MDM is exclusively for large, complex organizations strewn across the globe. MDM projects require large budgets and extensive timelines and organizations will only see benefits years down the road.

At least that’s the pervasive MDM myth. But is it true?

On a recent Informatica post, Jakki Geiger writes about many common traits shared among organizations using MDM applications and technologies. They include:

1) Company size is $500M+

2) Experiencing rapid company growth, likely due to mergers and acquisitions

3) Facing a compelling event such as a new regulation (examples include WEEE in Manufacturing, Basel III in Financial Services,Sunshine Act in Pharmaceuticals) or a change in business dynamics that results in a drop in revenue or profit,  triggering a renewed focus on efficiency and cost savings

For the entire list, check out the post.

While reading the list, I was struck my how many of these traits are big company-specific. That is, someone in a mid-market or mid-sized organization might not appreciate the need for MDM. That doesn’t mean, though, that such a need doesn’t exist.

Size Matters

Without a doubt, not every organization needs to embrace MDM. For instance, the small businesses profiled in The New Small (my third book) run far too few systems to make MDM truly necessary. Indeed, there’s nary a mention of MDM in that book. Growing companies in multiple locations and/or countries, however, are a vastly different story. While there’s no magic number of revenue, employees, or customers to make MDM viable, at some point many organizations cross the MDM chasm–the point at which MDM just plain makes sense. Beyond size, when many people think of MDM projects, they conjure up images of 18-month marathons with uncertain payoffs at the end.

Simon Says

Today, is MDM still primarily just a big company thing? Sure, and that won’t change tomorrow or next week. Increasingly, though, many are coming to understand that MDM certainly can benefit growing companies (read: those not quite at the half-billion mark).

Sure, most small companies and even mid-sized organizations haven’t jumped on the MDM train just yet. In my view, though, that’s starting to change, especially with the increasing array of available open-source MDM alternatives. Talend’s Open Studio for MDM is just one of many legitimate options for organizations loathe to drop hundreds of thousands of dollars (or more) on an traditional software license.

For those worried about long, drawn-out implementations with no end game, fear not. I find the increasingly adoption of Agile methods (even in the MDM world) to be a generally positive development.

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In Part V of this series, I provided an example of an organization in dire need of some Applefication. In this concluding part, I look at what could derail Apple’s charge in the enteprise.

Challenges and the Future

For a wide variety of reasons, not every enterprise is ready to embrace Applefication. Beyond the cost of buying and deploying new technologies, significant issues still to be addressed. As I look toward the future, consider a few things that may hinder Apple’s growth in the enterprise.

First, Apple may well nowhere to go but down. What’s more, the company might have a hard time meeting demand for its products, especially when natural disasters take place (read: Thailand) Beyond that, in a sense nothing has changed: Organizations that insist upon superfluous complexity will certainly have it. Buying iPads doesn’t fix broken companies.

More generally, as others have pointed out, culture eats strategy for lunch. It isn’t easy to convince  old-school IT employees and departments that simple is better—when their jobs depend upon complex. And not every organization has the budget for pricier (if superior) iProducts. Sometimes, good enough is exactly that, particularly in cash-strapped and low-margin industries.

And let’s not forget forthcoming product introductions from companies like Microsoft. Now that Apple has led the way with tablets and smart phones, expect forthcoming improvements from more traditional enterprise vendors.

Platforms Guarantee Nothing

Perhaps the most significant challenge to Apple is Apple itself–specifically, the tendency for successful companies do the following:

• become complacent
• ignore The Innovator’s Dilemma
• misunderstand its ecosystem.

These first two have been well studied and documented. With respect to the third, Ron Adner recently wrote an excellent piece in HBR. To me, the key piece is this:

In the rush to match the pieces, most of Apple’s rivals have missed the critical connections that draw the entire ecosystem together into a coherent whole.

What if Apple loses touch with its ecosystem? Likely? No. Possible. You better believe it. Look at RIM. Some claim that RIM has really done nothing wrong; it has merely been surpassed. Today, its smartphone market share has dropped to 12 percent (although it’s probably much higher with enterprises.) More alarming, that number may plummet further.

