There is a lot of breathless hype surrounding wearable technology. And that's unsurprising. Almost all of the major ICT vendors now have an offering in the market and many more look set to join. Add to this all the start-ups backed by venture capital and others from a host of industries (not only fashion) that have also entered the game and you have a rising flood of new technology and new technology companies.
In our research we found 64% of wearables are targeting consumers but 55% are still in prototype phase. In the Asia Pacific region only 1% are currently using wearables but a further 37% will have a strategy within 12 months. While the momentum is being driven by the supply side of the market, TRA believes there are lots of opportunities for using wearables @ work. Business and IT leaders should be starting their evaluations today.
It is unlikely at this stage of market evolution that wearables will offer any IT cost savings. Rather the adoption of wearables will be an additional IT expenditure, so the focus must be on what value the technology can provide to any organisation. Our research also includes a checklist as a starting point for both business and IT leaders in their evaluation of wearables @ work. Questions include:
Have you conducted a thorough evaluation of how wearables could contribute to organisational goals and/or add more value in the following areas:
- Creating an entirely new customer experience
- Enhancing the current customer experience
- Creating an OTT business
- Capturing insights and conducting research.
- Proactively dealing with the BYO redux
- Augment and modernise operations.
- Enhance talent welfare and performance.
- Improve safety levels.
- Track time sheets and schedules.
- Personalise authentication and payments.
You can read the entire report here.
