How deep industry expertise enables breakthrough technology for today’s complex business needs

The last decade has seen an unparalleled level of digital transformation, which soared to even greater heights during the last three years. Across industries, the exponential growth of technologies such as hybrid cloud, data and analytics, AI and IoT have reshaped the way businesses operate and heightened customer expectations.

Businesses are now entering an even greater digital era marked by broader applications of AI, including generative AI models. Combined with ongoing supply chain issues, sustainability mandates, evolving regulations, cybersecurity threats and other complexities, industries and enterprises around the world are facing a staggering number of challenges. With such overwhelming change occurring, companies need to go even further with their business and technology transformation journeys to meet customers’ needs and create further value.

Major industries, such as financial services, healthcare, retail and telecom and media, made their initial leap to cloud over a decade ago. Now we are at a moment in history where advanced technology is propelling a new round of hybrid cloud and AI-driven transformation.

A holistic approach to complex transformation

This new technology revolution is impacting core business applications across every sector. For instance, the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry is racing to infuse hybrid cloud, AI, IoT and other technologies into their core workloads to deliver the 24/7 omnichannel experiences customers now demand from their global supply chains. AI-driven insights and automation are no longer an option but must-haves in industries like aviation, to achieve predictive maintenance of complex aircraft systems for improved safety and cost reduction and for energy companies to optimize production while reducing their carbon footprint.

This latest wave of transformation extends throughout the entire value chain and is more complex to carry out than ever before as it addresses core business capabilities and technologies and not just systems of engagement. To help businesses succeed, teams need to bring forth new technology in areas such as automation, data and AI, Security and Hybrid Cloud platforms, all in the context of the business outcomes they must achieve.

For over 20 years, IBM has been helping companies across industries meet their evolving digital transformation goals. With deep technical and consulting experience and world-renowned R&D behind them, IBM’s industry experts deliver technology innovation and transformation engagements and solutions, with the ability to scale across an organization so it can stay competitive in this fast-changing environment.

Introducing Industry Diamond

Recognizing the need for advisors with deep industry expertise who can really help them think through complex transformation, IBM offers a holistic approach that encompasses both our consulting and technology capabilities. To that end, we are proud to announce the launch of a new badge certification: Industry Diamond. This represents the pinnacle of our industry skill and provides exciting career growth for our technology and consulting experts. Comprised of hundreds of top industry experts across many countries, this set of specialists work within and across industries to drive change and shape cutting-edge business transformation and technology solutions.

Ecosystem partnerships provide value to clients

IBM’s deep commitment to an open ecosystem perspective also includes leveraging our ecosystem technology partnerships. With our strategic partners, we embrace a co-creation approach leading with our industry alongside Cloud Service Partners AWS, Microsoft Azure and industry ISVs to solve core industry-specific challenges. IBM is a recognized leader in infusing deep industry-specific innovation into the solutions we deliver for our clients.

Our commitment also extends to working with recognized bodies, whether that means working with retail and consumer goods companies, like the Consumer Goods Forum (CGF), to better understand and address supply chain and sustainability challenges, or with a bank and the Banking Industry Architecture Network (BIAN) on the latest regulatory demands.

Co-innovating with DISH Wireless to bring 5G services on demand

For telecommunication companies, next-generation transformation means stepping fully into the age of 5G. At the enterprise level, 5G can transform operations, create new business models and generate new revenue across industries.

This past year, DISH Wireless’ 5G network became the US’s first public cloud deployment of a cloud-native greenfield 5G network, made available in over 120 cities. To help achieve this groundbreaking milestone, DISH Wireless partnered with IBM Consulting, which provided its deep telco experience, along with IBM’s IBM Cloud Pak for Network Automation software and AI-powered automation technology.

The next phases focus on network and service expansion followed by commercial and wholesale market entrance. DISH Wireless will leverage advanced network slicing, which overlays multiple virtual networks on top of a shared network domain allowing it to be the first 5G carrier to make 5G network slicing a reality. With the wholesale and commercial market entrance, IBM together with DISH Wireless are reimagining what the customer onboarding experience will be, enabling a new best-in-class ability for MVNOs or enterprises to take advantage of 5G, whether it be a system of collaborative robots on a factory floor or a metaverse gaming experience with unparalleled network control and scalability.

Collaborating with CaixaBank on next-generation retail banking

To provide customers with omnichannel experiences and stay ahead of potential disruptions, the banking industry must continue to transform business models for both front-facing and back-office operations. 

Together with IBM, CaixaBank, the leading financial group in Spain, worked to transform its omnichannel operations. The engagement unified more than 50 different customer support channels into a single platform, dramatically improving both the customer and agent experience. Through the new platform, CaixaBank now provides employees with the right tools and information to make the best recommendations and build customer relationships.

CaixaBank now uses AI, including chatbots powered by IBM Watson®, to answer basic inquiries, direct customers to live agents when appropriate and surface answers during customer interaction to reduce case time to resolution.

To improve the bank’s back-office productivity, IBM collaborated with ecosystem partner Salesforce to automate workflow processes. The Salesforce platform provides consistent customer service journeys while reducing redundant workloads for agents. For more straightforward requests, IBM Watson® and machine learning with natural language processing (NLP) enables support channels to provide nearly two million answers every month.

Creating an end-to-end sustainability framework for a top energy company

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance has become critical to the way energy sector companies respond to rising global energy demand and deliver on their sustainability commitments.

Recently, a leading producer of oil, gas and petrochemicals turned to IBM Consulting to help them create a robust sustainability reporting mechanism in the form of a core ESG Intelligence hub. This ongoing engagement involves integrating 350-plus variables across the company’s main sustainability pillars.

On opportunities such as this, IBM is leveraging the capabilities of its recent acquisition of Envizi using IBM Envizi ESG Suite. This end-to-end sustainability framework acts as an ESG data hub to accelerate and help automate reporting. The overall engagement supports the company’s decarbonization goal to cut greenhouse gas (GhG) emissions intensity by 25% by 2030.

Navigating the next wave of business transformation

To address today’s pressing business imperatives and gain a competitive advantage, clients need trusted expertise that is rooted in deep industry leadership and expertise, best-in-class technology, open ecosystem partnerships and research innovation. IBM’s Industry Diamonds represent the pinnacle of our industry expertise and are key to driving industry-differentiated business transformation and technology leadership.

Learn more about IBM’s industry expertise

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