How the iPad could be a Game Changer

Doing some poking around today and this evening on the iPad, and the vibe I'm getting is ho-hum. Gadget enthusiasts are somewhat disappointed on the lack of some features (sd card, camera) but investors are enthused over the $499 entry price. Obviously the Apple designers had to make some tough calls on what hardware features they had to include given constraints on cost, physical size, and battery life.

But the overwhelming vibe I'm getting is that the iPad is just a larger version of the iPhone. Interesting, but not a game changer. Do I want to pay for and then carry the larger size iPad if I get all the same apps on my iPhone especially if I still need a laptop with keyboard to do my work? CruchGear's take; "It's a big iPod", "As a developer, I’m excited about it. As a consumer, not so much.", " “one more thing” to carry around. That I definitely DON’T need." CIO.com quotes Rebecca Wettemann, analyst at Nucleus Research. "What we've got is a color Kindle—a Kindle for dummies—at a higher price point."

What's missing?

In simple terms, the apps followed very closely by the real problems that it solves for consumers.

The apps were a big success point for the iPhone because it was the first smart phone to bring a large family of useful applications to consumers - so much so that 100K+ were created and consumers were willing to pay for them. The success of the iPad will not be the portability of these iPod applications. I doubt consumers will pay for a larger device just to run the same apps.  The iPad success will come from the next generation of applications specifically built to take advantage of the device's screen size and other features. This can happen for five primary reason:
  • There already are a large number of developers familiar with the programming model.
  • Consumers will likely be ready to pay for the portability
  • Companies simply have to dial back their investment in their websites and increase their efforts applied to developing iPad apps - proportional to the number of users that purchase the iPad.
  • Certain types of consumer applications will thrive with this type of device. Magazines will salivate on the rich display, the ability to embed ads, and the ability to charge for subscriptions. A new breed of games will be created. I could also see a renewed attempt to develop applications for the "home" - kitchen/recipes apps, home improvement apps, etc - all taking advantage of the iPad's size and portability. 
  • Enterprises will consider deploying these devices for parts of their workforce and deliver better functionality, higher mobility, and simplicity - all at a lower cost than deploying a laptops. The sales force is an easy example who could have a better device for accessing CRM tools and making informal presentations. 
Will the device change user behaviors?


Let me answer that based on personal experience.


If you asked me my thoughts on the Kindle three months ago, I would have said, eh, why do I need it. I don't read a lot of books. But after getting one - and even after seeing that some of the software functionality is at a 1.0 maturity - I'm still excited over it and it has changed my media consumption behavior.

In the last year, I've purchased and read exactly zero paper books. Nothing driving me to find books, not interested in carrying them, and little time to read them. But that's changed with the Kindle for one very simple reason. It's now practical for me to buy several books, "carry them", and switch between them based on my immediate interests. Tomorrow morning I might read a chapter of the latest book on innovation, on the way home I might read a chapter from a foodie book, and this weekend a chapter (hopefully several!) from a novel.  I'm buying books again - all because the Kindle made my consumption model convenient, useful, and fun.

So will the iPad be transformational? We'll see.
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Why the CIO Loves Agile Development

Let's say you're following my last two posts on negotiating business priorities. You're the CIO and have just been given a set of business priorities and now need to get your IT team aligned and executing. Let's play out a couple of scenarios:

  • You go back to the sponsors, assign a business analyst and work on requirements and a project plan. Once requirements are largely stable, you then look at delivery options, technology choices, assign teams, etc. We all know this as the waterfall approach.
  • Option b, the agile methodology - would essentially assign a team to work with the business manager to identify the most business critical, or technical risky aspects of the project. The team would then commit to some deliverables it would provide in a relatively short iteration - usually 2-4 weeks. The team would then offer to demo their work at the end of the iteration, then would focus on the next set of critical items for the project.
Obviously, I'm grossly simplifying but want to point out a couple of key differences. In waterfall, the project team has to engage the business manager for a significant amount of time and up front work to define requirements. Projects are broken into milestones that have no specified rhythm of delivery (some milestones may be weeks, others months) and no requirement or expectation to demo functionality. Bottom line, the CIO taxes the sponsors up for details and must wait an undefined period of time to demonstrate milestones of product delivery.

