I blogged yesterday about a session I hosted at the Energy Thought Summit in Austin. It included a video of the full session that Zpryme has posted on YouTube, and am glad to see that my post is getting a lot of readership. So, to keep the ETS vibe going, here's more content.
As Community Advocate for the summit, another hat I've been wearing is doing a series of thought leader interviews. Many of these were posted prior to the event, and can be accessed from the News section of the ETS16 site. Other interviews were done later, so I have a series of those coming soon. One was published while I was away last week, and am sharing it here now.
This one was done with Bill Meehan of Esri, a company that has been pioneering the use of GIS since the 1970s. The applications go well beyond energy, so my UC/collaboration followers will also find this of interest. Bill explains this quite well in the interview, and you can see him in action on the above-mentioned video from my session - he gave a very colorful presentation!
So, here's the interview, and will update the blog as the remaining interviews get posted.
Showing posts with label Smart Grid. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Smart Grid. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 4, 2016
Tuesday, May 3, 2016
Energy Thought Summit Redux - Video of my Open Mic Session
Zpryme's Energy Thought Summit - ETS16 - was just over a month ago, but there's still good content being posted, and will share here for those interested in the smart grid/smart cities/smart home/smart car space. Our event was a great success and you'll be hard pressed to find richer, more diverse insights about what the future holds for the energy economy.
By now you should know this is another hat that I wear, and as Community Advocate for ETS16, I contributed in a few ways. If that's news to you, my recap post for the summit is a good starting point for my involvement there.
During the summit, I hosted the Open Mic event, where three energy thought leaders each had 10 minutes to talk about an energy challenge - with props - and persuade the audience theirs was the best. The game show format was fun, but don't let that fool you. Each had a timely and relevant message to share that causes you to re-think what energy means in 2016.
My role was to MC the session and keep things moving along to the end where the audience cast their ballots to choose a winner. Being ETS - and being in Austin - we did things a bit differently. As you'll see in the video clip, the speakers had to write the title of their talk on a chalkboard - can't get more old school than that. In keeping with the creative/artsy vibe of Austin, my new piano friend, Adam Lozoya was plucked off the busker-lined streets the night before and provided great ad lib accompaniment throughout the session. On top of that, we held the session in an improv theater space at the back of a nearby cafe.
You won't see this at other conferences, and it was a lot of fun. It's part of what makes ETS unique, and am glad to be part of it. So, explore at your leisure - the whole session is captured below - it runs about 45 minutes, and I won't give the winner away here. Hopefully, you'll watch the whole thing, and if you do, I'd love to hear who you think was the best. You up for that?
By now you should know this is another hat that I wear, and as Community Advocate for ETS16, I contributed in a few ways. If that's news to you, my recap post for the summit is a good starting point for my involvement there.
During the summit, I hosted the Open Mic event, where three energy thought leaders each had 10 minutes to talk about an energy challenge - with props - and persuade the audience theirs was the best. The game show format was fun, but don't let that fool you. Each had a timely and relevant message to share that causes you to re-think what energy means in 2016.
My role was to MC the session and keep things moving along to the end where the audience cast their ballots to choose a winner. Being ETS - and being in Austin - we did things a bit differently. As you'll see in the video clip, the speakers had to write the title of their talk on a chalkboard - can't get more old school than that. In keeping with the creative/artsy vibe of Austin, my new piano friend, Adam Lozoya was plucked off the busker-lined streets the night before and provided great ad lib accompaniment throughout the session. On top of that, we held the session in an improv theater space at the back of a nearby cafe.
You won't see this at other conferences, and it was a lot of fun. It's part of what makes ETS unique, and am glad to be part of it. So, explore at your leisure - the whole session is captured below - it runs about 45 minutes, and I won't give the winner away here. Hopefully, you'll watch the whole thing, and if you do, I'd love to hear who you think was the best. You up for that?
Friday, April 15, 2016
Toronto - We're Number 11!
It's not every day that I get to say Toronto, Dell and Harvard in the same sentence, but we were all in the room together earlier this week, and am doing my civic duty here.
I've been developing some good relationships recently with Dell, and the stars lined up for me on Tuesday to participate in a panel as part of a Dell Canada event here in Toronto. This was a new event for me - Power To Do More - but it included a session with analysts, press, Dell Canada customers, and most notably Prof. David Ricketts from Harvard.
For background, Dell sponsored the 2015 Strategic Innovation Summit, which was convened by Harvard, with Dr. Rickerts serving as the summit's General Chair. Briefly, the summit focused on harnessing the forces of change - mostly tech-related of course - to drive the "innovation-based economy" of tomorrow.
Lots of good insights came out of this summit, and Dr. Ricketts was on hand to discuss them in a group setting. The newsworthy highlight came in the form a list of top 50 global cities that the research deemed as being most "future ready". I'm not going to break down the methodology or full listing here, but you can get all the key takeaways in the press release issued by Dell Canada in support of this event.
I find this research fascinating, and Toronto certainly comes out looking good, ranking at #11. We all love to shout "we're #1", but San Jose has a lock on that spot, and #11 is not too shabby. I'm not alone among Toronotians who can effortlessly spout all our shortcomings, but as liveable cities go, TO is pretty hard to beat.
Given that I also wear a smart grid/smart cities hat, I'd be remiss if I didn't give a hat tip as well to Austin, which came in even higher in the global rankings at #7. Having just served as the Community Advocate for last month's Energy Thought Summit in Austin, I can tell you first hand this is an up and coming city - looks like the next San Francisco to me - and they are doing some very cool and smart things, especially in the energy space. For a taste of that, here's my blog post with some highlights from ETS16, and for our broader thought leadership on energysmart cities - including mine - feel free to check out the News tab here.
Coming back to Dell/Harvard, what the research is really focused on is the extent to which leading cities have the right mix of attributes to sustain economic growth, and the authors break this down into three core dimensions - human capital, infrastructure and commerce.
There's lots more to explore here, but for now I'm just doing a shout-out to share TO's good news. As well, kudos to Dell for sponsoring this research, and as I get more involved with their IoT practice, I'll have to more to say about what cities need to do to be globally competitive, as well as how best to use technology to help make that happen.
