By: Scott St. John - Pipeline

We are now standing at the threshold of a new age. Today. Now. An age where humans and the necessity of their interactions will diminish. An age where the physical gives way to the virtual. An age where technology will matter far more, and our value will change. This is an era where the systems we program will teach us, guide us, and do many of the things we once did. In fact, our dependence on it may become both our greatest strength and vulnerability.

The signs are all around us. We are already seeing the realization of artificial intelligence technology and application of it. There are over a thousand  chatbots and virtual assistants today that can help us in a variety of ever-expanding ways. These examples signify a colossal change where the systems make decisions and the value of human interactions have been distilled down to the original development of the technology, and as a subsequent input source.

How we harness this technology is the key to our future. Automation in this context can help us contend with agricultural demands to feed the growing global population, analyze data from industrial IoT devices, and diagnose the spread of diseases. It can help economies thrive by helping businesses drive down costs, improve accuracy, and better serve customers. But as we enter this new age, we will have to contend with, and even anticipate, significant changes to what we deem today to be the norm.

The Now Consumer

Late last year, Amazon delivered its first packages by drone in the U.K. In a promotional video on the company’s website, its First Prime Air Delivery boasts 13 minutes from click to delivery.  This creates a new standard for fulfillment in the minds of all consumers. Minutes. Not weeks or even days, but minutes.

Historically, retail reigned supreme and the in-store experience created the backdrop for big brands. Then, downtowns gave way to strip malls and big-box stores. The advent of e-commerce and app-commerce marked the shift to new, emerging methodologies and new buying behaviors. As online and application-based shopping continued to overtake retail, it marked the end of one era and the dawn of a new.

As more and more Millennial consumers mature, this shift has become a monumental rift between legacy and contemporary. The bar has now been raised to rapid, point-and-click, and on-demand ordering with near instant fulfillment. And the differentiator is no longer brick and mortar or avantgarde interior design – but the experience itself.

We can learn a valuable lesson from these changes. Retailers have tried to reinvent themselves and retrench for years. But, many have fallen victim to the technology rift. Those, like Amazon, who are succeeding are doing so by embracing new technology and automation for both the business and the human value. But unlike many of you who are reading this article, Amazon has the advantage of being a digital native which gives them the luxury of not having to contend with legacy technology.

The Principles of Digital Transformation

Legacy and innovation are the Yin and Yang of our industry whereby you must have both to achieve harmony. Within every new innovation lies a seed of wisdom derived from legacy learning. One does not exist without the other. Service providers of all types and sizes wrestle with this overarching philosophy daily. But as the dawn of this new era falls upon us it has never been more important.

Pipeline recently had the opportunity to interview Steve Marsh, Chief Technology Officer for North America and Sandra Bobadilla, Program Manager at Intraway. Fifteen years ago, Intraway developed its first DOCSIS Provisioning suite for Cablevision in Argentina. It has since become a leading provider of fulfillment solutions to service providers for service orchestration provisioning and activation for next generation services, with more than 55 deployments in over 20 countries. From their vast experience working with service providers of all sizes from around the world they have derived 7 Guiding Principles. They view these principles as the catalysts for innovation and the keys to digital transformation to content with the new era and The Age of Now: