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TRANSCRIPT
A Frost & Sullivan White Paper
Sponsored by Cisco
Why Everything You Thought You Knew about
Implementing New Technologies has Changed
Why Everything You Thought You Knew about Implementing New Technologies is Wrong
2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................................... 3
THE CHANGING BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY LANDSCAPE ........................................................................................... 3
THE NEW ROLE OF THE CIO: BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER ..................................................................................... 6
PARTNERING WITH A TECHNOLOGY EXPERT: THE BUDGET IMPACT ...................................................................... 7
CHOOSING A TECHNOLOGY SERVICES PARTNER .................................................................................................... 7
WHY CONSIDER CISCO SERVICES AS YOUR TECHNOLOGY SERVICES PARTNER ....................................................... 9
CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................................................... 11
ABOUT FROST & SULLIVAN .................................................................................................................................. 12
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INTRODUCTION
In advance of the 2014 World Cup, a Sao Paulo-based tour operator moved its e-commerce site to a
public cloud, expecting to leverage the cloud’s scalability and utility pricing to confidently and cost-
effectively handle the anticipated influx of customers.
The plan failed miserably. Site visits fell well short of goals. Travelers that did visit the site abandoned
their carts at twice the normal rate, some complaining on social media about slow-loading pages and
frozen transactions. Bookings were so slow that the company severely discounted its services in the
weeks before the World Cup, resulting in tens of thousands of dollars in missed revenue opportunity.
It was an all-too-common case of a good technology (cloud) poorly implemented. Or, more precisely,
too narrowly implemented. The firm’s CIO chose the cloud solution to address a short-term need:
affordable access to dynamic compute capacity. But he didn’t think beyond that need to the broader
business objective: a positive customer experience leading to a sale.
A post-mortem review concluded that the narrow view of the cloud solution left the IT department blind
to several critical interrelationships between people, processes,
and technology. For example, although its target audience
prefers to shop via mobile devices, the company did not think
to build a mobile application to complement its web-based
booking site; an oversight that sent visitors to more accessible
competitors. The website bottlenecks and latency that so
frustrated users were traced to the public Internet link connecting the cloud site to the on-premises
customer database: a reliable private network link would have delivered more consistent performance,
allowing users to complete their bookings.
The tour operator is not unique. Many companies find themselves implementing new technologies as
individual, server-based point solutions, an approach that can increase overall IT costs and complexity
while decreasing efficiency and flexibility. According to Frost & Sullivan research, more than half of IT
investments in Latin America still go toward hardware, compared with 30% in more developed regions
where flexible software platforms are decreasing reliance on hardware.
Today’s IT investments require a fresh look at business needs and technology solutions, one that goes
beyond selecting a single technology solution to respond to a specific need. It requires a technology
roadmap for connecting the people, processes, and data that support a business. It requires a flexible
and robust foundation for the “Internet of Everything.”
In this paper, Frost & Sullivan looks at the opportunities and challenges faced by businesses as they
implement transformational technologies. We discuss the urgent need for CIOs to drive change in their
businesses—not just by adopting technology point-solutions, but by providing a foundation to support a
new generation of business-enhancing technologies. We offer criteria for successfully selecting a
More than half of IT investments in Latin America still go toward hardware, compared with 30% in more developed regions.
Why Everything You Thought You Knew about Implementing New Technologies is Wrong
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technology services partner to guide you through the transformation. Finally, we evaluate Cisco as a
technology services partner that can help forward-looking businesses plan, build, and manage their
technology roadmaps.
THE CHANGING BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY LANDSCAPE
If you are a CIO, CTO, or any business leader charged with delivering technology resources to the
enterprise, you already know the transformational potential of today’s IT trends. Nearly 80% of
businesses worldwide have adopted cloud services. Mobile devices and applications are ubiquitous.
Social media, once considered a productivity distraction, is now a primary way to communicate with
customers and prospects. Data analytics are reshaping the way businesses are making decisions.
And threading through every aspect of business technology and decisions is security—the need to
comply with local and national regulations, industry best practices, and above all, to justify the trust
of stakeholders.
For businesses, each core technology area represents an opportunity for business growth.
However, all technology solutions come with risk. And when individual solutions are chosen to solve
a particular need, rather than as an integral part of a holistic technology strategy, risks multiply. For
example:
Mobility: Latin Americans are among the world’s most avid users of cellular
technology, with over 118 million smartphones expected to be shipped in the region
by 2017, according to Frost & Sullivan research. The business benefits are clear: by
making it easy for employees, partners, and customers to access applications
remotely, the business enjoys greater employee productivity, more routes-to-
market, and higher customer satisfaction. Mobile commerce is especially popular in Latin America, with
some 32% of consumers saying they shopped via their smartphones and 24% saying they shopped via
tablet last year, according to the Latin Post.1 A flexible mobile policy is also a must-have for attracting
and retaining young, techno-savvy employees who are likely to disdain a corporate-issued laptop and
older-generation company smartphone.
