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Craig Mathias

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Principal, Farpoint Group

260 points

Craig J. Mathias is a Principal with Farpoint Group, a wireless and mobile advisory firm based in Ashland, MA. Founded in 1991, the company works with manufacturers, network operators, enterprises, and the financial community in technology assessment and analysis, strategy ...

Craig J. Mathias is a Principal with Farpoint Group, a wireless and mobile advisory firm based in Ashland, MA. Founded in 1991, the company works with manufacturers, network operators, enterprises, and the financial community in technology assessment and analysis, strategy development, product specification and design, product marketing, program management, education and training, and the integration of emerging technologies into new and existing business operations, across a broad range of markets and applications. Craig is an internationally-recognized expert on wireless communications and mobile computing technologies, and has published numerous technical and overview articles on a wide variety of topics. He is a well-known and often-quoted industry analyst and frequent speaker at industry conferences and events, as well as Webcasts, Webinars, and podcasts. He is currently a member of the Advisory Board for the INTEROP conferences (Las Vegas and New York) and is the Chair of the Wireless and Mobility track. He serves as a monthly columnist for InformationWeek.com and the Enterprise Mobility Foundation (theemf.org), ardent blogger (“Nearpoints”) for networkworld.com, and a Trusted Voice at ITWorld.com. Craig holds an Sc.B. degree in Applied Mathematics/Computer Science from Brown University.

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Jan. 4, 2012

Craig Mathias recommends this answer by Sonya Williams

Where are the worst talent shortages and what is one specific thing we can do to change that today?

Strategic long-term decision making is talent that missing today. In an era where everything can be obtained instantly (microwave, internet, video on demand) I believe many have forgotten that we build today for use tomorrow. Decision makers are making decisions that reap the rewards today ... more

Information Technology

Jan. 2, 2012

Craig Mathias and 8 other people answered this question

How would you explain cloud computing to someone who is unfamiliar with it?

Computing involves processors, which transform the data, and the data itself, which requires a storage medium. If one or both of these are located on the Internet somewhere, that's cloud computing (and/or cloud storage).
Cloud computing transforms computing and storage into a service. We used ... more

Information Technology

Cloud Computing

Jan. 2, 2012

Craig Mathias and 2 other people answered this question

Is there (ever) a viable business case for using tape for archiving?

I don't think magnetic tape should be used for anything mission-critical today - in other words, in any business application. The old joke about tape being described as WORN - write once, read never - is all too often the truth. My company abandoned tape ... more

Information Technology

Jan. 2, 2012

Craig Mathias and 3 other people answered this question

How do you choose the right virtual team?

The same way a "real" time is selected, because there is no difference other than the location of the players. The biggest problem I hear cited regarding virtual teams is that those who are out of sight might not be getting the job done. I've ... more

Dec. 13, 2011

Craig Mathias and 16 other people answered this question

What is the single most important thing you've learned about business that college can't teach?

Your first point reminds me - it's more important to know how to find information (and continuously learn) that it is to stuff one's head full of useless stuff learned in class and of little value beyond that class's final exam. Sure, learning in any ... more

Customer Service

Human Resources

Dec. 11, 2011

Craig Mathias and 3 other people answered this question

Open sourcing webOS - new life or just more life support?

They're not putting it in the public domain - just open source. And HP will continue to work on it as well. more

Information Technology

Dec. 11, 2011

Craig Mathias and 4 other people commented on a brief

10 Tips to Increase the Range of Your Wireless Network

Are you saying you're having trouble connecting to a Wi-Fi service that is not your own? Someone else's access point? You would need to contact them; they may have made changes to their configuration that is affect your service. You should also make sure you ... more

Information Technology

Michael Goodwin

Mobile and Wireless

Mobile Wireless

Dec. 10, 2011

Craig Mathias and 9 other people answered this question

Does technology really present new ethical issues?

I hate to disagree here, but businesses can't be judged on long- or short-term behavior. Short-term performance may be exactly the mission of a given enterprise, and there's nothing inherently immoral or unethical about that. Remember, businesses get their power, position, and returns from customers ... more

Information Technology

Dec. 9, 2011

Craig Mathias and 4 other people answered this question

How large should your company be before you consider an internal social network?

No - the mechanisms are social networking, but the content is work.Yes, it's collaboration, shared workspaces, communications, and more. more

Information Technology

Internal Community

Dec. 9, 2011

Craig Mathias and 5 other people answered this question

What is one specific example of how you've been able to kick your fear of failure?

Also not to be sexist, I've known men, and a lot of them, who were (and probably still are) total wimps, and many women who were (and also probably still are) simply fierce in their determine to meet their goals. I don't really believe gender ... more

Customer Service

Human Resources

Information Technology

Dec. 8, 2011

Craig Mathias and 10 other people answered this question

Poll: What smartphone technology do you use?

Android on a Samsung (Verizon) Fascinate (Galaxy S). Overall, I'm happy, but even at just a year in, I'm longing for a new phone. Curse these two-year contracts! As a Mac user, I will likely move to an iPhone next, which I have avoided so ... more

Information Technology

Dec. 8, 2011

Craig Mathias and 4 other people answered this question

In terms of running a business how do you define the term "mistake"?

This is a far more difficult question than might be assumed at first glance. The reason for this is the any judgement as to the success or failure of a decision must be relative relative to time. Investing for the long term per a reasoned ... more

Customer Service

Human Resources

Information Technology

Dec. 8, 2011

Craig Mathias and 2 other people answered this question

What is "the consumerization trend" and why is it a problem?

I think this is primarily a concern regarding security - sensitive enterprise information floating around on unsecured, unmanaged consumer-owned devices. The solution is a combination of policies, education and other consciousness-raising, and mobile device/mobile-policy/mobile-expense management systems. more

Information Technology

Consumerization of IT

Dec. 8, 2011

Craig Mathias and 3 other people answered this question

Will a brick & mortar app store succeed?

No way! Why would it? Everything one needs with respect to apps - marketing information, trial versions, and, most importantly, fulfillment, are available over a network (usually wireless). What good would a retail store do? There's no value-add. And one would need to make the ... more

Information Technology

Dec. 6, 2011

Craig Mathias answered this question

Is the traditional application model dead?

If by traditional you mean an applications running on a specific machine, then no. But increasingly apps will indeed be provisioned in the cloud, a fundamental change in delivery but little else. Cloud-based services are less expensive to write and provision, can be platform-independent, and ... more

Cloud Computing

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