[IanInsights] – So why all the overhype on this latest ‘break-through’ technology?  Imagine a technology so red hot that the mere mention of it during an earnings’ call drives the stock up sharply. VCs all but throwing unprecedented sums of money at unproven start-ups focused on it. Blue Chip corporations betting their very future and even…

[IanInsights] – The Numbers Don’t Lie. I left IDC 17 years ago completely frustrated with the softening of industry research away from hard numbers to opinion. Worse yet, I saw major analyst firms moving toward pay-for-play models where a big investment influenced results. Vendors that increase their budget significantly magically appeared in the Leader Quadrant, while…

[IanInsights] – For the past few years we’ve seen overall ROI numbers starting to decline while average annual benefits continue to increase. That might seem contradictory at first, since strong ROI often corresponds to the actual monetary benefit realized. But what we are seeing reflected in recent ROI numbers are bigger industry trends at play. In…

[IanInsights] – Tech bubble makes most people think stock market crashes. The bursting of the dot-com craze or more recently, the sharp rise and decline of bitcoin. In fact, the waning enthusiasm for Apple products, lackluster sales for wearables and stalled IoT promises have some economists predicting another tech bubble correction in the near future… (read…

[IanInsights] – Like it or not, Millennials are entering the workforce en masse. Despite all the complaints and gripes about our first truly digital generation, they are already transforming the way we do business. Case in point – BYOD. They refused company-issued equipment and delivered unanticipated productivity using their own devices. That was eight years…

[IanInsights] – How did the supply chain become so sexy? Once the domain of just a few logistics specialists, it seems to have caught the public’s attention lately. That’s what a random stranger who caught the chairlift with me this weekend wanted to discuss. Not the fresh powder, perfect temperature and peak skiing conditions. He…

[IanInsights] – Hats off to Amazon’s marketing strategy around the HQ2 decision. Big headlines for months from across the country as the competition heated up. 238 municipalities in total applied from nearly every U.S. states as well as from cities in Canada and Mexico. It kicked off a continental discussion of how technology could rejuvenate…

[IanInsights] – Last November I called on IBM to fire its CEO and Chair, Ginni Rometty to save what was left of Big Blue. I cited the lack of performance and particularly IBM’s 22 consecutive quarters of revenue decline as a main argument for changing leadership in Armonk. To my surprise, a majority of readers agreed,…

[IanInsights] – In the age of analytics, metrics are increasingly driving business decisions. Well beyond total profit margin, revenue growth or even EBITA and EBITDA, we are getting more granular. Churn rates and cost-of-acquisition numbers are dynamic now. We assign KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) to everyone and measure productivity down to the profit-per-employee level. Marketing…

[IanInsights] – It’s Shiny Object week, otherwise known as the Consumer Electronics Show or CES. That splashy Las Vegas display of all the exciting consumer tech toys that are poised to grab our attention and shake up the industry. For the rest of this week, gadgets, gizmos and tech concepts will dominate headlines. Just after…