But many businesses are struggling to leverage widespread, anywhere-anytime-any device connectivity.
“Bring Your Own Device” policies are still evolving, as companies try to figure out the right balance
between employees’ freedom of choice and protection of corporate data. To meet customer
expectations, businesses must invest in mobile applications (a lesson learned too late by the Brazilian
tour operator). And even then, customers are likely to blame the company for inconsistent or slow
application performance and for security breaches.
1 Latin America Tech Trends: Rise of Smartphones, Tablets, and Internet in the Region, Latin Post, March, 2014.
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Analytics: High-functionality, robust, business intelligence (BI) and analytics
software is helping businesses make smarter decisions, faster. While Latin American
businesses have been cautious about adopting the software, the rate of growth in
the next few years will outpace much of the world. For example, in Brazil, just over
11% of businesses say they currently use business analytics, another 55% are
planning to add analytics in the next few years. As a result, revenue for business analytics software is
growing at a compound annual growth rate of 32% through 2018 as companies of all sizes incorporate
analytics tools into their decision-making processes.
However, like all technology, BI software does not work in a vacuum. To support their line of business
colleagues, IT managers need to deliver appropriate storage architecture and capacity, likely utilizing
both on-premises and cloud or hosted environments. They need to develop and continually test their
backup and recovery operations, to ensure that both the data and the analytics software continually
operate without disruption. Furthermore, they need to establish consistent security profiles for the
data-in-transit and data-at-rest, assuring the primary, backup, and archived data is fully protected.
Social Media: Latin Americans are avid users of social media, with social media sites
reaching over 227 million users in the region, according to e-marketer.2 To reach
them, businesses are spending close to US$500 million in advertising on social media
sites. The investment makes sense: by reaching the target audience where they
spend their time, they can increase mindshare, revenue, and customer satisfaction.
Furthermore, social media enables a dialogue with customers who expect their opinions to be heard and
addressed.
For businesses that implement it right, a social media strategy provides an effective customer contact
channel, and can yield valuable data to be mined and analyzed. However, it also introduces challenges
associated with security, privacy, and regulatory compliance. In addition, as discovered by the tour
operator, a social media platform can quickly spread customer dissatisfaction; thus requiring the
development of broad-reaching processes to accompany the implementation of technology.
Cloud: Cloud is a business model as much as a technology; a way of creating and
delivering technology resources to internal and external users. Adoption is growing
throughout Latin America. For example, nearly half of Brazilian businesses say they
currently use cloud services, with another 30% planning to adopt it in the next year.
Cloud users are attracted to the public cloud model because of its budget
friendliness (requires no capital investment), scalability, speed to market, and lack of commitment.
However, challenges remain. Despite strides by cloud service providers, the multi-tenant, shared
infrastructure model continues to pose a security and compliance risk. Application performance can be
inconsistent (a lesson learned by the tour operator). And the low-barrier to entry gives rise to “shadow
2 Social Network Ad Spending Approaching the Half-Billion Mark in Latin America, e-marketing, May, 2014.
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IT,” as non-technical employees subscribe to business applications on their own. Furthermore, as cloud-
using businesses are discovering, the greatest value (in terms of cost-efficiency and management
control) comes from integrating multiple cloud and data center environments into a hybrid cloud.
Unfortunately, few providers offer sufficient tools and few enterprises have sufficient expertise on staff
to create a usable “intercloud.”
Security: Underlying every new technology, as well as all legacy solutions, are
security concerns. Well-publicized data breaches have hit every corner of the world,
including a recent fraud campaign associated with popular Brazilian payment form
called, Boleto Bancario with potential losses up to US$3.75 billion.3 With threats from
every side, CIOs need to ensure they comply with regulatory requirements for data
handling, safeguard proprietary corporate data assets, and earn the trust of their customers. Doing so
requires more than point-solutions for each technology or application; it requires a cohesive and
comprehensive security profile, consistently applied and regularly tested and updated.
So how can the CIO support business demands to leverage new technologies, while minimizing risks to
the business? It starts with understanding that yesterday’s silo’d products and processes are not
sufficient for an interconnected world, and developing a holistic technology approach that supports your
unique business.
THE NEW ROLE OF THE CIO: BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER
As many CIOs have learned, today’s rapid-pace business environment can no longer be supported by a
hardware-intense model, which is inflexible, capital-intense, difficult to deploy and maintain. In the
future, IT departments will no longer be responsible for managing assets, but for delivering services to
the business. Technology solutions may be built on-premises or in the cloud; they may be managed by
IT or by a partner. The IT department will choose the best, most cost-effective solution, configuration,
and vendor for each situation. To ensure consistency, security, and optimal price-performance, IT must
be able to manage the options holistically, not as point-
solutions.