Even if RIM develops sleek new product, the company’s apps are anything but cutting edge. Ecosystems are arguably just as important as the products they support.

Final Thoughts

As discussed in this series, Apple is firing on all cylinders these days. It clearly understands the power of its platform and ecosystem , the consumerization of IT, and the criticality of an optimal end-user experience.

The platform business model fundamentally differs from other, more internally based business models. A company can do everything “right” (read: strategy and execution) and still fall from grace because its ecosystem changes. To guarantee Apple’s continued success in the enterprise would be the acme of foolishness. In at least the short and mid terms, however, expect more large organizations to go Apple.

The house was quiet before Henry (foreground) arrived. Ginger (background) would rarely bark. Now, when Henry hears something even the slightest bit unfamiliar, he will utter a soft grrrrr. Ginger then follows with a louder grrrrrrrrrr. Then, Henry barks softly. Then, Ginger barks. Within a matter of 5 seconds, they’re both going ballistic.

Now, I can handle it and I will go Dog Whisperer on them, but I was thinking that this is how frenzies get created in all walks of life. Including information management. Analysts, bloggers, vendors and the media alike don’t want to get left behind so the ante continually gets upped. Does big data affect your life? The 2-word phrase has almost lost its meaning with so many vendors claiming it for so many different things.

I like MIKE and one of the reasons is that it’s written by practitioners. You don’t see a lot of “survey says” here. You see a lot of 1-1 experiences being shared. You can determine the hype level better that way.

Now, excuse me while I see what the fuss is about in the other room. Probably nothing.

In Part IV of this series, I provided an example of an organization in dire need of some Applefication. In this concluding part, I look at Apple’s ecosystem.

Think about what has happened over the last five years in the technology world. In a word, the developments have been amazing. Trends and events that we are only beginning to comprehend include:

• The consumerization of IT has changed the game. Period.
• iPhones are replacing Blackberries, even in many conservative organizations.
• Apple stores have redefined retail, bringing unprecedented levels of energy to malls.
• iTunes’ one-click purchasing saved the music industry–and iBooks is on track to do the same thing with college textbooks.
• 3-year olds use iPads.
• iPads are replacing traditional laptops for many employees.
• Private app stores are emerging.

We’ve seen the start of an important emerging trend: the Applefication of the enteprise. And if you think that Applefication is confined to knowledge and white-collar workers, think again. Even blue collar workers are increasingly using iPads and iPhones in the workplace.

How Apple is Conquering the Enterprise

While more expensive than their alternatives, Apple products are worth a premium in the eyes of many consumers. Credit their ease of use and popularity and elegant design. And it is this very popularity that should ensure the continued development and support of new and existing apps. Translation: Apple’s ecosystem is stronger than ever, something hardly lost on technology decision makers in large organizations.

This is critical. Imagine the horror of CIOs that bought HP TouchPads en masse in July of 2011, only to find out weeks later that HP was effectively killing the device.

Whoops.

Apple’s penetration of the enterprise stems from many factors. Exhibit A: Its ecosystem. The strength of Apple’s ecosystem means that enterprise apps will continue to be developed for its products–and probably at an increasing rate. Force.com and Jive software are but two examples.

Apple’s ecosystem includes–and, in fact, may center upon–the rapid deployment of apps. While apps don’t really work for complex ERP and CRM apps (yet), the AppStore model better is clearly a superior one. Launching apps requires far less IT involvement and cost relative to traditional deployments. While initially proven in the consumer space, companies like Genentech are adapting it to the enteprise world.

And the model just makes sense, especially among talented, in-demand employees–many of whom who have left jobs because they were forced to use deficient technologies.

Finally, while not a major factor, Steve Jobs’ death shed light on his genius. Today, it’s just plain hip to be associated with Apple.