I've been developing some good relationships recently with Dell, and the stars lined up for me on Tuesday to participate in a panel as part of a Dell Canada event here in Toronto. This was a new event for me - Power To Do More - but it included a session with analysts, press, Dell Canada customers, and most notably Prof. David Ricketts from Harvard.
For background, Dell sponsored the 2015 Strategic Innovation Summit, which was convened by Harvard, with Dr. Rickerts serving as the summit's General Chair. Briefly, the summit focused on harnessing the forces of change - mostly tech-related of course - to drive the "innovation-based economy" of tomorrow.
Lots of good insights came out of this summit, and Dr. Ricketts was on hand to discuss them in a group setting. The newsworthy highlight came in the form a list of top 50 global cities that the research deemed as being most "future ready". I'm not going to break down the methodology or full listing here, but you can get all the key takeaways in the press release issued by Dell Canada in support of this event.
I find this research fascinating, and Toronto certainly comes out looking good, ranking at #11. We all love to shout "we're #1", but San Jose has a lock on that spot, and #11 is not too shabby. I'm not alone among Toronotians who can effortlessly spout all our shortcomings, but as liveable cities go, TO is pretty hard to beat.
Given that I also wear a smart grid/smart cities hat, I'd be remiss if I didn't give a hat tip as well to Austin, which came in even higher in the global rankings at #7. Having just served as the Community Advocate for last month's Energy Thought Summit in Austin, I can tell you first hand this is an up and coming city - looks like the next San Francisco to me - and they are doing some very cool and smart things, especially in the energy space. For a taste of that, here's my blog post with some highlights from ETS16, and for our broader thought leadership on energysmart cities - including mine - feel free to check out the News tab here.
Coming back to Dell/Harvard, what the research is really focused on is the extent to which leading cities have the right mix of attributes to sustain economic growth, and the authors break this down into three core dimensions - human capital, infrastructure and commerce.
There's lots more to explore here, but for now I'm just doing a shout-out to share TO's good news. As well, kudos to Dell for sponsoring this research, and as I get more involved with their IoT practice, I'll have to more to say about what cities need to do to be globally competitive, as well as how best to use technology to help make that happen.
Friday, April 1, 2016
March Writing Roundup
Busy month, yeah.
Had two conferences at the back end of the month - Channel Partners, and ETS16 - from which I just returned late last night. So, aside from my regular writing stints, I produced a lot of content for the GetVoIP blog from Channel Partners, along with my smart grid thought leadership around ETS16 - and more of that to come. Here's a summary of what I was up to in March.
Channel Partners Takeaways -What Millennials, Mobility and 5G Mean for UC, UCStrategies, March 31
ETS16 - Day 1 Quick Hits, March 30, my blog
What Else SMBs need to do to Ensure UC Provides Flexibility, March 29, Toolbox.com
Channel Partners Spotlight on Vonage - What Makes Them a Good Partner, March 25, GetVoIP blog
Microsoft at Channel Partners - "We're Partner Friendly", March 25, GetVoIP blog
Channel Partners Spotlight on Nextiva - Winning Those Loose Balls, March 22, GetVoIP blog
8x8's State of Channel Program, March 21, GetVoIP blog
Intel Q&A - Utilities and the Internet of Things, March 18, ETS Insights
How UC Brings Flexibility to Your Business, March 17, Toolbox.com
Channel Parters Conference - First Take, March 16, GetVoIP blog
Why SMBs Aren't Adopting UC, March 14, Toolbox.com
Why Are We Still Using Desk Phones?, March 9, Internet Telephony Magazine
S&C Electric Q&A, Part 2 - Energy Storage Opportunities, March 8, ETS Insights
Allconnect Q&A - News Ways to Connect with Customers, March 8, ETS Insights
Why VoIP Hasn't Yet Replaced Legacy Telephony, March 7, Toolbox.com
Humans - Bringing the Personal Touch to Energy, March 7, ETS Insights
Univago - Solving Video from the Cloud, March 4, my blog
Had two conferences at the back end of the month - Channel Partners, and ETS16 - from which I just returned late last night. So, aside from my regular writing stints, I produced a lot of content for the GetVoIP blog from Channel Partners, along with my smart grid thought leadership around ETS16 - and more of that to come. Here's a summary of what I was up to in March.
Channel Partners Takeaways -What Millennials, Mobility and 5G Mean for UC, UCStrategies, March 31
ETS16 - Day 1 Quick Hits, March 30, my blog
What Else SMBs need to do to Ensure UC Provides Flexibility, March 29, Toolbox.com
Channel Partners Spotlight on Vonage - What Makes Them a Good Partner, March 25, GetVoIP blog
Microsoft at Channel Partners - "We're Partner Friendly", March 25, GetVoIP blog
Channel Partners Spotlight on Nextiva - Winning Those Loose Balls, March 22, GetVoIP blog
8x8's State of Channel Program, March 21, GetVoIP blog
Intel Q&A - Utilities and the Internet of Things, March 18, ETS Insights
How UC Brings Flexibility to Your Business, March 17, Toolbox.com
Channel Parters Conference - First Take, March 16, GetVoIP blog
Why SMBs Aren't Adopting UC, March 14, Toolbox.com
Why Are We Still Using Desk Phones?, March 9, Internet Telephony Magazine
S&C Electric Q&A, Part 2 - Energy Storage Opportunities, March 8, ETS Insights
Allconnect Q&A - News Ways to Connect with Customers, March 8, ETS Insights
Why VoIP Hasn't Yet Replaced Legacy Telephony, March 7, Toolbox.com
Humans - Bringing the Personal Touch to Energy, March 7, ETS Insights
Univago - Solving Video from the Cloud, March 4, my blog
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
ETS16 - Day 1 Quick Hits
Things are moving fast here at Zpryme's ETS16 - Energy Thought Summit - and I'm wearing a few hats. I've been producing a lot of thought leadership content in advance of the summit, and this morning, I hosted the first session - an Open Mic panel that was a lot of fun. Today I'm also doing a series of video interviews with industry execs, and these will turn up soon on the ETS Insights page.
Time is short, and for now I can only manage a few photos with brief commentary from yesterday, plus some late additions from the Open Mic session. Here we go...
