialized tools driving better patient outcomes. It is safe to say that there are thousands of vendors already in this industry and things really get interesting when you start to look at the other 26 major industries.

That is how we start to approach 100,000 Channel vendors – 40 technology verticals (and growing) as well as 27 industry specialties. This does not include language variations, government, or geographic specific applications as well as the consumerization of the workplace that will potentially include thousands of consumer applications being run alongside these business applications (read as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, etc.)

This inevitability leads to significant opportunity for the Channel. Beyond the obvious vendor management opportunities, the skills to navigate this vast marketplace and provide sage guidance to small and medium businesses will be a core competency in a world with 100,000 vendors.

The Future: Pervasive Computing in Healthcare

Jay McBain, Senior Vice President, Autotask Corporation

Much of the focus around the modernization of the healthcare facility has been around software, specifically the impact of Electronic Health Records, as well as government regulation, legislation, and stimulus funding. There is another trend that may have even a larger impact for Integrators and Solution Providers longer term: the explosion of internet-connected devices in delivering better healthcare outcomes.

Last year represented a tipping point for how technology will be used from a personal standpoint, in business, as well as governments and healthcare. The convergence of ubiquitous connectivity and cloud computing has one simple and very exciting output: the explosion of hardware gadgets we will use to access it anywhere and anytime.

On the hardware side, the following milestones have given strength to the pervasive computing argument:

1. The evolution of the cell phone into an all-in-one multimedia, gaming, social media, content and business access device.
2. The Netbook craze a few years ago, convincing millions of users that an inexpensive secondary or tertiary device is useful given the right environment.
3. The Tablet, namely the iPad, with sales of 15 million units over the first few months and projections of 50 million this year.

In the healthcare environment, whether at a hospital, clinic or home, almost every device that is plugged into electricity or running on battery power is now being offered (or being planned) with a WiFi option. It is becoming obvious that the health record will evolve to accept inputs beyond the keyboard.

Wikipedia currently defines 46 major categories for medical devices – and growing. In an average clinic, the examination room will likely have 20 devices interconnected to the personal health record within 5 years. From simple blood pressure units to complex anesthesia units, the amount of data collected will grow exponentially.

For the Integrator or Solution Provider, this presents both opportunities and challenges. As the amount of data grows, as will the requirement to monitor and share it both visually as well as auditorily. Even the smallest clinic will need audio/video installations in every room as well as the lobby for registration and self-triage. Making sure these 20 devices interoperate, are compliant with legislation such as HIPAA and HITECH, as well as secure and remotely manageable provide incredible new opportunity.

One of the challenges will be managing the consumerization of technology. With the growth of home healthcare, as well as rapidly shrinking barriers to entry, each device category may have dozens, if not hundreds, of choices for the doctor, administrator or consumer. Imagine the aisles at your local big box store being filled with these products, and much like the iPad, the technology will start to leak into the healthcare environment. Consumer technology rarely has the build quality, warranty, security and manageability of commercial grade technology and having it show up in a mission critical environment like a healthcare facility will likely result in unintended outcomes.

Convergence of technologies like mobility, connectivity, cloud and pervasive devices will drive significant opportunity for those Integrators or Solution Providers that figure out how to monetize it. The days of doing on premise network installs, supporting it through services or per device (or person) recurring revenue, and making margin on hardware and software will continue to decline over the next 10 years. In fact, the value is shifting to the front-end, where consulting, design, architecture, compliance and project management will provide the main source of income.

While the quantity of devices per customer will grow exponentially, the revenue opportunity per device will decline even more rapidly. In a pervasive world, the cost per devices shrinks to the point where extended warranty contracts or per device management becomes irrelevant. As more value is delivered through the cloud, the 20 devices, including audio/video, just become disposable conduits.

A final caution is that this is a gradual process. 20 medical devices in 5 years is the prediction, but the transformation of the healthcare industry itself is on a longer 10-15 year trajectory. Understanding these changes and how they apply to this industry is the first step. Next step, is a plan for your business to start capitalizing on the front end: your experience, guidance and industry thought leadership.