In agile, the CIO is getting the following significant advantages:
  • Low up front business investment - Teams can start working on the most critical features and risky technical areas without overtaxing the business sponsors for up front information.
  • Frequent delivery leads to better execution - Let's say your teams does two week iterations - in three months they complete six iterations giving them plenty of time to prove themselves, mature the agile process, and time for the CIO to make adjustments. This is really one of the key points since no team is perfect and tech execution always carries risk. CIOs can leverage this process to prove the team's credibility
  • Allowing Sponsors to prioritize at the beginning of each iteration leads to better Business / IT alignment. The Sponsor gets to prioritize based on customer feedback, the CIO gets the IT team direct engagement from the Sponsor.
If you're the CIO trying to establish credibility and dialogue (beyond negotiation!) between Business and IT, agile planning, development and delivery are very well constructed management processes to enable both short and long term success. Also see that:

Credibility + Dialogue = Collaboration and that Collaboration between Business and IT Leads to Innovation.
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Why CIOs Must Negotiate before Collaboration

Several CIOs questioned my last post and why The Most Important Job of the CIO is to Negotiate with the Business  and not collaboration or partnership?  So before I get into how CIOs can establish credibility, let me elaborate a bit on my last post. My rationale on negotiation before collaboration is quite simple:
  • Before you can collaborate and have a true partnership between Business and Technology, the Technology Team has to have credibility and a strong record of delivery. Once the technology team is credible with a well understood delivery model, Business Managers have a lot more incentive to invest their time to consult with Technologists on their future plans. This consultation is the basis for collaboration and partnership.
  • In order to get to credibility and a strong record of delivery, a CIO must develop an executable strategy. Unfortunately this can be a daunting task if the Business hasn't prioritized its needs or developed service level expectations. 
  • Worse yet, if the Business doesn't have an internal process for prioritizing and managing its needs, projects, and investments - if it doesn't have an operational review process to insure that specific business/IT processes and systems are functioning normally it will be the CIO's job to either establish these processes or sponsor them. Many CIOs understand this situation when this prioritization does not exist - it's when the Business expects to get all projects done and keep the lights on often with a limited budget.
  • The first discussions on priorities can be difficult. It may be the first time business and project leads openly discuss the merits of their projects. Managers may be in denial on the need to prioritize based on resource constraints. It may take multiple discussions for managers to recognize the need to invest time and resources to make system upgrades or process improvements. In these discussions, it is critical for the CIO to largely play impartial on the merits of one project vs. another, but be capable and ready to negotiate an achievable set of priorities. 
  • Negotiating priorities is a finesse game. It's about demonstrating constraints without saying "no". It's about asking good questions when requirements look imbalanced with business needs. It's helping business leaders to acknowledge other needs. It's a difficult skill to master, and it must be learned and executed differently in every organization.
So in my experience, this soft negotiation of priorities is necessary first step to IT execution. Once priorities are set and the Tech team is executing, negotiation evolves to collaboration.


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      About Isaac Sacolick

      Isaac Sacolick is President of StarCIO, a technology leadership company that guides organizations on building digital transformation core competencies. He is the author of Digital Trailblazer and the Amazon bestseller Driving Digital and speaks about agile planning, devops, data science, product management, and other digital transformation best practices. Sacolick is a recognized top social CIO, a digital transformation influencer, and has over 900 articles published at InfoWorld, CIO.com, his blog Social, Agile, and Transformation, and other sites. You can find him sharing new insights @NYIke on Twitter, his Driving Digital Standup YouTube channel, or during the Coffee with Digital Trailblazers.