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.

ChannelEyes: Early ChannelEyes Signups Reveal Interesting Indus...

ChannelEyes: Early ChannelEyes Signups Reveal Interesting Indus...: Teaser website growing at a viral rate, revealing key Channel alliances ChannelEyes today announced new Industry Trending data from i...

Autotask takes the show on the road – Launches 15 city “On Tour” in September!

Jay McBain, Senior Vice President of Strategy and Community
July 26, 2011

One of the most common requests by the 700 attendees at Autotask Community Live! 2011 was to be able to engage Autotask more than once a year. Several people commented that they wished their entire staff was in Miami to learn more about the solution and interact with peers in the industry.

The feedback received in our post-event survey says it all:
• 97% plan to return to Autotask Community Live! 2012
• 92% will action a new feature in Autotask
• 85% willing to be a reference in the new Referral program (earning up to $1000 uncapped!)
• 90% interested in local User Groups

In the past, Autotask has embarked on several local events including sales road shows, product “jam sessions”, user groups and regional boot camps. We are now consolidating all four into a 15 city tour that includes business building keynotes, vendor integrations, customer best practices, product updates and roadmaps, user groups, as well as boot camps in 4 cities across the US.

The 15 cities on stage 1 of the tour are:

Cincinnati – Sept 13
*Indianapolis – Sept 20
Minneapolis – Sept 22
*NY/NJ – Oct 4
Tampa – Oct 6
Toronto – Oct 12
Washington, DC – Oct 13
Atlanta – Oct 18
Boston – Oct 20
Seattle – Nov 8
San Francisco – Nov 10
*LA/Orange County – Nov 15
Phoenix – Nov 17
Denver – Dec 6
*Dallas – Dec 8

*Boot camp locations (day before above dates)

We are looking to engage local Autotask users as well as those in the market for IT Business software (PSA – Professional Services Automation) in these regions. The agenda will be action packed and will be focused on sharing best practices from local Autotask MVP’s, technical specialists, as well as User Group leaders.

_________________________________________________________

Register now!

http://www.autotask.com/ontour
_________________________________________________________

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.

Growing Your Business - Autotask ChannelNext

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Growing Your Business - Autotask ChannelNext

View more presentations from Jay McBain.

Automating Your IT Business Using Autotask

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Automating Your IT Business Using Autotask

View more presentations from Jay McBain.

Autotask CommunITy 2.0
Jay McBain, Senior Vice President, Autotask

After 90 days at Autotask, I am more excited than ever about the future of the company. Last month, the 10 year anniversary was celebrated and several significant milestones were honored:

- One of the first hosted, SaaS companies in the IT industry
- Over 4,000 customers, 40,000 users and over one million end points
- Clients in 42 countries, with 99.995% uptime
- Over 200 employees, covering 4 locations worldwide, including US, Europe, Beijing and India
- Hundreds of industry awards – perhaps most special is the 7 consecutive “Best places to work” by the Business Review

The question invariably becomes: What’s next?

Without giving up too much of the surprise from Autotask CommunITy Live in May, I wanted to give our community some highlights of where we are heading. It is no secret that Autotask has a very vibrant and active user base that is evident in these online forums. Participation in User Groups, Jam Sessions, and the Rock Star program continue to grow as well.

One trend that is evident as we progress through 2011 is the proliferation of communication vehicles. You are probably noticing that the ways your friends, family, vendors, and customers can reach you is growing exponentially. The traditional phone and email standards are now expanding to include text messaging, social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin, blogs, webinars, podcasts, vodcasts, etc. In fact, there are over 30 communication vehicles that you may need to absorb.

Autotask is hard at work to simplify and customize its communication vehicles for you. Feedback has been loud and clear that you want relevant information delivered in an organized way. For example, if you prefer webinars as an information source, we will give you a schedule of upcoming events and allow you to choose different paths such as technical, business building, and business growth opportunities.

A second trend is the expansion of communities within our ecosystem. There are over 30 macro and hundreds of micro communities in our industry. Whether your specialty is virtualization or Electronic Medical Records, VoIP or small banking, Managed Services or education reform, there are associations, affiliations and peer networks meeting nationally, locally or virtually.

While Autotask can’t participate in all of them simultaneously, we are looking to add value where it makes sense. As a foundational toolset within your business, Autotask should look to partner or integrate with the key vendors and networks that you do business in. Thus, you will see a growth in our participation across this ecosystem, contributing and providing leadership to the conversation.

Finally, Autotask will look to be more visible in our own CommunITy. The best feedback we receive is directly from you. Our communication of product roadmaps, new features and functions, as well as integrations with the industry will be our core priority.
Please feel free to reach out to me personally, I look forward to being a part of your CommunITy.

