ImaginativePRO Blog

BIG DATA IS NOW A TOP MANAGEMENT ISSUE WITH THE CIO AND CTO TAKING OWNERSHIP OF BIG DATA STRATEGY SAYS NEW SURVEY

A new study by the Economist Intelligence Unit has just been released that shows how big data is moving from its infancy to “data adolescence,” in which companies are increasingly meeting the challenges of a data-driven world.

The report, called “Big Data Evolution,” details the ways in which companies’ attitudes and activities have changed over the past four years with regards to big data — collecting it, storing it, analyzing it, and using it to make business decisions about strategy.

Data is becoming a corporate asset

The report shows that, since 2011, substantially more companies are treating their data as what it actually is: a strategic corporate asset. The initial excitement about the possibilities presented by big data is morphing into a more strategic approach, defining which data initiatives will have the biggest and most immediate impact.

I refer to this as asking the right questions. Companies are getting a bit savvier, and on the whole, are not asking for more data, but rather the right data to help solve specific problems and address certain issues.

Because of this greater understanding, executives are more likely to report they are making good, fact-based decisions about their data and their business.

In addition, data strategy has been elevated to the C-level, usually centralized with a CIO/CTO or a newly-appointed Chief Data Officer (CDO). Outside that position, executives across the board are more likely to be in charge of their departments’ particular data initiatives and instrumental in putting those resources to use.

Click Image To Enlarge

Click Image To Enlarge

Another important finding of the survey points to a strong correlation between good data management practices and financial success.

Companies with a well defined data policy, are much more likely to report that they are financially competitive with their peers and rivals.  In addition, they’re more likely to report that their data initiatives are successful and effective at resolving real business problems.

The reason for this could be that data initiatives are moving out of the realm of theoretical possibility and well into reality, demonstrating the ability to focus on real business problems and provide practical solutions.

Less about volume and velocity than value

One final encouraging trend the report finds is that the “bigness” of big data is starting to wear off. Companies are less focused on the quantity of data they can collect and the speed at which they can access it, and more focused on the value the data can provide for their business.

I strongly believe that the right data is much more important and valuable than simply collecting more data, and the report bears that out.

As technology continues to improve, the “bigness” of big data will become less and less of a factor. Companies are becoming more comfortable with the idea that they will need to scale up to allow the value of data initiatives to reach all sectors of the business, and so they are becoming more comfortable with approximation, agility and experimentation.

From my point of view, all of these are positive signs that big data is moving out of its infant stages and is well on the way to data maturity.

Bernard Marr is a best-selling author, keynote speaker and business consultant in big data, analytics and enterprise performance. His new books are 'Big Data' 'Key Business Analytics'

COMMENTARY:  The tone of corporate conversations about big data continues to shift from initial excitement to expecting long-term business impact.

Over the past four years, executives have not only become better educated about the technology behind big data, but have fully embraced the relevance of data to their corporate strategy and competitive success.  It could be said that most companies are experiencing their “data adolescence”, increasingly rising to the challenge of executing and delivering against the promise and potential of big data.

What are the hallmarks of this current stage of evolution, and what does the path to “data adulthood” look like from here?

In February 2015, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) conducted a global survey of 550 senior executives sponsored by SAS, to follow up on our 2011 and 2012 executive surveys. By comparing the results, we were able to examine the evolution of companies’ views, capabilities and practices regarding big data as a corporate asset, and explore the future implications as companies continue to mature as strategic data managers.

Additionally, EIU conducted six in-depth interviews with leading corporate big data thought leaders and practitioners.  Two of these interviews revisited specific big data–related issues these companies faced beginning in 2011.

Key highlights of the research include the following:

• Since 2011, a significantly larger proportion of companies have come to regard and manage data as a strategic corporate asset. The ranks of companies with well-defined data-management strategies that focus on identifying and analysing the most valuable data (referred to here as “strategic data managers”) have swollen impressively since 2011. No longer indiscriminate data collectors or wasters, companies are entering a period when the initial excitement over the possibilities presented by big data gives way to the need to prioritise and develop on data initiatives with the biggest payoff. More companies have ventured further into this stage of their data evolution, and their executives are more likely to feel that they are better at making good, factbased business use of their information.  
• Strategic data management is correlated with strong financial performance. Our survey points to a clear correlation between managing data strategically and achieving financial success. Companies with a well-defined data strategy are much more likely to report that they financially outperform their competitors. In addition, they are more likely to be successful in executing their data initiatives and effectively applying their data and analytics to resolve real and relevant business problems.
• Data-strategy ownership has been elevated and centralised, while engagement and demand from the business is at an all-time high. Across industries, data strategy has been elevated and centralised to the C-level, most often with the CIO/ CTO or the newly minted chief data officer (CDO) role. At the same time, senior executives across functions and business units are increasingly in the driver’s seat of their data initiatives, and not just relying on IT leadership to design and execute them.
• Data initiatives have moved from theoretical possibilities to focus on solving real and pressing business problems. Companies approach data initiatives today with a clear focus on their purpose—putting business value first. They are much more likely to start by articulating and finding a consensus on the high-priority business problems the organisation will solve by leveraging its data assets. Financial resources available for big data initiatives remain scarce, so there is a pronounced need to prioritise which initiatives to invest in, as well as how to demonstrate the financial return on these investments.
• Technical challenges associated with quality, quantity and security persist. Even top performers continue to struggle with a number of technical aspects of big data. These foundational aspects of data management still drown out the more advanced, higher-value-add aspects of data management, such as governance, compliance and converting data into actionable insights.
• The future of big data is less about volume and velocity, and more about the value that the business can extract from it.  Going forward, companies will have to shift their attention away from the “bigness” of big data and focus on its business value. Data and analytics will be increasingly applied to predict future outcomes and automate decisions and actions. Most importantly, many companies will have to continue to evolve their structure and culture to scale up successful data pilots across the entire organisation. This means becoming more comfortable with approximation, agility and experimentation, and reinventing themselves into a new kind of information-driven, data-centric business—closer to data adulthood.

CIO's Now Consider Big Data Analytics A Game-Changer

Greg Taffet, CIO of U.S. Gas & Electric, when The Economist Intelligence Unit interviewed him back in 2011, said.

“It is going to be a game changer.”

He was referring to fast-moving, real-time “big data”—which, at that time, was a novel buzz word.

In EIU's first comprehensive study in 2011 of how companies perceive and handle big data as a corporate asset, just 9% of survey respondents said data had completely changed the way they do business, while 39% believed data had become an important tool that drives strategic decisions at their organisation. But more than half of executives saw data in less critically important terms.

Click Image To Enlarge

As you can see from the above EUI survey, 58% (First two colums for 2015 survey: 14% + 44%) of respondents now see data as a game-changing asset, or at least, an important decision-making tool.  

In the EUI 2011 study, four categories of companies were identified based on their level of sophistication of their thinking and strategy vis-à-vis corporate data:

• Strategic data managers: companies that have well-defined data-management strategies that focus resources on collecting and analysing the most valuable data;
• Aspiring data managers: companies that understand the value of data and are marshalling resources to take better advantage of them;
• Data collectors: companies that collect a large amount of data but do not consistently maximise their value; and
• Data wasters: companies that collect data, yet severely underuse them.

EUI plotted the four corporate categories and compared 2011 vs 2015 in the following chart: 

Click Image To Enlarge

The above chart (Figure 2) shows that, in the last four years, companies have advanced along the evolutionary curve and, compared with 2011, many more now have developed a well defined data strategy.  The ranks of strategic data managers have swollen impressively (18% vs 33%), and actually showed the only growth among the four categories, while the number of data collectors and wasters is shrinking (28% to 20%).

Further evidence that companies are moving beyond strategy development and are tackling the adoption, or implementation, stage of data evolution is the fact that executives today put more of their valuable data to good use (see Figure 3).

Click Image To Enlarge

Alan Feeley, managing director of global shared services at Siemens, a global engineering firm, points out.

“Data and analytics are no longer opportunistic.  They are now formal research areas for our company.”

The CIO and CTO Have Now Taken Ownership of Big Data

The ownership of data strategy and the sponsorship of data initiatives have evolved throughout the organisation. Responsibility for the organisation’s data strategy has been elevated and centralised to the C-level, but at the same time, the pull and energy are increasingly coming from the lower levels of the corporate pyramid.  Over half of companies surveyed make sure that data are available to employees who need them, and offer the appropriate technology and training programmes. Data strategy has become “everybody’s business”—senior executives across functions and business units are increasingly in the driver’s seat of their data initiatives, instead of relying on the CIO or CTO to design and execute them in a top-down manner.

The vertical migration to centralised leadership of data strategy and strong ownership from the C-suite is an emerging best practice today. Ram Chandrashekar, executive vice-president of operational excellence and IT and president of Asia Pacific and Middle East region at ManpowerGroup, a global human-resources consulting company, says.

“Clearly, a top-down data strategy driven and articulated by the CEO is a critical success factor.”  

The EUI Survey data support his observation.

Over the past four years, ownership of corporate data strategy has migrated upwards from executives at the business-unit level to C-suite members—particularly, the CIO. In 2011, 23% of respondents said their CIO is primarily responsible for all data initiatives. This proportion jumped to 30% in 2012, and continued to rise to 39% in 2015 (Figure 7 below).