Another part of the tour was to see what they're doing to promote alternate forms of transportation and energy - electric vehicles and e-bikes in particular. They're doing lots of leading-edge things in these areas, and here's a fast charging station, with a Nissan Leaf with the lid flipped up for charging.
Nothing really radical here, but I really like how the charger has the look and feel of the pumps we all use at gas stations. I asked about this, and they are in fact, looking at partnerships with gas stations to put in some chargers, even one that serves BBQ. Why not? Fast chargers only take about 20 minutes, so it's about the right amout of time to get a bite to eat and get back on the road.
Now, here's the interesting part for me. The experience of using an EV charger totally has the same look and feel as if being at a gas station. They didn't have to design it this way, but when you think about the activity you're trying moving people away from, it's much easier to do that when the user experience is so familiar.
If EV charging looked different - or weird as they say in Austin - or complex, people wouldn't use it so readily. The UC&C space is going through this now, and the vendors definitely get it, and that's really helping drive adoption. Great to see that here with energy, and when other points of contact in the home have the same thinking - smart meters, thermostats, home networks, etc. - that's going to make smart grid adoption move a lot faster.
Dr. Thomas Wagner from NASA - great talk, more about that later - and some visual art happening in real time. I didn't catch the name of the illustrator, but over the course of the morning sessions, she created a visual narrative that captured the essence of what the speakers were sharing.
Time is short, and for now I can only manage a few photos with brief commentary from yesterday, plus some late additions from the Open Mic session. Here we go...
Early start yesterday, with a tour of the power plant site, which was decommissioned a few years back, and has been totally reinvented as a different kind of community asset. Very impressive, and Austin is really leading way for integrating energy and the role of utilities into the fabric of everyday life in the digital age. Kind of ironic to see two letters below not illuminated - not sure if that's Austin humor, or nobody noticed these lights are out. :-)
Another cool vibe about Austin is the arts scene. It's more than just a music town, and creativity is everywhere here. I believe it's actually a key part of the secret sauce that makes the tech startup scene here so dynamic. If that's not on your radar, it really should be. Check out what they've done with these huge metal tubes - as I understand things, it's part of how they cool the water when producing steam to drive the turbines. Not any more, and I love what they've done here. Perhaps it symbolizes a prison break, escaping from the legacy energy model, or more likely reinvention - for both the energy sector and repurposing an industrial site to something with great aesthetics. I'm reaching, but I also see the bodies of two guitars here, and that wouldn't be out of place in this town.
Another example of repurposing the site and 21st century urban renewal. Dormant cooling tower next to a high rise condo, making this a very hip neighborhood now.
Nothing really radical here, but I really like how the charger has the look and feel of the pumps we all use at gas stations. I asked about this, and they are in fact, looking at partnerships with gas stations to put in some chargers, even one that serves BBQ. Why not? Fast chargers only take about 20 minutes, so it's about the right amout of time to get a bite to eat and get back on the road.
If EV charging looked different - or weird as they say in Austin - or complex, people wouldn't use it so readily. The UC&C space is going through this now, and the vendors definitely get it, and that's really helping drive adoption. Great to see that here with energy, and when other points of contact in the home have the same thinking - smart meters, thermostats, home networks, etc. - that's going to make smart grid adoption move a lot faster.
Show time at the Paramount - they don't make 'em like this any more.
ETS President Drew Johnston welcoming everyone and setting the tone.
Voila! The finished product - very cool, huh? And, between sessions, there is a musical performer to serenade us - different ones each time. In this case, we had classical music. Loved it, but am not sure if she was playing a cello or a viola. Anyhow, I don't think you're going to see this mixing of arts, creativity and music - all acoustic, all live - at any other event. Again, you may call Austin weird, but it totally works for me, and really engages all the senses.
For star power, we had Dr. Vint Cerf, via remote connection. Too bad he couldn't be on stage, but it was great to hear his thoughts. The experience was just so-so, though, and Google Hangouts was probably not the ideal choice for such an esteemed speaker. That's another conversation, but I'm wearing my smart grid hat right now.
Finally, some me time. This was from today's 8am session, so it's really a bonus add-on for my Day 1 recap. I MC'd the Open Mic session, and I grabbed this photo that was posted on twitter earlier. Thanks for that! We had a full house, and was very happy to have a local pianist accompany us during the transitions from speaker to speaker. Maybe it's just an Austin thing, but it was a nice touch.
Here's the piano man, Adam Lozoya. Literally, he was discovered playing on the street the day before, and next thing you know he's at my session. Great guy, and nice of him to let me play a bit too - I can't not do that if there's a piano in the room. Here he is with Act II, performing outside the theater during our morning break. Gotta love the electric candles sticking up, and of course the tip hat. Man's gotta make a living!
Thursday, March 24, 2016
Energy Thought Summit, Austin - Final Shout-Out!
With this being a short week, I wanted to push another post out about Zpryme's ETS16, starting next Tuesday in Austin.
I've cited the back story regarding my involvement in the summit along with the smart grid space in general many times, and if you don't have that, here's a recent post about it.
I'll be flying to Austin on Monday, and if you're there, I won't be hard to find. As you may know, I've been writing a fair bit to support the summit, and my latest is a Q&A I did with Intel about the role IoT plays in how utilities evolve for 21st century needs.
Once you see that, my other posts won't be hard to find, and I'll continue blogging and tweeting throughout the event.
Oh, and if you're there, I'm hosting the Open Mic event bright and early on Wednesday at 8am!
I've cited the back story regarding my involvement in the summit along with the smart grid space in general many times, and if you don't have that, here's a recent post about it.
I'll be flying to Austin on Monday, and if you're there, I won't be hard to find. As you may know, I've been writing a fair bit to support the summit, and my latest is a Q&A I did with Intel about the role IoT plays in how utilities evolve for 21st century needs.
Once you see that, my other posts won't be hard to find, and I'll continue blogging and tweeting throughout the event.
Oh, and if you're there, I'm hosting the Open Mic event bright and early on Wednesday at 8am!
Thursday, March 10, 2016
Energy Thought Summit - My Q&A Interview Series
Slipping on my smart grid hat, as Community Advocate for the upcoming Energy Thought Summit in Austin, I have a few roles to play. One of them is developing thought leadership content to provide a preview of what to expect at ETS16. This has taken two basic forms, one of which I just completed, and now I've got a second track underway.