Jay McBain

Work: 518-720-3500 x1363
Cell: 919-597-1945

jmcbain at autotask dot com

Or reach out socially:
http://www.facebook.com/jaymcbain
http://www.linkedin.com/in/jaymcbain
http://jaymcbain.blogspot.com
http://twitter.com/jmcbain
http://www.foursquare.com/jmcbain

Billion dollar ideas - 5 of them - Here is number 2

As a futurist, some trends are shaping that will create the next generation of powerful companies, and powerful people - the next billionaires.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elqpZcykCnM

Billion dollar ideas - 5 of them - Here is number 1

As a futurist, some trends are shaping that will create the next generation of powerful companies, and powerful people - the next billionaires.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0z5KLzwXsE

Future: Pervasive Computing - 20 Computers You Will Own in 5 Years

A keynote given on future technologies as well as 5 "billion dollar" ideas for entrepreneurs that are ready for prime time. Also, a future look at smart devices that will make up the fabric of everyday communication and social connections.

Future: Pervasive Computing - 20 Computers You Will Own in 5 Years

View more presentations from Jay McBain.

Autotask Webinar - Growing your business in 2011 - Jay McBain

How to plan and execute a growth strategy for your IT business. Exploration of product and industry verticals with specific tips and tactics on making it happen!

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Autotask Webinar - Growing your business in 2011 - Jay McBain - Jan 2011

View more presentations from Jay McBain.

OS/2 Reborn: The Future of Business in the Cloud

Jay McBain, Senior Vice President, Autotask Corporation

First off, to those of you born after 1980, I apologize for the cryptic reference in the title – here is a primer: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Os/2

For the rest of us, a question:

“Beyond the hype and near-religious arguments, what was the one key differentiating feature that OS/2 had that Windows 3.1 did not have back in the day”?

Answer: Multi-threading (as opposed to multi-tasking)

The future of business and communication is rapidly changing with the explosion of devices that are ubiquitously connected within a vast cloud ecosystem. One way to study it is through the lens of a near-infinite number of “threads”.

Looking back is a useful tool in allowing us to visualize the future. From rudimentary language to pictograms, Gutenberg’s printing press, controlled waves and then electronic signals, communication has evolved from one to one, one to many and finally one to potentially all. With some social media vehicles being recorded (for all of eternity) in places like the US Library of Congress, the ability for communication to succeed (from successful transmission to receipt) may span seconds right up to centuries.

Ok, enough preamble. How does this affect business?

Business today works in a series of communication tasks. Better known as meetings, projects, voicemails, to-dos, emails, etc., we are conditioned to move through an increasing number of tasks in a standard work-day. As corporations started to right-size in the 1980’s and 90’s, the remaining employees were required to wear several hats and divide their day into what seemed like an endless amount of additional tasks. Those that could not “multi-task” effectively were outsiders in this environment and their productivity actually declined – as did their job prospects.

What we are witnessing today is the number of tasks are again rising – this time exponentially. The difference is that the tasks look more like micro-tasks – or “threads”. You could argue that social media has kicked off this phase, with 140 character tweets, text messages as well as a plethora of social status updates.

The wiring of a multi-tasker is subtly different than that of a multi-threader. We marvel at children today who can be doing homework while playing a video game, texting their friends, checking Facebook, listening to an iPod, chewing gum and curling their hair. We may think it is inefficient, and they are not producing results, but consider:

- Do you need to have status meetings with your colleagues when you are in constant threaded communication?
- The rigid milestones and dependencies in a project Gantt chart soften when communication is no longer a scarcity
- The inefficiency of formal written letters was replaced by email, which is now being replaced (rightly or wrongly) by poorly spelled and grammatically questionable threaded communication.

I know my current workday now involves a mix of business and personal, through about a dozen different threaded communication vehicles. It is very difficult to mix the threaded and tasked world as they are somewhat incompatible. For example, you go heads down on a task such as a 2 hour meeting, effectively disconnecting you from threads during that time. It is sometimes difficult to re-enter the conversation as you find yourself catching up.

How does this look 5 years from now?

First of all, email will be a relic. Not completely dead, but one of about 100 ways to communicate. Receiving an email will be the equivalent of getting a formal letter in the mail today.

I believe the next technology billionaire will be the person who figures out a simple cloud based hub of all communication.

Here are the attributes:

- End point agnostic. Communication will not be limited to the device you are using. We will each own dozens of connected devices optimized by where you are – in your office, car, bed, boat, or mountain bike, it doesn’t matter.
- Communication customized for your environment. Your devices will have motion detectors, GPS, and cameras to detect how best to deliver content to you. No more texting behind the wheel or dropping your expensive smart phone over the side of the boat.
- The permutations and combinations of how communication is transmitted and received will reach almost infinite levels. For example, a Facebook chat converts to audio and is played through your car radio as that is the best way to manage threads while driving. Your voice response then gets automatically converted to text and shows up back in the Facebook chat window. Neither party is the wiser.
- Finally, a form of “personal controls” will rise in importance. No longer will you have “friends”, but an expertly segmented group of people having specific tiered access to you. Sure, your parents may get 24/7, your friends perhaps till 2AM on a weekend, but colleagues may get cut off at 5pm, depending on your work-life balance.

