Executives at digital businesses cite a wide variety of challenges when expanding globally, but “finding the right talent to run our organization” inevitably factors high on their lists.  Yet despite the extensive preparation that goes into international expansion efforts, it’s rare to find companies staffing up far in advance of these initiatives. Some thoughts for digital organizations with increasingly global aspirations:

Think international – even before you are. It’s common to hear of multinational corporations thinking globally when creating content. For example, by avoiding website or marketing content that includes numerous local references, it becomes easier to translate that content into other languages. Executives need to extend this idea of early preparation from content to people as they staff up their teams: If digital leaders know they want to operate in multiple markets going forward, they need to start building teams with global knowledge well before they start their international expansion.

Hire candidates with international experience across the organization. Companies do not need to hire global talent with the sole purpose of contributing to international expansion. To the contrary: Many digital businesses bring in employees with strong language skills and knowledge of different global markets to work in a wide variety of capacities within the organization. A more globally experienced workforce can provide more diverse insights – additionally, as international markets rise in importance, those organizations that have hired and mentored employees with knowledge of these markets will be better positioned for success later. Some smaller vendors, for example, were able to establish a foothold in emerging markets relatively quickly by relying on executives with existing knowledge of these countries to guide their market entry strategies.

Sensor-laden wearable devices, with their unique ability to capture data generated by the body, are important components of a larger phenomenon we call “smart body, smart world.” Use cases for wearables could extend to anything from navigation to shopping to social networking to productivity. One scenario in particular – health and fitness – has inspired a
number of wearable devices that launched in 2012 like the Nike+ FuelBand, the Basis smartwatch, and the (relaunched) Jawbone UP. These new products spur the questions: Can the market support this many wearable fitness products, and who should these products target?

Is it me or my expectations? My mobile travel applications have only improved over the past 12 months (and I mean this sincerely), but my disappointment has never been so acute. Why? My expectations have never been higher. I access information more frequently (see Ted Schadler's and John McCarthy's Engagement report -- they quantify this), and I expect more accuracy. In the absence of tethering my computer or tablet to to my mobile-phone-turned-hotspot (difficult on the move), I turn to my mobile phone for services. "Immediacy" is what makes mobile so valuable. If I can't get real-time, accurate information on the go, then how useful are the mobile services? 

11. (an extra) When I use the mobile app to add the boarding pass to Passbook, why does only one of two boarding passes go there when I have a connecting flight?

10. I uploaded an update to the loyalty program from the hotel chain. It deleted all of my account information. Awesome. Really guys?

9. I searched the mobile app, mobile web, and full web for a way to recover my account number - not possible in my 10 minutes of searching. Only possible to get password. 

8. I called customer service (hotel brand) while sitting on the plane to get my account number. They asked me to state my password out loud (while on the crowded plane). I gave them the password, and they told me it was incorrect. They proceeded to ask for all of my additional security information (e.g., mother's maiden name). "We have these rules in place to protect your privacy and ensure the security of your account." I'm thinking, "My hotel frequent stay account??? It's easier to get my user name and password from my bank!!" Terrible user experience. 

At the beginning of this year, I took the time to sit down with my colleague Dan Bieler, principal analyst on Forrester's Business Technology Futures team and a specialist in the telecom space, to discuss the top trends that will affect the European telco landscape this year.

Although we believe that the business/consumer split is increasingly vanishing, we decided to split the top 10 carrier themes that will matter in the European telco market in 2013 by enterprise and consumer perspectives.

In the enterprise segment, we see five main themes:

• Over the top (OTT) and app-based communication services will become part of the IT landscape. OTT voice, social media, and messaging will spread in the enterprise space at the expense of traditional services. Our research shows that professional workers who travel are the most likely to embrace application-based communication services, often irrespective of what their company’s official IT policy is. Still, 2013 will not be the year (yet) that sees RCSe becoming a B2B2C communications platform.
• Cloud-based enterprise services by carriers will see increasing interest from businesses. Communication-as-a-service will receive increased attention by CIOs as they plan UCC projects. However, as our research shows, carriers will not be perceived as the top choice of providers for cloud-based services. Mobile device management firms like AirWatch and MobileIron will offer reselling opportunities for carriers but limit the carriers’ ability to add value around device and app store management. Business models for cloud-based data analytics of end user demand will grow in importance in 2013, but will begin to materialize on a larger scale only in 2014.