We explore how retailer Columbia Sportswear has made great strides in improving their business results through modernized IT, and where they expect to go next with their software-defined strategy.
To learn more about the new wave of IT, we sat down with Suzan Pickett, Manager of Global Infrastructure Services at Columbia Sportswear in Portland, Oregon; Tim Melvin, Director of Global Technology Infrastructure at Columbia, and Carlos Tronco, Lead Systems Engineer at Columbia Sportswear. The discussion is moderated by me, Dana Gardner, Principal Analyst at Interarbor Solutions.
Changing Face of Technology By @JohnSavageau | @CloudExpo [#Cloud]
A friend of mine’s son recently returned from an extended absence which basically removed him from nearly all aspects of technology, including the Internet, for a bit longer than 5 years. Upon return, observing him restore his awareness of technologies and absorb all things new developed over the past 5 years was both exciting and moving.
To be fair, the guy grew up in an Internet world, with access to online resources including Facebook, Twitter, and other social applications.
The interesting part of his re-introduction to the “wired” world was watching the comprehension flashes he went through when absorbing the much higher levels of application and data integration, and speed of network access.
Emerging Internet of Things & Big Data By @EYnews | @ThingsExpo [#IoT]
The explosion of connected devices / sensors is creating an ever-expanding set of new and valuable data. In parallel the emerging capability of Big Data technologies to store, access, analyze, and react to this data is producing changes in business models under the umbrella of the Internet of Things (IoT). In particular within the Insurance industry, IoT appears positioned to enable deep changes by altering relationships between insurers, distributors, and the insured.
In his session at @ThingsExpo, Michael Sick, a Senior Manager and Big Data Architect within Ernst and Young’s Financial Service practice, to discuss how the IoT has the potential to shrink the distance between the insurer and insured by providing increased knowledge of the behavior of customers, prospects and distributors in the context of their surrounding environment. Usage Based Insurance (UBI) within auto insurance has been an early testing ground. Streaming vehicle data has enabled participating insurers to improve their understanding of driving behaviors and to adapt the pricing and management of these risks. Given the promise of the early findings, auto insurers are increasingly offering sensors that monitor individual driver behavior while asking consumers to trade privacy regarding their driving behaviors and locations for lower prices.
Preparing for the ‘Internet of Things’ Data Deluge By @Infobright | @ThingsExpo [#IoT]
One of the biggest impacts of the Internet of Things is and will continue to be on data; specifically data volume, management and usage. Companies are scrambling to adapt to this new and unpredictable data reality with legacy infrastructure that cannot handle the speed and volume of data.
In his session at @ThingsExpo, Don DeLoach, CEO and president of Infobright, will discuss how companies need to rethink their data infrastructure to participate in the IoT, including:
Data storage: Understanding the kinds of data: structured, unstructured, big/small?
Analytics: What kinds and how responsive do you need to be?
Reporting: What kinds of reports are needed beyond the standard statutory reports?
Using Digital Connected Services By @MetraTech | @ThingsExpo [#IoT]
It is no surprise to anyone that service providers need to find new sources of revenue and increase profitability. The digital, cloud and as-a-service revolution provides a silver lining.
As IT organizations feel the tension that comes from a combination of aging legacy B2B infrastructure, changing business mandates and rapidly evolving e-commerce requirements, they are increasingly looking at digital services and outsourcing to trusted providers. They want a trusted partner to deliver connected digital services; including mobile, cloud and M2M/IoT.
The pressure is on for businesses to think about an end-to-end ‘order to cash’ process that spans multiple applications and systems, engages external business partners as well as taps into data and services that are increasingly located in the cloud. In other words – a giant mash-up of sorts. IT is not just about implementing an internal process as much as it is about structuring one shared multi-enterprise process(es).
New Data Center Launched by @NaviSite | @CloudExpo [#Cloud]
NaviSite, Inc., a Time Warner Cable company, has opened a new enterprise-class data center located in Santa Clara, California. The new data center will enable NaviSite to meet growing demands for its enterprise-class Cloud and Managed Services from existing and new customers. This facility, which is owned by data center solution provider Digital Realty, will join NaviSite’s fabric of nine existing data centers across the U.S. and U.K., all of which are designed to provide a resilient, secure, high-performance environment for business applications and mission critical data.
Gerstner Secrets of Leadership By @JimKaskade | @ThingsExpo [#IoT]
Lou Gerstner became president of American Express in 1985 at the age of 43. He dismissed the speculation that his success was the product of being a workaholic. Gerstner said, “I hear that, and I can’t accept that. A workaholic can’t take vacations, and I take four weeks a year.”
As I write this, I’m in Wyoming with the family enjoying Yellowstone and Jackson Hole thinking, “Can I somehow achieve the level of impact of Lou Gerstner with the right work-life balance?” What keeps people from having to cancel vacations, modifying schedules to take budget calls, or work while the family sleeps?
Plantronics to Present Internet of Things at @ThingsExpo | @Plantronics [#IoT]
Sensor-enabled things are becoming more commonplace, precursors to a larger and more complex framework that most consider the ultimate promise of the IoT: things connecting, interacting, sharing, storing, and over time perhaps learning and predicting based on habits, behaviors, location, preferences, purchases and more.
In his session at @ThingsExpo, Tom Wesselman, Director of Communications Ecosystem Architecture at Plantronics, will examine the still nascent IoT as it is coalescing, including what it is today, what it might ultimately be, the role of wearable tech, and technology gaps still in play, as the industry strives to create a cohesive, secure, scalable, and beneficial network of ‘things.’
Solving the Data Veracity Problem By @PatAdamiak | @CloudExpo [#BigData]
The excitement around the possibilities enabled by Big Data is being tempered by the daunting task of feeding the analytics engines with high quality data on a continuous basis. As the once distinct fields of data integration and data management increasingly converge, cloud-based data solutions providers have emerged that can buffer your organization from the complexities of this continuous data cleansing and management so that you’re free to focus on the end goal: actionable insight.
I Received 10 Million Euro Offer Through LinkedIn By @YFain | CloudExpo [#Cloud]
Then I’ve received an LinkedIn email from this woman stating that she had a business proposition for me, and if I was interested, she was ready to explain. She also provided her email that ended in outlook.com. I checked her LinkedIn profile again. Looked legit. She even had a Twitter account with recent tweets in two languages.
I responded that I was ready to hear about this business proposition. Next day I’ve received a long email from her explaining how she had a private client named Lewis Fain who initially deposited €19M in their bank and she helped him to grow the wealth to €22M, but unfortunately he died in a car crash. She’s ready to wire transfer me the money, in one condition: we’d split the amount in half so she could improve the wellbeing of her family. She also asked me not to ruin her career in the bank if I was not interested.