Andrew Ehlers: Promoting with an ecological approach from a data perspective

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Director of Global Technology and Solutions Strategic Planning, Zebra Technologies

Mr. Andrew Ehlers

This article is reproduced from: Modern Manufacturing, written by Xu Ying

2019 is a special year for Zebra Technologies, which is exactly the 50th anniversary since its establishment in 1969. Looking back on the journey, Zebra Technologies has gone through many stages: from converting manual operations of enterprises to desktop operations, and then to mobile operations. For example, mobile computing, terminals, RFID, sensors, printing, etc. have truly realized mobility.

Recently, Andrew Ehlers, Director of Global Technology and Solutions Strategic Planning at Zebra Technologies, had a conversation with several media outlets, positioning Zebra Technologies' overall technology and operational status and future development direction.

"I work as a global futurist in the Zebra Technologies CTO office. My job is to research market trends and the company's business in the market, and build strategic partnerships around the Zebra Savanna™ data platform based on possible future developments and changes." Mr. Andrew Ehlers, Director of Global Technology and Solutions Strategic Planning at Zebra Technologies, said: "In the near future, Zebra Technologies will build strategic partnerships around the world and build a related ecosystem around the Zebra Savanna™ data platform to create perfect solutions for users and tap into its value."

Data Sharing Security Practice

As we all know, the now familiar CRM (customer relationship management) and ERP (enterprise resource management) are all about historical data in archives. There is not much interoperability between these data, the dialogue is not very smooth, and the integration cost is very high.

Therefore, in Mr. Andrew Ehlers' opinion, Zebra Technologies can achieve data sharing between different systems in reality through data interoperability. The focus of Zebra Technologies' Savanna platform is not to pursue bigness, nor is it the big data we talk about every day, but to focus on executable insights, that is, small data that can be converted into actions. The final goal is to make the user experience better, which is the focus of Zebra Technologies.

These experiences include online, offline, in-store, and out-of-store, and customers will have a better experience in every aspect. So at this time, the focus is no longer on a complete data set, how to integrate big data, but more on getting this data to the cloud and then publishing it. People who need it can subscribe to the data, and then organize and process it through software developed by partners, so that it is easy to share through the cloud, and finally download the data, eventually forming a closed loop.

Data is manually generated offline and then digitized, connected to the cloud, consumed on the cloud, processed, sorted and integrated through the Savanna platform, exported through an APP developed by partners, and finally landed in the hands of operators or other small data that can take action. This is an intentional data loop.

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Mr. Andrew Ehlers also gave an explanation for the issue of data security: "As a global company, Zebra Technologies has a global perspective on data security issues. Our starting point is the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which is the most widely applicable and stringent management system for data security in the world.

We will pay attention to the use of data and look at the impact of data security management in different regions. As for third-party data, we will not allow it to enter the ecosystem without testing, but will be cautious about data security. "

Smart Connectivity in the 5G Era

5G is an enabling technology, a basic technology that enables the interconnection of various terminals in the Internet of Things. Mr. Andrew Ehlers said: "After the advent of the 5G era, users can achieve data integration and data popularization through the Zebra Savanna™ data platform. If there is a high-performance connection like 5G, real-time data transmission can be achieved. With 5G technology as a guarantee, software companies can rely on such a platform to develop updated software.

With 5G, they can consume real-time data instead of just historical data. Real-time data can be processed and organized to make the workflow intelligent. Through the Internet of Things transmission and connection, a higher-level process can be achieved.”

The four levels mentioned by Mr. Andrew Ehlers include: the first level is descriptive analysis, Excel can tell you whether the work is effective and how well the work is done; the second level is diagnostic analysis, which tells you the time and the current situation. For example, CRM (customer relationship management) and ERP (enterprise resource management) are related to diagnostic analysis; the third level is predictive analysis. With machine learning, you can achieve a very high confidence level, such as 93%, and tell what will happen at what time; the fourth level is directive analysis. Profitect, which we acquired, is a company that does this kind of technology. It combines scanners and printers to generate real-time data, and integrates it through 5G backhaul and the Zebra Savanna™ data platform to determine what actions should be taken, and then instruct on-site operators to actually apply it.

User-centric and listen to their voices

Throughout the conversation, Mr. Andrew Ehlers pointed out many times that Zebra Technologies has tens of thousands of business partners around the world, 2,400 of which are independent software suppliers. Zebra Technologies hopes to truly listen to the voice of customers, study usage scenarios with business partners, create solutions for customers and tap into customer value.

Different industries have different needs. Zebra Technologies covers a wide range of industries, so it is a big challenge to break down barriers between industries and provide customers with solutions that meet their requirements. "For Zebra Technologies, we will examine customer needs from both a macro and micro perspective, and examine whether we have the ability to solve customer problems. We will evaluate companies and then consider acquisitions, alliances, or joint solutions from a strategic perspective."

At the same time, Andrew Ehlers believes that there are common themes between different industries. For example, in industries such as retail, manufacturing, transportation and logistics, medical care, and future oil and gas exploration, supply chain is needed in these industries and is a common demand of global customers. "

At the end of the conversation, Mr. Andrew Ehlers said that in order to better provide 360-degree comprehensive user services, Zebra Technologies will also combine the strengths of external experts such as Gartner and Forrester, listen to experts' analysis of the industry, help Zebra Technologies identify the focus of industry development, and continuously verify and correct the work direction.

We have reason to believe that after several major acquisitions (such as Protect, Temptime Corporation and Xplore Technologies), Zebra Technologies will be able to create the best solutions for more users and partners by enriching its ecosystem!