Cloud 9

HTML5 is enabling open, cross-platform rich-media standards that will help brands’ and agencies’ display advertising achieve the compelling creative and reach across mobile devices they have been seeking. Apple contributed significantly to the growth of HTML5—first by refusing to let its iOS devices support Adobe Flash, then by launching its own rich-media mobile ad network, iAd. However, HTML5 is an open standard, and it will do for mobile what Flash did for online. One of the real benefits of HTML5 is its potential, in the long run, to standardize the highly fragmented rich-media universe, making it easier and more efficient for advertisers to engage consumers with even more immersive advertising experiences – across both PC and mobile – at scale.

The amount of data in our world has been exploding, and analyzing large data sets—so-called big data—will become a key basis of competition, underpinning new waves of productivity growth, innovation, and consumer surplus. Leaders in every sector will have to grapple with the implications of big data, not just a few data-oriented managers. The increasing volume and detail of information captured by enterprises, the rise of multimedia, social media, and the Internet of Things will fuel exponential growth in data for the foreseeable future. MGI studied big data in five domains—healthcare in the United States, the public sector in Europe, retail in the United States, and manufacturing and personal-location data globally. Big data can generate value in each. For example, a retailer using big data to the full could increase its operating margin by more than 60 percent. Harnessing big data in the public sector has enormous potential, too. If US healthcare were to use big data creatively a...

When it comes to metrics, I&O is not always entirely sure what it’s doing or why.  We often create metrics because we feel that we “should” rather than because we have definite reasons to capture and analyze data and consider performance against targets. Ask yourself: “Why do we want or need metrics?” Do your metrics deliver against this? You won’t be alone if they don’t. Metrics are commonly viewed as an output in their own right.  Far too many I&O organizations see metrics as the final output rather than as an input into something else, such as business conversations about services or improvement activity. The metrics become “a corporate game” where all that matters is that you’ve met or exceeded your targets. Metrics reporting should see the bigger picture and drive improvement. I&O organizations have too many metrics.  ITSM tools provide large numbers of reports and metrics, which encourages well-meaning I&O staff to go for quantity over quality. ...