Last Wednesday, May 15th, we hosted the technology leaders from Palm Beach State College (PBSC) to collaborate on the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCT) Grants Program. This project will help TAA-eligible workers and other adults acquire the skills, degrees, and credentials needed for high-wage, high-skill employment while also meeting the needs of employers for skilled workers. Both organizations worked to identify the skills, curriculum, and programs necessary to support the project.

3Ci and PBSC established a relationship through involvement in Workforce Alliance’s InfoTech Workforce Development Initiative (IWDI). IWDI is a group of information technology sector and higher education leaders whose goal is to produce a local workforce with skills and competencies to meet the demand for high-skill information technology positions in the local area. IWDI’s 2013 priorities include securing local internships for IT students, developing externships for IT faculty, hosting outreach events and assisting PBSC to install a cybersecurity simulation range laboratory.

We’re proud to partner with local universities to support technology education and its growing workforce.  To learn more about the TAACCCT initiative and PBSC’s $3 million grant to enhance and expand its health IT programs, go to http://www.communitycollegetimes.com/Pages/Workforce-Development/Feds-announce-next-500M-in-job-training-grants.aspx.

This week at the CTIA 2013 conference in Las Vegas, cybersecurity will be a particularly hot topic. An entire half of today’s first pre-conference day will be devoted to the state of mobile security. Several panels will also be held during the week, including on best practices. The Best Practices panel, which I’ll be speaking on, will discuss identity management, carrier mobility security, and I’ll be looking into how the best practices for mobile consumers are as challenging as they have been for PC users. These practices have been the focus of several of my past blogs, such as the use of PINs, voicemail, texting, and the FCC’s Best Practices recommendations.

It’s interesting to look at the past to see how malware and other attacks in the desktop arena have sparked reactive technologies that have become so commonplace today. But how has this translated to the mindset of the mobile consumer? Some of the answers may surprise you. During the Cybersecurity Summit- Best Practices panel, I’ll delve into the results of a recent survey of consumers and their security habits that was conducted for the CTIA. We still have a long way to go, but the good news is that we can still spread the word while changing hearts and minds in the process. Hope to see you there!

John will be speaking on The Cybersecurity Summit- Best Practices Panel on Wednesday, May 22 from 11:45am to 1:15pm. For more information go to http://www.ctia2013.com/info/index.cfm/session-details?calID=1881.

About The Author:

John Ceraolo is the chief security officer at 3Cinteractive where he directs the organization’s enterprise risk management, business continuity, and information security. Ceraolo has been leading security initiatives within global organizations for over 20 years.

Vic Shroff, 3Ci’s VP of Channel Sales, will be speaking on an expert panel at the upcoming App Summit in Las Vegas next week. The session titled “Latin America: The Multi-Billion Dollar Emerging Market” will be held on May 21st from 5:35pm – 6:15pm in the Titan Ballroom at the Sands Convention Center. The App Summit is an annual international conference on the future of multi-platform apps for consumer and enterprise. The App Summit is the Official Partner of CTIA 2013, one of the most important mobile events in the world.

Vic will be sharing his expertise on the emerging Latin American market alongside leaders from Movile, LatinMedios, Fortumo, and Shango. Attendees of the session will learn more about the opportunities in mobile solutions, apps, payment, entertainment, social media and more across Latin America and Brazil.  For more about The App Summit and to view the full agenda, go to http://theappsummit.net.

This sponsored post originally appeared in VentureBeat on May 7, 2013 and was written by Jeff Michaud, Vice President of Marketing, 3Cinteractive.

1. Develop intimacy with your customer’s “mobile profile”

In today’s mobile-centric world, different demographic and psychographic consumer groups will display varying expectations and demand for mobile interactions with your brand. This makes it critical to understand and segment your customer’s demand for mobile in order to build an effective mobile strategy that meets their expectations.

A simple way to build this profile is to conduct a customer survey to measure their satisfaction with the quality and quantity of your current mobile interactions. Combine this with survey questions that gather basic demographic data and you will have a solid base to begin developing mobile profiles of your customers. For a more sophisticated analysis of your customer’s mobile profile, Forrester, a global research and advisory firm, provides a comprehensive measurement known as the “Mobile Mind Shift Index” that will put you on the path to truly understanding your customer’s demand for mobile.

2. It’s not about inventing, it’s about improving

Too often today, line-of-business executives responsible for mobile get caught up trying to invent the “next cool thing” to do with mobile. This can lead to a lack of decisive action, or even worse, to a great deal of time and money wasted on mobile apps that don’t produce results. Remember, your business hasn’t changed because of mobile! Just like the Internet did, mobile improves the way you provide service, support, and commerce to your customers. A good rule to go by when thinking about this is “follow the money.” Meaning, take a look at all of the customer interaction points that drive revenue for your business – and apply the appropriate mobile technology to improve those processes.