This communication hub will manage the entire multitude of sources (likely old school sources such as letter mail and faxes as well) and combine that with location aware technology and effective controls to produce the soundtrack of threads in your business and personal life.

Much like OS/2 when it was developed in the 1980’s, your brain works in threads as well. Some autonomic, some not. Managing the next generation of worker in this threaded world is already challenging for many managers – and it will get significantly more challenging as devices, connectivity options and cloud applications continue to multiply.

Not sure I have the answers...but I will forecast that OS/2 will not make a comeback (contrary to the many vocal groups worldwide who are pushing for its code to go open source), as well as forecast that adapting to this new threaded world will take more than 140 characters of education and training!

Jay's Poetry circa 1991

As I look out the window
I see a tree
a complex tree
a simple tree
I see me

The young immature trunk
so straight and sheltered from the outside world
it finally meets branches
after it's seeming eternity

Choices. So many roads to take
why are there so many dead ends?
The exposure to the outside world
kills some leaves. Harsh

The design is so complex
too complex?

The leaves on the top
look down upon the magic, the mystery
reconcile with a clear conscious

That tree is so mysterious
that tree is so clear
that tree is so me

Final Lenovo Blog

Jay McBain
Former Director of Small and Medium Business






After 16 years, 5 locations, and about 12 different jobs, I bid farewell to Lenovo and IBM.






The company has been growing at a considerable pace over the past few years and is now within striking distance of number 2 in world-wide PC market share. Leaving the many friends I have made over the years will definitely be the hardest part.

Why the change?


I have been extremely fortunate to be a futurist during my years at the company. My first future keynote was to a group of students in 1995 and by the following year I was on cable TV talking about things like teleportation, human-centric computing, artificial intelligence and pervasive computing.

It was pervasive computing that became my specialty over the years – with over 100 speeches, blogs and magazine articles on the subject. The basic premise was that we would have dozens (if not hundreds) of internet enabled devices that were purpose built and worked together seamlessly in our everyday lives.

The PC would still be an important “core” device used for content creation and computation intensive applications such as graphics and finance. In the 1990’s I envisioned it as a server that made these other devices work and stay synchronized.

A couple of major trends have surfaced in the past few years that will drive the next generation of computing and make this pervasive world a reality:

1. Fast and ubiquitous connectivity
2. Cloud computing (known in the past as network-centric, edge of network, etc)

Ten years ago, the Smartphone gave us the ability to consume content without the need for a computer. Two years ago, the Netbook, a $300 functional computer, made people comfortable with a “companion” device to a PC. In April of 2010, the slate tablet (Apple iPad) was announced and sold 3 million units in a matter of weeks.

With predictions of 50 million units next year, the slate market is very real and the era of pervasive computing will be realized (16 years later I might add!). Upon his exit a few months ago, Ray Ozzie wrote a critically important memo to all of Microsoft called “Dawn of a New Day” that pushed the company to think about the end of the PC era. It is a must read for anyone in this industry.

The IBM PC, which standardized and legitimized PC technology, turns 30 years old on August 12th of next year. The market for desktops and notebooks is still forecasted to grow for the next 3 years at a steady pace. I believe the market will further mature over the next 5 years and then start to recede.

The market for pervasive devices will grow exponentially for the foreseeable future.

The manufacturers of every device in your home and business that plug into electrical outlets (or get battery power) are thinking of new and innovative ways the devices may work once connected. This also goes for devices that aren’t even electronic yet!

A world full of interconnected sensors, devices that can predict, learn, combined with social network aware technologies will change the way people interact with the world around them. Every industry will be impacted including what I believe will be revolutionary change in Education and Healthcare.

I believe that history books will mark 2010 as the year the technology world shifted. The pervasive devices will be produced at a tireless pace. Most of these devices will invariably come from the consumer world and things like security of data will become the domain of the cloud and networking technologies. The devices will be relatively cheap (and disposable) and the management and durability will become less and less important.

While design will be a key decision criteria, the availability of “apps” will be the most important. This is why the IBM PC beat out competitors in the early days – not because it was better, but most of the applications were Intel/Microsoft focused. Any device that you consider buying for your home or business will need to connect to everything else, especially social networks which will continue to grow.


Lenovo will need to seriously look at this future scenario. It will take leadership around the globe to recognize these fundamental changes and execute. A transformation into a consumer electronics company delivering on this future will be required. Also, the legacy of “business class” will be important to deliver the right mix of devices that adhere to increased regulation and legislation apparent around the world.

I trust my former colleagues will make this happen. It is an extraordinary time of change and opportunity for Lenovo which has the talent, drive and resources to embrace it.

100 Country Rollerblades and Red Bull Tour

By Jay McBain


As I prepare for another trip halfway around the world in 4 days, I thought I would put some thoughts on (virtual) paper. This “tour” has started to attract some interest and I am approaching the 50 country halfway point.

