by Rob Paterson
June 28, 2011 at 7:15 am · Filed under
Adoption
We have had a lock out of the postal workers here in Canada for about a week – preceded by a series of rolling local strikes. What the unions want of course is job security and to hold onto their pensions.
But the result appears to be that they have cut their own throat. The heart of their business is business mail – principally bills! What we have seen is a massive switch to online billing that is being made ever easier by the billing companies. (Globe and Mail)
Count Nicole Mackoway among the people who saw the strife at Canada Post as a good time to make a switch. Ms. Mackoway, a stylist based in Edmonton, decided to get rid of all her paper bills – two power bills, two credit card bills and three phone bills.
“I hate getting bills in the mail anyway – this way any mail that comes will be fun,” she said.
ING Direct, a bank that conducts its business by Internet or phone, had 350,000 customers switch to online banking in the past two weeks. Almost half of its 1.8 million Canadian customers now receive their banking statements exclusively online.
“The postal strike created a small catalyst at a time when it’s already easy to make a change to online,” said Peter Aceto, chief executive officer of ING Direct Canada. “Canada Post has gone from the thing we relied on most to communicate a few decades ago to becoming a smaller part of our lives.”
Canada Post will lose at least $2,352,000 a year in revenue from ING Direct on stamps alone, assuming the company sends each of those 350,000 people one letter a month at the commercial price of $0.56 a stamp.
It isn’t just banks that will save from the switch to online bills and statements.
At Shaw Communications Inc., a telecommunications company, about 70,000 people signed up for online billing in June.
“That’s probably 10 times more than we would normally see,” said Peter Bissonnette, Shaw’s president.
“Clearly the labour disruption has driven that behaviour,” he said. “We’re very pleased that customers are finding other ways to do their billing.”
Enmax Corporation, a Calgary-based utility, had 5,000 customers enroll in its online billing system – a “very dramatic increase,” spokesman Ian Todd wrote in an e-mail.
Soon, like the telephone the only mail we will get is junk mail. For the only calls I get these days are spam too.
In many countries the post office has been privatized. The call to privatize Canada Post will escalate.
The US Mail is not exempt from any of these pressures and surely the clock is ticking here too. (Link to an excellent article and infographic here)
The web takes no prisoners.
by Bill Ives
May 30, 2011 at 3:33 am · Filed under
Adoption, Enterprise 2.0, ROI, Social Media
IDC has provided a study on a useful topic, Determining the Value of Social Business ROI: Myths, Facts, and Potentially High Returns developed by Erin Traudt, Mary Wardley, Michael Fauscette, Dr. Natalie Petouhoff, Kathy Herrmann. It explores the criteria for validating enterprise social software purchases and social business transformation through return-on-investment (ROI) measurement. They also looked at the market potential. IDC’s Social Business Survey reports that enterprise social software adoption still has room to grow, with 41% of respondents indicating that they have already implemented an enterprise social software solution. This leaves 59% who have not implemented a solution. With this much adoption anticipated, IDC forecasts that emerging social platforms market will generate revenues of nearly $2 billion by 2014, experiencing a compound annual growth rate of 38.2% over the 2009-2014 forecast period.
However, IDC cautions that work needs to be done to reach these numbers. Erin Traudt, research director, Enterprise Collaboration and Social Solutions at IDC is quoted, “widespread industry adoption of enterprise social software is relatively immature and executives want a clearer understanding of the potential gains, costs, and return on investment that social business initiatives can have on a company’s bottom line.”
The reports goes on to state that when conducting ROI on social business initiatives, the traditional rules of business still apply. This is regardless if a company deploys social business initiatives to assist customer service, marketing, public relations, product innovation, employee collaboration, or other functional areas of the organization. The report comments, “It is rare that organizations know how to calculate ROI for traditional company projects; the addition of social business initiatives adds another twist, making it seem difficult to calculate social business ROI, but in reality it is possible.”
I agree that it is possible. However, to be effective it should demonstrate how social software improves performance on key business metrics that are often process aligned. One of the obstacles to getting a clear ROI is that much of the well-publicized social media use cases have been in the area of marketing, an area where ROI is more elusive. McKinsey showed us that ROI can come from both external marketing use cases and internal ones that are more aligned with work processes. They found improvements through the use of social software in such metrics as reduction of communication costs, increased speed of access to internal experts, decreased travel costs, and increased employee satisfaction. This is a nice mix of hard edge and softer returns but each gets to the bottom line.