Click Image To Enlarge

A recent appearance in our 2015 survey is the increasingly popular chief data officer (CDO) role. This C-level position was virtually unknown in 2011—limited mostly to government and heavily regulated industries such as banking and insurance following the 2008 financial crisis. In our 2015 survey, some 9% of respondents pointed to their CDO as the custodian of the corporate data strategy and capabilities. Emergence of this role comes at a good time, especially as business executives from across the functional spectrum have become much more technology-literate and involved in the design and execution of their data strategy and initiatives.

Emergence of the Chief Data Officer (CDO)

Increased involvement from the business comes with the challenge of co-ordinating agendas, aligning priorities and communicating effectively with all stakeholders.  Mr Chandrashekar of ManpowerGroup says. 

“There is strong alignment and articulation at the C-level. People on the frontline, such as sales and operational staff, are also data-driven.  The disconnect often happens in the middle, and the challenge is to make the data flow from top to bottom. Engaging the business is critical—data strategy cannot be seen as just a central initiative.”

And few today excel at engaging the business. In the EUI 2015 survey, when asked to rate their company’s competence across different datarelated corporate capabilities, respondents expressed the least confidence in their ability to engage employees across the organisation to use data in day-to-day decision-making (only 26% rated their company as “very competent”, while 22% saw themselves as “not at all competent”). High-quality, consistent engagement across layers of the organisation and among horizontal functional lines is in high demand, and in short supply.

Click Image To Enlarge

Enter the CDO.   Mr Krishnamurthy of Cognizant Technology Solutions says.

“The CDO has emerged as the embodiment of ‘integrated leadership’.”

He points out that the best-designed CDO roles are focused on three top-level priorities:

• Ensuring availability and integrity of data across the organisation;
• Driving adoption—from small-scale pilots to company-wide rollouts; and
• Driving the monetisation of new data capabilities.

Most importantly, the role is about organisational engagement, brokering between agendas and balancing priorities among big data initiatives. Thus, finding the right senior talent to fill the CDO role can be tricky, as Edd Dumbill, vice-president of marketing and strategy at Silicon Valley Data Science, a big data consulting firm, points out:

“They have to know technology, they have to know the business, and they have to be a political wiz.”

Foundational and talent challenges

Companies have made great strides in embracing data as a strategic asset, making the necessary technology investments, and even beginning to evolve their corporate structure. Centralised leadership allows for better co-ordination in strategy and execution of initiatives. And executives, both on the business side and in IT, are much more focused on deploying their limited resources on top-`priority data projects that extract tangible business value from these investments.

However, significant challenges still plague most companies—and that’s true even for companies with the financial resources. The most daunting challenges companies face relate to three.  highly technical and operational aspects of big data—quality, quantity and security (see Figure 8).   These are fundamental aspects of data management. Yet companies are far from having resolved them completely and with full confidence, leading to a lack of progress to more advanced, value-added aspects of data management.

In the last four years, the problems posed by the overwhelming amount of data companies can access and collect have only been exacerbated further. In 2011, one in eight companies said they had so much data that they struggled to make sense of them—in 2015 this was nearly one in four companies. And today, more than half of executives (54%) say they probably leverage only half of their valuable data (Figure 3). 

Given the sheer volumes, ensuring the integrity and quality of data, and arriving at the proverbial “single source of truth”, are still major problems. And thus, the ultimate challenge of extracting meaningful and actionable business knowledge from data is still a significant one for most companies, even slightly more so for companies that say that they are strong financial performers as they may be more ambitious with their data strategy. But only 16% of companies these cite extracting business insights as a top challenge—for reported poor financial performers, this was 24%. Despite strong or poor financial performance, 33% of all survey respondents continue to struggle with managing the vast amount of data and 41% struggle with maintaining quality (Figure 9).

Click Image To Enlarge

On the organisational front, companies have made strides in both creating the right structures and roles, as well as recruiting key talent to enable them to formulate and begin executing their data strategy. However, the talent market in the data and analytics field is still very tight.

This is especially still true in the market for data strategists—executives who are expected to speak the languages of both technology and data science, as well as understand the business, the markets and the customers (see section Paving the way for the CDO). These rare and invaluable executives—the “effective engagers”, as Ms Merkel of Zurich Insurance calls them—are in short supply and high demand. As Mr Feeley of Siemens puts it,

“There’s a war for talent, particularly for people who combine data expertise with domain knowledge.”

In a blog post dated December 8, 2015, in which I wrote about the market for data scientists, I mentioned the serious talent shortage in big data and analytics.

Courtesy of an article dated November 30, 2015 appearing in Forbes and the whitepaper prepared by The Economist Intelligence Unit titled, "Big Data Evolution"

Follow Me:   Twitter: turk5555    Facebook: 797743955    LinkedIn: turk5555 

Subscribe To My Blog Newfeed

 

 

THE 43 BEST PPC MANAGEMENT TOOLS AS VOTED FOR BY EXPERTS AND THE PPC METRICS YOU SHOULD MEASURE

Paid advertisements are a great way to drive targeted traffic and relevant people to a website.

However, if you’re new to the Paid-Per-Click PPC game or have not optimised your campaigns to their full potential you could be throwing money away!

There’s a whole bunch of management tools out there that can help with optimising your PPC campaigns but how do you know which ones are the best?

In this article, Studio-40 asked 21 PPC experts for the tools that they could not live without.

Their answers include a wide range of free, paid and free trial option tools. Take a look…

Studio 40’s 43 Best PPC Management Tools As Voted For By Experts from Tommy Toy

 

COMMENTARY:   

Using PPC Metrics to help measure the success of your PPC Marketing?

The second question out of the 8 questions to ask before you hire a PPC expert is how will you measure success? When I wrote about setting pay per click goals, I said setting goals before you start is critical. Just as critical is understanding how you are going to measure whether you reached your goals or not.

Since goals are specific, you should be able to figure out what metrics you need in order to measure progress. For example, if your goal is to spend $1000 and get 10 conversions, you need to measure your total cost and total conversions. If you goal is to get 1000 visitors, then you will be measuring clicks. If you want to be shown on the first page of Google for specific keywords, then you measure average position and impression share for each of those keywords or ad groups.

These are some simple ideas but don’t let them fool you. As you begin to dig deeper into managing PPC campaigns you will want to start measuring other metrics or segmenting data into device types or time of day in order to understand how well your campaigns perform. For the sake of keeping this post from becoming a book, I am going to stick with the high level metrics and refrain from others such as bounce rates and the various types of conversions.

What PPC metrics are available?

Google and Bing provide plenty for you to analyze. To get you started, there are a handful of metrics that you need to know. Below are some basic definitions to help you understand them. Google details more of these and other definitions in their Adwords Glossary.

1. Impressions – The number of times your ad was displayed in a search results page.
2. Clicks – The number of times someone clicked on your ads.
3. Click Through Rate (CTR) – The percentage of clicks divided by Impressions.
4. Cost – The total cost for all clicks.
5. Average Cost per Click (CPC) – Total cost divided by the total number of clicks.
6. Average Position – How high in the results page is your ad showing. 1 is the highest.
7. Impression Share – The percentage of the total number of times your ad could have been shown vs the actual number of times it was shown.
8. Conversions – The number of times someone clicked on an ad and completed an action you defined as a conversion within a specific period of time.
9. Quality Score – Relevancy of your combined keyword, ad and landing page which affects your CPC. Quality scores vary but the higher the better.
10. % Served – When analyzing your ad copy, how often an ad was served vs other ads in the same ad group.

What should you measure?

Although every metric is important when evaluating PPC marketing performance, your goals will determine which metrics you should focus on first. As a general rule, I don’t recommend any of the following goals by themselves but together they will help you understand the basics.

I want to be seen on the first page of Google!

Being seen in the search engines is easy as long as you know what you need to spend per click and you are willing to spend it. Decide which keywords matter to you and bid them high enough to be competitive. Monitor the number of impressions as well as your impression share. You want your impression share to be at 98% or better. To be consistently seen, you should try to maintain an average position of 5 or higher. If your impression share is low, you need to increase your bids or increase your daily budget. If you are using up your daily budget, you might also consider limiting when your ads are running to weekdays, weekends or working hours only.

I want to be at the top of Google!

If you want to be at the top of the first page on Google you must be willing to spend more per click than everyone competing in your market space. Select keywords that you know people use when looking for the service or product you sell. Bid high and be sure you have the budget to afford being in the top spot. First position ads get more clicks and can eat up your daily budget really fast.  Once your campaign starts, monitor your average CPC, average position and impression share. If your average position is not 1 or 1.x, you should bid higher. There are other things you can do to improve performance, but by simply bidding higher than your competitors you can be assured that your ad will appear in the top position as long as you have not exhausted your daily budget.

I want to sell more widgets or get more leads!