By the way, in 4 days I will be hitting 7 countries in Southern Africa.

How did it begin?

Simple. Bucket List.

Yes, the 2007 movie, starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0825232/) was the inspiration. I, like I suspect many others, had a goal to visit much of the world but no real plan to do it. The gentle reminder that every day is precious and waiting till retirement age is risky:
- Potential for health issues
- Lack of energy
- Getting limited (and censored) through “tours”

“We live, we die, and the wheels on the bus go round and round.”

Why 100 Countries?

Again, simple. Round number.

Actually, it was a bit more complicated…I wanted it to be remarkable, challenging, but yet attainable. Knowing that dozens of countries are in perpetual war (civil or otherwise), and others were small islands spread around the world, I chose a round number representing half.

By the way, the United Nations recognizes 192 countries, and the US State Department recognizes 194. The debate over places like Vatican City, Kosovo, and Taiwan make the number go up or down but the general consensus is 195 countries in the world today (2010).


The Unofficial Rules of the Tour (#1 rule is that there are no rules):

1. 8 days per trip – not work related travel. Leave on a Friday, return on a Sunday – only miss one week of work each time.

2. Every June and December (try to catch summer wherever I go north or south)

3. Book flight three months ahead, use Google Maps to determine path and transportation type between countries, and start locking in details the week of the trip.

4. Process inside each major city is to park 10 miles outside of downtown and strap on Rollerblades (actually Mission inline skates to be exact) and skate up and down each street one by one. The skating is efficient and effective even in heavily crowded areas. I can travel about the speed of a bicycle meaning a good 4-5 hours will cover a large city and 30+ miles.

5. High degree of flexibility including sometimes driving at night, catching a nap in the car or staying in a luxury hotel – all somewhat random and in the moment.


How to choose Countries?

A few times I have literally spun a globe and booked a flight where my finger stopped (China). Sometimes it is educational and theme based (tracing back WWII from Auschwitz back to Berlin). Other times it is centered around major events (watching World Cup soccer from home countries of Argentina and Brazil) and then going to the actual site later (Johannesburg).

The randomness is what drives some of the fun.



When does the Red Bull kick in?

Most people know that I do not drink alcohol or coffee, or even that much Red Bull. Looking at some of the crazy itineraries (14 European or 7 African countries in only 8 days) the inside joke is that I live off of very little sleep and lots of toxic Red Bull!

I eat 100% local to the country I am in – usually off the beaten (tourist) path and likely in some back alley somewhere. I don’t speak any languages outside of English so it usually consists of a bunch of pointing and sheepish grins.


What is the Endgame?

The question I am asked most often is: How can you enjoy the travel and suck in local culture when you are dashing through countries almost daily?

Two answers:

1. Rollerblading means that I cover more of a city than most people who stay for days and stick with “Top 10” tourist sites

2. I am keeping a “best of” list and will go back after the tour (perhaps in retirement) and spend quality time in the chosen places.

At the current pace, I will likely be done 100 countries by the time I am 50 – leaving lots of time to go back and explore deeper.


What next?

Another bucket list item is to one day sail the blue ocean and perhaps approach these countries in a different fashion - as a mariner.

Till then, Rollerblades and Red Bull. Safe travels.

What comes after Facebook?

Jay McBain, Director, Small and Medium Business, Lenovo Americas
November 11, 2010

As I come back from another large Channel event filled with potential game-changing sessions on cloud, social media and next generation managed services, it got me thinking about the next wave.

What will the “hot” sessions look like in a few years?

A couple of things are certain – we live in a hype society where today’s game changers are increasingly perishable. The traditional business phases (start-up, growth, peak, trough and recovery) are still relevant; however the timeline is narrowing at a pace never before seen.





Fun facts:

- The top 10 in-demand jobs in 2010 did not exist in 2004
- Today’s college student will have 10-14 jobs, by the age of 38 (US Dept of Labor)
- 4 exabytes of unique data will be generated in 2010, more than all of human history combined- The amount of technical information is doubling every 2 years
- We marveled that the internet only took 4 years to reach “mass market”. Facebook took only 2 years, and future technologies will go viral in days, if not hours or minutes.


Here are the four “hot” sessions that I predict for 2013:

1. Re-tool your IT business with Foursquare – If you haven’t looked at location based services closely, you soon will. Internet 1.0 excelled in connecting the world with its breadth and depth. Because of that complexity spawned internet 2.0, which made it social and more accessible.

There is no way that one person can find, decipher and act on the data that exists today (and it is doubling every 2 years), therefore peer networks and communities of like-minded and like-challenged people have naturally connected.

Internet 3.0 will use GPS technology and further narrow the information overload by filtering location. Most of us recognize that our social networks have grown too large and the value of Facebook may have peaked due to the same information overload problem that ended internet 1.0. Local information, curated by trusted sources, will provide the filtering necessary to get the relevant answers to run your business.

