"Premise control is the systematic recognition and analysis of assumptions upon which a strategic plan is based, to determine if those assumptions remain valid in changing circumstances and in light of new information." Planning premises are primarily concerned with environmental and industry factors, I will focus on the environmental factors. These are your intangibles, the uncontrollable factors the pose great influence on the success or failure of a strategy. One of the biggest influences on corporate strategy in relation to IT is Web 3.0 - the Internet of Things. The entire world is connected to everything at the speed of light through a complex mesh network of connected devices and computers dubbed the Internet. This poses a massive challenge to the status quo of conducting business in that consumers have a "get it now" mentality. With a few taps of a smartphone, or a few clicks of a mouse, consumers have access to not only information, but nearly anything you can imagine is available instantly. Satisfying this need for instant gratification poses a real threat to older, traditional methods of conducting business, while creating immense opportunities for the organizations that puts together the right mix of goods and services. The younger generations are leading the demand curve, as well as sharing feedback in real-time about the viability and quality of goods and services offered in the digital marketplace, and many companies are having trouble keeping pace. CTO's and business strategists are now having to create ways to remain relevant in this new digital world. It is not longer as simple as creating an online presence, or e-commerce capabilities. With social media taking center stage on real-time feedback, and the sheer volume of information that is shared across these networks, companies need to take advantage of this marketing free-for-all and become engaging with their consumers, vendors, and service providers to form a cohesive and comprehensive ecosystem where all parties can interact with the goal of not only improving the quality of the products being manufactured but also provide instantaneous and enriching C2B & B2B interactions. The Internet provides the medium for anyone to access any information that is available, anywhere they are geographically, and this has dictated a new business landscape. The strategy is no longer to appeal to a particular demographic or region, which used to be very successful for product placement and marketing plans. The strategy has shifted to being universally understandable across every demographic, and every region, everywhere. Established best practices and presentation methods of digital information has created an expectation for all e-commerce providers, whether they be Walmart, or the local eye doctor. Every consumer, old and young, demands that every company they interact with have not only an online presence, but also a mobile app, a multitude of customer service options - phone, email, IM, chat, Skype, FAQ's, an online knowledge base, automated troubleshooting tools, and with larger corporations like Walmart the ability to get in-store service for products purchased online. Companies like Walmart are large enough and have enough resources to remain relevant in the every changing, fast evolving, Internet of Things world, however many companies, even the largest ones, are struggling to remain relevant. The opening example of the ups and downs of Dell Corporation are a perfect example. Dell was late to the table with the mobile computing market as they were focused on consumer PC's, a brief stint in consumer peripherals (printers, etc, which were highly unsuccessful), then the Enterprise where they are still very strong with their Server and managed services platforms. However, as the formal PC becomes something of a niche product group anymore, where old home PC's are being transformed into home servers and left stagnant as tablets, convertible laptops, and smart devices proliferate the global market, Dell feel behind the 8-ball, as it were. As their PC sales dwindled, inventory accumulated, and users looked elsewhere for their technology needs, knocking Dell from the top of the market after a multi-decade dominance globally. The problem is they never had good premise control, thus they did not reevaluate and either change or abandon their existing strategy. The ultimate failure in my opinion was their inability to recognize, ore react to, the paradigm shift in how consumers and businesses conducted business. They stood firm that the PC would remain the dominant force in the market, however Apple was the catalyst of a massive movement with the release of the iPhone - they helped push the mobile convergence to consumers in an easy and pragmatic way. They created a device that was so simple to use, and so connected with everything, that everyone jumped on board, and quickly. Smaller companies and startups rode their coat tails as the mobile marketplace was born. In a short time frame, the entire world was connected via mobile devices. Companies like Google and Samsung were quick to recognize the paradigm shift and started creating systems and services specifically designed for mobile platforms. Fast froward to modern day and the lines are gone - there is no separate platform for desktops and mobiles, all systems now see the same information in the same way. As web development technologies evolved, and modern mobile systems became more powerful than the servers of just a few years ago, what used to be a significant difference in computing power become insignificant on all counts. Premise control has become the name of the game, and the evaluation and management of environmental factors have become the lifeblood of any organization that wants to be successful in the modern business world.
Pearce, John A., and Richard B. Robinson. Strategic Management: Planning for Domestic & Global Competition. 13th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2013.