If you are selling widgets or looking for leads you will want to setup conversion tracking. You can do this in Google Adwords and Microsoft adCenter but recent changes make tracking conversion (goals) easier in Google Analytics. In order to know whether your PPC campaign is doing its job, conversions should be your number one metric with everything else secondary. Most companies track form completions or e-commerce purchases but you can also track phone call conversions. Phone call tracking is especially important for companies focused on leads rather than sales. With custom scripts loaded on your website, you can present unique phone numbers to visitors who clicked on your PPC ads. For as little as $100 a month, you can track how many phone-based conversions come from your ad campaigns as well as organic SEO and other online channels. It’s another dimension that helps you understand how your online marketing affects your real world sales.

Variety is the spice of life

Every marketer has their own goals and their own ways of managing PPC campaigns. And everyone has their own ways of measuring success. As you begin to learn the ins and outs of PPC marketing, you will learn how campaigns work and what metrics are important to your success. Remember that PPC marketing combines art and science to deliver results. It’s not perfect but it can deliver great results as long as you keep working at it and keep an eye on the metrics. Understand the metrics and you will know whether your campaign is working or not. Understand the metrics and you will know if your goals are being met.

Courtesy of an article dated December 17, 2015 appearing in Studio-40 and an article dated June 26, 2013 appearing in FindAndConvert

Follow Me:   Twitter: turk5555    Facebook: 797743955    LinkedIn: turk5555 

Subscribe To My Blog Newfeed

FOR CEO JACK DORSEY LEADING TWITTER AND SQUARE AT THE SAME TIME MEANS NO OFFICE OR DESK AND 18-HOUR DAYS

Being CEO at two publicly traded companies means 18-hour days, a meticulous schedule and impromptu business meetings

Twitter Inc.’s executive chairman, Omid Kordestani, struggled to find time in Jack Dorsey’s jam-packed schedule for their weekly chat. So he offered to be the CEO’s driver for the day.

On a recent morning, Mr. Kordestani weaved through Silicon Valley traffic in his Tesla Model S as the pair talked business.

Mr. Kordestani said.  

“We just maximize every hour we can, however we can do it.”

It is a telling snapshot of the demands that now confront Mr. Dorsey, who recently embarked on the herculean task of running both Twitter and payments firm Square Inc.  His official return as Twitter chief in October, and Square’s IPO one month ago, put Mr. Dorsey in the rare class of CEOs charged with simultaneously leading two publicly traded companies.

The dual role invoked comparisons to tech luminaries Steve Jobs, who ran Apple Inc. and Pixar Animation Studios while they were both publicly traded, and Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Motors Inc. and privately held rocket maker Space Exploration Technologies Inc.

Mr. Musk, for one, isn’t an advocate.  Mr. Muisk said at a conference in October.  

“I wouldn’t recommend running two companies.  It really decreases your freedom a lot.”

He has said he would eventually step back from everyday operations at Tesla. Mr. Musk had no further comment.

Mr. Dorsey, 39 years old, isn’t married and doesn’t have any children unlike Messrs. Jobs and Musk. He will likely have little free time as both Twitter and Square are at critical junctures.  Twitter is working to show frustrated investors the social media service has mass-market appeal.  Square is trying to prove it can expand beyond the intensely competitive payments space.  Neither is profitable.

Twitter shares are trading at an all-time low and have fallen about 13% since Mr. Dorsey was named CEO. Square’s shares have risen about 35% since the IPO on Nov. 19, but they still trade below the price private investors paid last year.

Twitter and Square declined to make Mr. Dorsey or his executive teams available for comment.

Mr. Dorsey has looked to Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Robert Iger as something of a mentor because of the multifaceted businesses he oversees, ranging from a movie studio and television networks to theme parks and cruise lines. Mr. Dorsey joined Disney’s board in 2013.

Mr. Iger said he occasionally counsels Mr. Dorsey on business matters. Mr. Iger said.  

“I am not involved in his businesses, so I am a good sounding board for him.” 

Mr. Iger said in an interview.

"To run two companies at once, you need a few things and Jack has them.  You need the ability to focus and prioritize and compartmentalize...and you need great people under you.”

Mr. Dorsey has cited strong leadership under him to help him manage the day-to-day, though he hasn’t assigned a No. 2 at either company.  At Twitter, he has eight direct reports—including operating chief Adam Bain and finance chief Anthony Noto—and 10 at Square, including one C-suite executive, CFO Sarah Friar.

Eric Flamholtz, professor emeritus of the University of California, Los Angeles Anderson School of Management, said.

“A classic CEO should have his hands in everything:  financials, operations, personnel.  But if you’re splitting your time between the two companies, it becomes much more about who the people are around you.”

Others have a different view.  Suhail Rizvi, whose firm Rizvi Traverse Management LLC is an investor in Twitter and Square, through a spokesman, said.  

“Managing multiple companies is the wrong way to look at the challenge.  The key is, can [Twitter] continue to develop new products and attract the best talent?  These are the areas in which Jack excels.”

For now, Mr. Dorsey appears to be sticking to a meticulous schedule with long hours.  Representatives of Twitter and Square say Mr. Dorsey works as much as 18 hours per weekday, spending his mornings at Twitter and afternoons at Square, which are located a block from each other in San Francisco’s mid-Market neighborhood.

Mr. Dorsey is disciplined about his schedule and habits. For example, current and former Twitter employees say he is known to abruptly get up at the designated end time of a meeting, simply saying,

“I’ve got to go.”

He typically starts his days with coffee at Blue Bottle, located between the two headquarters. According to Twitter and Square, on Monday morning, Mr. Dorsey arrives at Twitter for five-hour meetings with his eight senior executives and Mr. Kordestani to review the business operations and projects.  At 1:30 p.m., he rushes over to Square to repeat the same exercise.   Mr. Dorsey tells executives to put their phones and laptops away—he has no office or desk at either company.

He also holds 30-minute check-ins with key deputies at each company on Wednesdays and Fridays. He remains in contact even when he isn’t physically present, Mr. Kordestani said.

During Square’s IPO roadshow, he would call Twitter from his hotel room in between meetings or at night after his schedule wound down, Mr. Kordestani said.

His placid temperament and preference for meditation and yoga contrast with the gregarious and ebullient nature of Dick Costolo, who was Twitter CEO for five years before resigning in June.  Mr. Kordestani said.  

“When he comes into the room you get this sense of comfort that you’re with a very grounded person.” 

Still, Mr. Dorsey is said to get bogged down in minutiae. Two people who worked closely with him say he would at times drop everything to focus on, say, an app logo’s hue, or the wording of sections of a Web page.

While employees say he has lifted morale at Twitter, managers continue to depart.  In recent weeks, Twitter’s head of design, director of corporate strategy and a senior engineering executive have left or announced plans to leave.

A Twitter spokesman said that each of those people left for different reasons.

Over the past several months, Mr. Dorsey has reviewed the entire organization, asked for feedback about the company’s priorities and the reporting structure including those on the senior management team, according to people familiar with the matter.

When asked what he thinks of Mr. Dorsey’s performance so far, Mr. Rizvi, the investor, said:

“The results will be apparent over the next few quarters.”

Write to Yoree Koh at [email protected] and Greg Bensinger at [email protected]

COMMENTARY:  Just when Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) stock looked like it couldn't go any lower, it did. Then it did again. Twitter shares began a steep descent from around $53 in April to about $35 by mid-ear as investor concerns about the company's slowing user growth mounted.  At the end of today's trading, Twitter shares closed at $22.14, down $0.85 or -3.70%, a new low for Twitter.

Investors were hoping the company's decision this summer to bring back co-founder Jack Dorsey as CEO would quickly spark big, game-changing strategic moves. But, so far, the Street appears unimpressed.

Dorsey's believers

Chief Investment Officer Rizvi Traverse, whose investment firm has a stake in both Twitter and Square, is among the investors betting Dorsey is the right fit for Twitter as the company aims to address the social platform's slowing user growth problem.

But Rizvi says investors will have to wait longer to see the fruit of Dorsey's return.

An excerpt from a Dec. 21 Wall Street Journal article captures Rizvi's confidence: When asked what he thinks of Mr. Dorsey's performance so far, Mr. Rizvi, the investor, said:

'The results will be apparent over the next few quarters.'"

Similarly, in an October interview with CNBC, Twitter co-founder Evan Williams expressed confidence in Dorsey's plans to make "bold" moves. Williams believes these big changes will be evident in "months."

So far, the pace of change at Twitter from an outsider's perspective remains similar to the unsatisfactory pace under former CEO Dick Costolo's reign.  And this is driving uncertainty in the stock market toward the stock, playing a key role in the continued sell-off.

Embracing change

Twitter product lead Kevin Weil said during a Code/Mobile interview in October that Dorsey is encouraging Twitter managers to challenge their own assumptions. Weil even went as far as to say that the company is willing to change "something that's at the core of Twitter," prompting speculation that Twitter could even drop its 140-character limit for tweets.

One recent move that was supposed to represent a catalyst for the company was Twitter's October-launched Moments, a.k.a. "project lighting." But the new Twitter feature, which aims to rapidly curate news, doesn't appear to sport the gusto needed to transform the service into the mass-market player investors are hoping for.

While investors should, indeed, expect to see successful new features from Twitter following Dorsey's return, Rizvi is probably right that it's going to take "the next few quarters" for the co-founder's impact to be realized. Even Twitter's Moments feature isn't entirely representative of Dorsey's return to the company; the product was already deep into development when Costolo resigned.

