The focus of IBM InterConnect 2016 is how to make the transformation to digitization for the enterprise. It is perplexing for CIOs within an organization to determine what the right design paradigm is at the right time.

Analyst Bob Egan, founder and chief research officer at Sepharim Research Group, joined John Furrier and Dave Vellante, cohosts of theCUBE, from the SiliconANGLE Media team, to discuss the waves he has seen in the industry, the complexities for the chief information officer and predictions for IoT.

The CIO dilemma

IBM is trying to close the gap in several areas: cloud, IoT and mobility services. According to Egan, “When the rubber meets the road, the real issue for CIOs, especially around mobility and IoT, is that they are wrestling with all these issues and trying to drive business velocities. They take a look at mobile and they say, ‘Geez, it kind of feels like I am standing alongside a cold, vast, moving Alaskan river with a lot of rocks.’”

He pointed to different device standards, competition, immaturity and a lack of DevOps, and said, “They (the CIO) stand back and say, ‘Is this river going to ever get a little warmer? Is someone going to clear the rocks? Is it ever going to be a lot more safe for me to make bigger bets for mobility, with mobility, for my employees?’”

Factors to dangerous game

Egan explained how there are two types of companies, the new wave technology company and the traditional companies reinventing themselves. “IBM talks about thinking big, but when you think too big there are big risks,” he said. “So we see the emergence of CIOs trying to get their act together because 85 percent of their budget is keeping the lights on.” This leaves traditional companies with 15 percent of the budget to drive innovation.

He feels that old-world companies and new companies are going to meet somewhere in the middle based on business velocity. He noted that for IBM it’s more about how it will integrate all its acquisitions to drive revenue for the enterprise.

Predictions for IoT and the app economy

Egan pointed out that today’s app user wants a more holistic, seamless experience from the app-driven environment. “In fact, I’ll make the prediction that as IoT gets really big, the app economy as we know it begins to collapse,” he said.

He continued to say that when users are interacting with a wearable, it is different from an app because the sensors are doing the work on the backend for the user and there is no longer a need to interact with an app.

Watch the full interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE and theCUBE’s coverage of IBM InterConnect 2016. And join in on the conversation by CrowdChatting with theCUBE hosts.

Photo by SiliconANGLE