Transformation is necessary for business survival.
Businesses that wait too long (or ignore the shifting business
environment) will lose market share to more savvy
competitors. So the business is depending on the CIO to lead
it into a successful future.
3 Data Breach Bulletin: Brazilian Banks Lose $3.75 Billion Because Of Boleto Malware, Forbes, July, 2014.
To protect and grow their business, CIOs need to break out of the holding pattern and implement a proactive plan for the future. And that means investing in the right partner.
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To protect and grow their business, CIOs need to break out of old patterns for creating and delivering IT
resources and put a proactive plan in place for the future. And that likely means investing in the right
technology services partner—a trusted industry advisor with the resources and expertise to help your
business build and implement a technology roadmap for future success.
PARTNERING WITH A TECHNOLOGY EXPERT: THE BUDGET IMPACT
If your business is new to professional and managed services, you may be wondering if you can afford to
hire an expert. The real question is, can you afford not to?
In general, Latin American businesses in general believe it is smart to turn to a third-party expert for
assistance in technology implementations. According to a recent Frost & Sullivan survey, fully 98% of
Latin American decision-makers said they have already or are likely to use a third party expert to help
implement their cloud strategy. What these businesses know is that a third-party expert can deliver
better results faster than attempting to hire and/or develop skills in multiple technology areas in-house.
In building a business case for engaging a partner, calculate how successful implementation of
technology solutions can positively impact business processes and goals. Consider, for example,
Lost revenue potential associated with slow application rollouts and poor performance
Lost productivity associated with cumbersome (or non-existent) collaboration tools
Lost revenue associated with customer dissatisfaction
Topline costs associated with SLA payouts tied to poor system performance.
Your analysis will likely show that the right technology services partner can help you achieve the agility
you need to respond quickly to market conditions, resilience to ensure 24/7 communications, and
protection of corporate data assets, making it easy to justify the cost.
CHOOSING A TECHNOLOGY SERVICES PARTNER
There are a lot of companies that are eager to help you develop and execute your technology
strategies. Some are specialists who will offer their planning services at no charge, to entice you to
buy their narrowly-defined technology solutions. Others are general purpose consultants, who
excel at fancy PowerPoint presentations but lack real-world IT experience. Still others pretend to
listen to your unique needs and situation, but deliver the same generic plan to all their clients.
Choose a partner with the vision to look beyond today’s solutions, ensuring you protect your investments into the future.
Why Everything You Thought You Knew about Implementing New Technologies is Wrong
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But your company is unique, with its own priorities, business objectives, and investments to
protect. Every company is at a different place in technology adoptions, with different timeframes
for completing each journey. If you choose a partner that does not understand such distinctions,
your technology progress may be stalled or, worse, cause you to waste precious time and
resources. For example, avoid choosing a consultant with expertise in just one or two technology
domains will likely offer point-solutions that are impossible or difficult to integrate later. This
increases management burden and costs, and restrains agility. Instead, look for a partner that can
help you invest wisely for your immediate and
long-term technology needs, allowing you to
build on a common foundation for future
growth.
In researching technology service partners to
help you develop, implement, and manage your
technology strategy end-to-end, look for the following characteristics:
Innovative vision. Your technology roadmap is designed to help you support your business
into the future. If your partner cannot articulate its own innovative vision, how can it help you
with yours? If your partner is taking a reactive approach to technology, how can you stay
ahead of your competitors? Choose a partner with the vision to look beyond today’s solutions,
to ensure you protect your investments into the future.
Global and local expertise. Should you choose a local partner that understands Latin
America? Or a global partner that brings a worldwide perspective? You shouldn’t have to
choose. Look for a partner that operates globally, to leverage global insights, but has a local
presence, to assist you on the road from planning to implementation to lifecycle support.
Extensive technology expertise, covering all the core technology areas. Because technology interconnects people, processes, data, and objects, it isn’t enough to understand just one or two elements.
Broad portfolio of leading products, services, and software To help you move forward to an optimal foundation, the consultant should have access to a broad range of industry-leading technology solutions.
Proven methodology. Many technology service providers tell you what your business should look like—but they fall short when it comes to helping you get there. Consulting services should apply a disciplined approach, bounded by timelines and measurable outcomes. The methodology should be flexible enough to accommodate your company’s unique situation, but firm enough to guarantee results.
These criteria are likely to be a little different from the criteria you may have used in the past to hire
technology service vendors. The innovative vision, the breadth of technology expertise and
portfolio, represent important value elements that were not relevant or necessary in the past, but
will be critically important for the future. For that reason, CIOs will probably have to extend their
Consultants with expertise in just one or two technology domains will offer point-solutions that are impossible or difficult to integrate later – increasing management burden and costs.
