15 PREDICTIONS TO SHAKE UP BUSINESS IN 2015

This week on Coffee Break with Game-Changers, SAP Radio host Bonnie D. Graham asked leading experts, academics, and business influencers what is on their business wish list for next year.

Each person was given just three minutes to share their predictions for what 2015 holds for their industry, business, and technology. Here’s what they had to say:

1) Personalization will become the focus of HR. We’ll see an increase in IT on softer side of HR, by differentiating people by age, gender, and locale – because there is no one size fits all in HR.

—Sherryanne Meyer, IT manager at Air Products and Chemicals and member of the 
Board of Directors and Executive Exchange for the American SAP Users Group (ASUG)

2) Digital transformation – meaning, how you use technology to drive a significant business improvement – will be a challenge faced by all businesses in this age of digitization and evolving customer demands.

—Sven Denecken, Vice President Strategy Cloud Solutions, SAP

3) 2015 will be the year Internet of Things penetrates consumer consciousness, as the Apple iWatch unites health and home smart apps and devices to give people more usability in their daily lives.

—W David Stephenson, Internet of Things thought leader, strategist, theorist and writer

4) 2015 will speed the development of fog computing, as a means to not overwhelm the cloud.

—W David Stephenson

5) We will see a lot more focus on employees over 60, because we’ve never had so many people over 60 in the workforce. Employers will realize that because of ongoing skills shortage they can’t afford not to pay attention to this group.

—Dr. Steven Hunt, Senior Vice President of Customer Value, SuccessFactors

6) In 2015 we will see the convergence of big data with consumer privacy, as companies increasingly invest in big data solutions to have 360-degree view on the customer; however, consumers will become increasingly sensitive to how their data is used and shared. A time will come when companies must reflect on their most precious asset – which is their customers and their trust – and how they handle that information.

—Tim Barker, Chief Product Officer, DataSift

7) In 2015 we will see the rise of the concept of an “e-robber baron”, because many people are contributing to the e-economy but lack representation and collective bargaining power.

—Justin Locke, author, playwright, and management thought leader

8) In 2015, we will see a mass migration to the anywhere, anytime lifestyle. People will “unbucket” their lives to work anywhere, play anywhere, be a consumer anywhere, as technology enables people to move towards a “task-and-results” lifestyle.

—David Fowler, senior director for Services Marketing, SAP America Inc.

9) Neuromarketing will get much more sophisticated and we can expect to see more targeted selling to individuals.

—Ashok Ranchhod, PhD, professor of marketing communications, Winchester School of Art, University of Southampton

10) Field services personnel will need the skill to analyze data and identify patterns, so as to predict what will happen next with customers’ devices and equipment.

—Hansen Lieu, director of Product & Solutions Marketing, SAP

11) Interaction between sales people and customers is changing. Sales organizations will need to adapt how they address customers to meet the new work- and lifestyles being embraced by customers.

—Gopal RajGuru, sales educator, consultant, university professor, and founder and managing director of Innovate+Grow Group

12) Customers increasingly have independent access to a wider range of value content and are self-educating earlier. As a result, salespeople will have to start the conversation at a much higher level in customer meetings.

—Gopal RajGuru

13) 2015 will be about experience management for the customer at every touch point across the entire organization. There will be a reorientation of the enterprise around customer experience.

—Jeremy Epstein, vice president of marketing, Sprinklr.

14) 2015 will be the year that mobile wearable technology becomes fashionable and usable, and not just a quirky gadget.

—Ingrid Bernaudin, product manager specializing in innovation at SAP

15) Mobile apps will mature beyond just looking good to becoming the heart of how we do business with our customers to engage and extend relationships.

—Brent Leary, CRM industry analyst, advisor, author, and co-founder and partner of CRM Essentials LLC

You can hear the full show at SAP Game-Changers 2015 Predictions – Part I

Stay tuned for more predictions with SAP Game-Changers Radio 2015 Predictions. Part II will air live next Wednesday on December 17 at 11am EST/ 8am PST. Part III airs January 7. You can listen to both shows live here. Source: 15 Predictions to Shake Up Business in 2015