The first form is my four-part TECH series, where each article focused on a distinct theme that defines ETS16 - Transformation, Emergence, Convergence and Humans. Earlier this week, the final article was posted, and that's a good starting point if you'd like to explore the full series.
Just as the communications space has been radically disrupted the past 10 years, the same story is unfolding now in the energy sector, and that's why I've been involved here for several years. These posts will give you a pretty good idea of how technology has been a driving force for change across the entire energy value chain, and we still have a long way to go.
Now I'll get to the second form of thought leadership. Another way of understanding what's driving change is to hear first hand from across the ecosytem - the disruptors, the utilities being disrupted, and energy consumers. I've done this via a series of Q&A interviews that is still ongoing, and the first set was just posted this week, and links to each are provided below.
I'll add others as they're posted, and I hope you enjoy these. Who knows? Maybe it will be enough to get you to come join us in Austin, March 29-31.
S&C Electric - Energy Storage Opportunities
S&C Electric - Innovation and Collaboration for Energy
Allconnect - New Ways to Connect With Customers
Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative - Managing Customer Chaos
The first form is my four-part TECH series, where each article focused on a distinct theme that defines ETS16 - Transformation, Emergence, Convergence and Humans. Earlier this week, the final article was posted, and that's a good starting point if you'd like to explore the full series.
Just as the communications space has been radically disrupted the past 10 years, the same story is unfolding now in the energy sector, and that's why I've been involved here for several years. These posts will give you a pretty good idea of how technology has been a driving force for change across the entire energy value chain, and we still have a long way to go.
Now I'll get to the second form of thought leadership. Another way of understanding what's driving change is to hear first hand from across the ecosytem - the disruptors, the utilities being disrupted, and energy consumers. I've done this via a series of Q&A interviews that is still ongoing, and the first set was just posted this week, and links to each are provided below.
I'll add others as they're posted, and I hope you enjoy these. Who knows? Maybe it will be enough to get you to come join us in Austin, March 29-31.
S&C Electric - Energy Storage Opportunities
S&C Electric - Innovation and Collaboration for Energy
Allconnect - New Ways to Connect With Customers
Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative - Managing Customer Chaos
Tuesday, March 8, 2016
Humans - Bringing the Personal Touch to Energy
That's the title of my fourth and final post in the "ETS16 Primer" series as a lead-up to the Energy Thought Summit later this month in Austin.
As you may know, this is part of my broader involvement in the smart grid space as well as this conference, both of which I do with Austin-based Zpryme Research. I've been posting updates here, with the most recent being about the third post in the Primer series.
The latest post looks at the importance of keeping humans central to how utilities go about modernizing their business. It's easy to think passively about energy as a commodity service, but humans are the ones building the smart grid, as well as being the consumers of what they produce.
Our world is much more connected and engaged today - hence my interest in smart grid coming from the UC/collab space - and the success of modernization efforts relies heavily on keeping the human touch. That's what this post touches on, and helps set the stage for ETS16. I hope you read it, and if you like it, I encourage you to read the earlier posts in the series, and maybe, just maybe you'll decide to join us in Austin, March 28-31.
As you may know, this is part of my broader involvement in the smart grid space as well as this conference, both of which I do with Austin-based Zpryme Research. I've been posting updates here, with the most recent being about the third post in the Primer series.
The latest post looks at the importance of keeping humans central to how utilities go about modernizing their business. It's easy to think passively about energy as a commodity service, but humans are the ones building the smart grid, as well as being the consumers of what they produce.
Our world is much more connected and engaged today - hence my interest in smart grid coming from the UC/collab space - and the success of modernization efforts relies heavily on keeping the human touch. That's what this post touches on, and helps set the stage for ETS16. I hope you read it, and if you like it, I encourage you to read the earlier posts in the series, and maybe, just maybe you'll decide to join us in Austin, March 28-31.
Thursday, March 3, 2016
February Writing Roundup
As you can see below, I had a good variety of writing last month. Aside from the regular mix of UC, collaboration, customer experience and VoIP, there are two things to note that are a bit outside the norm.
First, wearing my smart grid hat, I'm quite involved with the Energy Thought Summit, running end of March in Austin. I've been active in this space for some time, and one of my roles is to create thought leadership leading up to the summit. Last month, two posts in a four part series of mine ran - see below.
Second, if you just read one thing from this digest of posts, go to the very last one, which wasn't even written by me. Rather, it's by long-time Forbes writer David F. Carr, who wrote a great review of a panel I moderated on collaboration that he was a speaker on. I don't get cited in the mainstream business press very often, so this was very nice to see - and totally unexpected.
Otherwise, here's what else I was writing about last month to give you a sense of what I'm seeing in the communications market.
Ideal Scenarios for Cloud-Based UC, Feb. 25, Toolbox.com
What Employees Will Not Like About VoIP, Feb. 23, Toolbox.com
Vertical Communications - Can They Succeed Selling Direct?, Feb. 22, UCStrategies
Considering Unified Communications as a Service?, Feb. 18, TechTarget PRO+ Premium Content
Three Things Employees Will Love About VoIP, Feb. 15, Toolbox.com
VoIP Deployment Mistakes to Watch For, Feb. 9, Toolbox.com
Convergence - The Road Ahead When Transportation and Energy Merge, Feb. 9, ETS16 portal
Three Factors That Impact Audio Quality for Conferencing, Feb. 8, Toolbox.com
Top Six Tips for Shaping the Customer Experience in 2016, Feb. 4, Enterprise Management 360
UC Analytics Must Mature Before Benefits can be Seen, Feb. 4, TechTarget
Emergence - New Players and Technologies Bring Utilities to the Innovation Game, Feb. 3, ETS16 portal
Honorable mention - I moderated a panel about collaboration in late January at ITExpo, and one of my speakers, who spoke on behalf of a vendor, is also a regular contributor for Forbes. He wrote an article about the session, with generous citations for me and the other panelists.
Are You Communicating or Collaborating?, February 2, Forbes, by David F. Carr
First, wearing my smart grid hat, I'm quite involved with the Energy Thought Summit, running end of March in Austin. I've been active in this space for some time, and one of my roles is to create thought leadership leading up to the summit. Last month, two posts in a four part series of mine ran - see below.