Competitor Missteps

As brilliantly as Apple has executed, that alone doesn’t explain the whole story. No, we have to look outward. Apple can credit a number of other external factors for its increasing enterprise penetration, including:

• End user and IT frustration with existing applications, infrastructure.
• Too many chiefs. Many IT departments are fed up with attempting to navigate complex EULAs, OEM agreements, and support issues among a cadre of vendors such as Microsoft and PC manufacturers like Lenovo.
• Disappointment with ROI on past IT projects.
• A new breed of CIOs and IT heads. These folks are less conservative and more open to new ways of doing things.
• Microsoft has fumbled the ball a few times. Vista bombed (look at its adoption rate in big companies) and the company failed to embrace cloud computing early on.
• HP hemmed and hawed on its PC business.

Of course, with respect to the tablet, until recently the iPad until recently faced no legitimate alternative. While that has changed with the success of Amazon’s Kindle Fire, the iPad is clearly a superior—if more expensive—device.

In the next part of the series, I’ll take a look at the future.

In Part III of this series, I looked at how increasingly self-reliant employees are no longer tolerating many behind-the-times’ IT departments. In this part, I provide a more in-depth example of this type of organization.

It’s May of 2011 and I’m psyched. I have finally started working with my new client, a large healthcare organization based in the midwestern United States. Let’s call it Joel Hospital here, although it’s a pseudonym. Joel has a need for a consultant with my particular skills and, for reasons unbeknownst to me, its previous two consultants did not pan out.

Joel decision makers and I have danced with each other for a few drawn-out months now, exchanging emails, discussing the cost and scope of the project, finalizing the contract, and getting to know each other. I have filled out a swath of non-disclosure forms promising not to do anything with the confidential employee data to which I will have access.

The process is beyond laborious and I bite my tongue a few times because I know how slowly many healthcare organizations move. No one would ever mistake Joel Healthcare for Facebook. I hope that my “difficult client radar” is off, although I am starting to understand why I am the third consultant Joel has called in.

At the time, I lived in New Jersey and, in order to minimize travel costs, Joel and I agree that much of the work can be performed remotely. A few weeks after signing the contract, I finally receive my log-in credentials via email and open the unusually large attachment. It clocks in at nearly 5 megabytes and is 15 pages in length. I shake my head and read the document, marveling at both its complexity and the number of things that I need to do to gain remote access to a single Joel desktop. In no particular order, I need to enter my user name, password, passcode (different than a password), dynamic four-digit personal identification number (PIN), and answer to a secret question.

I pick up the phone and call the woman who sent me the document (call her Betty here).  I ask if this is for real. I’ve logged in to dozens of external networks in my professional career and, by an order of magnitude, this is the most difficult one I’ve ever encountered. The process is even more cumbersome than those of my government clients. Betty doesn’t understand why I’m complaining because, she proudly admits, she wrote the document in question. I try to tread carefully, but I can tell that my mere call and questions annoy Betty.

Did I mention that I have to clear each of these hurdles just to get to the remote desktop? I’m miffed because that desktop is just the starting point for my work, the tip of what appears to be an insurmountable iceberg. For the five or so different front- and back-end applications that I’ll need to access to complete this project, I’ll need separate user names, passwords, and Lord knows what else for each one.

Betty stood firm. This is a simple process in her eyes. (I doubt that she has seen any other companies’ remote access policies.) I know that I’m not going to win this battle. So I labor on, following every instruction to the letter, hoping to see a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Instead, I hear a thud and see the daunting blue screen of death (BSOD) on my computer. I reboot it and again painstakingly follow the directions.

BSOD!

This is not good. I am not about to repeat the process. I know Einstein’s definition of insanity.

I call my friend John who is a certified computer wizard and long-time consultant. I explain my situation and he calmly tells me that the Joel’s network adapters are outdated. This has happened to him, and he assures me that it’s not my fault.

Relieved, I call my contacts at Joel and tell them about the network adapters. It’s a problem, but at least I think that I have found its solution. They are not impressed. They think that I’m being difficult and lazy.

We’re clearly not off to a great start, and the hard part should be doing the work required by this client, not logging into its network every day praying that my computer doesn’t crash. I make my case for a different way to connect to Joel’s network. It’s not 1999. Remotely connecting to a computer can be done in many simple, secure, and quick ways. I suggest a few of them and am told quite sternly by the head mucketty-muck that “that’s not the way we do things around here.”

