Where is the 'Consumerization of the Enterprise' puck going to be?

Image Courtesy Kenneth Lu http://www.flickr.com/photos/toasty/

Description - What consumer behaviors today will create new incremental enterprise revenue streams tomorrow? How can enterprise solution providers prepare for where the puck is going to be?

The term consumerization has a few related definitions. The reorientation of product and service designs around the individual end user.  The use of personal consumer electronics at work. The blending of personal and business technology use.  Gartner summarizes it as " Consumerization is the specific impact that consumer-originated technologies can have on enterprises. It reflects how enterprises will be affected by, and can take advantage of, new technologies and models that originate and develop in the consumer space, rather than in the enterprise IT sector. "

The oft-stated example of how consumers translated their personal device preferences (e.g. iPhone, iPads) into enterprise class communication tools of today is probably the best example of consumerization of the enterprise where consumer preferences created a new enterprise market. In fact, I think about the Apple case study as prominent and repeated as the Dell operational excellence 'build-to-order' case study of the last decade. Other less-accounted examples of consumerization include the consumer cloud storage space where consumers brought their personal usage of tools like Hightail(formerly YouSendIt), Dropbox etc. into the enterprise to share, store and collaborate work files because they found it difficult to work within the constraints of equivalent enterprise tools. SaaS, Social Media in the enterprise, and the list goes on.  Consumerization is beyond hype and demonstrated significant economic value for enterprise vendors/service providers.

So, how will present day consumer behaviors and expectations translate into new future economic streams in the enterprise? How can enterprise vendors  amplify existing consumer usage or foster new consumer usage to take advantage of these trends?

                                                

Recommendations, Ratings and Reviews - As consumers, we have become accustomed to proof-points  that are in the public domain. We expect a Yelp or Zagat review before we try a new restaurant, we expect opinions on Trip Advisor before we select a vacation destination, we rely on crowd-sourced recommendations to pick a movie to watch on Netflix, we look to ratings to evaluate apps in app stores or to trust a merchant in an online marketplace. While the recommendation/ratings/reviews system is still maturing and ironing out some wrinkles, it is here to stay. Today, the enterprise provides proof-points via customer testimonials, 3rd party studies, analyst influences etc. However, these proof-points are initiated and fostered by the vendor. The democratic or public opinion system will translate over to the enterprise.  Enterprise vendors can prepare and foster this aspect by starting with building presence in the evolving enterprise app marketplaces and proactively building support and quantitative proof-points in the online communities relevant to their industry.

Education - Products used in schools, colleges, universities are habit forming. Our first bank account, first email account etc. are sticky. The earlier in life, the stronger the habit. I recently attended a middle school club event which required presentation by groups of students to a large audience - Powerpoint was not the presentation tool of choice for this particular group of middle schoolers. Early experiences like these are what this generation will carry over into their work lives. Enterprise vendors/service providers will be well served by investing in low-cost or free solutions for education. Another way enterprises can foster consumerization is by contributing knowledge, products and define new course offerings in the evolving MOOC education space populated by Udacity, Coursera, edX etc. The M in MOOC stands for massive!

Experience - As consumers, we increasingly buy experiences more than we buy products these days. Part of the experience is manifested in the showrooming effect which the consumer vendors such as Best Buy are embracing to their advantage. We increasingly try before we buy. The experience precedes the purchase. The enterprise players already have a head-start on this through existing mechanisms such as technology centers, centers of excellence, development environments, demo/trial programs etc. The enterprise players should invest in and amplify these avenues.

Fun - "Happy Streaming", "This is gonna be fun", "Why's it cool" - These were the messages I received when opening  the package of my digital streaming device. Again, a manifestation of the experience over product trend -for example, termed as the Experience Economy by Pine-Gilmore. Or defined by Simon Sinek in his TED Talk as the "Start with the Why". The "Why" is more important than the "What" and the "How".  This is a tough task for the enterprise i.e. to make the experience matter more than the product, make it fun. I will point to the Super Bowl ads of today (incidentally) for inspiration - Think about the non-consumer companies that captured your attention by how they appealed to your sense of fun.

Other aspects of consumerization like simplicity & aesthetics found in our consumer app experiences that are well known as are the effects of consumer electronics in the workplace. I have not focused on these since much has been written about these effects and their impact on the enterprise such as this Forbes article by Darian Shirazi. Instead, I tried to take a forward looking view to emerging consumer behaviors that have not yet made it over to the enterprise.  Where the puck is going to be.......