Enterprise Wearables: Wearing Our Parts on Our Sleeves

2015 will be the year that wearables take off. Much of the excitement around wearables will be directly tied to the launch of the Apple Watch, but this will also be the year that enterprises recognize the business opportunity of wearables. Here are some calls to action that enterprises should consider in 2015:
1. Consider if and how Apple Watch might supplement your organization’s current mobile offerings;
2. Consider the use of wearable devices to aid internal or customer-facing processes;
3. Be up-front about data collection and conscious of potential privacy concerns; and
4. Recognize that the next two years will see a lot of churn in the wearable space; don’t wait for the space to settle but, instead, charter early wearable pilots with the knowledge that some initial investment might be throwaway.

Last Friday, Apple released their highly anticipated new product, the Apple Watch. “Highly anticipated” is probably an understatement. This is Apple that we’re talking about. You know, the largest public company in the world; a mere 65% larger (by market cap) than the world’s largest publicly-traded oil (oil!) company, ExxonMobil.

Apple’s product breakthroughs are well-known, but to recall a few: iMacs, iPods, iPhones, iPads, and most recently, Apple Pay. So with Apple entering the wearable technology product category, wearables will very likely go from bleeding edge to mainstream, fast. While Apple is mum on how many Apple Watches it has sold so far, analysts are estimating that Apple may sell 14 million units by September and 20 million units within its first year.[i] When you combine this “Apple factor” with an increasing awareness of the value of wearable devices in corporate/enterprise use cases, it’s time to pay attention to wearables.

At Intelliware, our Chief Technologist, BC Holmes, has been paying attention to wearable technology for some time now. Recently, she spearheaded a new whitepaper at Intelliware on the topic, “Enterprise Wearables: Wearing Our Parts On Our Sleeves – How Wearable Technology Will Benefi­t The Enterprise.” The paper argues that enterprise wearables have arrived. If you’re skeptical, the paper provides the enterprise value proposition, supported by many examples of how wearables can be benefit the enterprise.

Here are some calls-to-action that enterprises should consider in 2015:

  1. Consider if and how Apple Watch might supplement your organization’s current mobile offerings;
  2. Consider the use of wearable devices to aid internal or customer-facing processes;
  3. Be up-front about data collection and conscious of potential privacy concerns; and
  4. Recognize that the next two years will see a lot of churn in the wearable space; don’t wait for the space to settle but, instead, charter early wearable pilots with the knowledge that some initial investment might be throwaway.