well, it's been awhile (a theme)...
...when i started this blog three years ago i tended to focus on where i was (away from home) and how i was feeling (away from home) more than anything else. over time though, a couple of additional trends emerged: 1) random tips on how to get the most out of your mobile and 2) general blathering about openness and network neutrality (check out the mobile-related links at right to browse posts on either topic). all along, while i regularly expressed an obvious bent for nokia and nokia solutions, i tried to avoid preaching nokia, and i never once mentioned that i was a nokia employee (i presumed, however, that most readers knew).
well, after almost twelve years, my nokia relationship is coming to an end. it's been a great run - from setting up a government affairs office, to overseeing the standards team, to leading strategy, then corporate communications, then the north american multimedia business, and finally, to running americas-wide go-to-market operations. all good. great even. but, now, sadly, as a result of nokia's most recent reorganization, i find the america's level organization i was most-recently leading phased-out, and myself standing in a tuneless room with one-too-few chairs. gotta admit, the whole thing's a bit hard to fathom, but hey, what a great opportunity for renewal. and, i suppose it does give me the opportunity to be a bit more candid in this forum. and with that in mind...
there's a lot going on in nokia's world these days, beyond the obvious hemorrhaging of talent (sorry, can't help myself). the convergence/collision of mobility and the internet - now mired in a global financial meltdown - may present the company with the mother of all inflection points. indeed, the economic crisis actually gives nokia a welcome opportunity to enhance its fledgling services offerings while competitors are challenged to capitalize on their leads and/or innovative new solutions. while, granted, nokia may be increasingly-challenged to deliver compelling devices in an ever-more crowded field, its almost-overwhelming (still, but not forever) base of embedded devices and unparalleled device market share position it uniquely to reap substantial services revenues (and add value to commoditized devices and drive future ad-based revenues, and so on, and so forth). not a bad place to be...
(as an aside, however, it's questionable how much of the above might apply to nokia's business in north america - but that's a different story. maybe someday).
so, anyway, the question is: will nokia use the opportunity to take the right risks and make the right investments to secure a leadership position, or will nokia hunker down to weather the ongoing economic storm, perhaps allowing innovative risktakers to gain?
...food for thought. however it goes, it should be fun to watch.
i'll be back.
4 comments:
For you, what is next? And for Nokia, and actually many other firms in its place, how do they face the turbulent world? I'm in India, where Nokia owns the device market, and through its Nokia-Siemens jv seems to be expanding in ways that seem counterintuitive. For example, they seem to be pushing hard on developing capacity here while many/most others are cutting back. certainly will be fun to watch.
what's next for me? well, not sure yet - i'm taking some time to take stock of the market, etc...
for nokia, well, as suggested in the original post - be brave, take risks, and don't follow cookie cutter, defensive or someone else's plans or blueprints. with respect to the capacity question - the need will vary from market to market, but trust that the need is and will be real. unlike the days of the sell-in of 3g networks - where, frankly, some creative spin went into justifying capacity needs - in today's environment, with the internet being fully unleashed into the mobile space, and context and presence driving all new high-bandwidth services, the capacity need is indeed very, very real.
Sorry to hear that you came up chairless when the music stopped, although my compliments on your positive attitude about the change.
Your comment on the "convergence/collision of mobility and the internet" caught my eye. I often blog along similar themes myself, such as Where Worlds Collide. (Although my corporate affiliation is more obvious than yours was. :-)
I think you're right that it's the "mother of all inflection points", and I hope that once the financial dust settles, it will yield great opportunities for the customers, the industry, and for you personally.
nice to make your acquaintance larry, if virtually. another kindred soul. will give your blog a read - no doubt there'll be fodder for future discussion...
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