Second, if you just read one thing from this digest of posts, go to the very last one, which wasn't even written by me. Rather, it's by long-time Forbes writer David F. Carr, who wrote a great review of a panel I moderated on collaboration that he was a speaker on. I don't get cited in the mainstream business press very often, so this was very nice to see - and totally unexpected.
Otherwise, here's what else I was writing about last month to give you a sense of what I'm seeing in the communications market.
Ideal Scenarios for Cloud-Based UC, Feb. 25, Toolbox.com
What Employees Will Not Like About VoIP, Feb. 23, Toolbox.com
Vertical Communications - Can They Succeed Selling Direct?, Feb. 22, UCStrategies
Considering Unified Communications as a Service?, Feb. 18, TechTarget PRO+ Premium Content
Three Things Employees Will Love About VoIP, Feb. 15, Toolbox.com
VoIP Deployment Mistakes to Watch For, Feb. 9, Toolbox.com
Convergence - The Road Ahead When Transportation and Energy Merge, Feb. 9, ETS16 portal
Three Factors That Impact Audio Quality for Conferencing, Feb. 8, Toolbox.com
Top Six Tips for Shaping the Customer Experience in 2016, Feb. 4, Enterprise Management 360
UC Analytics Must Mature Before Benefits can be Seen, Feb. 4, TechTarget
Emergence - New Players and Technologies Bring Utilities to the Innovation Game, Feb. 3, ETS16 portal
Honorable mention - I moderated a panel about collaboration in late January at ITExpo, and one of my speakers, who spoke on behalf of a vendor, is also a regular contributor for Forbes. He wrote an article about the session, with generous citations for me and the other panelists.
Are You Communicating or Collaborating?, February 2, Forbes, by David F. Carr
Monday, February 29, 2016
Energy Thought Summit Updates
Many of my followers know that I've been active in the smart grid space for many years, as there are strong parallels between utilities and telcos in terms of how communications technology is disrupting everything that they do. What VoIP started doing to telecom began about 10 years ago, the Web - and other things - is doing to the energy sector now, and there's a lot to be learned from the comms space about how to handle change.
The next Energy Thought Summit - ETS16 - is a month away, and it's time for an update. I've been involved with ETS from the beginning, and it's part of my broader involvement with Austin-based Zpryme Research, where I'm also an Advisor. This is a unique event in that it's all about thought leadership from A-list executives across the energy sector, along with leading academics and policy makers. No exhibitors or show floor - just great content and insights about what's happening now and where things are going.
The full agenda was published on Friday, so see for yourself. Since we all use energy - not even the Internet is this important - you don't have to be a utility lifer to find the topics of interest. Aside from the hands-on industry issues, we'll be addressing things like electric vehicles, Internet of Things, customer engagement, smart cities, smart homes, renewable energy, sustainable business models, etc.
I'll be there wearing a few hats, including something a bit different. On Wednesday morning, I'll be the Emcee for an Open Mic session titled "What's the Next Greatest Challenge in Energy?". It's going to be a fun session, and if things work out, I may warm up the audience playing some piano. Why not - it's Austin, right?
Otherwise, I'll moderate a session or two - updates coming- and generally will not be hard to find. I'm also contributing thought leadership content as we build up to the summit, with my most recent posting here. Drop me a line if you want to hear more about ETS16, and even better if you want to attend.
The next Energy Thought Summit - ETS16 - is a month away, and it's time for an update. I've been involved with ETS from the beginning, and it's part of my broader involvement with Austin-based Zpryme Research, where I'm also an Advisor. This is a unique event in that it's all about thought leadership from A-list executives across the energy sector, along with leading academics and policy makers. No exhibitors or show floor - just great content and insights about what's happening now and where things are going.
The full agenda was published on Friday, so see for yourself. Since we all use energy - not even the Internet is this important - you don't have to be a utility lifer to find the topics of interest. Aside from the hands-on industry issues, we'll be addressing things like electric vehicles, Internet of Things, customer engagement, smart cities, smart homes, renewable energy, sustainable business models, etc.
I'll be there wearing a few hats, including something a bit different. On Wednesday morning, I'll be the Emcee for an Open Mic session titled "What's the Next Greatest Challenge in Energy?". It's going to be a fun session, and if things work out, I may warm up the audience playing some piano. Why not - it's Austin, right?
Otherwise, I'll moderate a session or two - updates coming- and generally will not be hard to find. I'm also contributing thought leadership content as we build up to the summit, with my most recent posting here. Drop me a line if you want to hear more about ETS16, and even better if you want to attend.
Thursday, February 11, 2016
Convergence in Smart Grid - Transforming the Chaos Series #3
"Transforming the Chaos" is the main theme for our upcoming Energy Thought Summit in Austin, starting March 28. Wearing my Smart Grid hat, I'm the Community Advocate for ETS16, and have been blogging about it here fairly often.
To help prime our audience for the experience, I've been developing a four-part series addressing separate but connected sub-themes. To start at the beginning, this post will take you to the first two posts, covering Transformation and Emergence. The third sub-theme is Convergence, and that article was just posted to the ETS16 website, and I hope you give it a read. The fourth post is in the works now, and I'll update you here once it's running. I've got other content in the works to support the summit, and before you know it, I'll be there in Austin.
To help prime our audience for the experience, I've been developing a four-part series addressing separate but connected sub-themes. To start at the beginning, this post will take you to the first two posts, covering Transformation and Emergence. The third sub-theme is Convergence, and that article was just posted to the ETS16 website, and I hope you give it a read. The fourth post is in the works now, and I'll update you here once it's running. I've got other content in the works to support the summit, and before you know it, I'll be there in Austin.
Friday, February 5, 2016
My Latest Smart Grid Article - Emergence Theme Around Technology and Innovation
Time to wear my Smart Grid hat again. In this mode, I'm an Advisor to Austin-based Zpryme Research, and the Community Advocate for next month's Energy Thought Summit. Leading up to the summit, I'm writing a four part thought leadership series, and this is the second piece.
