Weekly Watson: IBM Interviews Itself and Does Not Mention Watson as a Favorite App
February 26, 2016
I came across an article in IBM Events called “Dan Magid Chief Technologist, IBM i Solutions.” It appears, and I am thinking in rural Kentucky, not a technology nerve center like Cedar Rapids or Boise, that Dan Magid, the article, reports an interview with Dan Magic (chief technologist) conducted and edited by Dan Magid.
I hope I have that straight.
There were some interesting points in the article / interview / content marketing thingy.
In response to a question about trends, I learned from Dan Magid (interviewer, expert, author, and i Solutions technologist):
Connectivity, Big Data and Cloud. Everything else going on is in some way connected to these three trends.
What? No Watson? Perhaps Mr. Magid, the interviewer, should ask Dan Magid, the technologist at IBM i Solutions, “What about Watson? You remember, don’t you? TV game show winner. Cook book author. Curer of disease.”
I also learned that IBM is concerned about customers. There is a baffling reference to something called Rocket. I know about Rocket, the search vendor, but the “Rocket” in the interview is presented as if the reader knows wherefore of that which Mr. Magid speaks. Sorry, I don’t. I get the main idea: IBM listens to customers. I would add that being a large company with a dedicated IBM capture team helps out the customer support thing.
I noted this question, “How can an organization stay relevant five years from now?” I was hoping that Mr. Magic would consult IBM’s senior management and relate the question to the 14 consecutive quarters of revenue decline, the stock price, the reductions in force, and other oddments of the Big Blue approach to “relevance.” Nope. Here’s what I learned:
The key to staying relevant is to understand your customers, your market and the direction of technology. … You need to understand technology direction so that you can take advantage of emerging technologies that will help your customers and so that you can ensure your organization is not surprised by a new technology that could make your business model obsolete.
Business model obsolescence. I would suggest that IBM’s business model might be a suitable subject for a case study by some eager beaver MBA candidates. Just a thought.
I enjoyed this comment too:
Question from Mr. Magid to Mr. Magid: What app can you not live without?
Answer from Mr. Magid to Mr. Magid:
The Expensable mobile app. I travel 2-3 weeks a month and keeping up to date on expense reports used to be a nightmare. I would return from each trip with an envelope full of receipts and spend a few hours organizing and entering them for reimbursement. I would often get months behind. Now, I use the Expensable app to enter my expenses as they are incurred. I take five minutes to review it when I get home and submit the report. It’s simple.
Yikes. Not Watson.
Remarkable write up which delivers quite an insight into IBM’s thought processes.
Stephen E Arnold, February 26, 2016
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Weekly Watson: IBM Interviews Itself and Does Not Mention Watson as a Favorite App : Stephen E. Arnold @ Beyond Search