Twitter Apps Waning

Twitter's company-owned apps have lost their appeal with users.  Vine, an app that creates 6-second videos, had 100 milli0n monthly active users at the end of September 2015, but has been overtaken and left in the dust by Facebook's Instagram with 400 million monthly active users.  Persiscope, a mobile app acquired by Twitter earlier this year, that lets you broadcast live video to your followers, has hit a brick wall with new users.  According to RE/CODE, Periscope only has 10 million monthly active users.  

A stock for greedy investors

The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat:  There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early-in-the-know investors!

A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity

The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early-in-the-know investors!

Closing Comments

In a previous blog post, I expressed serious concerns about Twitter and and a lack of confidence in Jack Dorsey.  I just don't think that he has the chops to lead two troubled companies simultaneously. I have not seen any "bold" moves.  By "bold" moves, I mean historic, breakthrough or disruptive new products or changes to Twitter that will create headlines and attract new users and increase engagement.  This is important for users as well as advertisers who are starting to get anxious and losing confidence in Twitter as a go-to ad platform.  If these bold moves are in the works, Jack better get them out before year-end, otherwise his next earnings conference call is going to be very, very tense.  

Having dropped these nuclear bomb criticisms, I believe that Twitter needs to be re-invented and radically changed.  Tweets alone, whether 140-characters or longer, are not going to change user perceptions of Twitter.  Twitter cannot rely solely on being a news and information broadcasting platform.  Twitter needs to be much more than this.  It really needs to offer something entirely new, exciting, game changing and fill a real need in the marketplace.  Twitter may have filled users expectations for news and information in real-time (near), but other social networks are filling this need as well, they just don't call them tweets. 

Courtesy of an article dated December 21, 2015 appearing in The Wall Street Journal and an article dated September 22, 2015 appearing in LinkedIn Pulse

Follow Me:   Twitter: turk5555    Facebook: 797743955    LinkedIn: turk5555 

Subscribe To My Blog Newfeed

2015 VIRTUAL REALITY ECOSYSTEM INCL FORECASTED INDUSTRY REVENUES, INVESTMENTS AND WEARABLE DEVICES

The following graphic is the first incarnation of a virtual reality industry ecosystem supergraphic. It represents more than 150 different companies which provide head mounted display and related hardware, production equipment and software, VR apps, research, and technical and other services, organized into 22 categories across 11 major sectors.

The 2015 Virtual Reality Ecosystem Map comes with a caveat: the graphic is not comprehensive. It is a sample, albeit a large one, of the many different kinds of virtual reality companies operating today. There are many more companies — indeed, entire categories — that were not included, merely due to the constraints of time and space. The pace of change in this field is breathtaking.

Click Image To Enlarge

COMMENTARY:   VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality) are exciting – Google Glass coming and going, Facebook’s $2 billion for Oculus, Google’s $542 million into Magic Leap, Microsoft’s HoloLens and the launch of the Samsung Gear VR headset into the mainstream market. There are amazing early stage platforms and apps, but VR/AR in 2015 feels a bit like the smartphone market before the iPhone. We’re waiting for someone to say “One more thing…” in a way that has everyone thinking “so that’s where the market’s going!”

A pure quantitative analysis of the VR/AR market today is challenging, because there’s not much of a track record to analyze yet. We’ll discuss methodology below, but Digi-Capital’s new Augmented/Virtual Reality Report 2015 is based on how VR/AR could grow new markets and cannibalize existing ones after the market really gets going from next year.

AR is from Mars, VR is from Venus

VR and AR headsets both provide stereo 3D high definition video and audio, but there’s a big difference. VR is closed and fully immersive, while AR is open and partly immersive – you can see through and around it. Where VR puts users inside virtual worlds, immersing them, AR puts virtual things into users’ real worlds, augmenting them.

You might think this distinction is splitting hairs, but that difference could give AR the edge over not just VR, but the entire smartphone and tablet market. There are major implications for Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook and others.

Where’s the beef?

VR is great for games and 3D films – that’s what it was designed for. However it is primarily a living room, office or seated experience, as you might bump into things if you walked down the street wearing a closed headset. Still a great technology with a ready and waiting user base of tens of millions amongst console, PC and MMO gamers, those who prefer 3D to 2D films, as well as niche enterprise users (e.g. medical, military, education). This has attracted a growing apps/games ecosystem around early players like Unity, Valve, Razer and others.

AR is great fun for games, but maybe not as much fun as VR when true immersion is required – think mobile versus console games. But that possible weakness for gamers is exactly why AR has the potential to play the same role in our lives as mobile phones with hundreds of millions of users. You could wear it anywhere, doing anything (well maybe not some things – that wouldn’t be polite like the consumer criticism received by Google Glass).   Where VR is like wearing a console on your face (Oculus), AR is like wearing a transparent mobile phone on it (Magic Leap, HoloLens).

Eye phone

AR could play a similar role to mobile across sectors, as well as a host of uses nobody has thought of yet. The sort of things you might do with AR include aCommerce (yup, we just invented a new cousin to eCommerce and mCommerce), voice calls, web browsing, film/TV streaming (in plain old 2D as well as 3D), enterprise apps, advertising, consumer apps, games and theme park rides. So while games feature prominently in most AR demos, they are only one of a multitude of potential uses for AR. See full analysis by sector here.

Real Dollars

Digi-Capital forecasts that the virtual and augmented reality industries will hit $150B in annual revenues by 2020, with AR taking the lion’s share at $120 billion.

Click Image To Enlarge

CB Insights reports that investments in virtual and augmented reality companies have seen their most active quarter in 2015, with over 40 deals (and $240M invested) in the first six months of the year.

Click Image To Enlarge

ABI Research projects that 43 million virtual reality devices will ship by 2020:

Click Image To Enlarge

Courtesy of an article titled 2015 Virtual Reality Ecosystem Map appearing in Greenlight VR and an article dated August 11, 2015 appearing in Greenlight VR and an article dated April 2015 appearing in Digi-Capital

Follow Me:   Twitter: turk5555    Facebook: 797743955    LinkedIn: turk5555 

Subscribe To My Blog Newfeed

WHO DOES WHAT IN THE DATA SCIENCE INDUSTRY, HOW MUCH THEY EARN AND A MASTER GUIDE TO HIRE OR OUTSOURCE

What are the key roles in data science? Here's a look at the various job positions in the data science industry and what they mean.

A data scientist cleans, massages, and organizes Big Data, according to DataCamp in the following infographic.

A database administrator, on the other hand, focuses on backup and recovery, data modeling and design, distributed computing, database systems, and data security.

Another role is statistician. This person "collects, analyzes, and interprets qualitative as well as quantitative data with statistical theories and methods," according to DataCamp.

To find out more about the different roles in data science, click or tap on the infographic.

Click Image To Enlarge

COMMENTARY:   Data-driven business processes are not a nice-to-have but a need-to-have capability today. So, if you’re an executive, manager, or team leader, one of your toughest assignments is managing and organizing your analytics and reporting initiative.

The days of business as usual are over.  Data generation costs are falling everyday.  The cost of collection and storage is also falling.  The speed of insight-to-action business requirement is increasing.  Systems of Record, Systems of Engagement, Systems of Insight are being transformed with consumerization and digital.

With this tsunami of data and new applications, the bottleneck is clearly shifting from transaction processing to Analytics & Insight-driven “sense-and-respond” Action. This slide from IBM’s Investor Briefing summarizes the data-driven transformation underway in most businesses.

Data Science And Analytics Outsourcing – Vendors, Models, Steps by Ravi Kalakota - May 28, 2015 from Tommy Toy

Courtesy of an article dated December 8, 2015 appearing in MarketingProfs and an article dated May 28, 2015 appearing in Ravi Kalakota's  Practical Analytics

Follow Me:   Twitter: turk5555    Facebook: 797743955    LinkedIn: turk5555 

Subscribe To My Blog Newfeed

 

THE SAMSUNG GEAR VR HEADSET, FEATURES, REVIEW PRO'S AND CON'S, CONTENT, COMPETITION AND STARTER ALTERNATIVES

There's currently no better way to get started with virtual reality.

When Samsung and Oculus debuted their Gear VR headset almost a year ago, the companies made it clear the device wasn't yet ready for the masses. Billed as "Innovator Edition" models, the original Gear VRs were intended mainly for early adopters. They only fitted a limited number of phones -- the original was designed just for the Note 4; the second for the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge -- and were also quite pricey at $200 per headset.

 

Beginning November 10, 2015, Samsung began taking pre-orders of their new Samsung Gear VR headset through Amazon.com, BestBuy.com, and Samsung.com.   On November 20, 2015, Samsung and Oculus released the first-ever consumer-ready version of the Gear VR for shipment.   The new Samsung Gear VR headset is smaller, lighter, cheaper (only $99) and is compatible with more phones (the Note 5, S6, S6 Edge and S6 Edge+). But, more importantly, its content library has exploded, with more VR apps and games than ever before. Virtual reality has finally gone mainstream, and there's no better way to get started than with the new Gear VR.

