The car – the evolution from transportation vehicle to moving life space

In-vehicle technology options are primary purchasing decision driver for now about 40 percent of car buyers; this compares to less than 15 percent how value car performance as still most important.
Entertainment, Security, Energy Management, Smart City Solutions (aid for parking solutions, traffic control, intermodal transport), Concierge services and other. 90 percent of people claim to be at least interested in autonomous driving abilities. By 2030 research institutes predict that more than 40 percent of all vehicles will be self-driving.
The vehicle’s own embedded communication system and the smart phone become the most important pieces of the connected vehicle. However, Consumer Electronics develop much faster than OEM electronics in vehicles. Their development life cycle and progress is much faster.
The mobile phone appears to become the gateway and the control device to manage all devices and services in and outside the car. Apple considers already the car as an accessory to the mobile phone. Its Apple CarPlay system seeks to take control of the human-machine interface, which used to be the domain of the car manufacturers and their branding. Google’s Android Auto seeks the same. Each could control the entire user experience.
Apple, Google and Microsoft are increasingly moving into the car manufacturing industry and are set to cause major disruptions for OEMs. Telecommunication companies and their ability to help overcome regional and fragmented solutions also have a role to play.
Car manufacturers need to enable and assure easy over the air downloading capabilities avoiding any recalls and upgrade in the dealership. A common standard with a central docking station in the vehicle would provide a platform and instrument cluster to bring together the traditional dash board with full range of new services.
The non-profit GENIVI Alliance that works on an open-source development platform for a variety of in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) solutions and the Open Automotive Alliance launched by Google will help on the standardization efforts. Ford’s Sync is the first development platform, where different companies can develop their applications first for mobile phones, which are then connected to the vehicle’s onboarding system.
Beyond consumers, industrial vehicles can send engine performance, driver behavior, energy & fuel consumption to central site for processing, maintenance, control and optimization. Predictive maintenance can be customized according to industry verticals.
The days are fading when a car was considered just a transportation vehicle. It has evolved into a moving life space where people expect and will receive the same services as in their homes.

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Applications for competitive advantage - recommended actions

Applications have become a key driver of strategy, innovation and competitive differentiation. Applications are a crucial gateway to seamless customer experience, new services, and revenue streams. Application and business strategies need to align and merge over time.

Companies need to become software driven businesses. They require a new mind set and way of working, an overall organizational approach to business, IT and applications.

Many opportunities and much to be done

A new IT/ OT operating model needed

IT and Operational Technology must increasingly integrate in the age of IoT. Companies require a new IT operating model and a way of how they design, build, use and manage software. Enabling software in itself is becoming a revenue generating product.

The cloud can help mesh together the formerly inaccessible enterprise and machine generated data. It will help bring different business functions even closer together.

New software development thinking

Traditional coding of applications with complex, lengthy implementation cycles does not meet the business requirements any longer. Companies require modular architectures. They need to use next generation integration techniques, driven by a mobile-first, cloud-first mind set.

Applications need to be quickly assembled out of existing, small, reusable components leveraging modular architectures.

Leverage available technologies

Massive amounts of available data, processing power, natural language learning, cognitive computing and machine learning, rule-based algorithms and other advances in data science call for embedding Software Intelligence directly in the applications or processes.   

Intelligent automation helps achieve major productivity increases, minimize errors and throughput time. It also can effectively support and enhance humans in higher quality work. Integrated Analytics enables Applications to analyze, comprehend and take appropriate actions independently.

Digital Agents, enabled by self-governance, are already serving customers. The artificial intelligence company IPsoft has already deployed an effective digital help desk application that can understand human language in 10 languages, search knowledge and databases and respond to specific customer questions within seconds.

Develop better software

The technological advancement enables also of how software can be developed. Test automation tools can use cognitive computing and robotics to generate test artifacts (scenarios, conditions and results) based on plain text functional requirements.

Post deployment tools for service operations can continuously accelerate problem resolution by curating specialized application knowledge and leveraging descriptive analytics and natural language processing.

Applications can and should now automate routine tasks, improve business processes through integrated analytics und ultimately govern themselves.

Leverage Agile, DevOps and other agile engineering techniques!

The importance of APIs

New Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) must enable flexible, efficient exchange of internal and external software components and services. The Internet of Things will bring together all current IT devices with technology equipment, sensors and other devices.  Products will increasingly turn into product-service hybrids.

Support Big Data & Analytics correctly

Extracting the biggest value from Big data & Analytics, requires the right structures, processes and components across the value chain. Big data architectures need to be embedded within the business processes and applications, not at alongside.

Re-work IT systems

One of the barriers is the often monolithic nature of IT systems. Astonishingly, 70 percent of all business transaction still happen in COBOL. Enterprise architecture must support platform integration capabilities, security, API lifecycle management and monitoring. Virtualization, abstraction, simplification, separation of technical and business logic, modularization, componentization and containerization are effective techniques.  

As part of an ecosystem, the individual player need to work together to mitigate the risks of connected applications. Obsolete and legacy applications carry limited or now security built in and must be tightly managed.

Unfortunately, while key technologies are advancing at massive speed, business processes and applications lag behind.

Use IT across the organization

On a larger scale the formerly stand-alone IT function need to be integrated in and fully used by the individual business functions across the organization and value chain.

Integration, Orchestration and Business Process Management services will help configure applications customized to business needs at an ongoing basis.

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To share your own thoughts or other best practices about this topic, please email me directly to alexwsteinberg (@) gmail.com.

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To become the best, you need to learn from the best (Supply Chain Mgmt)

When looking at improving supply chains, companies should not just look within the own industry for ideas and best practices. In fact, many excellent models, approaches and methodologies can be found across industries.

There are some key companies that come to mind when striving for excellence in the supply chain. Gartner’s 25 top supply chain company list provides a first good start.

Each of these companies does some or many good things right. Those practices can be brought back to the own organization and customized to the specific needs and circumstances.

• Apple: Vertical integration through strategic acquisitions; investment in manufacturing tooling & equipment to ramp up and automate production.

• McDonald’s: Collaborative planning and inventory management downstream and upstream.

• Amazon: Attempts to take over management of the last mile and direct delivery to customers. Locker return services in metropolitan areas.

• Procter & Gamble: Small batches of products and packaging using leading-edge multi-material 3D printers.

• Cisco: Acquisition & Integration expertise.

• Intel: Vendor-managed inventory solutions and collaboration on products, operational efficiency and agility resulting in world class customer satisfaction. Advocacy on conflict minerals.

• Zara: Rapid prototyping and time to market for new products; maximized fulfillment speed for trendy and seasonal products.

• Walmart: Center of Excellence to identify isolated local supply chain innovations and spread them globally.

• PepsiCo: co-planning with retailers to manage event-based promotions down to very specific location-product-timing combinations. Using digital marketing signals to monitor and shape consumer demand patters.

• Nestle: Customer centric supply chain.

What are your thoughts?

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To share your own thoughts or other best practices about this topic, please email me directly to alexwsteinberg (@) gmail.com.

Alternatively, you also may connect with me and become part of my professional network of Business, Digital, Technology & Sustainability experts at

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