What will internet 4.0 look like? Likely another set of filters applied to when location based social networking reaches its breaking point. It will be based on a new technology (probably not invented yet) that will give us the information we need, when we need it and connect us to the relevant people instantaneously.

2. “These kids today” – How to protect your business from a new generation of serial job hoppers. The old rules of HR have become stale and theories on incentives, behavior modification, and retention are dramatically changing. (check out stat above from US Dept of Labor)

With a myriad of sensors, self-reporting devices and location based services, the old time sheet exercise will become a thing of the past. Your staff may be social networked to their customers, carrying on a 24/7 relationship 140 characters at a time. Tracking this customer intimacy will be easy due to new features within your PSA software.

Each time an employee shows up at a client, Foursquare will log the visit. Deskside visits will be self-reported by the device they are working on. Interaction through text, Facebook, Twitter, email and VOIP phone will be captured and reported to the customer. Stickiness will naturally increase with intimacy.

3. Guns for Hire – the next generation of delivering services. The taxi cab is an unlikely metaphor for delivering technical services, however fits the future model. All taxis are not equal in terms of quality, safety, ethics, courtesy or even hygiene, but they all tend to get the job done – moving you from point A to point B. They are all licensed and hold at least a minimal threshold of training/certification from a central authority. Their main differentiator is location – the closest cab wins.

The future of managing technical resources will be similar. Holding base certification, specialties, and security bond (ie. CompTIA), these techs will be commoditized to the point where location is the most important determination of value.

Instead of managing these people directly, you will have access to a broad network of these “taxis” all coordinated through social networking tools and location based GPS technology. Costs go down in a recurring model, benefiting the client as well as the provider.

4. Productivity through enhanced reporting and micropayments. The analytical tools available will become more granular and robust with the combination of these new technologies. The recurring revenue model will evolve to where costs are reported at a micro-level. For example, cost per location check-in, cost per phone call or email, right down to cost per tweet of delivering service.

Understanding future models of brokering cloud solutions, delivering services and pricing models per client touch (vs. by unit or head) and executing within a complex web of interconnected community networks will be critical for business success in 2013 and beyond.

The speed, fluidity and predictability of service delivery will invariably set a new level of client expectations.

The good news for all of us, is that the future points to an increasingly important and essential role for the Channel to play in business. With technical information doubling every two years, regulation and legislation being created at an unprecedented pace in history, and digital convergence and connection across billions of people to trillions of devices, the Channel is poised to lead.

This is Not Your Father's Oldsmobile

Jay McBain
Director of Small and Medium Business,
Lenovo

I was surprised and somewhat perplexed when a member of the media said to me at a recent event: "This is not your father's Oldsmobile" when referring to the 5 year anniversary of Lenovo purchasing the IBM PC Company. It seems like every time I get perplexed I turn to my trusted Wikipedia to gain perspective and get the back story that I was missing.


Most people know that the saying was a marketing ploy by Oldsmobile in the late 1980s to change the perception that it was an old persons car. As Oldsmobile shut down operations in 2004, pundits would say the beginning of the end was that fateful marketing campaign which, in fact, cemented in people's minds that it was really an old brand.

When I used to ask people's perception of the IBM brand, I would get things like:

high quality
bullet-proof
boring
expensive

I polled Channel Partners recently (unscientifically) about Lenovo and I received:

high quality
aggressive
edgy
entrepreneurial
scrappy

Scrappy? Really?

I started to look back at the last 18 months and wonder how the perception could have changed. In large part, the company outside of China is still made up predominantly of ex-IBMers, the Think product line is still the mainstay, and the go-to-market strategy is relatively unchanged through the Corporate Channel.

I received an answer from a trusted colleague in the industry:

"Jay, the tone Lenovo has taken in the marketplace is completely different".

Tone? I thought it may have been the fact that we had just given away a Harley Davidson at a major event and I just rode it through the Hotel Conference Center (much to the chagrin of the San Antonio fire marshal who issued me a sternly written letter I might add!). But that wasn't entirely it.

So I looked back and tried to understand tone. What is it? How do you change it? What should your tone be to win in the Channel?

Here is what I came up with:

1. Be simple and consistent - not just saying it in keynotes, but mean it. We reduced 26 programs down to 6 last April and removed all artificial clip levels, tiering, and reporting requirements. This put a Channel partner selling one ThinkPad on the same playing field as someone selling 1,000. It also increased margin ability on PC products to another late 80's phenomenon - 20%!

2. Product portfolio - reducing complexity and ensuring better availability. Last April there was over 1,000 different part numbers available from Lenovo in Distribution - today there is under 150. By making focus models that adhere to the 80/20 rule, stocking was simplified, supply chain corrected itself creating pricing parity with market and we could place more bets. Another automobile industry learning is that the average Oldsmobile had hundreds of options to choose from creating buyer confusion and negative post purchase behavior. The typical Honda, in contrast, may have less than 10.