Click Image To Enlarge

Summary

Samsung's Gear VR is the company's first virtual reality headset designed for everyday consumers. For just $99 and a compatible Samsung phone, you can dive into an incredible experience that'll have you watching 360-degree movies and playing super immersive games. Yes, it only works with a limited number of phones, but right now, there's no better option if you want to give VR a try.

 

Hardware 

Samsung never made any pretensions that the Gear VR would be small and portable -- it's always been a rather large headset that looks like you have a giant pair of ski goggles strapped on your face. But every iteration of the Gear VR has been more lightweight than the last, and the new consumer-ready version is no exception. Samsung says it's about 19 percent lighter, and I definitely feel it. The previous models had chunky white plastic around the head straps while the current model has none. This not only reduces the headset's overall weight, but makes it far less cumbersome to put on. All you do is strap the headset to your head with a couple of elasticized Velcro straps -- one around the back of your head and the other around the top -- and you're ready to go. The top strap is technically optional, but I liked having it on for a more secure fit.

The fit, by the way, is pretty excellent. The soft foam padding around the eyes and the nose bridge makes the fit very comfortable (My discomfort came from nausea instead; more on that later). Another upside is that new Gear VR also easily accommodates most glasses -- I was able to wear mine without too much shifting around. That said, if you have a relatively lightweight prescription, you might want to go without your glasses entirely for additional comfort. Plus, the Gear VR has a focus wheel at the top so you can easily adjust the focus to match your eyesight.

Like all the previous Gear VRs, the new model is not a standalone headset -- it's essentially a VR viewer for your phone; sort of a fancier version of Google's Cardboard, if you will. Except that unlike Cardboard, the Gear VR has additional hardware -- an accelerometer, a gyroscope and proximity-based sensors -- on board to reduce latency and increase the performance overall.

Click Image To Enlarge

To get started, you'll have to snap the phone onto the front of the Gear VR so that the display faces the headset's stereoscopic lenses. Simply dock the phone into a micro-USB dock on the left and then lock it in place with a plastic holder on the right. At least for now, the Gear VR is compatible with four different Samsung phones: the Galaxy S6, the S6 Edge, the S6 Edge+ and the Note 5. Since the latter two phones are slightly larger than the others, the Gear VR has a toggle that you can use to slide the micro-USB dock to the left or right to accommodate the different sizes. Though it seems like the headset's use is limited to just these four phones, Samsung told us that it's highly likely the current Gear VR could be compatible with future Samsung phones too.

By default, controls are relegated to the four-way directional touchpad on your right temple. It's much more contoured than previous Gear VR models plus there's a raised center nub, which makes the whole thing far easier to use -- you can just feel your way around to figure out the controls. Above the touchpad is a back button, which has been relocated slightly to the right for easier accessibility, while a volume rocker is located to the front.

Though it's not included with the Gear VR, I also recommend you wear a pair of headphones with it, as it'll make your VR experience more immersive. There are also a few games that would benefit from the use of a dedicated gamepad controller (again, this isn't included with the headset), which you can connect to the phone via Bluetooth.

Hand-On Test

I tested the Gear VR with a Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+. Setup was pretty easy; once you have the phone loaded into the headset, you're pretty much ready to go. As soon as it docks into place, the handset will automatically launch Oculus Home, a VR content portal from where you can launch a variety of apps, movies or games (if you don't have the Oculus app installed, it'll prompt you to do so). Virtual reality content has exploded in the past year, and nowhere is this more evident than the variety available on the Oculus Store -- Samsung and Oculus tells us there are already more than a 100 apps and games on board, with even more coming down the pipeline.

Before we delve into the content, let's talk about the display quality. In short, it's not great. Since you're essentially pressing the phone's screen up to your face, there's definitely a slight "screen door effect" where you can spot individual pixels. This effect seems a lot more reduced than previous Gear VR headsets, but it was still noticeable. As a result, videos looked pretty pixilated and games just didn't look as sharp as I would like. Of course, a lot of this is dependent on the phone's display -- the S6 Edge+ has a very good 1440 x 2560 Quad HD resolution, but even that didn't prove sharp enough when magnified with the Gear VR's lenses. I'll admit to brushing aside the need for phones with 4K displays, but perhaps there's a real benefit if you plan to use them with VR headsets.

That said, once I started really playing around with the content, I found myself casting those display quibbles aside. Viewing 360-degree video of an ocean landscape was wonderfully serene and peaceful, and I also enjoyed watching episodes of Doctor Who on Netflix as if I were in movie theater. Playing games was especially delightful: Shooting at incoming drones in EVE:Gunjack and flying around on a jetpack in Omega Agent was fun and engaging. Being able to look around you to home in on enemy targets feels a lot more interactive than just waggling a thumbstick.

Click Image To Enlarge

My favorite game by far, however, is Land's End, a puzzle game akin toMyst or Monument Valley. Set on a rocky island, you solve puzzles by staring at dots to illuminate them, tracing a line from dot to dot in order to unlock a path. The immersive VR environment coupled with the game's tranquil soundtrack makes this one of the more meditative games I've ever come across. Note: I recommend using a swivel chair to play some of these games so that you don't suffer from too much neck strain.

As much as I was having fun however, I found that I could not wear the Gear VR for very long periods of time. That's because it does make me feel a bit nauseous; I had to take the headset off every half hour or so to stop my head from spinning. Of course, your mileage may vary here, but it's worth the warning. I happen to be one of those people who suffers from motion sickness on boats and while traveling down windy roads, so I'm perhaps more susceptible to this kind of thing.

Another thing to watch out for is battery life. After a solid hour of VR time, the phone's battery dropped by as much as 20 percent. After four or five hours, the phone was nearly dead. Also beware if you do want to keep the phone in VR mode for very long, as it does occasionally get hot enough to overheat.

The Competition

If you just wanted to get your feet wet with virtual reality, Google's Cardboard is not a bad start. After all, it costs close to nothing and it's dead easy to set up. The downsides, of course, is that it doesn't offer nearly the same degree of sophistication and immersion that the Gear VR does. The Gear VR has straps so you can wear it for hours on end, additional on-board sensors to reduce latency, plus it has a dedicated touchpad for greater control. At the end of the day, Google Cardboard is just, well, cardboard, while Samsung's Gear VR is a full-fledged dive into virtual reality.

The Google Cardboard VR headset is available through Amazon for under $20.00 (Click Image To Enlarge)

Then again, Gear VR's performance doesn't quite compare to more advanced VR headsets like the Oculus Rift, the PlayStation VR and the HTC Vive. For one thing, Samsung's Gear VR doesn't have positional head tracking, so you can't do things like duck behind walls or bend your head down to take a closer look at something on the ground. The other headsets also promise to be far more powerful -- the Rift and the Vive will be powered by high-end gaming rigs while the Playstation VR will harness the computational prowess of the PS4. That should lead to a higher fidelity experience with better graphics and better physics -- features that even the best smartphone won't be able to match.

Oculus Rift VR headset is designed for professional VR developers. The headset and Oculus' software developers kit (SDK) is available on Amazon for $1,275.00 (Click Image To Enlarge) 

Yet, those other systems aren't even available to the public yet. Plus, they promise to be much more expensive. Though the prices aren't official just yet, rumor is that they'll cost at least $300 each. And that doesn't even include the cost of a high-end gaming PC, which could be well over $1,000. If you plan on going with the Playstation VR, a PS4 isn't cheap either, retailing at around $350. Even if you were to buy a Gear VR along with a compatible Samsung phone, that would only run around $500 to $700 if you get your phone off-contract. Additionally, all three rival headsets need to be tethered to their source computer, which limits your movements when playing games. The $99 Gear VR, on the other hand, is completely mobile, letting you swivel around on your chair or take it anywhere.

Sony's Project Morpheus is now called PlayStation VR and has a vague release date of Q1 2016, but Sony has not announced a price (Click Image To Enlarge)

The HTC Vive VR headset was designed for professional VR developers and will be available for pre-ordering in February 2016 with shipments in April 2016. No prices have been announced (Click Image To Enlarge)

Closing Statements

If Google Cardboard gives a taste of virtual reality, Samsung's Gear VR offers up a whole feast. With just the addition of a smartphone, you can get a truly immersive VR headset that lets you travel distant lands, watch movies and shoot up spaceships in alien worlds. It's comfortable to wear for hours at a time -- even if you wear glasses -- and controls are intuitive and easy to understand. Yes, it's only compatible with Samsung's latest handsets and no, it's not quite as advanced as headsets like the Oculus Rift. But at only $99, Samsung's Gear VR still makes for a great entry-level VR headset for the everyday consumer. If you already have a compatible Samsung phone, it's a no-brainer.

COMMENTARY:  If you haven't already done so, I urge you to read my blog post of September 24, 2015, when Facebook and Samsung announced the Samsung Gear VR headset at the Oculus Connect 2 Developers Conference.  

With Gear VR, Samsung gets to be the first to push VR hardware out to the mainstream and it serves as a lure to bring brand-new Galaxy owners in. The company is putting itself at the tip of a sector that; according to SuperData's Stephanie Llamas, will drive the bulk of VR sales at first.

