Dennis Bancod, CIO, Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation
By Dennis Bancod
Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC), one of the leading private domestic commercial banks in thePhilippines, has grown rapidly over the last five years. To continue this momentum, we’ve set a goal of adding 10 million new customers by 2014. Many of these will include the so-called “unbanked” – farmers, small business owners and others in provinces of the Philippines where ATMs and bank branches are more scarce.
Technology and the transformation of our business model will be two of the most important drivers behind RCBC’s ability to bring banking to the masses.
Traditional banking technology and business models were developed around the characteristics of urban areas: high density of clients, relative proximity to cash distribution centers and the availability of a telecommunications infrastructure, for example.
Dr. Subir Mallik, Manager for Development and Architecture, UHG Document Management Solutions Group
- By Dr. Subir Mallick
The secret to staying competitive in the healthcare market today is being able to deliver quality products while being responsive to changing customer needs. And technology is a big part of making that possible.
UnitedHealth Group (UHG), the largest single health carrier in theU.S., is serving about 70 million Americans. In the past five years, the company has made significant investments in research and development, technology and business process improvements to ensure the delivery of quality care. These investments have led to changes that are improving the way care is delivered and administered across the entire industry.
Steve Mills, IBM Senior Vice President & Group Executive, Software & Systems
- By Steve Mills
The opportunities of Big Data are limitless for making business, the global economy and our society work better. The new reality is that Big Data has become one of our most valuable emerging natural resources.
This is due in large part to the economics around lower computing costs and the enormous advancements we’ve made in developing new technologies that can analyze data regardless of what kind, where it resides or how fast it is moving.
In financial services, Wall Street firms are generating five new research documents every minute. Nearly $100 billion in total sales are missed each year because retailers don’t have the right products in stock to meet customer demand. Earlier this month, the United Nations issued a report stating that the world has nearly as many cell phone subscribers as inhabitants.
Kevin Thompson, Manager, Center for Applied Insights, IBM
By Kevin Thompson
While the 19th century experienced an industrial revolution that focused on manufacturing, the early part of this century is arguably about industrializing IT.
For the past 30 years, most enterprise organizations aiming to offer an application or IT solution have had to do much of the heavy lifting themselves – starting from scratch – building their own technology stack from the ground up and then managing everything in-house and on-premise.
Today, of course, those same organizations can procure computing resources and basic software services on-demand, expediting their go-to-market plans and minimizing both upfront and long-term costs.
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Dan Pelino, General Manager, Global Healthcare and Life Sciences, IBM
By Dan Pelino
Healthcare isn’t just a national policy issue. It’s an important part of the economy and everyone’s daily life. And, together – leaders of both the public and private sectors - we can provide leadership, collaboration and governance that can help us not only address cost, quality and access, but drive an economic impact that is meaningful to us all.
Around the world, cities, communities and regions have very different health care requirements and outcomes. Local business, political and academic leaders can come together with health providers to help achieve a more cost-effective, high-quality care system with access for their locale. We must team with doctors, nurses and care givers and not leave this grand challenge at the doorstep of our hospitals and emergency rooms.
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Kris Lovejoy, General Manager, IBM Security Services
By Kris Lovejoy
As companies and individuals continue to connect in new and exciting ways – through the cloud, mobile technology and social media – each are becoming more informed and empowered. However, this always-on, real-time, hyper-connected world is not without its pitfalls. And while privacy, security, and performance tend to garner the headlines, the growing risk to reputation is gaining increasing attention.
A new study by the Economist Intelligence Unit commissioned by IBM reveals that reputational risks extend far beyond faulty products or shoddy services. Companies face serious risks to their brand if their IT is compromised. From stolen customer data to hacked passwords – an IT security breach can lead to dramatic and negative sentiment about a company and its image. Continue Reading »
Yuchun Lee, General Manager and Vice President, Enterprise Marketing Management Group, IBM
By Yuchun Lee
If you follow this blog, you know that there’s been a lot of discussion about the evolved consumer and how the need to gain insights from mountains of data is drawing CMOs and CIOs closer together. To be sure, a healthy relationship between marketing and IT can drive real business results.
IBM’s Center for Applied Insights recently released a study titled, “Why Leading Marketers Outperform.” The study examines the success of leading marketers defined as individuals who have a high level of responsibility for engaging customers and a sophisticated approach when it comes to investing limited marketing resources.
According the study, marketing organizations that engage customers effectively and make better technology investments have a three-year revenue compound annual growth rate (CAGR) that is more than 40 percent higher than that of other companies.
Andy Stanford-Clark, Master Inventor and Chief Technology Officer, Smarter Energy, IBM UK & Ireland
By Andy Stanford-Clark
About four years ago, I set out on a personal mission to significantly reduce the energy use in my home. Today, I’m pleased to say that I have made some big steps towards that goal, but more importantly – my home turf – the Isle of Wight, is embarking on a journey for the whole island to become energy self-sufficient, in a project called “Ecoisland.” My efforts at home were my own personal hobby: the Ecoisland project is a much larger, collaborative effort!
Why am I writing about this now? Well, this week IBM took part in the Ecoislands Global Summit. Ecoisland is an ambitious transformation program which aims to turn the Isle of Wight (home to 140,000 citizens) into the ultimate eco-region, with a dramatically reduced carbon footprint by 2020. IBM and other companies are working with the Ecoisland project to develop innovative ways to save energy and reduce emissions and waste, while also cutting the islanders’ fuel bills – potentially by up to 50 percent. Continue Reading »
Tony Mwai, Country General Manager, IBM East Africa
By Tony Mwai
Ten years ago, if workers in Kenya wanted to send money to relatives across the country, they had two options – either pay a courier to take their wages back to their village or travel themselves, often spending a hefty portion of the wages on bus fare and then losing a day’s pay.
Today, in a just under a second, over 14 million Kenyans can send and receive money to each other in whichever part of the country they are, all thanks to mobile money transfer solutions.
Over the last five years, more than $16 billion has moved between phones in this country, indicating the untapped demand for access to reliable and affordable financial services in the palm of Kenyans. Continue Reading »
Robert Fox, Global Telecommunications Industry Leader, IBM
By Robert Fox
Back in the 1970’s, the Florida Orange Growers Association, trying to increase the consumption of oranges across the country, built an advertising campaign around the slogan: “Orange juice, it’s not just for breakfast anymore.”
Today as I talk with clients and survey the current technology landscape, a paraphrase of that old slogan echoes through my head: “Cloud computing — it’s not just for the IT department anymore.”
While cloud computing has a proven track record of helping firms’ IT centers to be more flexible and cost effective, increasingly cloud is finding its way into the business strategy arena where it is being tapped to create whole new business models and drive new revenue streams.
