Yves Caseau
Head of AXA Digital Agency
NATF (National Academy of Technologies of France)
Yves Caseau - Digital Age Information Systems – November 2014 1/24

OOuuttlliinnee
1. Digital Revolution
When companies need to evolve
together with their customers
2. Information Systems Revolution
Master the new set of tools
3. Software Factories
Build the capability to constantly evolve
your software assets
Software
Strategy
Markets are
Conversations
Customer
Empowerment
Intention
Economy
Increasing
Complexity
Continuous
Change
Digital Innovation
MMeeaassuurree
OObbsseessssiioonn
The Map
The Compass
The Target
Yves Caseau - Digital Age Information Systems – November 2014 2/24

Part One : DDiiggiittaall RReevvoolluuttiioonn
Software
Strategy
Markets are
Conversations
Customer
Empowerment
Intention
Economy
Increasing
Complexity
Continuous
Change
Digital Innovation
MMeeaassuurree
OObbsseessssiioonn
The Map
Yves Caseau - Digital Age Information Systems – November 2014 3/24

Complexity and Continuous Change rreeqquuiirree AAggiilliittyy
Increasing complexity of 21st century prevents
forecasting
The central role of the user in the digital world
adds to the complexity brought by technological
change
Agility means constant and fast re-adjustment
towards the environment
Yves Caseau - Digital Age Information Systems – November 2014 4/24

Our Customer Is The Architect of HHeerr OOwwnn EExxppeerriieennccee
Digital experiences are “mash-up” of contents, products
and services from different sources
Digital customer-centricity implies to relinquish control
The ultimate form of personalization is not smart
analytics, it is customer empowerment
Making the customer the architect has a profound impact
on information systems
Yves Caseau - Digital Age Information Systems – November 2014 5/24

Markets Are Conversations –– CCoommee PPrreeppaarreedd !!
In the world of content abundance, to grab attention you
must listen
« Conversations cannot be controlled.
They can only be joined » - R. Rothemberg
Sharing a conversation with the customer requires a
content strategy
Conversations thrive on communities
Yves Caseau - Digital Age Information Systems – November 2014 6/24

The Relentless Pursuit ooff DDiiggiittaall IInnnnoovvaattiioonn
Innovation is solving a pain point together with the
customer
Minimum Viable Product : How to collect feedback as
early as possible, but not earlier 
Innovation is grown, not designed – It is not the idea that
matters, it is the doing !
Yves Caseau - Digital Age Information Systems – November 2014 7/24

No Digital Leader Without aa SSooffttwwaarree SSttrraatteeggyy
“Software is eating the world” – M. Andreesen
Your software sourcing & crafting strategy says which
ecosystems you will be part of
Agility (both speed and flexibility) is determined by your software strategy
Yves Caseau - Digital Age Information Systems – November 2014 8/24

Pulling Opportunities from CCuussttoommeerr IInnttiimmaaccyy
Getting to know your customers without bothering them
« Relations lead to Conversations,
Conversations lead to Transactions » - D. Searls
Learn from your customers’ digital traces
Customers will not elect to let you listen if you have
nothing to say
Yves Caseau - Digital Age Information Systems – November 2014 9/24

Part Two : Information SSyysstteemmss RReevvoolluuttiioonn
The Compass
Yves Caseau - Digital Age Information Systems – November 2014 10/24

The New Way of Working ooff WWeebb’’ss GGiiaannttss
“Measure Obsession”
The most precious currency in the digital world is the
customer’s time
Build versus Buy
Lean Startup and Devops
Yves Caseau - Digital Age Information Systems – November 2014 11/24

Platforms Attract Value aanndd SSaattiissffyy CCuussttoommeerrss
Need for more and more software, at cheaper
prices
The need for constant innovation implies open
innovation
The platform game is “give and take”
Yves Caseau - Digital Age Information Systems – November 2014 12/24

Enroll Ecosystems to DDeevveelloopp YYoouurr SSooffttwwaarree
Mobile First, Cloud First
Commodity Hardware and Open OS
Open APIs and Open Source
Yves Caseau - Digital Age Information Systems – November 2014 13/24

Smartphone Revolution is MMoorree tthhaann MMoobbiillee WWeebb
The smartphone is the remote control of our
connected life
Mobile experience has its own codes
The smartphone is an amazing platform:
computing, video, sensors, recognition, etc.
Yves Caseau - Digital Age Information Systems – November 2014 14/24

A New Toolbox : Programming HHaass CChhaannggeedd !!
Test: do you write code ? do you Google it ?
Welcome to massively distributed programming
(e.g., Map Reduce)
Systems programming, no longer computers
Advanced AI and machine learning algorithms are
available as open source libraries
Yves Caseau - Digital Age Information Systems – November 2014 15/24

« Data is the New Code » : BBiigg DDaattaa DDiissrruuppttiioonnss
Cost and technology disruption
“Data is becoming at heart of Computer Science”.
T. Hoffman
A new way of programming : data-oriented, sub-linear,
machine-learning grown
Each Web Giant is investing massively to be ahead of
its Big Data game
Yves Caseau - Digital Age Information Systems – November 2014 16/24

Part Three :: SSooffttwwaarree FFaaccttoorriieess
The Target
Yves Caseau - Digital Age Information Systems – November 2014 17/24

Constantly Changing Software RReeqquuiirreess NNeeww MMeetthhooddss
Source code becomes more important
(shown, shared and modified)
Since building is a constant task, the process
becomes more important than the result
The heart of the game is to constantly learn new
skills
Yves Caseau - Digital Age Information Systems – November 2014 18/24

Software Factories : Focus on Building && AAuuttoommaattiioonn
Continuous build, integration and delivery
A process that is run continuously must be
automated
DevOps : manage Infrastructure a code and lean
cross-function collaboration
Yves Caseau - Digital Age Information Systems – November 2014 19/24

Homeostasis Requires OOppeenn SSoouurrccee PPrraaccttiiccee
White-box integration with source code
There is a treasure trove of value in the existing
open source communities
Open Source is not free :
it is a collaborative game of “give & take”
Yves Caseau - Digital Age Information Systems – November 2014 20/24

The Toyota Way of CCoonnttiinnuuoouuss DDeelliivveerryy
Small autonomous and cross-functional teams
Synchronized work and standup meetings
Pull, Kanban and visual management
Yves Caseau - Digital Age Information Systems – November 2014 21/24

Love your Code and Value yyoouurr SSooffttwwaarree TTeeaammss
Code reviews and pair programming
Coding standards, discipline and pride
Incremental development produces junk.
Constant refactoring is mandatory (tending the garden)
Value your teams : let them learn 
Yves Caseau - Digital Age Information Systems – November 2014 22/24

API : An Organic System is Defined bbyy IIttss MMeemmbbrraannee
This is a service architecture game :
modularity, event-oriented architecture, data exposition
Think like a software editor :
upward compatibility, “composability” (ability to use in
composite applications), standardization
Test your APIs and grow your ecosystems with
hackathons
Yves Caseau - Digital Age Information Systems – November 2014 23/24

CCoonncclluussiioonn
Digital revolution is only beginning !
 One must learn to co-create experiences with their customers
 Barbarians at our doors: paradigm shifts in production tools
 Technology’s evolution pace will intensify: machine learning and
forecasting, AI, semantic processing & pattern recognition.
Adopt tools and methods from « the Web Giants » (GAFA)
 Agile & lean software development
 Lean Startup & measure
 Big Data, Web programming, Commodity computing
Software Factories to assemble open source into experiences
 Because of constant change, your software changes constantly
 Skilled teams & Customer-centric continuous build
 “Love your code” culture
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