3. "Batting singles versus home-runs" - Community marketing. Part of our heritage (in marketing circles) was to aim for the fences - choose 2 or 3 big plays and knock it out of the park. The world has changed significantly for the Channel in the last few years with the explosion of vendors, programs and mountains of information. We were small and nimble enough to see the shift in information gathering and decision making to IT peer and community groups.

I wrote a previous lengthy blog on the subject, but joining over 30 communities in the last year (hitting singles) was a big contributor to 50% growth in revenue in SMB. In fact, there is a recent case study and SmartBrief that reviewed this in more detail.

4. Dandelion Marketing - spreading seeds in the Channel. One surprising result of joining 30 community groups was the number of outlets we were gaining to spread our message. There are 30 marketing vehicles ranging from a simple tweet to a massive event and everything in-between including webinars, bi-weekly emails, web portals, podcasts, vodcasts, virtual tradeshows, press, forums, etc. Creating and curating content for 30 communities and 30 marketing vehicles meant 900 stories we had to carry on every day. This explosion in content and delivery grew our message exponentially and ensured that we could communicate in the most preferred method of the specific audience member.

That's when it clicked for me. Once you get your house in order, being visible every day is the key that perhaps others are missing. You can always spend time behind the scenes trying to perfect product, price, sales coverage or operational metrics - but the real action is outside the firewall. Being authentic, well grounded in service and support, and having a world-class product are table stakes in this environment - having the personality, tone and added value communities are looking for is the real answer.

Oh yeah, being scrappy is important too.

My Al Gore moment…Why Facebook Stories will change everything

Jay McBain
July 24, 2010

First of all, I will not claim to have invented the internet.


What I will claim is that I had a future vision in the late 90’s about the internet growing into an accumulation of all of human knowledge and experience. I called it the “Hierarchy of Wisdom”. In fact, I published a list of rules about the concept which I will paste at the end of this blog post.

Many people heard the story from me back in those days…it went something like this:

“Imagine for a moment that aliens land on earth thousands of years from now. What they find is a post-apocalyptic waste land with scarce remnants of the advanced society which once inhabited it. As they begin their investigation they find evidence of major cities. As they start to dig, they find artifacts of a past civilization, the most important being books and computers.”

What would these aliens learn about us when they spin the hard drives?
I envisioned two massively converged sources of data that would make up the hierarchy of wisdom. First was a huge database capturing all of human knowledge. My description (at end of blog) ended up being 99% accurate to what Wikipedia has become 10 years later.

My struggle was that this database, much like encyclopedias in book form, would be very structured, logical and unemotional. I used the example of “horses” – from the history, physiology, contribution to society, sporting use and dozens of other topics, the data would be complete – but yet, only half the story.

How do you complete the story of horses, and truly show the human condition?

Stories.


If you read an emotional story about an 8 year old girl dying of leukemia and her lifelong dream was to ride a pony, would your perspective change on horses? What about the pioneers travelling west in the early 19th century and the reliance on horses pulling wagons and making it over dangerous mountains and terrain?

If you were to correlate the factual history of horses with stories that paint the human condition – you will have moved from knowledge to wisdom. If you successfully tie millions of other topics with the relevant stories, the breakthrough happens.

This week something remarkable happened. We just don’t know it yet.

When Facebook surpassed 500 million users it made a small side announcement that it
created a tool called “Facebook Stories”. With millions of people re-connecting, getting married, breaking up, notifying family members that they are alive after natural disasters, to committing crimes and taunting police, it is safe to say that Facebook has made a mark.

Although over 90 percent of the world population has never logged in, it still holds critical mass and is a statistically reliable representation for the “haves” of the planet.

Stories lead to biographies

Another concept I would explore with people ten years ago is the idea of how short life is. A simple question of how well you know your parents as compared to your grandparents or great-grandparents. Some people know more the others, but it is safe to say that familiarity usually ceases within only a few generations – perhaps 50 years. You may remember your great-grandparents names, where they lived and a couple of other stats, but other than some passed-down stories, you probably don’t know how they felt about things.

What if you could read a series of blogs, a diary, an auto-biography, or anything that would paint a picture of your great-grandparents? Of course, more than just reading, it would include audio, video, pictures and text. Now that we have mapped the human genome, this may complete the mystery. Perhaps some psychological things in your life could be explained if you understood your past – a great-great-aunt may have experienced the exact same scenario and you can relate.

This is what future generations can expect from us. This blog may be read by my great-great-great-etc grandchildren hundreds of years in the future. My Facebook story, combined with lifestreaming, blogs, tweets and even LinkedIn will be accessible for all time.

I believe this will be important – I just can’t imagine how or why yet.

Perhaps with my genetic makeup being what it is, I can understand my lineage much deeper and avoid mistakes that were made in the past. This could also lead to a better sense of self. Furthermore, what about a time when millions of these stories are accessible, searchable, even actionable?

This could be an evolutionary step.