Suddenly, I want to find the previous consultants and take them out for a beer. I decide that it’s time to cut my losses. I resign from the project before it gets any worse. This can’t possibly end well and I value my sanity above all else. Joel personnel don’t argue with me.

Broader Implications

In a nutshell, this little yarn represents what’s wrong with how far too many organizations use technology today. Times like these are why many employees want to go all Office Space on their computers. Think about it. I can use Google Maps to immediately look halfway across the globe but I can’t log in to a remote desktop to do actual work.

What’s wrong with this picture?

There’s good news, though. It doesn’t have to be this way. Technology can enable productivity, cost savings, and exciting innovations. Organizations just have to break old patterns, listen to employees, and embrace simplicity. In short, they have to act more like Apple.

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In the next installment of this series, I’ll take it up a level and look at some broader technological and enterprise trends.

History is replete with examples where ideas are launched with great fanfare and yet fail while subsequent iterations of very similar ideas are hugely successful.  The difference between a failed good idea and a success is often only a matter of a few subtle differences.

It can be argued that at any time there are just a few key trends which define technology support for business transformation and innovation in the industry as a whole.  In the past we have dealt with network trends that have resulted in better communications, infrastructure trends which have delivered standardisation and technology management trends that have given us a focus on project outcomes.

In each case, the wave that saw these ideas come through was preceded by iterations of similar concepts that simply failed to gain popular support.

The three big trends that we are dealing with in Information Technology at the moment are: digital disruption, cloud and big data.  All three tend to get discussed in isolation but are, in fact, closely related.  As much as anything, all three reflect the maturing of IT to join other forms of technology where subtle ergonomics, form and design are more important than a simple inventory of features and functions.

Digital is a business trend

Digital technologies are those that contain discrete (discontinuous) elements or values.  Contrary to popular misconception, digital does not mean online activities.  The opposite of digital is analogue where elements are not independent, such as business processes that cannot be isolated.

Digital business isolates individual business functions and their supply through business services, often through B2C or B2B online channels.  Once functions are isolated they can be recombined in new and innovative ways to create disruption.  Digital disruption.  Examples of this disruption include the recombination of supply chains, retail, financial products, telecommunications and even quite traditional manufacturing and mining activities.

The principles and technologies of digital business are not new, the industry has developed service oriented architecture (SOA) approaches over many years with exactly the same goal.  What has changed this time is subtle.  Rather than relying on standards for interfacing, digital approaches are relying on market forces to ensure that individual components are able to effectively exchange information.  Once again, market self-interest is trumping central planning!

Cloud as a power station

While the move towards cloud is complex, it is certainly not new.  Bureau computing through the 1980s (and even earlier) was just as much a cloud capability as today’s services.  With the success of the Internet people have been envisioning a move away from owning infrastructure to combining services online for over a decade.

When people talk about cloud, they often refer to the utility model.  The argument being that the move is inevitable.  After all, no-one generates their own electricity right?  In fact, the utility industry knows full well that electricity production is going a full circle with first solar and now increasing gas generation of electricity moving into the home.  Similarly, many proponents of cloud argue that it is the continuation of trend towards thin client applications, but similarly software architects are very aware that the rise of mobile apps has seen the return of the thick client with a vengeance!

Centralisation versus decentralization and thick versus thin are simply part of the cyclical nature of IT. Cloud is much more important.  It is the vehicle via which discrete services can be combined and delivered.  Whether it is the embedding of payment services in ecommerce solutions, CRM for call centres or the provision of storage of photos for home users the really interesting trend is how these services can be combined in new and commercially viable ways.

Big data is an expression of freedom from technology

Big data leverages the digital bread crumbs from all of the new services that cloud and digital, combined, enable and builds on the freedom that organisations are gaining by not having to own or build everything themselves.

When businesses have to own everything, they naturally try to define it in enormous detail.  With enterprises that are tightly interconnected (or naturally analogue) enterprise consistency and standards are paramount – hence the focus on master data.  As elements of the business become discrete (digital) they can be allowed a level of independence and their data is driven by an internal and external market rather than standards.  The result is big data (see my previous post, It’s time for a new definition of big data) which is as different from structured data as databases are from unstructured content.