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partner search beyond the usual vendors and explore potential partners that they may not have
considered before. A good place to start is with Cisco.
WHY CONSIDER CISCO SERVICES AS YOUR TECHNOLOGY CONSULTING PARTNER
Some CIOs may be surprised to learn that Cisco is more than a leading IT vendor; the company is a
leading provider of technology services as well. Cisco’s unique capabilities to help businesses develop
their technology roadmaps include:
Innovative Vision: Cisco has introduced a comprehensive and cohesive approach to
technology, which the company refers to as the “Internet of Everything.” The bold concept
starts with the recognition that technology has become the connective tissue that spans
people, processes, and data, in every area of business. By starting with such a strong vision,
Cisco is well positioned to guide your company through the steps to plan, build, and manage
your end-to-end technology environment.
Global and local presence: With nearly 75,000 employees in 380 global sites in over 165 countries, Cisco is positioned to support your growing local, regional, or global organization.
.Extensive technology expertise: Cisco’s team
of professional services consultants has deep
knowledge in such areas as security, network,
collaboration, infrastructure, and cloud
applications and platforms. Thanks to Cisco’s
long experience in integrating systems and data,
the consultants are able to help you build a
secure, optimized cloud-enabled infrastructure
as the foundation of your technology roadmap.
Broad portfolio: Because they have access to the
broad range of Cisco and partner technology
offerings, Cisco experts are able to recommend
an optimal solution that is aligned to your
business priorities and complements your own
resources.
Proven methodology: Cisco expert consultants have worked with thousands of the world’s
most demanding businesses, gaining insight from each engagement and leveraging success.
The customized engagement adheres to a Cisco-developed framework that builds across ten
technology domains, as shown below.
Source: Cisco Source: Cisco
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The Domain Ten Framework provides a view of all the key IT and data center infrastructure
components a CIO is responsible for, allowing you to map skills, capabilities, and
interrelationships across components and layers. During a services engagement, Cisco experts
help you identify and remedy critical gaps. Businesses can select one or more domains to focus
on, confident that the reference model will allow them to add domains in the future, as their
business matures.
Source: Cisco
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CONCLUSION
Business leaders, and CIOs in particular, are charged with moving the business forward using
technology. But too often, they scramble to implement each new technology that gains
prominence, introducing a cycle of frenzied activity that does nothing to move the business forward
or outpace competitors.
The answer is to develop and implement a holistic technology roadmap, one that starts with a
flexible IT infrastructure and moves on to envelop business processes and functions. But such a
solution is out of reach for most businesses, which lack the on-staff expertise and resources to
develop a comprehensive approach.
Cisco offers both a unique vision and a proven methodology for forward-thinking businesses to plan,
build, and manage such a roadmap. The concept of the “Internet of Everything” captures a future in
which technology is part of the fabric of every aspect of the business, connecting people, processes,
data, and solutions in ways that optimize efficiency and productivity. The Internet of Everything has
a foundation in the cloud, but encompasses all IT and data center domains, redesigning processes
and rebuilding relationships to create an optimal, agile, technology-based business.
For many companies, an engagement with Cisco Services can mean the difference between business
success and failure. For CIOs looking to invest in their company’s future, it just takes one call.
Lynda Stadtmueller Bruno Tasco
Vice President - Cloud Services Senior Industry Analyst
Frost & Sullivan Frost & Sullivan
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For more informations, visit: www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/executive-perspectives/index.html
www.cisco.com/go/iot
ABOUT FROST & SULLIVAN
Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, works in collaboration with clients to leverage visionary
innovation that addresses the global challenges and related growth opportunities that will make or break
today’s market participants. For more than 50 years, we have been developing growth strategies for the
Global 1000, emerging businesses, the public sector and the investment community. Is your organization
prepared for the next profound wave of industry convergence, disruptive technologies, increasing competitive
intensity, Mega Trends, breakthrough best practices, changing customer dynamics and emerging economies?
For more information about Frost & Sullivan’s Growth Partnership Services, visit http://www.frost.com.
Cisco is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate, and collaborate. Our technology is changing the nature of work and the way we live. Founded in 1984, Cisco pioneered the development of Internet Protocol (IP)-based networking technologies. This tradition continues with the development of routing, switching, and other technologies such as application networking services, home networking, security, storage area networking, TelePresence systems, unified communications, video systems, and wireless. As an innovator in the communications and information technology industry, Cisco and its valued partners sell Cisco hardware, software, and services to businesses of all sizes, governments, service providers, and consumer s. An integral part of Cisco’s business strategy is strong corporate citizenship. Responsible business practices help ensure accountability, business sustainability, and commitment to environmentally conscious operations and products. Social investments built upon public-private partnerships positively impact recipient communities around the world. As an expression of our company’s values and beliefs, these activities are designed to build trust in our company and empower our employees.
ABOUT CISCO:
