We live in an age where "things" are changing so quickly, predominantly driven by technology, that it is extremely difficult to actually stop the bus, get off and reflect on the "So What?" question! We live in the day of instant gratification – I want it now, not next week or even later today – now! Just look at the “Mobile Telephone” and “The Smart Phone” market! It is difficult to reconcile that it is only 20 years since the first Cellphones were in use in South Africa. How long ago did Facebook start, and Twitter, and LinkedIn – and Plaxo? When was the “World Wide Web” first introduced for public consumption? What happened to Netscape? What has happened to the PDA? Look at how Twitter has transformed journalism! How Skype has changed the lives of families living on opposite sides of the world! Who needs vast and expensive Online Conferencing facilities when you can do it for free with Skype? We are caught up in the “internet of things”! What is “Cloud Computing”? And do we care? What is real, what is myth? What is fact and what is fiction? What actually adds real business value? There are two clear markets – the Business Market and The Consumer Market – and yet they overlap! Business thrives on consumers (customers) but what is the real business value of Facebook? Who needs a web site when we have Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter. What about OpenSource and Freeware? Is it really “free”? Who is winning the battle for the “business mind”? Who needs The Oxford English Dictionary, Encyclopaedia Brittanica and Wikepedia, when we have Google?! Additional Info Presenter::Rick Parry Category::Business/Marketing

1. THE INTERNET OF THINGS
(THE SPEED OF CHANGE AND A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY!)
Rick Parry
CEO Yellowfin South Africa

2. 1978
1975
1982
1976
1977
1983
1982
1986

3. Apple MacPro
Lenovo
Dell
2013
HP

4. Early 2000’s
1966
2013

5. The “Internet of Things”
“The age of instant communication and instant gratification”
Twitter
Facebook
Blogs
SMS
Bluetooth
Plaxo
Wi-Fi
Freeware
Palm
AppStore
Skype
Cloud
Netscape
YouTube
Smart Phones
ITunes
Podcasts
Salesforce
www
Tablets
Wikipedia
Mobile
Open Source
Google
Social Media
LinkedIn
email
Mixit
BBM

6. Welcome to the Digital Business Era and the Age of the Customer
React quickly – application changes must be quick and easy
What Apps add business value?
Solutions looking for problems
How do we decide what provides real business value?
Need to have/Nice to have
Focus on delivering tangible value!
Web sites are a Business Tool