Five CES Technologies That Matter to Enterprises

Businesses commonly watch the flashy and often gimmicky approaches that vendors use at massive consumer electronics tradeshows to attract retailers, dealers, and resellers from the sidelines, distracting them from technologies that can offer more than just theatrics. Hidden among the glitz and glamour presented at CES 2017 were a few technologies that warranted a second look from enterprises seeking to find that diamond in the rough within the world of consumer-driven technologies. Today, suppliers may be focusing on the mass consumer market, but in a few years, the opportunity to build solutions that are tailored to the requirements and needs of the workplace will beg the question, “Why did we not consider this sooner?”

Autonomous Vehicles: The focus on autonomous vehicles at CES 2017 was squarely on personal vehicles and the emerging shared vehicle economy. Yet, the topic directly relates to businesses and their use of fleets. Understanding the phases of achieving fully autonomous vehicles and establishing a strategy for one’s business is something that can be initiated immediately. The impact of fleets and autonomous transportation will be far-reaching beyond the transportation market. In the enterprise, the flourishing education regarding transportation will impact workplace automation from office mail delivery, to industrial automation, to portable data centers, and to mobile data centers.

Connected Clothing: While the consumer angle exists in every type of garment or accessory becoming sensor-laden, the opportunity for the workplace is safety gear (helmets, gloves, belts, harnesses, uniforms, protective outerwear, etc.) and monitoring employee vital signs. The ability to gather performance data, as well as lone worker, “man down” scenarios, and then using this knowledge to create more effective training programs is an obvious benefit for numerous industry verticals and job roles.

Virtual Digital Assistants: Using digital assistants in the workplace will not be a simple solution. Each of the leading mobile platform providers—from Apple, to Google, to Microsoft—offer their own proprietary solutions, which means compatibility and interoperability with company systems and services will need to be explored before mass deployment. Standalone Bluetooth microphone and speaker solutions cater to the needs of consumers, so far. However, these “always listening” devices need to be scrutinized to ensure that privacy and security meet business expectations.

Are virtual digital assistants productive for the workplace, or are they simply a novelty that wears off after a short while? The use of digital assistants is currently dominated by a structured Q&A exchange using voice to replace typed search queries. Even consumer products such as Amazon Echo and Google Home are used to enable a glorified web search. Nevertheless, there are skills that virtual digital assistants, like Amazon Echo and Google Home, can be taught in order to integrate accessories and networked gadgets in the home. Moreover, they can even be taught to determine a user’s electric vehicle’s current battery level in his or her garage.

However, to unleash the power of these knowledge systems and make them beneficial to a company’s workflow, the conversation threads need to evolve toward activities instead of questions. With the costs of cloud processing and storage continuing to fall and becoming less of a market barrier to entry, the use of natural language processing (NLP) for conversations instead of a fixed, limited command interface remains an opportunity for future enterprise adoption.

Wireless Audio: The cable-free aspect of audio accessories is what makes them attractive to the business audience. Whether using bone induction technology so the ears remain unobstructed for ambient sounds, or whether increasing the accessibility and flexibility for individuals to select their ideal audio solution, wireless technologies have miniaturized to the point where they can be entirely cable-free. Apple managed to release its AirPods products just before the end of 2016, while several other companies used CES 2017 to posit their wares. Adding sensors can detect if the products are being worn, detect sudden changes in relative position to the ground that occur if a worker collapses or experiences a sudden free-fall, capture the tympanic temperature of the wearer, correlate head position with smartglasses, and offer more immersive experiences for the wearer.

IoT: It is difficult to isolate specific announcements from CES 2017 related to the Internet of Things (IoT), as there were likely no official IoT announcements. ABI Research observed a lot of news and noise about connected vehicles, smart homes, and Bluetooth-enabled wearables during CES 2017, which were often discussed under the umbrella of IoT. As consumers, we can all relate to the B2C announcements, though it is the B2B opportunities not addressed at CES 2017 that are most interesting.

ABI Research is eager to see the benefits of IoT in the enterprise (related to establishing new connectivity and transforming business models) and industrial manufacturing (Industry 4.0 initiatives) sectors. Clearly, automation in the manufacturing sector is a major undertaking by many organizations. Optimizing current business operations appears to be a goal for a lot of companies in the 0- to 2-year horizon using the cloud, big data, and digital techniques to discover entirely new ways to simulate, design, and deploy products and services that are being planned for the 3- to 5-year horizon.

The introduction of new technologies used to occur in business first. With innovation taking place at such an accelerated pace and with consumers being a massive potential buying audience, many technologies are now commercialized consumer-first. Smartphones brought many of these experiences to the palm of one’s hand.

However, this does not mean that businesses are exempt from applying technologies to their own environments to enhance current operations, as well as to help prepare organizations to transform and create new business models and revenue streams. Enterprise organizations need to keep an open mind about how technologies—regardless of the originally intended market—adapt to their business objectives:

• Enterprise grade deployments: secure and reliable
• Demonstrates clear business results
• Exemplifies corporate governance models
• Enhances key performance indicators (KPIs)
• Enables competitive advantage

What can enterprises do in the interim while these consumer solutions become commercialized? Enterprises can identify what needs to evolve for products and services to successfully integrate and be securely managed in the workplace. Additionally, they can get involved in trade groups and associations that promote open frameworks and collaboration opportunities for incorporating new technologies into specific industry verticals. Moreover, enterprises should have some fun in the process; they should engage employee teams in “coopetition” events to see how consumer solutions can be adapted to the work environment.