Navtej Kohli Business Blog

Want to know the big business trends of 2008? Verizon Business makes some predictions. Check out Top 10 big business trends on Navtej Kohli business blog.

Below is Verizon Business’ list of ten hot trends for 2008:

Continued Globalization - Yes, globalization . . . as in strategically placing workers, offices and facilities around the world. According to Verizon, this can help companies keep costs down but there are challenges as well - such as maintaining a reliable communications infrastructure between locations. That means, according to Verizon, more high-performance networks

Securing the Extended Enterprise - Huh? This one refers to data - the data that’s shared between partners, suppliers and customers, the protection of data, the storage of data, the retrieval of data, archiving, etc., etc.

Global Greening - Verizon thinks that businesses will begin to do more greenifying of their business practices by using more audio, video and web conferencing rather than sending employees to get together (reduces carbon emissions), cutting back on paper and other efficiency-motivated moves.

Virtualization and On-demand Computing (a.k.a. Computing as a Service) - The green initiatives will carry over to the company infrastructures, according to Verizon. Not only will using things such as virtual servers conserve power, they will save companies money and take up less space.

Telepresence - So, more video conferencing, right? Well, Verizon says that latest technology to be employed will create very cool virtual meetings where it’s as good as being face to face. According to the list: “In addition to internal company gatherings, telepresence will enable meetings with customers, partners and suppliers, and, increasingly, high-end telepresence systems will be able to interoperate with traditional video-conferencing equipment.”

Outsourcing/Out-tasking - More companies will look at what tasks can be outsourced to third-parties to increase productivity and flexibility, as well as lower costs. ’nuff said.

Smartphones and Managed Mobility - More businesses will spend more on mobile devices like smartphones to ensure that employees are plugged in outside the office with mobile email, calendars, etc. Remember, it’s Verizon doing the predicting here. According to them: “Managed Mobility will become the next frontier, helping businesses track, monitor, secure and manage the mobile devices accessing their corporate networks.”

Unified Communications - This is aimed at unifying communications and enhancing collaboration in the workplace. Basically, VoIP will help businesses streamline communications — you know like one number reaches you where ever you are and whatnot.

Work-Life Balance - This one is a little counterintuitive — while there will be more communications, more smartphones, more connectivity, there will also be more emphasis on separating work and personal lives. Verizon says that it’s something that employees will struggle with and businesses need to address (along with security concerns, which they say Secure Socket Layer (SSL) based remote access solutions will take care of.

The CIO as Business Strategist - “CIOs will take on an even more pivotal role in determining how to invest capital most effectively to help their companies reduce costs, increase productivity and achieve a wide range of corporate objectives. CIOs also will be responsible for making supply-chain management decisions and environmental improvements.”

Mckinsey has given eight interesting business trends to watch. Here on Navtej Kohli business blog is a synopsis of the same. However, for your reference, the detailed version is available at the Mckinsey’s website (http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/).

Read on to know how these trends can benefit business and IT sector.

1. Distributing co-creation
2. Using consumers as innovators

These are old strategies. Usual story about Linux and user generated content. The ‘consumers as innovators’ cites the case of a T-shirt manufacturer leveraging user talent / creativity to create new designs. But I wonder if it can help an IT company in same way. How is an IT company going to leverage user generated strategies?

3. Tapping into the world of talent

Now this is quite interesting. Business and IT are most of the times fighting. Business, on one hand, alleges that IT is not delivering enough value, IT, on the other, claims business people don’t know what they want and they keep changing their minds. Most of the time, the issue is simply a case of IT holding business hostage. Let me explain. In most organizations, the IT department is usually is the sole provider of IT services. Business does not have a second “service provider” to turn to. As classic economic theory predicts, with no competition, IT’s service quality declines. Businesses should be allowed to engage several service providers.

4. Exacting more value from interactions
5. Expanding frontiers of automation
6. Separate production from delivery

I wouldn’t be surprised if Google or Microsoft starts doing this in a big way. Amazon has led this field by letting companies tap into its big investments in IT. EMC has announced their own move into the “cloud”

7. Putting more science into management

8. Make business from information

Now at the start of the new financial year let’s gaze into the crystal ball. Do you wish to know what the entertainment industry would look like in the year 2015?

TV
The television of future will be familiar in many ways, but fundamentally different nonetheless. Most of the programs will still be produced by major studios and pushed out to consumers through cable service providers. But gone is the concept of “TV stations” and hour-by-hour program schedules. Video on Demand will be the mantra giving consumers the power to see what they want, when they want to, on any of the video-capable devices.

The living room TV is still one of the most popular viewing choices, and all the new technologies have made the screens and surround sound systems bigger, cheaper, and better in every conceivable way. But mobile watching became a serious contender; G4/G5 networks and WiMax version 2 provide enough bandwidth for high-definition wireless video streams.

The iPhones and BlackBerries of 2008 now look as clunky and primitive as a 2001-era phone did then. Now as mobile phones are more used for entertainment content, the average mobile phone has either a large roll-up screen or a low-power digital video projector.

Movies
The distinction between full-length movies and a TV series with high production values has lessened. The on-demand revolution of 2012 was contemporary with the switch from traditional, phased-out theatrical release movies to day-and-date DVD and Blue-ray releases. From there, it was a short step toward letting Comcast and Verizon show Toy Story 4 on demand for $4.99 on premiere night.