McKinsey also found that usage is strong as nearly half of the companies that have implemented social technologies have at least 51 percent of their employees using them. Like IDC, McKinsey saw firms increasing their investment in social software. In 2010, nearly two-thirds of respondents at companies using social technologies say they will increase future investments in these technologies, compared with just over half in 2009. These two reports complement each other.
by Rob Paterson
May 11, 2011 at 10:37 am · Filed under
2.0 Business Model, Adoption, Banking, Books, Business 2.0, Mobile, Mobile Phones, Movie Making, Netflix, Platforms, TV, User Revolution, Video, Visa, Web 2.0, YouTube
Two announcements this week I think show how the 2.0 web is going to the next phase – where the “rebels” go mainstream and spell the end of the traditional services.
I wont say much more about MSFT’s purchase of Skype – other than this. It spells the end of telephony as we used to know it. Communications will inexorably shift to the mobile platforms and will make video the centre piece. The Mainstream will be Dick Tracy! And this is my point. Mobile is the new platform and video will become so ubiquitous as to replace voice. The rebels are now the players.
In commerce Visa has just thrown down the gauntlet too.
Visa has just announced that it too will make mobile its future. It will take on PayPal directly. Here are the features:
Visa expects to launch the digital wallet in the U.S. and Canada in fall 2011.
Key features of the wallet are expected to include:
- Click-to-buy: Shop conveniently and securely by simply entering an email address, alias or online ID and password, instead of a billing address, account number and expiration date. In addition, Visa is exploring dynamic authentication technologies that will bring added layers of security to online purchases.
- Cross-channel payments solution: The wallet consolidates multiple Visa and non-Visa payments accounts and can be used in mobile, eCommerce, social network and retail point-of-sale environments.
- Preference management: A menu that enables consumers to set preferences for how their wallet will work, allowing them to customize and control the features of their personal wallet from privacy settings to designating which account will be accessed based on merchant type or purchase amount.
- Merchant offers: A service that allows consumers to personalize their shopping experience by opting-in to receive money-saving discounts or promotions from participating merchants.
“The widespread adoption of Internet and mobile technology is changing the way people connect and transact across the globe, so we’re focused on delivering locally-tailored payments products and services,” said Saunders. “We are introducing new solutions for eCommerce and mobile devices that provide the same ‘Visa-quality’ experience—convenience, reliability and security—people enjoy when using their Visa cards at a retail location. In doing so, we are accelerating the global shift to digital payments by harnessing our brand, products, network and 50-plus years of payments experience.”
Mobilizing Payments in Emerging Economies
In certain emerging geographic markets with significant mobile penetration, Visa will work with financial institutions and mobile-network operators to provide consumers with a secure, reliable and globally accepted form of payment and the ability to transfer and receive funds, manage financial accounts or top-up wireless air time using their mobile handset. The wide range of features and functions being developed for the digital wallet will allow Visa to pursue a number of strategies to tailor or bundle services to local needs.
- In countries like India and Russia, where card issuance and mobile subscriptions are high, but card usage is relatively low, Visa will help drive account activation and usage by working with financial institutions and mobile operators to link existing card portfolios with mobile devices to give handsets payments functionality.
- In countries within Africa and the Middle East where mobile device usage is high and traditional electronic payments infrastructure is less developed, Visa will work with mobile network operators to link new virtual mobile prepaid Visa accounts to mobile phone numbers to enable cash-in, cash-out, personal payments and mobile payments —including bill payments and wireless airtime top-up. Visa also intends to connect existing “closed loop” mobile money services that today provide basic mobile banking and payments services to unbanked and under-banked consumers to its global, open loop network—VisaNet. The integration will open closed loop systems, and provide consumers and merchants with unprecedented scale, functionality and acceptance beyond their existing local geographic footprints.
Across all emerging geographic markets, Visa’s sophisticated payments technology and significant work in establishing global payments standards will aid in navigating the complexity of the myriad of network operators, handset models and operating systems in use globally, helping to enable millions of new and existing Visa account holders to simply use mobile technology for payments services.
Communications and Commerce now. What next? Education and Healthcare seem next.
Maybe there will have to be a Skype and PayPal in these sectors first. And when the mainstream buy in as we see above the shift will be made. Oh yes and are not books and film there too?
by Rob Paterson
April 28, 2011 at 6:08 am · Filed under
Adoption, Clayton Christenson, Healthcare, Innovator's Dilemma, Paradigm, Social Media, Social Objects
Once upon a time there were department stores that sold everything. They hardly exist anymore. Why? because we get a better deal from specialty stores. Once upon a time there were record albums where many songs were in one package. We don’t buy albums anymore. If we buy any music we buy songs.
We used to rely on advertising. Increasingly we use our trusted personal networks to help us navigate the market.
It used to take millions to make complex things but more and more we are seeing new tools that can do big things for very little cost.
The world of Macy’s and Mad Men is over. But not in health care
Today we have a department store model for healthcare. Today we use all the old models of business in healthcare.