So, don’t get caught up in all of mobile’s “bright shiny objects,” and remember, it’s not about inventing, it’s about improving. I think a quote from Gartner report “Cool Vendors Supporting Multiple Nexus Forces” says it best: “Mobile enablement was, and should be, subservient to clear business goals.”

3. Rethink what a “mobile app” actually is

In 2006, my firm deployed a mobile application using text messaging that drove a double-digit increase to our client’s bottom line. Two years later, we struggled to convince anyone that a mobile strategy was about more than an app you could download to an iPhone. Even today, we still fight against the “there’s an app for that” mindset. As great as native apps are, they are only one component of driving true, rich consumer engagement via mobile. Today’s devices support sophisticated mobile web apps, highly interactive messaging and voice apps, location services, mobile payments and more. A successful mobile consumer engagement strategy will encompass many or all of these mobile application channels to provide your customers with real utilities – and the tools to manage their relationship with your brand.

4. Integrate to automate “right-time” decisions

I am confident that in the near future, big data tools will allow brands to derive sophisticated consumer profiles and predictive analytics that will make contextually aware mobile engagement a marketer’s utopia. Until we get there, however, there are plenty of simple and highly effective ways to make “right-time” decisions about when, where, and how you engage your customers. Start by thinking of the customer event data you already have in your CRM and ecommerce systems and identify points where an automated, proactive engagement mechanism could drive a commerce event (i.e. when a prescription refill is due, when a customer is up for renewal, when loyalty point thresholds are achieved). Once you have identified these points, integration with a mobile platform can enable you to automate proactive notifications via SMS that will drive consumers to take a desired action leading to a commerce event. Remember, 95% of the time, text messages are opened and read within the first five minutes of receipt. This type of basic messaging application may not be sexy, but it can drive results – and you can do it today.

5. Determine ROI models, measure, and invest

Once you have identified the areas where mobile engagement can directly impact a commerce event, work to determine the ROI derived through that mobile engagement. With the right mobile partner, this should not be difficult. It is important to remember that the velocity at which consumer technology evolves has altered traditional budget processes. Marketers are making more and more technology purchases and obtaining in-year budgets based upon the ROI they are generating. According to the report “Breaking Out of the Funnel” by DemandGen, over 70% of budgets for technology purchases are allocated outside of the traditional year-end budget processes – most often after an ROI was proven. So, drive towards proving out these ROI models, and you’ll find that obtaining budget dollars to invest more in mobile will be easier to justify.

To recap, to make mobile consumer engagement drive measurable results for your business, understand your customer’s mobile profile; think business goal first, mobile technology second; rethink the concept of mobile app and open up all mobile channels; seek out where you can use mobile to drive “right-time” decisions around commerce events; and measure ROI on your mobile investments to get the budget you need to achieve your goals.

With the global mHealth market expected to reach $10.2 billion by 2018, healthcare organizations are increasingly investing in the power of mobile to create and sustain conversations with their consumers. We’re often asked by healthcare organizations, “How will we know if mobile is working?”

In this video our General Manager of Healthcare Solutions, Barry Hix, provides insight into the process required to determine the return on investment (ROI) for mobile. Healthcare organizations must reacquaint themselves with the critical metrics used to measure their business today, determine the desired consumer journey with the organization or brand, and ultimately, optimize the mobile deployment towards the desired journey.

To learn more about how to determine the ROI for direct-to-consumer mobile engagement in healthcare, download our white paper at http://bit.ly/12gTS5Y.

Last Friday, in celebration of the 139th running of the Kentucky Derby, we held the inaugural 3Ci Air Swimmer Derby. The odds and excitement were high as the crowd cheered on the racers in their best derby hats while sipping mint juleps.

As they came down the stretch, Blue Jacket Anticipation, jockeyed by Michael G., left the other racers in the dust to take home the crown. Following not so close behind as they veered off course were Irish Walker and El Cato Grande. Derby favorite, TextCollect My Winnings stumbled at the starting gate, losing momentum to finish at the back of the pack.

Almost as exciting as the race, the derby would not be complete without the iconic fashions. The prize for the best derby hat went to Tracy M., whose fabulous headgear was homemade from tissue paper.

Check out pictures from the race and Winner’s Circle on our Facebook page.

This past Saturday, several 3Ci team members joined hundreds of supporters in the March of Dimes’ “March for Babies” at City Place in West Palm Beach, FL. March of Dimes provides critical support to prevent babies from being born prematurely and gives hope to more than 28,000 babies born too soon every year in Florida.

Together, the 3Ci team raised over $6,000 to support programs in our community that help moms have healthy, full-term pregnancies. The money also helps fund research to find answers to the problems that threaten babies. Since 1970, March of Dimes has raised an incredible $2 billion to benefit all babies.

Check out pictures from the walk on Facebook!