Code Halos

Harness "Code Halos" to gain competitive advantage in the digital era

Amazon beating Borders, Netflix beating Blockbuster, Apple beating Kodak, and the rise of companies like Google, LinkedIn, and Pandora are not isolated or random events. Today's outliers in revenue growth and value creation are winning with a new set of rules. They are dominating by managing the information that surrounds people, organizations, processes, and products—what authors Malcolm Frank, Paul Roehrig, and Ben Pring call Code Halos. This is far beyond “Big Data” and analytics. Code Halos spark new commercial models that can dramatically flip market dominance from industry stalwarts to challengers. In this new book, the authors show leaders how digital innovators and traditional companies can build Code Halo solutions to drive success. The book:

• Examines the explosion of digital information that now surrounds us and describes the profound impact this is having on individuals, corporations, and societies;
• Shows how the Crossroads Model can help anticipate and navigate this market shift;
• Provides examples of traditional firms already harnessing the power of Code Halos including GE's "Brilliant Machines," Disney's theme park "Magic Band," and Allstate's mobile devices and analytics that transform auto insurance.

With reasoned insight, new data, real-world cases, and practical guidance, Code Halos shows seasoned executives, entrepreneurs, students, line-of-business owners, and technology leaders how to master the new rules of the Code Halo economy.

Disclaimer v

Acknowledgments vii

Introduction: The Value of the Virtual 1

Part I: Digits Over Widgets: The Next Age of Business and Technology

Chapter 1: “Will It Happen to Us?” 9
A Trillion-Dollar Opportunity or an Extinction Event

Chapter 2: The Personal Code Halo: 16
Press “1” for the Real You

Chapter 3: The Five Business Code Halos: 28
Connecting Customers, Products, and Organizations

Chapter 4: The Anatomy of a Winning Code Halo Solution 38

Chapter 5: The SMAC Stack: 56
The New Technology of Code

Chapter 6: The Pattern of Digital Disruption: 70
The Crossroads Model

Chapter 7: The Code Halo Economy: 85
The Economics of Information

Part II: Four Principles for Success in the Code Halo Economy

Chapter 8: Delivering Beautiful Products and Experiences 102

Chapter 9: Don’t Be Evil 2.0: 117
Earning—and Keeping—Trust in a Transparent World

Chapter 10: Manage Your Career Based on Code: 145
Winning in the Wirearchy

Chapter 11: Make IT Your Halo Heroes: 158
Transform Your Technology Organization

Part III: Winning with the Crossroads Model

Chapter 12: Seize Advantage During Ionization: 176
Sense, Innovate, and Prepare to Pilot

Chapter 13: Create a Spark: 194
Pilot Your Best Code Halo Solutions

Chapter 14: Enrich and Scale at Internet Speed: 210
Turn a Spark into a Blaze

Conclusion: Winning in the New Code Rush 224

Notes 228

Photo Credits 237

Index 238

"All in all, this is an easy read on an interesting topic... it will help you to predict and prepare for changes in the way your company does business in the future" (B2B Marketing, July 2014)

MALCOLM FRANK is the Executive Vice President of Strategy and Marketing at Cognizant, a leading Business and Technology consulting firm with over 175,000 employees. He has over 25 years of experience consulting on IT-based strategy with organizations around the world. He is a graduate of Yale University.

PAUL ROEHRIG is the Global Managing Director of Cognizant's Center for the Future of Work. He was previously a Principal Analyst at Forrester Research and held multiple roles with Hewlett Packard. He is a graduate of the University of Florida and has a doctorate from Syracuse University.

BEN PRING is the Director for Cognizant's Center for the Future of Work. He was previously a Research Vice President at Gartner. In 2008 he won Gartner's prestigious annual Thought Leadership award. He has a philosophy degree from Manchester University.

It would be too easy to attribute the rise of Netflix and Amazon, along with the demise of Blockbuster and Borders, to the digital revolution. In Code Halos, Malcom Frank, Paul Roehrig, and Ben Pring paint a more complete picture. The minds behind Cognizant's Center for the Future of Work show how organizations can thrive in the coming years. How did Facebook beat MySpace? How did Google beat Yahoo!? And how can more traditional businesses ensure their own success in a time of massive market shifts? The answer: by harnessing the power of code.

This book is an action-oriented framework for understanding and utilizing the blankets of code that surround every person, place, and thing. Every time someone likes, shares, reviews, purchases, comments on, or searches for a product, important information is generated. As people spend more and more time engaged with the online world, they create fields of data around and about them. These are Code Halos, and they are vital to success in a rapidly-digitizing world.

Code Halos gives a name to the phenomenon that is transforming how people interact. Thanks to new technologies, it takes only a few seconds to get a complex view of the individuals we engage with. Where do they live? Where do they shop? Who are their friends? What is their taste in music, literature, or other entertainment? A few decades ago, businesses would have given almost anything to have this level of knowledge. Today, we can have it quickly and at next to no cost. The only remaining issue is how to tap the enormous potential value buried in Code Halos. This book provides the model for doing just that.

This is more than just a Big Data story. This is about the next era of business. Anyone who thinks the data revolution is limited to IT or marketing is in for a real shock—and not the good kind. Companies such as Disney, GE, and Nike all recognize the potential of Code Halos, and traditional businesses in every industry would be wise to follow suit. The risk of not understanding Code Halos is growing every day, and examples like Blockbuster and Kodak show that this mistake is a one-way ticket to irrelevance. Managers everywhere are scrambling to understand the profound changes in the commercial landscape. So far, there is still no textbook solution, but Code Halos brings us one step closer to capturing the enormous opportunities that await us in this new age of business.

It would be too easy to attribute the rise of Netflix and Amazon, along with the demise of Blockbuster and Borders, to the digital revolution. In Code Halos, Malcom Frank, Paul Roehrig, and Ben Pring paint a more complete picture. The minds behind Cognizant's Center for the Future of Work show how organizations can thrive in the coming years. How did Facebook beat MySpace? How did Google beat Yahoo!? And how can more traditional businesses ensure their own success in a time of massive market shifts? The answer: by harnessing the power of code.

This book is an action-oriented framework for understanding and utilizing the blankets of code that surround every person, place, and thing. Every time someone likes, shares, reviews, purchases, comments on, or searches for a product, important information is generated. As people spend more and more time engaged with the online world, they create fields of data around and about them. These are Code Halos, and they are vital to success in a rapidly-digitizing world.

Code Halos gives a name to the phenomenon that is transforming how people interact. Thanks to new technologies, it takes only a few seconds to get a complex view of the individuals we engage with. Where do they live? Where do they shop? Who are their friends? What is their taste in music, literature, or other entertainment? A few decades ago, businesses would have given almost anything to have this level of knowledge. Today, we can have it quickly and at next to no cost. The only remaining issue is how to tap the enormous potential value buried in Code Halos. This book provides the model for doing just that.

This is more than just a Big Data story. This is about the next era of business. Anyone who thinks the data revolution is limited to IT or marketing is in for a real shock—and not the good kind. Companies such as Disney, GE, and Nike all recognize the potential of Code Halos, and traditional businesses in every industry would be wise to follow suit. The risk of not understanding Code Halos is growing every day, and examples like Blockbuster and Kodak show that this mistake is a one-way ticket to irrelevance. Managers everywhere are scrambling to understand the profound changes in the commercial landscape. So far, there is still no textbook solution, but Code Halos brings us one step closer to capturing the enormous opportunities that await us in this new age of business.