The title is "Emergence - New Players and Technologies Bring Utilities to the Innovation Game", and it's posted now on the ETS16 website. Utilities are 10 years behind telcos in term of Internet/IP disruption, and my focus here is on emerging trends that are poised to transform the energy sector.
I hope you give it a read, and if you like it, you'll want to read my first instalment, and then stay tuned the upcoming pieces, which are in the works now. Beyond that, if you're interested in how this overall transformation is happening, you'll want to join us at ETS16, March 28-31.
The title is "Emergence - New Players and Technologies Bring Utilities to the Innovation Game", and it's posted now on the ETS16 website. Utilities are 10 years behind telcos in term of Internet/IP disruption, and my focus here is on emerging trends that are poised to transform the energy sector.
I hope you give it a read, and if you like it, you'll want to read my first instalment, and then stay tuned the upcoming pieces, which are in the works now. Beyond that, if you're interested in how this overall transformation is happening, you'll want to join us at ETS16, March 28-31.
Friday, January 15, 2016
Transformation Challenges Facing Utilities - My Latest Smart Grid Post
For long-time followers, you'll know that I've been active in the Smart Grid space for many years, and serve as an Advisor to Austin-based Zpryme Research. They're a niche research consultancy focused on the energy sector, and I work with them in various ways.
One of these is as the Community Advocate for their marquee event, the Energy Thought Summit. Here is one of my recap posts from last year's event, along with a digest of the various posts I wrote to support it.
For ETS16 - running this March 28-31, again in Austin, I'll be writing a series of similar posts, and these are getting underway now. Additionally, I'm writing a series focusing on the four main themes of this year's summit - Transformation, Emergence, Convergence and Humans - TECH - all of which support the broader message of Transforming the Chaos.
I've been active in the Smart Grid space because I see the same pattern of disruption from IP and the Web in telecom being played out 10 years later with utilities. The parallels are strong, and I'm not alone from the tech/comms space in seeing this.
To keep that theme going, the first post in my series was just published on the ETS16 site, and I hope you give it a read. There's plenty of time to join us in Austin, and you just might want to do that after looking over the program and speaking roster in place - with lots more to come.
One of these is as the Community Advocate for their marquee event, the Energy Thought Summit. Here is one of my recap posts from last year's event, along with a digest of the various posts I wrote to support it.
For ETS16 - running this March 28-31, again in Austin, I'll be writing a series of similar posts, and these are getting underway now. Additionally, I'm writing a series focusing on the four main themes of this year's summit - Transformation, Emergence, Convergence and Humans - TECH - all of which support the broader message of Transforming the Chaos.
I've been active in the Smart Grid space because I see the same pattern of disruption from IP and the Web in telecom being played out 10 years later with utilities. The parallels are strong, and I'm not alone from the tech/comms space in seeing this.
To keep that theme going, the first post in my series was just published on the ETS16 site, and I hope you give it a read. There's plenty of time to join us in Austin, and you just might want to do that after looking over the program and speaking roster in place - with lots more to come.
Thursday, September 3, 2015
Next Smart Grid Webinar - Predictive Analytics
If you don't know, I wear two analyst hats. My main hat is in the collaboration space - VoIP, UC, cloud communications, IoT, contact center, etc. For several years, however, I've also been active in the Smart Grid space, which now encompasses Smart Homes, Smart Cities, etc. Lots of great tie-ins between these worlds, and I see a lot of opportunity, as do many of the vendors I closely follow.
Along the way, I've been working with Austin-based Zpryme Research, and I'm an Advisor to their booming Smart Grid/Clean Energy market research practice. If this is new to you, here are two posts of mine from our latest conference, ETS 15.
I regularly moderate their webinars, and the next one is coming up a week from now - September 10.
The topic is predictive analytics and how this is shaping the direction of Smart Grid evolution. Our featured speakers are Dr. Noa Ruschin-Rimini of GRID4C, and Robbie Wright of Direct Energy. The registration page just went live, and it should be an informative session - hope you can join us!
Along the way, I've been working with Austin-based Zpryme Research, and I'm an Advisor to their booming Smart Grid/Clean Energy market research practice. If this is new to you, here are two posts of mine from our latest conference, ETS 15.
I regularly moderate their webinars, and the next one is coming up a week from now - September 10.
The topic is predictive analytics and how this is shaping the direction of Smart Grid evolution. Our featured speakers are Dr. Noa Ruschin-Rimini of GRID4C, and Robbie Wright of Direct Energy. The registration page just went live, and it should be an informative session - hope you can join us!
Thursday, April 2, 2015
March Writing Roundup
Maybe my busiest month ever in terms of the amount and variety of writing that's out there for public consumption. More of the same coming in April, so plenty of research and writing work to keep me busy. So, here's a digest of the best examples I think you'll enjoy if you didn't catch them first time around.
Collaboration Insights - Getting Work Done, my blog, March 2 - also posted on Cisco Canada's Blog
Will UC Become a Loss Leader?, UCStrategies, March 3
BYOE and the Rise of End-User Driven UC, Internet Telephony Magazine, March 4
Three Ways SIP Phones Add Value Value to Hosted VoIP, Internet Telephony Magazine, March 4
BYOD Expectations - Will Employees be Happier?, Toolbox.com, March 6
More BYOD Expectations - Personal Privacy, Toolbox.com, March 12
Complexity Versus Simplicity in Making Collaboration Work, my blog, March 16 - also posted on Cisco Canada's Blog
BYOD Challenges and Risks - Shadow IT, Toolbox.com, March 17
Verizon's Virtual Communications Express - Bigger can be Beautiful too, my blog, March 18
Energy Thought Summit, Austin - Recap of my Posts, my blog, March 20
TIA's Network of the Future Conference, my blog, March 27
ETS15 Takeaway: Finding Tomorrow's Leaders in the Energy Economy, ETS Insights, March 30
UC Trends and Smart Grid Opportunities - Parallels to Learn From, UCStrategies, March 30
Collaboration Insights - Getting Work Done, my blog, March 2 - also posted on Cisco Canada's Blog
Will UC Become a Loss Leader?, UCStrategies, March 3
BYOE and the Rise of End-User Driven UC, Internet Telephony Magazine, March 4
Three Ways SIP Phones Add Value Value to Hosted VoIP, Internet Telephony Magazine, March 4
BYOD Expectations - Will Employees be Happier?, Toolbox.com, March 6
More BYOD Expectations - Personal Privacy, Toolbox.com, March 12
Complexity Versus Simplicity in Making Collaboration Work, my blog, March 16 - also posted on Cisco Canada's Blog
BYOD Challenges and Risks - Shadow IT, Toolbox.com, March 17
Verizon's Virtual Communications Express - Bigger can be Beautiful too, my blog, March 18
Energy Thought Summit, Austin - Recap of my Posts, my blog, March 20
TIA's Network of the Future Conference, my blog, March 27
ETS15 Takeaway: Finding Tomorrow's Leaders in the Energy Economy, ETS Insights, March 30
UC Trends and Smart Grid Opportunities - Parallels to Learn From, UCStrategies, March 30
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Energy Thought Summit - Another Takeaway - Education
I've been doing a few things around last week's Energy Thought Summit in Austin - some that's strictly smart grid, and some that weaves into the UC/collaboration space. Let me get to the latest item, and then I'll steer you to a few other things to provide the bigger picture.
