Technology Revolution: The Future of Now

"Are you working hard or hardly working?" goes the old saying. Today, we're seeing a massive shift in how people work due to the co-impact of big data, mobile, cloud, and social media. Are you feeling it yet? Our experts speak: Alan Lepofsky / Constellation RG: "New technologies such as in-memory database, mobile, and cloud are transforming the way people work." Richard Edwards / Ovum: "Often using their own mobile devices and free-to-use cloud-based community collaboration solutions, employees are applying their consumer persona and experiences in the workplace and in the field; changing the way the job gets done and results are achieved." Kijoon Lee / SAP: "Every now and then, we see a truly disruptive technology emerge. In-memory database is one of these. This technology will change the face of business and transform how millions of people work and live." Join us for more insights on Changing How You Work: Big Data, Social, and Mobile Collide and Converge.

M2M. Rise of the machines. The promise of a world of connected devices, where machines of all types and sizes can autonomously communicate with each other. Don't believe it's a reality yet? Global M2M revenue is projected to soar from $121 million in 2010 to $948 billion by 2020, the year Ericsson predicts the number of connected devices will reach 50 billion. Our experts have a lot to say. Jason Sumner, EIU: "M2M is going to be big. We have heard this before but there are reasons to believe it's different this time." Joe Dignan, Ovum: "When is M2M not M2M? I would suggest a lot of the time. There are fully automated processes but a great many examples of what I am told is M2M needs a human 'guiding mind' somewhere in the interaction." Fergus O'Reilly, SAP: "Customers no longer buy products, they buy experiences. This is the real driver for the move to 'Everything-as-a-Service'." Join us for their insights on M2M Rise of the Machines: Coming to a smart city near you.

Social communities and storytelling. The connection? Ask the experts.Rachel Happe, The Community Roundtable: "Social communities leverage an increasingly expensive asset - people - by allowing them to work out loud, connect with more people, establish trust, and find relevant information and solutions more quickly. Our job as community sponsors is to co-create value and be the storytellers of that value. It is no longer a story about us alone, but about that collaborative journey." Sean O'Driscoll, Ant's Eye View, "Social engagement is a journey with defined stages leading to the fully engaged enterprise…Digital storytelling is a critical new competency." Mark Yolton, SAP: "As SAP CMO Jonathan Becher likes to say, 'Big glass buildings don't buy software…people do.' With the lines between B2B and B2C blurring, enterprise marketers must become better storytellers to articulate the impact of their solutions on real people." Join us for more on Building a Social Community: Tell Me a Story!

Factory of the past vs. the future. Does Charlie Chaplin's struggling Little Tramp in the 1936 film "Modern Times" represent today's factory worker and the shop floor scenario? No, according to IDC's Bob Parker. "Recent research conducted by IDC Manufacturing Insights shows that manufacturing employees care deeply about quality, and management truly appreciates their team's skills and dedication. The age of contentious labor/management relations is over in manufacturing. SAP's Mike Lackey is optimistic, too. "What's under the water? Manufacturing is active, growing and improving like a living entity." The factory of the future? IDC's Pier Manenti predicts, "Mobility will be integral to workforce engagement. The amount of network traffic on the factory floor will increase by an order of magnitude in the next five years. Persistently connected employees and assets are a fast-approaching reality. Join us for more insights on Factory of the Future: Ready, Set, Now – Part 2.

Right Time Experiences. Huge business potential for you, but mobile solutions require business insight, technical chops and strong design to get it right.

You're a game-changer! You've created the new product or service of the millennium, but have no money to take it to market. Your best options: beg your FFF (family, friends, fools) circle, tap an angel for seed money, or convince a venture capitalist to invest millions. Our experts have a lot to say. Chris O'Connor / Taptera : "You've got to have a pretty face (user experience) to get attention; the old 'desktop' solution isn't very sexy with VCs." Sanjay Parthawarathy / Investor: "When the VC's ego is valued higher than the funding, it's better to look elsewhere." MR Rangaswami / Sand Hill Group: "In these frothy financial times, how many entrepreneurs want to use the strategy of a company that is 'Built to Last' versus 'Built to Flip'?" Gaurav Tewari / SAP Ventures: "Picking the right investor is one of the most crucial decisions for an entrepreneur. If you thought getting married is a commitment, try raising money." Join us for more on the Sweet and Sour of Investing – Part 2.

Digital marketing. Your increasingly digitally-smart customers expect more from your website than being able to buy something. They're demanding a relevant, personalized browsing experience with new product discovery, research, price comparisons and feedback exchange. But if your company is just going through the motions of ecommerce, you'll lose them fast. Our experts can help you get there. Glenn Conradt: "Companies need to start incorporating contextualized content into the e-commerce experience to leverage the Internet as a dynamic and profitable sales, marketing and service channel." Scott Liewehr: "Big data is the Lady Gaga of digital marketing – all hype, no substance." Jamie Anderson: "'eCommerce is DEAD! Long live distributed commerce.' I love this. I read it from a blog on eConsultancy...Engaging and selling to today's digitally savvy customer is a lot more challenging than merely having a website and being open for business." Join us for The Future of Digital Marketing: Now!

Sales transformation. A catch phrase "for virtually every C-level executive in the race to find answers to questions about sales and earnings growth, positioning and differentiation; even survival," says Bob Nicols, author of The Journey to Sale Transformation: Twenty-five Axioms for Becoming a Trusted Partner to your Customers. Bob and other experts have a lot to say about why and how your sales organization needs to change...now. Bob Nicols, AXIOM Sales Force Development: "Sales is the most broken of all business functions." Kimberly Senior, AT&T: "Transformation, like a leopard's spots changing, happens seldom and slowly. Transformation is a marathon, not a sprint. So, the key to success in driving any type of transformation is committed, focused, disciplined incremental improvement over time." Nicholas Kontopoulos, SAP: "Sales force automation is dead :)." Join us for their insights on Sales Transformation: From approved vendor to trusted advisor.

M2M. Rise of the machines. The promise of a world of connected devices, where machines of all types and sizes can autonomously communicate with each other. Don't believe it's a reality yet? Global M2M revenue is projected to soar from $121 million in 2010 to $948 billion by 2020, the year Ericsson predicts the number of connected devices will reach 50 billion. Our experts have a lot to say. Jason Sumner, EIU: "M2M is going to be big. We have heard this before but there are reasons to believe it's different this time." Joe Dignan, Ovum: "When is M2M not M2M? I would suggest a lot of the time. There are fully automated processes but a great many examples of what I am told is M2M needs a human 'guiding mind' somewhere in the interaction." Fergus O'Reilly, SAP: "Customers no longer buy products, they buy experiences. This is the real driver for the move to 'Everything-as-a-Service'." Join us for their insights on M2M Rise of the Machines: Coming to a smart city near you.

Utilities. How "smart" are they about the smart meter data they can now read and its value to the consumer? Our experts weigh in. Roque Marinho: "With the smart meter being part of operations...utilities have to cope with the fact that there is no turning back on the 'quantum leap' on the multitude of reads." Stuart Ravens: "Smartness begins and ends with analyzing the vast volumes of data created in a smart grid deployment." Christine Hertzog: "There's not much research about how much consumers really understand about who might touch their energy consumption data (nor what it's worth) when third parties are involved." James McClelland: "A whole new area of service will be created, providing energy efficiency to the consumer. How far inside of the meter do you want outside companies to have automatic access to adjust your energy consumption? Depending on the type of customer you are, I think the answer will be, 'It depends.'" Join us for Utilities: Shining the light on the smart grid.