The mobile slice of the VR sector is forecasted to generate nearly $1 billion in revenues by the end of 2016 and fatten to about $4.4 billion by the close of 2019, according to SuperData Researcher's preliminary study into the nascent market.

The big lure for early adopters is the very affordable price of $99.00.  This pricing strategy appears to have worked with both BestBuy and Amazon reporting that they are out-of-stock, but are taking back orders for delivery at a future date.   If you already own a Samsung Galaxy S6, S6 Edge, S6 Edge+ or Note 5 you are good to go, but first you must download the Oculus VR software.  Once installed, you will be able to run over 100+ (and growing) VR apps designed for the headset.  

I haven't tried the Samsung Gear VR headset yet, but Amazon claims the headset is a No 1 best seller and owners have given it an average review rating of 4.5 stars.  65% of owners have given it a 5 star rating.  The biggest complaint from Amazon owners has been the video quality which depends on the resolution of your Samsung phone.  Owners are also reporting that the headset is a huge drain on your phone's battery, can cause your phone to overheat, and you may experience eye fatigue if you use the headset several hours.  All users loved the low price and highly emersive VR experience.

Some Altenatives

If you are still hesitant to dive in and buy the Samsung Gear VR headset, there are several lower-priced alternatives (yes, there are) you may wish to consider.  All of these fall into the "starter" category and are a great way to experience virtual reality on the cheap.  

• Google Cardboard VR is a starter headset made of cardboard that sells for $12.98 on Amazon.  Owners called the Google Cardboard VR headset "simple, fun and affordable."  To use the headset you need to download the free Cardboard app from Google Play.  According to Google Play, the Cardboard app has been reviewed by nearly 69,000 owners and has received an average user review of 4.2 stars (out of 5).   The Google Cardboard VR headset will accommodate phones with displays up to 6-inches in size and running Android OS 4.1 or higher.  Google Play claims between 1-5 million Cardboard app downloads.  Amazon says they are temporarily out-of-stock, but the site says they will have more on December 19, 2015. Hypergrid Business published a list of 22 online sites where you can buy Google Cardboard VR.  Google Cardboard is also available through Walmart and BestBuy, but you will pay a bit more.  The Google Cardboard VR head garnered a review of 4 stars on Google Play.  74% of owners gave it 5 stars. 
• View-Master VR Starter Pack - Is compatible with and uses the Google Cardboard app (see above).  The Starter Pack includes one View-Master viewer, one Preview Reel, one adapter for the iPhone 5, iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s and a user guide. The Preview Reel included with the Starter Pack allows you to sample View-Master VR apps, such as Space, Destinations and National Geographic: Wildlife. You can fully explore these exotic new worlds by purchasing View-Master VR Experience Packs (sold separately).  Reviews averaged 4 stars from Amazon users. Available at Amazon, Target, Toys R US, Barnes & Noble and Walmart. $24.99 to $29.99. 
• FIVESUNG 3D VR headset - This is a knock-off of the Google Cardboard VR viewer, but made of plastic.  Reviews are all over the place.  Reviews averaged 3 stars from Amazon users.   Available at Amazon and owner reviews were mixed averaging 3.8 stars (out of 5).  Price:  $19.99. 

Courtesy of an article dated November 15, 2015 appearing in Engadget, an article dated November 20, 2015 appearing in CNN Money, an article dated October 28, 2015 appearing in Wearable, an article dated December 12, 2015 appearing in Tech Times, an article dated November 23, 2015 appearing in Tech Times, and an article dated August 10, 2014 appearing in Hypergrid Business

Follow Me:   Twitter: turk5555    Facebook: 797743955    LinkedIn: turk5555 

Subscribe To My Blog Newfeed

 

 

THE ALTWORK STATION, A PRODUCTIVITY TOOL, NOT FURNITURE, THAT LET'S YOU SIT, LAY DOWN OR STAND, AS YOU WORK

Finally, a desk that acknowledges all we want to do at work is be horizontal.

Maybe you slouch in your Aeron chair. Maybe you tried—and failed—to make using a standing desk a habit. Maybe, like me, your preferred working position is curled up on a sofa.

Is it time for an ergonomic desk and chair that lazy people will actually want to use?

Is it time for an ergonomic desk and chair that lazy people will actually want to use? (Click Image To Enlarge)

The new Altwork Station, designed by aerospace engineers, has a standing and sitting position. But it also reclines fully into a "zero g" position—basically as comfortable as being in bed—with a monitor, laptop, and mouse floating the proper distance away above you.

The new Altwork Station, designed by aerospace engineers, has standing, sitting and laying down positions (Click Image To Enlarge)

Co-founder Che Voigt, demonstrating a slump in a typical office chair. says.

"We end up sitting like this.  You can make one of two choices: you can say you're going to sit in this uncomfortable position because it's more protective of your body. Or, I think we can go the other route, which is, how about we just let people work the way they want to?"

The Altwork Station reclines fully into a "zero-g": position -- basically as comfortable as being in bed (Click Image To Enlarge)

At the push of a button, the desk can tweak the position of everything or fully shift back into sitting or standing. As the back moves, the monitor moves with your eyes, the desk moves with your hands, and the back headrest shifts slightly in or out to best support your head. Throughout the day, in theory, you'll keep changing position (that is, if you don't get too comfortable lying down).

Co-founder Che Voigt, demonstrating a slump in a typical office chair, says. "You can make one of two choices: you can say you're going to sit in this uncomfortable position because it's more protective of your body. Or, I think we can go the other route, which is, how about we just let people work the way they want to?"  (Click Image To Enlarge)

Voigt says.

"You push a button, move something for literally half a second, but all your stuff's there.  You don't have to readjust. That's the barrier. We think sitting's bad for you, we think standing's bad for you, we don't think being in 'zero g' all the time is going to be good for you. We think being able to move, being able to easily change positions without even thinking about it, is the solution."

At the push of a button, the desk can tweak the position of everything or fully shift back into normal sitting position (Click Image To Enlarge)

Instead of someone conforming to a desk, the desk conforms to them. Voigt points to an old photo of an early office, where a typist sits hunched over a typewriter.   He says.

"We blame our smartphones, but it's not our phones, not our computers.  It's this idea that the machine goes on a flat surface, and we bend to the machine."

As the back moves, the monitor moves with your eyes, the desk moves with your hands, whether you are sitting, laying down or standing (Click Image To Enlarge)

The startup began developing the desk after another co-founder had injured his back, and he hacked together a reclining workstation because it was the only way to work comfortably. When he recovered, he realized he didn't want to go back to a regular desk.

Five years later, after over $1 million invested in development and a long line of prototypes and overcoming several engineering problems, the workstations are finally ready for manufacture.

You push a button, move something for literally half a second, but all your stuff's there (Click Image To Enlarge)

The target users: Anyone who's stuck in front of a computer all day long. In some offices, that might be almost everyone.  Voigt says.  

"You could imagine walking into an office of high intensity computer user type of people—engineers, software developers—and desks could be replaced by this.  It would look like the business class cabin on a jet."

In other offices, the workstations might be mixed in with other types of desks. Though the design seems somewhat sprawling in person—especially compared to a seat at a table in an open office—at 18 square feet, it's actually smaller than a standard cubicle. It's also on wheels, so it can roll to the side, if needed, in a home office.

I spent a half hour reclining in the chair as I talked with Voigt, and leaning all the way back is as comfortable as it looks. The designers think that comfort leads to better work.  Voigt says.  

"I've found myself to feel more creative, I feel like I do better work, I can get deeper into what I'm working on, when I can get that quiet, focused period," 

Leaning back could also serve as a signal to others that you shouldn't be disturbed.  Jim Shissler, the startup's marketing lead, says.  

"We have a theory that when you get into that reclined position, it's a visual cue to other folks—leave me alone, I need to think."  

Voigt continues.  

"Yes, it looks like furniture, but we don't see ourselves in the furniture business.  This is a productivity tool. That's slightly different but really important to us. This whole thing is designed around the person, but when we make decisions, the first thing we think about is how can we make a high intensity computer user more productive and more comfortable. We think the comfort creates creativity, and with productivity creates your best work."

The catch? It starts at $3,900. The company is taking preorders now, and the chairs will be delivered mid-next year.

COMMENTARY:  The above images do not do the Altwork Station any justice.  Here's a YouTube video that demonstrates the ergonomic and humanistic capabilities of this new productivity tool.

 

Love the Altwork Station.  It is so 21st century.  NASA should take note.

Courtesy of an article dated October 28, 2015 appearing in Fast Company Exist

Follow Me:   Twitter: turk5555    Facebook: 797743955    LinkedIn: turk5555 

Subscribe To My Blog Newfeed

 

HOW TO HIRE A GREAT DATA SCIENTIST AS THE DEMAND FOR BIG DATA ANALYTICS RISES AND A SERIOUS TALENT SHORTAGE LOOMS

 

The huge demand for big data analytics, and scarcity in individuals with the right skills and experience, is driving the starting salaries for data scientists over $200,000, and it is going to get worse

A new species of techie is in demand these days—not only in Silicon Valley, but also in company headquarters around the world.  Pascal Clement, the head of Amadeus Travel Intelligence in Madrid, says.  

“Data scientists are the new superheroes.”

The description isn’t exactly hyperbolic:  The qualifications for the job include the strength to tunnel through mountains of information and the vision to discern patterns where others see none. Clement’s outfit is part of Amadeus IT Holding, the world’s largest manager of flight bookings for airlines, which has more than 40 data scientists on its payroll, including some with a background in astrophysics. The company recently launched Schedule Recovery, a product that tracks delays and automatically rebooks all affected passengers.

A study by McKinsey projects that “by 2018, the U.S. alone may face a 50 percent to 60 percent gap between supply and requisite demand of deep analytic talent.”  The shortage is already being felt across a broad spectrum of industries, including aerospace, insurance, pharmaceuticals, and finance. When the consulting firm Accenture surveyed its clients on their big-data strategies in April 2014, more than 90 percent said they planned to hire more employees with expertise in data science—most within a year.  However, 41 percent of the more than 1,000 respondents cited a lack of talent as a chief obstacle.  Narendra Mulani, senior managing director at Accenture Analytics, says.

“It will get worse before it gets better.” 

Many data scientists have Ph.D.s or postdoctorates and a background in academic research, says Marco Bressan, president for data and analytics at BBVA, a Spanish bank that operates in 31 countries and has a team of more than 20 data scientists. He says.

“We have nanotechnologists, physicists, mathematicians, specialists in robotics.  It’s people who can explore large volumes of data that aren’t structured.”

So-called unstructured data can include e-mails, videos, photos, social media, and other user-generated content. Data scientists write algorithms to extract insights from these troves of information. But “true data scientists are rare,” says Ricard Benjamins, head of business intelligence and big data at Telefónica, Europe’s second-largest phone company, which employs more than 200 of them.  Stan Humphries, chief economist at Zillow, the real estate listings site, says:

“You can find a great developer and a great researcher who has a background in statistics, and maybe you can find a great problem solver, but to find that in the same person is hard.”

Universities are taking note. MIT, where graduate students in physics, astronomy, and biology are fielding offers from outside their chosen fields, is in the process of setting up a dedicated data-science institute. Marilyn Wilson, the university’s associate director for career development, says the center will begin enrolling graduate degree candidates in 2016.

In the U.K., the University of Warwick introduced a three-year undergraduate data-science program last year, which David Firth, the program’s mastermind, says may well be the first of its kind.  He says.

“Big Business was complaining about the lack of people.  Finance is a major employer, but also large-scale insurers, large online commercial retailers, high-tech startups, and government, which has huge data sets.”

Accenture’s Mulani says he’s tallied some 30 new data-science programs in North America, either up and running or in the works. The University of Virginia began offering a master’s in 2014, as did Stanford. Many of those students may be tempted to drop out before collecting their degree.  Margot Gerritsen, director of Stanford’s Institute for Computational & Mathematical Engineering, says.

“Companies are scrambling.  We have second- and third-year students getting offered salaries much higher than what I get.”

Starting pay for some full-time jobs is above $200,000, she reports. Summer internships, meanwhile, pay anywhere from $6,000 to $10,000 a month.   To make these stints memorable, many employers offer perks such as free meals, complimentary gym memberships, and occasionally temporary housing.   Gerritsen says.  

“Sometimes you read about students getting abused in internships and working like slaves.  We don’t see that.”

The bottom line: McKinsey projects that by 2018 demand for data scientists may be as much as 60 percent greater than the supply.

COMMENTARY:  There is no doubt that data scientists are in high demand.  There is simply not enough talent to fill the jobs.  Why? Because the sexiest job of 21st century requires a mixture of broad, multi-disciplinary skills ranging from an intersection of mathematics, statistics, computer science, communication and business.   Finding a data scientist is hard.  Finding people who understand who a data scientist is, is equally hard. 

Jean-Paul Isson, Monster Worldwide, Inc. says.

“Being a data scientist is not only about data crunching. It’s about understanding the business challenge, creating some valuable actionable insights to the data, and communicating their findings to the business.” 

It is very unlikely that you will be able to hire a data scientist who can solve all your data problems. The skill-set presented below is a guide on how the modern data team should be equipped.

Click Image To Enlarge

What Makes a Great Data Scientist?

What are the personality traits of today’s data scientists? Do they have the skills needed to support businesses’ changing needs? How can senior management build cohesive teams to drive the most value from big data? Is this fast evolving discipline causing stress to its practitioners?   These are some of the questions that SAS Analytics tried to answer when it conducted a survey in 2014 of 596 respondents in the UK and Ireland who identified themselves as part of the data science profession. The survey highlights 10 key personality types as well as some of the challenges data scientists are facing today.

Summary of Findings

• Data scientists with “traditional” traits (analytical, logical, technical) make up the largest group (41 per cent), yet a significant proportion of data scientists display other traits, such as strong communication and creativity skills.
• We expect a lot from data scientists: to be technically proficient, mathematically agile, business savvy and good at communicating. Yet 55 per cent of data scientists have fewer than three years of experience in the discipline, and more than a quarter are adapting their behaviours to fulfil roles that are not well matched to their skills or work personality profiles.
• In most personality types there is a 70:30 split between men and women. The Geeks, the profile with technical bias, strong logic and analytical skills, shows a higher percentage of women at 37 per cent compared to 63 per cent for men.
• Data scientists are exhibiting high levels of work-related stress, with a total of 55 per cent of the respondents showing a level of stress, with 1 in 4 male and just under a third of female data scientists being heavily stressed.
• Organisations must better identify and define what they need from data scientists. Only then can they build and develop multi-faceted teams with the complementary skills needed to realise the full value of big data.  

This SAS survey report looked at the aggregated data of the initial 596 responses, received from 405 men (68 per cent) and 191 women (32 per cent).  Respondents’ experience ranged from less than a year to a handful of data science pioneers who have committed more than 21 years to the discipline.

The survey was based on the well-established DISC profiling methodology, which has been used for more than half a century to categorise respondents into a range of personality types with recognised characteristics.

By using DISC, SAS able to create the typical profiles of today’s data scientists, and explore how these compare to skills and personalities required by organisations.

The DISC Personality Profiling Methodology

The DISC methodology has been widely used to assess personality types for decades. This information is often utilised to analyse and build effective teams, improve communication and increase productivity. DISC is based upon a two-axis matrix:

• Vertical Axis:  Proactive to Reactive  
• Horizontal Axis: Introvert to Extrovert 

This generates four possible combinations – named D, I, S and C.  Individuals possess measures of all four of these combinations but in varying amounts. The values for each combination is calculated and plotted on a graph to illustrate the relative strengths of each.  These values can be matched to known behavioural characteristics to describe an individual’s personality profile.

Click Image To Enlarge

The Data Scientist Personality Mix

The SAS analysis identified ten psychometric profiles evident within the data scientist community, based on the responses to the survey so far.   These profiles are characterised by definable patterns that are well known to scientists and were consistently apparent in the survey sample.  

The ‘traditional’ traits associated with data scientists – such as technical, analytical and logical skills – still dominate. However, other less technical traits – such as project management, creativity and good communication skills – are also present. Organisations need data savvy individuals who are technically proficient, mathematically minded, business oriented and strong communicators.

It’s unlikely that any individual will have all of the skills required to maximise the value of big data.  So it’s important for managers to identify the particular skills needed and build a cohesive team of individuals with complementary skills and traits.  As we will see later in the report, failure to do so can result in individuals trying to fulfil roles to which they are not suited – which may lead to stress and burn-out.

Distribution of Personality Types in SAS Survey Sample

Click Image To Enlarge

 

Final Conclusions Drawn From The Survey

There is huge pressure on data scientists to display a range of skills: technical, mathematical, creative, business aptitude and communication. Unsurprisingly, organisations struggle to find this mix of skills in just one person, particularly when the majority of data scientists have only a few years of experience.

It is therefore important for managers to build cohesive, diverse teams that can answer all the needs of the organisation – not just data scientists but also data savvy managers to interpret the insights and transform them into actions. Organisations will need to:

• Manage the business’ expectations from data scientists
• Find and develop individuals with the appropriate skills and personality traits
• Create teams of individuals with complementary skills and experience
• Encourage peer to peer support, learning and development
• Match training to the business’ requirements.

It’s possible that, as technology develops, there will be less of a weighting towards the more traditional, technical personality traits – while demand for the less frequently found profiles such as the Ground Breakers, the Teachers and the Seekers will grow. As more respondents take part in SAS surveys, it is hoped to be able to explore this interesting development further.

Courtesy of an article dated June 4, 2015 appearing in Bloomberg Businessweek, an article dated August 30, 2014 appearing in Marketing Distillary and the results of a SAS survey titled, "What Makes A Great Data Scientist?"

Follow Me:   Twitter: turk5555    Facebook: 797743955    LinkedIn: turk5555 

Subscribe To My Blog Newfeed

 

TWITTER VIEWS VINE AS AN ENTERTAINMENT PLATFORM, NOT AD PLATFORM, WHICH IS WHY BRAND ADS NOT APPEARING IN VINE

Two years ago, Twitter-owned Vine was growing like kudzu. It was widely embraced by both consumers and marketers who sought to push the envelope with creative six-second clips. But the explosion of new video formats on Facebook, Snapchat and YouTube, which all now boast sizable scale, has caused top brands to quietly slip away.  Tyler Hissey, senior digital strategist at Hill Holliday, explained.  