I just wrote a post-ETS piece about education, and how this was a strong, but subtle theme running throughout the event. There's a big concern that not enough kids are going into the science and engineering disciplines - both in grade school and beyond - and this is the lifeblood driving the energy economy, especially among utilities. My article is running now on the ETS Insights portal, and if you're wondering where tomorrow's energy leaders will come from, I think you'll enjoy it.
Given my core focus communications tech, my perspectives on smart grid/energy are a bit different from those that live in that space 24/7. Since ETS is done now for a while, I thought it would be useful to pull all the various things I've been doing lately around that space to add a few layers to the above post.
First, from today's earlier blog post, my thoughts on smart grid parallels to the UC space on UCStrategies
Second, I wrote a series of articles leading up to ETS wearing my Community Advocate hat. Here's a summary with links to each post.
Finally, on a visual note, here's my post from ETS with some photos and first impressions.
Whatever you care to read, I greatly appreciate your time, and if this sparks any idea or dialog, I'm all ears.
I just wrote a post-ETS piece about education, and how this was a strong, but subtle theme running throughout the event. There's a big concern that not enough kids are going into the science and engineering disciplines - both in grade school and beyond - and this is the lifeblood driving the energy economy, especially among utilities. My article is running now on the ETS Insights portal, and if you're wondering where tomorrow's energy leaders will come from, I think you'll enjoy it.
Given my core focus communications tech, my perspectives on smart grid/energy are a bit different from those that live in that space 24/7. Since ETS is done now for a while, I thought it would be useful to pull all the various things I've been doing lately around that space to add a few layers to the above post.
First, from today's earlier blog post, my thoughts on smart grid parallels to the UC space on UCStrategies
Second, I wrote a series of articles leading up to ETS wearing my Community Advocate hat. Here's a summary with links to each post.
Finally, on a visual note, here's my post from ETS with some photos and first impressions.
Whatever you care to read, I greatly appreciate your time, and if this sparks any idea or dialog, I'm all ears.
UC Trends and Smart Grid Opportunities - Lessons for Both
I'm a bit of an odd fish, as I swim in two ponds that sometimes blend into one another. Communications tech is my main focus, but you may know that smart grid is another space I'm close to. I've given the backstory on that a few times lately, so if you still need that, just search a bit on my blog, or drop me a note.
Anyhow, last week, I wore my smart grid hat, and was involved with the Energy Thought Summit in Austin, TX. The details are in the post I'm about to steer you to, so I'll just move on. While many of the themes have direct implications for the energy economy, I sure saw a lot of parallels - and learning opportunities - for the UC space. A key reason why I'm active in smart grid is because the transformation challenges that utilities are now facing are very similar to what telcos have been going through ever since VoIP came along.
Not only do I see parallels, but also learning opportunities. It's clear to me that one way UC vendors can have success is by offering a deep set of applications for a specific vertical market. Smart grid - and the broader energy space - is a distinct market, and you won't succeed there unless you understand the opportunity.
If that piques your ineterest, then I think you'll enjoy my current contribution to the UCStrategies portal. It's running now, and while you're there, I welcome you to check my previous posts, as well as the rich content there from my fellow UC Experts.
To carry this a step further in the smart grid vein, watch for my next post here for another article of mine that's running now on the ETS portal.
Anyhow, last week, I wore my smart grid hat, and was involved with the Energy Thought Summit in Austin, TX. The details are in the post I'm about to steer you to, so I'll just move on. While many of the themes have direct implications for the energy economy, I sure saw a lot of parallels - and learning opportunities - for the UC space. A key reason why I'm active in smart grid is because the transformation challenges that utilities are now facing are very similar to what telcos have been going through ever since VoIP came along.
Not only do I see parallels, but also learning opportunities. It's clear to me that one way UC vendors can have success is by offering a deep set of applications for a specific vertical market. Smart grid - and the broader energy space - is a distinct market, and you won't succeed there unless you understand the opportunity.
If that piques your ineterest, then I think you'll enjoy my current contribution to the UCStrategies portal. It's running now, and while you're there, I welcome you to check my previous posts, as well as the rich content there from my fellow UC Experts.
To carry this a step further in the smart grid vein, watch for my next post here for another article of mine that's running now on the ETS portal.
Thursday, March 26, 2015
Energy Thought Summit - Quick Update
I've been in Austin since Monday night, and the last day of the Energy Thought Summit is underway now. The Zpryme folks have built on the momentum from last year's inaugural ETS, and the content has been really solid here right from the start. This is very much a thought leader summit - top people here from across the energy sector, both speaking and in the audience, with lots of good dialog all around.
I'm just going to post some photos here for now, and over the next couple of days, I'll post my takeaways, both here and wearing my ETS Community Advocate hat on the ETS Insights portal, where I've been posting since January.
I'm just going to post some photos here for now, and over the next couple of days, I'll post my takeaways, both here and wearing my ETS Community Advocate hat on the ETS Insights portal, where I've been posting since January.
Now, this is how you open a conference, Austin-style. These guys were great - too bad they just did a couple of tunes and disappeared shortly after. Most conferences I attend have blaring rock music piped in to keep things lively, but I'll take these guys any day.
Newly-minted ETS President, Andrew Johnston wearing his MC hat
Doyle Beneby, Pres/CEO of CPS Energy, giving the opening keynote. Great presentation about the challenges facing utilities. Sobering stuff, but plenty of silver linings.
ETS Chairman Andres Carvallo leads the panel session on IoT and smart cities
Direct Energy CEO Badar Khan sharing what his company is doing to engage customers via technology, to proactively make energy relevant to them. This is the vision utilities need to transform themselves into customer-centric entities, and if a company of this size can do it, there's plenty of hope for the industry.
This was the highlight for me - and perhaps everyone else. Drew Johnston with the amazing Dr. John Goodenough - the father of the lithium-ion battery, still going strong at 92!
Dr. Massoud Amin - another great presentation, this time, his 2020 industry outlook. Congrats as well, for being the recipient of Zpryme's first Thought Leader of the Year Award - and well deserved, for sure.
Friday, March 20, 2015
Energy Thought Summit, Austin - Final Shout-Out and Recap of my Posts
Travel plans are set for Austin, and ETS15 is around the corner. I'll be flying down on Monday, and the precon events kick off Tuesday morning. If you only know me as a tech/telecom analyst following VoIP, UC, collaboration etc., then you don't have the whole story. Just search my blog and you'll find lots there about my smart grid hat which I've been wearing for many years.
This may seem like a disparate space, but in fact, the disruption underway in energy with big, regulated utilities is going to play out exactly like telecom has over the past 10 years or so. There's huge overlap with communications technologies, and if you don't see that, then check out how big the smart grid/smart cities opportunity is for the likes of Cisco, MSFT, IBM, Google, etc.
With that said, I'm an Advisor to Austin-based Zpryme Research, and have been actively involved with both their thriving market research practice in this space, along with ETS, which is quickly evolving into a franchise-type concept that brings top thought leaders together to share and create new visions for the energy economy.
So, here's a last call for ETS15, and whether you just want to see what it's all about or register to attend, please check out the website.
I'll be quite visible throughout the event, and over the past few weeks I've also served as the Community Advocate to help promote ETS15. A key part of that has been developing content for the ETS Insights portal, and I've authored a number of articles there to give readers a sense of what to expect at the conference. For the record, you can review my posts here, and I hope you spend some time at the portal where you can see the rest of our content.
Smart Transportation - Another Sign of What's Coming at ETS15
Jon Arnold's Q&A with ETS Chairman, Andres Carvallo
ETS Q&A with Direct Energy
Two Doctors in the House for ETS15 - Dr. Goodenough and Dr. Amin
ETS Precon Day - Three More Reasons to Join us in Austin
ETS Q&A with Scott Jacobs, Generate Capital
Q&A with ETS President, Andrew Johnston
What Role will Utilities Play with Consumers and Smart Grid?
ETS Speaker Updates
ETS Preview - my Q&A with Zpryme's Jason Rodriguez
What to Expect at ETS15
ETS - More Than a Conference
This may seem like a disparate space, but in fact, the disruption underway in energy with big, regulated utilities is going to play out exactly like telecom has over the past 10 years or so. There's huge overlap with communications technologies, and if you don't see that, then check out how big the smart grid/smart cities opportunity is for the likes of Cisco, MSFT, IBM, Google, etc.
With that said, I'm an Advisor to Austin-based Zpryme Research, and have been actively involved with both their thriving market research practice in this space, along with ETS, which is quickly evolving into a franchise-type concept that brings top thought leaders together to share and create new visions for the energy economy.
So, here's a last call for ETS15, and whether you just want to see what it's all about or register to attend, please check out the website.
I'll be quite visible throughout the event, and over the past few weeks I've also served as the Community Advocate to help promote ETS15. A key part of that has been developing content for the ETS Insights portal, and I've authored a number of articles there to give readers a sense of what to expect at the conference. For the record, you can review my posts here, and I hope you spend some time at the portal where you can see the rest of our content.
Smart Transportation - Another Sign of What's Coming at ETS15
Jon Arnold's Q&A with ETS Chairman, Andres Carvallo
ETS Q&A with Direct Energy
Two Doctors in the House for ETS15 - Dr. Goodenough and Dr. Amin
ETS Precon Day - Three More Reasons to Join us in Austin
ETS Q&A with Scott Jacobs, Generate Capital
Q&A with ETS President, Andrew Johnston
What Role will Utilities Play with Consumers and Smart Grid?
ETS Speaker Updates
ETS Preview - my Q&A with Zpryme's Jason Rodriguez
What to Expect at ETS15
ETS - More Than a Conference
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
Next Up - Energy Thought Summit, Austin - Smart Grid, Smart Cities, Smart Homes and More
In addition to my telecom/tech analyst focus, I've been wearing a similar hat in the smart grid space for many years. I co-founded the Smart Grid Summit, and stay current with the energy economy via my role as an Advisor to Zpryme Research, a boutique market research consultancy based in Austin.
ETS - Energy Thought Summit - has become their big event and is a great showcase for the top minds in energy/cleantech. I play a few roles with the event, and the 2015 edition starts next Tuesday. This won't be of interest to all my readers but if you want to know what smart looks like in this world - grid, cities, cars, homes, etc. - ETS15 is the place to be.
I've been writing an ongoing series of posts to promote the summit on the ETS Insights portal, and I urge you to check it out, along with the website for the event itself. In fact, my latest post is running now, so that might be a good starting point. Otherwise, I'll be getting there Monday night, and when the summit kicks off Tuesday morning, I won't be hard to find.
ETS - Energy Thought Summit - has become their big event and is a great showcase for the top minds in energy/cleantech. I play a few roles with the event, and the 2015 edition starts next Tuesday. This won't be of interest to all my readers but if you want to know what smart looks like in this world - grid, cities, cars, homes, etc. - ETS15 is the place to be.
I've been writing an ongoing series of posts to promote the summit on the ETS Insights portal, and I urge you to check it out, along with the website for the event itself. In fact, my latest post is running now, so that might be a good starting point. Otherwise, I'll be getting there Monday night, and when the summit kicks off Tuesday morning, I won't be hard to find.
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