So what might a truly modern view of health care look like?
This is where Clayton Christensen’s new vision for Healthcare makes so much sense to me.
Here in one page is the guts of CC’s case. All of these models are combined today in the healthcare model and are rooted in the most expensive part of the system – the doctor’s office and the hospital. It’s all Macy’s in the 1950’s. It’s big and aggregated into one high overhead system that has massive organizational friction and so low quality.
Clayton Christensen is advocating that we break this up as happened to the department stores. Then each part of the mix woudl get the best deal!
Imagine each part of this mix being pulled out as CC suggests:
- Fee for Service – Here you pay a lot to get the best shot at finding out what the problem is when what is wrong is not clear. ”House” on steroids. The McKinsey model.
- Fee for Outcome - Specialized units that focus on doing one proceedure well – we see this already with hernia operations – you are much better going to a specialist clinic – lower overhead – better operational process – better outcomes.
- Membership as the Model – A social network aggregated around similar issues. Such as Type 2 Diabetes etc. Here prevention and living with a diease or the life changes needed to cure us will take place. None of these tasks can be done by a doctor as we currently organize health. Nor should they. They can best be done by us the pubic. For here the issue is how we live and of course getting off our addictions.
How to do this?
CC offers the playbook here too. It is very unlikley that the system will reform itself to do this. Systems don’t do that. The system will have to be disrupted from below.
Diagnosis – Most GP’s refer complex cases of all kinds up the line as it is. They are in reality traffic directors. They can treat only very minor problems. Most of the time they simply write a prescription. They are so time pressed that they cannot help with prevention. They are not paid for that anyway. The real issue for most of their patients is that they have a chronic disease such as heart disease or type 2 diabetes. All of these diseases are based on lifestyle. Not the Dr’s forte. Drugs are the proxy for health.
CC is suggesting that we see high end diagnosis as a field in itself. This does not have to be based in one hospital.
Just as a hospital or a Dr’s office has low skills and high overheads – Specialty Clinics have high skills and low overheads.
In Canada we have a start here in specialty clinics such as the Shouldice Clinic – If you have a hernia you would be silly to go anywhere else. This is what CC means as fee for outcome and this type of clinic can generate such process expertise as to all but guarantee a good result. The Shouldice is the specialty retailer that replaced the department store.
Changing all this above is hard work as it involves changes to the system as it is.
What interests me the most is the largest group at the bottom where groups of people with say Type 2 Diabetes can get together an help each other.
The new frontier for health that can grow up in spite of the system is “Community Health”. Where you and I take charge of our health and use simple and powerful tools and each other to stay healthy, get healthy and help each other at rock bottoms costs.
- In using diagnostic and measurement tools – as with all other tools more and more diagnotic tools that used to ve expensive and hard to use are available at prices and levels of complexity that you and I can use.
- In learning more about their condition – as with the publication of the bible in the 16th century, information that was restrricted ony to Dr’s is widely available to all of us now. Many know more about their condition that theur GP who has to be so broad.
- In learning about diet – we are learning that diet is at the heart of most of the diseases of medern life. Dr’s know nothing abut this. Changing our diet is often beyond our power alone. We need the help of our peers.
- In helping each other makes the hard lifestyle changes they need to take back control. No expert can help here – only peers.
Here the skilled part is in Facilitation. This is where 85% of the system will reside.
Here is I think where the power of social media combined with what we are learning about the true causes of most modern disease offers us so much.
We could all get more healthy at a fraction of the cost of the current system – cost to us as individuals and as societies.
This is the revolution that is ahead.
by Rob Paterson
April 23, 2011 at 6:06 am · Filed under
Adoption, Analytics, Business Intelligence, Innovation, Interaction, Marketing, Measurement, Media, Network Effect, Relationships, Social Computing, Social Media, Social Objects, journalism
description
Cascade allows for precise analysis of the structures which underly sharing activity on the web.
This first-of-its-kind tool links browsing behavior on a site to sharing activity to construct a detailed picture of how information propagates through the social media space. While initially applied to New York Times stories and information, the tool and its underlying logic may be applied to any publisher or brand interested in understanding how its messages are shared.
Cascade was developed by R&D using open source tools including Processing and MongoDB.
videos
Better measurement is coming – I really liked this video that shows how the NYT is looking at how their content is shared.
It offers of course an “organic” perspective – reinforcing for me that new reality that is based on the model of nature rather than on the mechanics of a machine.
Already it is showing the importance of influence nodes – we see this is the spread of disease as well – the Typhoid Mary issue. Understanding this then enables us to understand where the systemic leverage comes from.
This I think takes us back to the math of Magic Numbers – a very few people count a lot. Their influence and how they get this is then central – that brings us back to the work of Klout.
We are getting there.
