In the world of business, if Walmart exits a market; most people would say that that there are issues with that market. Then again, if Apple enters a market; most would say that there is "gold in dem dar hills..." And, last week both are rumored to have happened and for the same approximate market... Video Downloads.

I'll leave alone the oblivious issues with bandwidth and digital rights management (DRM) and instead focus on the target audience for this product/service. It is interesting that America's bargin product outlet, Walmart, appears to have decided to leave the video download business just as America's premium intellectual property vendor, Apple, appears to be entering.

Could it be that the video download is one where you have to have a particular demographic and/or broadband connection to be a viable customer?

I would say that this exemplifies the "digital divide" that may exist between the early adopter and the mainstream consumer in the US. And the short-term limits on certain IP-based telecom products/services.

Technorati Tags: Telecommunications, Telecom, Video Download, Walmart, Apple, Digital Divide, Early Adopter, Mainstream Consumer

Merry Holiday!

Today's is the day for giving. Thanks to James Manyika, Roger Roberts and Kara Sprague for providing today's list of trends for 2008.

• Expanding Automation - One of the best ways to keep BAM moving forward is to automate the easy/routine/well defined and safe the hard(er) stuff for your staff. It keeps them sharp and out of the weeds
• Putting more science into management - Being able to quantatively manage is a key. No longer is gut feel alone going to work. In particular, if you have to associate a "gut feel" to relatively large numbers of events. There just isn't enough of "you" to go around.
• Building/Augmenting Business from Information - There's competitive advantage in being able to leverage your data into information and ultimately knowledge. The data is there just waiting to be "leveraged".

I'll take credit for crafting it for BAM... :)

Technorati Tags: BAM, Business Activity Monitoring, James Manyika, Roger Roberts, Kara Sprague

If you are wishing for and/or giving an iPhone this holiday season, Elizabeth Woyke has a look at what others outside of the US are experiencing in terms of "smart phone" handsets.

While the iPhone has quickly jumped to the top of the handset market in the US, others around the world are experiencing a better experience because of the constraints the US carriers place on functionality. Nokia and Google are betting that the consumer will demand better and better "open" handsets. I'm guessing that the current established wireless carriers will continue to open their "walled gardens" just enough to keep the US consumer in two year contracts.

Here's to open content and really cool, but un-subsidized handsets under the tree for the 2008 holiday season.

Happy Christmas! Belated Hanukkah! Merry Kwanzaa! And/or non-denominational "holiday" of choice!

NOTE - I really missed Eid and Ramadan.... VERY Belated wishes for those holidays as well.

Technorati Tags: Telecommunications, Telecom, Elizabeth Woyke, Nokia, Google, iPhone, Mobile Handset

Last week Chiefs Head Coach Herm Edwards spoke the truth and he got in trouble for it.

It appears that in Graham Finnie's recent article he might have a little of that situation. Nearly 8 of 10 telecom execs surveyed said that telecom service providers will expand and become more value-add organizations in the future. Those other 2 execs indicated that the telecom providers may become more of a commodity in the future.

I love the honesty of the 20% or approximately 25 of the 126 surveyed. However, let's hope they aren't contradicting their stated business plan goals and/or the wishes of their stakeholders. That could lead to a change of guard in those organizations. Not that it takes a bout of brutal honesty to change leadership at a telecom these days... :)

Technorati Tags: Telecommunications, Telecom, value-add, commodity, Graham Finnie, Herm Edwards

I don't usually pimp books, but this one seems interesting. It has all the requirements to catch my attention:

• Smart title
• Contrary subject
• Additional Resources

Smart (Enough) Systems by James Taylor and Neil Raden tackles the concept that with operational business intelligence ( ...read the forward looking actions and action plans from my definition of BAM... ) you need to automate the majority of the routine operational decisions to develop competitive advantage.

Take a look when the book hits the stores and/or your favorite online bookseller.

Technorati Tags: BAM, Business Activity Monitoring, James Taylor, Neil Raden, Operational Business Intelligence