"Over time, it became difficult for many marketers to achieve scale [on Vine].  In the last six months or so, brands have started to de-emphasize Vine as a channel because of the targeting capabilities on all these other platforms."

Data is proving this out. Video analytics firm Tubular Labs reviewed Vine, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube accounts of 40 major brands, including Coca-Cola, Target and Dunkin' Donuts. Between September and November, marketers posted 2,500 social videos, and Vine contributed just 113 of those clips—equivalent to 4 percent of branded content.

Click Image To Enlarge

Only 13 of the 40 brands posted to Vine during the third quarter of 2015, down from 21 in the first quarter of this year, Tubular found.

General Electric—renowned in marketing circles as an early adopter of new platforms—hasn't posted to Vine since last January, while social-savvy Mountain Dew's account doesn't appear to have been touched since April.

Tubular Labs co-founder Allison Stern said.

"I assume that brands are having this platform fatigue.  Marketers today are savvy about experimenting on a platform, but if it's not working for them, they're going to drop it."

One of the main reasons brands are turning away from Vine is because unlike its competitors, Vine doesn't have an advertising model, although brands often buy Twitter ads to promote their clips, noted Topher Burns, group director of distribution at Deep Focus.

 

Burns said.

"In terms of a distribution channel, Vine fails in comparison to what we'd expect from the other three [platforms]."

All that said, Vine still shines when social stars are involved. Instead of brands posting their own content, Burns said that clients are looking to team up with top influencers who have amassed massive followings to create sponsored content.

For example, when Dunkin' Donuts recently sought to promote its mobile app, it tapped social media star Logan Paul to create funny sponsored Vine and Instagram posts around its stores. The coffee seller used Twitter to push Paul's goofy clip, which shows him throwing a box of donuts in the air and has accumulated more than 3 million loops—Vine's view metric—in the past month.

Melanie Cohn, social media marketing manager at Dunkin' Donuts said.

"We find that Vine videos fulfill our fans' need for pure entertainment that they can't really find anywhere else." 

Tom Buontempo, president of Attention, agreed that influencers boost branded content on Vine, but noted that his shop is getting more Snapchat work as social media stars look to build audiences across multiple platforms.

He said.  

"Like a media property, they're looking to expand their footprint as much as they can.  We're doing more Snapchat campaigns through influencers than we are for any other platform right now."

Still other agency execs contend that Vine's problems stem from Twitter's sales pitch. Twitter is beefing up its advertising offerings for brands with new native video formats, livestreaming app Periscope and Niche—a platform that connects brands with creators—but Vine is often treated as an afterthought.

Mark Book, vp, director of Digitas Studios said.

"It seems to be a bit on the back burner as of late.  It is incredibly challenging to weave a brand or product narrative into a piece of content in six seconds. We have seen success with stop-motion and live events that tell a larger, real-time story, but those opportunities are few and far between."

COMMENTARY:  I think that this survey was too small to draw any conclusions concerning Vine's adoption by major brands, but there are other important reasons why brands aren't using Vine or Periscope as advertising platforms.  Twitter does not view Vine as a competitor to Facebook which has been highly successful with its video ads.  Vine has its eyes set on becoming less of a social network and more of an entertainment platform.  Speaking with Re/Code, Vine’s product manager, Jason Toff said,

“When Vine started it was a social network. But what we’ve found…is that the way people are most successful using Vine is as an entertainment network. So if you look at the product releases we’ve focused on, you’ll notice that there’s a trend toward this entertainment aspect.”

According to AdAge, Twitter's plan to make money from Vine and Periscope looks a lot different from the strategy it's pursuing with its core product.

Neither video platform will feature traditional, force-fed advertising, at least in the near term, according to Joel Lunenfeld, Twitter's VP-global brand strategy. Instead, Twitter is working with brands to promote content from these platforms within its core product, and serving as a middleman between brands and stars with major social followings.

Mr. Lunenfeld said at the Collision tech conference in Las Vegas in May 2015.  

"As of right now we don't have plans for promoted Vines or promoted Periscopes." 

For now, that means Twitter will likely lean heavily on Niche, a company that connects brands with social media all-stars.  Twitter acquired Niche in February for a reported $30 million. Niche, Mr. Lunenfeld said, has relationships with 10,000 social media "creators" and is especially well connected on Vine.

Twitter makes money from Vine, a personality-driven platform, by connecting brands with talent. Those stars, who command massive followings, then create branded content on the platform. Brittany Furlan, one such star, is followed by 9.1 million people, for instance.  Nash Grier, another star, is followed by 11.6 million people.

Mr. Lunenfeld said.

"A brand or an ad agency comes to us and says, 'I'm launching a new product; it's targeted to this audience.' We'll say, 'Okay, here's 15 people [and] five of them, alone, have a combined audience bigger than BuzzFeed.'"

HP, in one case, used Niche to find talent to create ten Vines promoting the launch of a convertible laptop. The Vines were so engaging, Mr. Lunenfeld said, that the company turned them into a 30-second TV ad.  He said.  

"We knew there was something special there, and the backend metrics showed that purchase intent, brand awareness, all those things went up."

 

Twitter must be careful with its approach to advertising on Vine.  The community on the platform is tight-knit and not likely to respond positively to ads forced into their streams. Instagram, another visual platform, faced a backlash when it introduced ads.

Mr. Lunenfield said.  

"We're really focusing on building the product, the experience and the community first.  Then we've got strong relationships with every advertiser to learn how to promote that through Twitter proper."  

In conclusion, Twitter has no plans to convert Vine and Periscope into advertising platforms.  Brands use the Twitter platform for engaging with its fans, and this is where promoted ads and videos will be placed.  

Having said this, it is important to distinguish between Twitter's Vine app adoption by brands and individual Twitter users.  By the third quarter 2013, Vine was the fastest growing mobile app in the world with 23.65 million users and grew at 403% during 2013.  Instagram had 109.7 million users, but only grow 130% during 2013.

Click Image To Enlarge

Twitter does not publish Vine statistics, but I found that The Social Media Hat compiled the following Vine statistics taken from different sources.

• 200 Million - Number of Vine monthly active users (8/27/15)
• 31.7% - Monthly growth rate of Vine monthly active users (12/7/15)
• 14% - Vine's reach of total U.S. digital population (4/2/15)
• 100 Million - Number of people that watch Vine videos each month (8/20/14)
• 1.5 Billion - Number of Vine loops played daily (1/26/15)
• 1 Trillion - Number of Vine loops played annually (1/26/15)
• 28% - Percentage of Vine users 18-24 years of age (12/31/14)

Click Image To Enlarge 

In a blog post dated October 29, 2015, I reported that Twitter had 320 million monthly active users during their Q3 2015 earnings conference call.  User growth has stagnated and remains in low single digits on a quarter-to-quarter basis.  Increasing user growth and engagement and making Twitter easier for everyone to use is the biggest challenge facing CEO Jack Dorsey.  Video advertising has taken a foothold on Facebook, and this is widely accepted as the most effective means to reach consumers.  You can expect that Twitter will follow suit, and that Vine and Periscope video ads will play a major role in their advertising strategy.

Courtesy of an article dated December 6, 2015 appearing in AdWeek, an article dated October 27, 2015 appearing in AdWeek, an article dated December 7, 2015 appearing in R/ECode, an article dated May 8, 2015 appearing in AdAge, and an article dated July 14, 2015 appearing in Business Insider

Follow Me:   Twitter: turk5555    Facebook: 797743955    LinkedIn: turk5555 

Subscribe To My Blog Newfeed

 

DATA-DRIVEN MARKETING: TOP OBJECTIVES, CHALLENGES, QUALITY OF DATA AND SOURCES OF DATA

Businesses are increasingly incorporating data into their marketing efforts in order to create more personalized customer experiences and better measure ROI, according to a recent report from Ascend2.

The report was based on data from a survey of 234 marketing, sales, and business professionals from around the world.

Some 60% respondents say creating more personalized customer experiences is an important objective of using data as part of their marketing efforts; 51% say measuring data-driven ROI is a top goal.

Click Image To Enlarge

Top Obstacles

More than half (59%) of respondents say poor data quality is a top obstacle to their data-driven marketing efforts; 51% say integration across platforms is a major challenge.

Click Image To Enlarge

Data Quality

Just 16% of respondents say the quality of the data they use for marketing purposes is very good; 57% say it is somewhat good, 23% say somewhat poor, and 4% say very poor.

Click Image To Enlarge

Data Sources

Some 85% of companies surveyed say they use data they collect themselves; 49% use data from marketing partners, and 40% purchase data from third-party sources.

Click Image To Enlarge

About the research: The report was based on data from a survey of 234 marketing, sales, and business professionals from around the world.

COMMENTARY:  If you are interested in learning more about big data, data mining, predictive analytics and data driven marketing, please click HERE.

Courtesy of an article dated November 23, 2015 appearing in MarketingProfs