Articles
These Boots Were Made For Walking: A New Look at the Path to IoT Success
Last year, I wrote a series of blogs exploring the various technology and business factors to keep in mind while considering an Internet of Things (IoT) deployment. Since then, IoT has continued to accelerate its drive toward transformational change across industries. And I have continued to log in…
No Vacation for Innovation
Last week I was pleased to be part of a Cisco celebration of home-grown innovation. Our first-ever Party on the Patio showcased strategic innovations, underscoring that there’s no vacation for innovation this year at Cisco. The event included food, music, games, giveaways, and hands-on demos o…
Welcome to the Co-Economy: There’s Never Been a Better Time
The world has never been more connected, and there’s never been a better opportunity for co-innovation, co-development, co-marketing, and even co-funding. The time is right for the co-economy—a trend that is reshaping how we work, live, and conduct business. Granted, some aspects of the co-economy h…
Succeeding with Customers and Partners in the “Co-Economy”
Cooperation, co-development, co-opetition. What does it take to succeed in the “co-economy”? Just as the “sharing economy” has changed the basic assumptions upon which the hotel and taxi industries are built, the “co-economy” is changing some of the fundamental ways we think about developing and bri…
Co-Innovating for Startups and Enterprises—Better Together?
People say that opposites attract, but big differences in economic or social background, education, and personality can sometimes lead to misunderstanding, conflict—and a weekly appointment with a marriage counselor! The same can be true when unevenly matched companies—such as a large enterprise and…
Setting the Stage for Co-Innovation Success
The new model for co-innovation can be messy. No longer a one-thing-at-a-time, linear methodology, today’s development process involves people from different organizations, with different backgrounds and cultures working on several different tracks at once, with rapid prototyping, real-time customer…
The Time Is Now for Co-Innovation: Three Reasons Why
Traditionally, Cisco’s innovation strategy has been built around four foundational pillars: build, buy, partner, and invest. Recently, however, a fifth pillar—co-innovation —has become more prominent. In my last blog, I introduced the idea that innovation doesn’t happen in a vacuum—it requires diver…
Co-Innovation: Shining a “Lightbulb” on the Myth of the Lone Inventor
A few years ago I sat down with technology leaders at a major oil and gas company to talk about a solution they wanted Cisco to develop, and they had some unique and interesting requirements: They wanted us to work with them to co-innovate this solution. They also asked us to work with their three…
The Internet of Things: Hype or Reality?
Having spent several days last week at the Internet of Things World Forum in Dubai, I am more convinced than ever that the Internet of Things (IoT) is not some hyped-up futuristic vision of what could be, but a present-day reality that is transforming businesses and industries here and now. In this…