Nearly every theater relies on digital distribution and projection now, pushing celluloid into vintage theaters. In order to stay alive in competition with same-night releases on every viewing platform available, cinema chains have shown an innovation. Soulless multiplexes gave way to larger-than-life experiences, sit-down dinner services in the theaters, and liquor licenses to go along with the new “R-18″ rating.

Music

There’s been a major drama in the music business. New artists don’t sign record deals anymore, but instead distribute their music directly to fans through their own Facebook sites and Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) iTunes. The word here is “distribute” and not “sell”.

Free access to music and short video clips has become deeply penetrated, selling songs isn’t profitable anymore. Instead, artists make money in the traditional way: by touring, selling T-shirts, and hawking premium editions of their albums directly to their fans. Margins are high since the record-company middlemen are out of picture, and with the assurance that most of the money goes straight into the pockets of musicians and songwriters, many fans don’t mind paying up for these luxury items. Talent and hard work once again matter more than flashy promotions.

Conclusion
In a nutshell, the above scenarios depict that eventually entertainment will be available anywhere and everywhere, it will be personalized and interactive and subscription and targeted advertising will take place of buying CD’s and DVD’s. In this scenario the consumers will get what they really want.
Companies need to evaluate these facts and plan for future. If you invest today wisely, then you will surely reap high benefits tomorrow.

The way Americans go bust has changed fundamentally, and the implications for financial markets are both important and negative.

In the more innocent days before the debt bubble popped, vulnerable borrowers tended to do everything they could to hang on to their houses. The result was that they’d stop paying off their credit cards first, the car loan second and only last would they default on their mortgage.

But for many Americans in the credit bust, especially an overburdened minority, that set of priorities has been turned upside down.

“It’s the American way of deleveraging,” said Jochen Felsenheimer, credit strategist at Unicredit in Munich.

“First you sell your house, second you sell your car and in the end you also sell your TV set.”

The numbers bear him out. Subprime house loans started to go bad first, followed with a lag by subprime auto loans and now credit cards. Federal Reserve data show credit card debt more than 30 days delinquent increased sharply in the second half of 2007, by about 14 percent to 4.55 percent, the most since 2003.

In contrast, in the mid 1990s and during the slowdown in the early part of this decade credit card delinquencies rose before mortgage arrears, according to Federal Reserve data.

There are, of course, some crucial differences between then and now. Deteriorating lending standards allowed a group of less creditworthy borrowers to buy houses, and the amount people were obliged to make as a down payment fell. That meant that borrowers had less incentive to stick with their loans, as house prices went south and they found themselves owing more than the place was worth.

But the preference for car and TV set — or as it may be for car and groceries — over bricks and mortar suggests another disturbing possibility. A lot of people were living above their means and financing the shortfall through debt extracted from housing, credit card and auto lenders. While they had jobs, the jobs didn’t pay enough to actually retire the debt, just to keep current with the interest.

When housing started to fall, the natural thing to do was to preserve the car, which allows you to get to work, and especially the credit card, without which modern life is very difficult.

The implication is clear: credit card debt should continue to deteriorate as we’ve see mortgage debt do. This is bad for the people who make credit card loans, the already creaky and heavily hit financial sector.

Source: reuters.com

Navtej Kohli Business Blog brings yet another update on the Small Business Trends for the year 20008. Navtej Kohli Shares his personal view on what will happen to the small scale industry this year.

Small businesses are the heart and soul of the global economy. They create, inspire, and fundamentally change people’s lives.

Below are some of the small business trends for the 2008 economy.

1.      Embrace the world

Small businesses will reach the world and help the economies realize globalization. When the saturation reaches in the native markets, branching out globally offers a wealth of opportunity.

2.      Do whatever it takes

Small businesses will do whatever it takes to survive among their budding competitors—and going global will be the mantra to thrive. For most entrepreneurs, decisions will be made fast, and living with the consequences will be a fact of business life.

3.      Take the outsider perspective

Small businesses are good at adopting an insider view when making judgments while immersed in a situation. But the trend will change this year with small businesses adopting outsider lens which would call for removing oneself from a situation and establishing a realistic view.

4.      Break the existing rules

Small businesses will not settle for the ordinary, or for establishing rules, because they have things to accomplish. They will break rules to overcome obstacles and achieve brilliant results.

5.      Set priorities

Small businesses will align their goals and priorities for going global. They will set a few priorities and will be on toes until results are achieved. Their productivity will be very high.

6.      Invest in quality innovation

Small businesses will realize that innovation is the fundamental driver of economic opportunity.

Social networking and media are merely the tip of the iceberg. More collaborative innovation will take place this year, with further emphasis placed on orchestrating resources and reaching outside of an organization for new ideas.

Use of Internet will act as an effective tool to create market pull. Push forward to build Internet share, which is critical for success, rather than mindshare.

So get out and start your own small business, who knows you might just be the winner.

So get out and start your own small business, who knows you might just be the winner. 

Navtej Kohli shares views on Business Process Experts which is the latest in business trends.

Have you ever wondered who is a business process expert and what are the ingredients to a successful business process expert?

Now, let us discuss what does a business process expert actually  do? BPXs specialize in looking at a business problem and modeling a solution that can be implemented through the use of technology. There are people who are Business Process experts and are not even aware of it.
Consider the following scenario:

It’s the beginning of a new week and you’re faced with a new task that must be completed by the end of the week. Your objective is to evaluate an existing business process and suggest recommendations for new technology that will support the process.
This is a common scenario for the business process expert – a situation that requires high- to mid-level business-side analysis and a quick but comprehensive set of solution recommendations as output.