Big data existed in the past, but without digital and cloud enterprises were reluctant to set it free for fear of losing control of already complex business processes.

User experience is everything

None of digital, cloud or big data are new.  What we are seeing is that these technologies are supporting each other in a way that is making them practical and the market is learning to use them in a way that fits with day-to-day business and consumer activities.

Digital business makes sense in a world that is used to sharing big data across organisational boundaries.  Cloud is important in a digital world that is not afraid of sharing or migrating whole business functions across boundaries and borders.  Big data’s digital bread crumbs rely on the cloud to free-up the organisation from having to maintain control of all information definitions.

Above all else, these trends are being picked-up because they are being manifested in solutions that are easy to understand and use.  Without app stores, payment services, CRMs and analytics tools which reflect the way people actually want to structure their businesses none of these trends would be taking hold.

In Part II of this series, I looked at the consumerization of IT as well as the Steve Jobs’ effect. Both have driven the Applefication of the Enterprise. In Part III, I continue explaining this recent phenomenon.

Why Tomorrow is No Longer Good Enough

Years ago, employees would dutifully call IT help desks to report problems. Analysts would open tickets, document issues, attempt to find a resolution, and eventually close the case—often to the dissatisfaction of the employee.

The trend of increase employee self-reliance is unmistakable. As I write in The Age of the Platform: How Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google Have Redefined Business, employees have become much more tech-savvy. They have embraced self-service with open arms, often only calling IT when they have exhausted their own efforts. In a world of constant tweets, creating or customizing your own product, hyper-accurate Google searches, it’s all about now. Many employees are used to doing their own troubleshooting—and the time required to explain a problem may exceed that of solving it. Tech-savvy employees refuse to wait for a call from IT. It’s no longer acceptable. They’ve become accustomed to doing it themselves.

At the same time, these tech-savvy, overworked, and impatient employees are less willing to tolerate inferior technology while on the clock. Thanks to the prevalence of smartphones, open source software, cloud computing, and social networks, there are more ways than ever for creative employees to fly under the radar and use technologies not sanctioned by understaffed corporate IT departments.

What’s more, the last ten years have given rise to the prosumer. The term has taken on multiple meanings—and not all of them are in synch. Duncan Riley defines the word as “a combination of producer and consumer that perfectly describe the millions of participants in the Web 2.0 revolution.” The prosumer is a professional–consumer hybrid much more comfortable with surfing the web, finding creative solutions, creating content, and solving vexing problems.

This takes us back to the simplifying products and technologies of prevalent consumer companies like Apple and Google. Tech-savvy employees don’t want to wait for their own companies to get with the times and upgrade legacy apps. That is, they are anything but passive. They want to use the best stuff at work (read: Apple’s) because they already use these products at home. Employees can clamor for new toys and devices, but if the company doesn’t have the money to spend, those cries will go unheeded. Fortunately for Apple, IT budgets have stabilized after years of contracting, allowing organizations to purchase Apple’s more expensive wares. And this is just the tip of the iceberg, as evinced by the recent rise in Apple’s stock. We are seeing nothing less than the Applefication of the Enterprise.

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In the next installment of this series, I’ll be providing an example of one of the many organizations in dire need of Applefication.

–Phil Simon

David Shalev

David Shalev is a business intelligence consultant with more then 20 years of in-depth BI experience in the global market. He has successfully held roles as Director, Projects Manager, Designer, Consultant, Analyst and Developer in all areas of Business intelligence including Data Warehousing, Dashboards and scorecards, Revenue Assurance, Information Portals, Executives Information Systems (EIS), Data Mining, BI-to-CRM integration, BI infrastructures, Data Integration, BI marketing, Guidance of BI courses, leading BI Methodology development and other subjects.

His experience was gained in Israel, US, Europe (UK, Greece, Poland, Romania), Asia (India, Singapore, Azerbaijan, Philippines) and South Africa.

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