Vision from the Top 2012: Daniel Odio, Socialize, Inc.
In 2020, looking back on this decade, what will be the single most impactful technical advancement driving business growth?
We believe in the power of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). As businesses implement service oriented architectures to modularize their data, it becomes easier and more beneficial for the data to be offered and consumed as an API -- even between internal departments in the same organization. Exposing a business' core products as APIs allows them to be mashed up in new and unexpected ways by other organizations. The potential loss of control in this repurposing of a company's traditional offerings can be a large roadblock that must be carefully managed by the organization, but the potential benefits are huge and only now beginning to be exploited. I have a 45 minute screencast on the power and growth of APIs and the rise of mobile devices at http://go.DanielOdio.com/waybigger with more thoughts on the topic.
Social media and social business are big themes for 2012. In which areas of business will the social movement have the most impact (or most potential for impact)? Why?
Social media gives the user the opportunity to stay connected with their interest on various platforms. Each user is connecting with their social interest, while there is no way to connect users with a shared passion together.
And it's incredible that 1) this is happening, and 2) this is not obvious to brands. Once I show brands how they are missing out on a huge opportunity to connect with everyone who shares an interest in their brand, regardless of ‘friendship,' a light bulb typically goes off. An easy way to illustrate this is by using mobile apps as an example: "If a million people download your mobile app, they will never all be friends on Facebook. But they all care about your brand, because they downloaded the app. How do they talk to each other today?" (Typical answer: they can't.)
Focusing more deeply on mobile apps for a second, this also makes empirical sense to most people: How many apps have you downloaded to your smartphone, used once, and never used again? And no wonder - it's a very lonely experience right now. When you open an app, you can interact with the content of the brand, but you can't really interact with the other million people who also are interested in the brand. So if the app's content doesn't grab your attention every time you open the app, you don't have a reason to stay in the app.
But humans are social creatures! We enjoy engaging with others who share an interest with us. We enjoy being around people that share a language, or a culture, or an interest in the same types of wine. We like to hear tips about the best mountain biking trails, or learn a new skill. Humans use shared interests to connect. Downloading an app where you can't do that is like walking through life without ever talking to anyone. It's simply not natural.
Does Mobile fall into one of your top 5 priorities for 2012? If so, how will you be attacking it? If not, why not?
Yes we are betting on a majority users going "mobile first," meaning they consume and create content on mobile devices (primarily smartphones and tablets) rather than a desktop or laptop computer. The mobile distribution channel is much more intimate than traditional methods like TV, print and desktop web. The mobile device is rapidly becoming an 'extension of self' for many users.
This interview was published in SIIA's Vision from the Top, a Software Division publication released at All About the Cloud 2012.