Greg Cross was one of the keynote speakers at ITX Auckland 2014. He presented the PowerbyProxi story and provided an overview of some of the technology innovations that underpin wireless power delivery.
Greg predicts that wireless power is set to “redefine how we interface with electricity”: embedded charge pads will mean electricity can be delivered from any surface of the home, office and car - no cables required, and devices that are always charged/charging and ready to use. Benefits include:
- Real life mobility and ease of use – simply place and charge your mobile device where-ever you are
- High levels of efficiency – only use as much power as required
PowerByProxi is not just disrupting in its core technology innovations, but also in its Business Model
PowerByProxi do not manufacture or sell products; their business model is based on patenting and licencing their research (they currently hold 221 worldwide patents) for use by manufacturers across the globe. A New Zealand based company; their customers are primarily in the USA, Korea and Germany.
Greg's story and his presentation brought into focus a number of emerging business trends:
- the reduced relevance of distance and borders in digital businesses and digital business processes.
- less focus on "products" and more focus on meeting an "identified customer objective" (n.b. Tony Seba described this as focusing on the “whole product” in his September Workshop "Will You Disrupt or Be Disrupted" - featured in our blog "Digital Disruption and IT Governance – Business Trends for 2015").
- a willingness to meet the customer's need (or more correctly - their "buying objective") through combining the capabilities of a number of connected businesses and organisations.
- a more "open" and "connected" approach to business relationships (many of PowerByProxi's investors are also their customers - they recognise PowerByProxi's superior R & D capability and are willing to partially fund it).
These business trends are also evident in another NZ based business, Xero - an on-line accounting software company, with a growing global customer base. Xero does not try to deliver a solution that meets all of it's customer's business needs.
Instead Xero appear to actively enable and support other businesses to develop complementary products and services. The focus is not just on supporting other software solutions providers, but also includes the integration of complementary services (e.g. Banks and Accountancy Service Providers).
In this open and connected approach, all providers are focused on ensuring the customer's whole-of-business objectives are met - recognising that in focusing on the customer they are also helping each other to succeed.
Many Thanks to IITP for an excellence conference - ITX 2014 - New Zealand’s Conference of IT Innovation, Technology and Education, October 2014.