All of human knowledge combined with millions (if not billions) of stories in the future. The top down and bottoms up linkage is mesmerizing and powerful.
___________________________________________________________________________________

Now, here is the Hierarchy of Wisdom, first published in 1999…2 years before Wikipedia and 11 years before Facebook Stories:

The journey to achieve wisdom begins with the following rules:

1. All knowledge is organized into hierarchies. At the highest level you have:
1. Philosophy
2. History
3. Science
4. Humanities
(Detail Level at end)

2. All topics, regardless of complexity, must be explained on one page.

3. Using a 'click through' concept, subtopics in the hierarchy will be accessible from the top-level page. These subtopics will also fit on one page.

4. Using the same concept as the 'six degrees of separation', focus will be put on minimizing the amount of clicks through the hierarchy to reach information.

5. This project will be public domain.
The definition of wisdom for purposes of this project:

"The accumulation of all thought, belief and knowledge of all humans past, present and future".

At the core of philosophy is the pursuit of the answer to the question "Why?" Without involving religion or science, the answer to the question - and the meaning of life is, quite simply, to have impact on others. Having impact on others changes the world around us and creates eternal life through memories.

The most effective way to learn history is through biographies. Not just the people core to an event, but the thousands of individuals that impacted those people. Humans view things very differently and to truly build an understanding, one must be privy to these multiple views.

To ensure we guarantee eternal life for ourselves we can use the technology at our disposal to create a 'memory-base'. A knowledge hierarchy that links the top level topics with billions of biographies. A centralized geneology pool that links the human race, not only with each other, but with all knowledge.
The meaning of life, put forward as a derivative of this work is: "The impact a person has on others". The story of the corporate executive versus the person who starts digging a hole....which has a greater impact in the end?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The logical beginning to knowledge is philosophy. Before exploring the physical or living concepts of our world, a much deeper mental understanding is required. Philosophy is the oldest form of systematic, scholarly inquiry. It is the study of the truths or principles underlying all knowledge, being, and reality. The philosopher's tools are basically logical and speculative reasoning. Philosophy seeks to find fundamental, natural principles that could explain what individuals know and experience about the world around them. SOCRATES, at his trial, proclaimed a basic philosophical premise, that "the unexamined life was not worth living."

The basis for human knowledge is experience from the past. The study of history provides the most complete understanding of who we are. History is the study of ages and eras, civilizations and cultures. History provides a framework for religion and evolution, and a study of human nature. Some speculate that the study of the future is firmly planted in the knowledge and experience of the past.

Starting large or small, from the Big Bang theory to the Human Genome project, science is a key part of knowledge. Understanding Earth Sciences, including atmosphere, climates, geology, hydrology, geography, and elements. Understanding Life Sciences including humans, animals, plants and non-animal classifications. And finally the Physical Sciences including astronomy, chemistry, physics and matter.

Finally, connecting philosophy to history and to our physical world is the study of humanities. The humanities is a very large and diverse knowledge base consisting of religion, society, art, literature, leisure and business. From major studies in Psychology and Sociology to understanding our pets, this subject represents a key foundation to wisdom.

Detail level hierarchy:

1. Philosophy
Epistemology - theory of knowledge and truth
Metaphysics - theory of existence and essence
Logic - theory of argument and validity
Aesthetics - theory of beauty and taste
Analytic - theory of process of analysis and philosphic method
Cosmology - theory of origin and universe
Ethics - theory of good and utility
2. History
World history
Ancient history
Ages and Eras
History of the Americas
North America
South America
History of Europe
Western Europe
Middle East
History of Asia and Australia
History of Africa
3. Science
Earth Sciences
Geology
Geography
Minerals, metals, rocks and elements
Landscapes and seascapes
Atmosphere, climates and natural phenomena
Life Sciences
Biological principles
Viruses, monerans and protists
Algae and fungi
Plants
Invertebrates, mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians
Anatomy and physiology
Medicine
Environment
Agriculture
Physical Sciences
Astronomy
Chemistry
Matter
Physics
Mathematical Sciences
Ancient measures
Time, weight and measures
Pure mathematics
Arithmetic
Algebra
Calculus
Geometry
Analytical geometry
Differential geometry
Euclidean geometry
Non-euclidean geometry
Fractal geometry
Topology
Logic
Number theory
Integers
Prime numbers
Set theory
Trigonometry
Applied mathematics
Chaos theory
Computer science
Operations research
Probability
Statistics
Technology
Aeronautics
Building, construction and engineering
Communications and telecommunications
Computers
Electronics
Tools and machines
Transportation
Aircraft
Automobiles
Boats and navigation
Rail
Engines
Weapons and military technology
4. Humanities
Religion
Baha'ism (6M)
Buddhism (350M)
Theravada
Mahayana
Tibetan
Christianity (2B)
Anglican
Baptist
Church of Christ
Congregationalist
Lutheran
Methodist
Orthodox
Pentecostal
Presbyterian
Roman Catholic
Unitarian
United Church
Christian Scientists
Confucianism
Hinduism (750M)
Vishnu
Shiva
Shakti
Islam (1B)
Sunni
Shi-ah
Sufi
Ismaili
Jainism (4M)
Digambara
Swetabara
Jehovah's Witnesses
Judaism (19M)
Mormons
Scientology
Seventh-Day Adventists
Shintoism (3M)
Sikhism (20M)
Society of Friends/Quakers
Spiritualism
Taoism
Unification Church
Zoroastrianism
Satanic, Voodoo, Witchcraft and Wizardry (WICCA)
Mythology, magic, folklore and eschatology
The occult
Society and Societal Institutions
Anthropology
Castes and Classes
Domestic Life
Home
Family
Food
Clothing
Education and educational institutions
Government
Municipal
State or Provincial
Federal
Health and hospitals
Medical
Fitness and exercise
Law
Linguistics
Organizations
Publishing and the press
Military
Psychology
Cognition, reasoning and intuition
Personality and behaviour
Sex, love and romance
Strategy, intrigue and deception
Sociology
The human condition
Abuse
Disturbances
Crime
Violence
Death
Art and Literature
Fine arts
Painting
Sculpture
Literature
Performing arts
Music
Classical music
Popular music
Musical instruments
Dance
Theatre
Cinema
Television and radio
Applied arts
Architecture
Decorative arts
Graphic design and printing
Photography
Crafts
Leisure and Recreation
Holidays, celebrations and vacations
Entertainments and spectacles
Sports
Hunting and fishing
Gardening
Hobbies
Pets
Games, activities and toys
Alcohol and tabacco
Business and Economics
Accounting, banking and finance
Business studies
Corporations
Economics
Micro
Macro
Occupations
Industries
Insurance
Marketing and advertising
Money
Real estate
Retail and consumer studies

The PC is not dead! Don’t let facts get in the way of a good story.

Jay McBain, Director, Small and Medium Business, Lenovo Americas
July 20, 2010

It seems like once a year an article or blog gets posted re-igniting the debate on the future of computing devices. Because I often speak about the future of technology, the topic is of great interest to me.

Why don’t other industries have the same black/white mentality?

Mutual Funds are dead!
The car is dead – SUV’s will take over!
The toaster is dead!

Perhaps other mature industries, with more than 30 years of history, see changes as trends versus end results. To illustrate, yes, SUV sales have increased over the past 15 years, but is it really the end for cars? Absolutely not. Cars are growing geographically (China and other emerging markets), by style (coupe, sports, etc), by price point, by usage, by target market (eco friendly), and dozens of other ways.

Looking at some of the sources of the “PC is dead” mantra, it is usually a new technology that inspires the prediction:

Internet in 1994
Thin Clients in 1996
Smart phone in 2002
Virtualization in 2005
Cloud in 2007
Netbook in 2008
Slate in 2010

Interestingly, if you look at thin clients, virtualization, cloud computing, netbooks and slates, all very newsworthy and loaded with mountains of hype, none of them have taken over 11% of the end user demand in business and government spending.

What makes the PC so resilient?

Interestingly, many of the decisions that were made in Boca Raton , Florida in 1980 created the longevity of the platform. IBM deciding to use third parties for things like the processor, operating system, and BIOS in their first PC created a truly open, non-proprietary sand box. Other decisions like plenty of internal and external ports created a platform that would grow and evolve with the technology world around it.

No one in 1980 could predict the importance of connecting them together. In fact, networking didn’t become popular until years later. Things like high level gaming, multimedia, graphic arts, communication and social interaction were also significantly beyond the vision for the PC.

The PC has always been an open and configurable device, with a very low cost of entry for any organization to add value. Thus, its ability to evolve is core to its continued success.

It is the central device that you will continue to rely on as companion devices grow, such as smart phones, slates, WiFi toothbrushes, treadmills and thousands of other devices come to market.

Now, the facts:

The good news for VARs, Managed Service Providers and other HW resellers is the growth of the PC market has rebounded very quickly from the economic downturn. In fact, NPD just reported that US Distribution and Commercial Reseller categories increase both Notebook and Desktop almost 50% year over year.

Globally, IDC reported that PC growth last quarter was over 20% with strong results across the globe. This happened to be the first quarter of sales for the Apple iPad. This was a very similar story to the rapid growth of the Netbook two years ago – very little impact on PC categories.

What does this prove?

The facts are pointing to a new reality in computing. Users are looking for companion devices where they add value, but rely on the PC as their home base. Interestingly, to configure devices for the first time, whether it is a BlackBerry or iPad, requires a PC!

Pervasive computing is a concept where you will likely own 20 or more computer devices in the next 5 years. The PC appears to be the one central device that organizes , builds, and customizes content for these other companions.

Based on the past 15 years, trying to predict the next 15 is next to impossible. Knowing that computing will continue to build ubiquity and new and exciting usage scenarios are around the corner, the PC is well positioned to adapt and thrive.