This 13-page supplement to the December 2012 issue of The Banker presents EMC Consulting's 2013 perspective of how IT Transformation enables improved capabilities around Big Data, trust, and multi-channel sales and service.
Accenture Communications Research Pts Digital Lifestyle To Digital Lifeblood[1]khogan25
Communications & High Tech
As technology becomes more integral to consumers' lives, they increasingly need technology to work well and reliably. Providing technology services that meet consumers' needs represents a major market opportunity. However, it also poses challenges due to the complex technology landscape and high expectations of users. Key considerations for providers include viewing this as supporting a changing ecosystem, specializing services for specific customer segments, ensuring convenience for users, and providing consistent, high-quality support through an industrial-strength solution.
This document outlines 14 potential "game changers" or emerging technologies for 2011-2012:
1. Consumerized IT and knowledge workers who are always connected via mobile devices.
2. Changes in storage and bandwidth brought by new networks, technologies, and price reductions enabling new applications.
3. Curated computing that simplifies support through standardized solutions.
4. Hybrid cloud computing models using private, public, and service-based clouds.
5. A new operating system for the internet.
6. New generations of appliances and mobile apps.
7. Increased role of gamification, social networks, and crowd sourcing.
8. Emergence of sensors and location-
This document discusses improving customer experience through better network and IT quality management. It proposes a three-level framework to: 1) fix basic technical issues, 2) align network/IT workflows with customer perspectives, and 3) exceed customer expectations through predictive analytics. The approach considers both improving customer experience and agent work conditions. Incremental benefits are gained at each maturity level.
Ivette c. alvarez cantú, m.sc., pmp (2) optIvetteAlvarez
Ivette C. Alvarez Cantú has over 20 years of experience leading technology projects in Mexico. She has held roles as a Project Engineer, Project Manager, Operations Engineer, and Project Administrator. Some of her key achievements include ensuring systems were ready for Y2K, implementing infrastructure expansions on time and on budget, and achieving high customer satisfaction ratings. Currently, she works as an independent consultant, helping organizations establish project management best practices.
This document discusses Verizon's Open Video Communications solution which aims to connect dispersed collaboration tools and address challenges of communicating across different networks and devices. It highlights benefits like improved productivity, cost control, competitive advantage and supporting green initiatives. Key features include interoperability, global connectivity, flexible pricing options and lifecycle support services.
Enabling the digital economy: Postal services 2020angelic961
The document discusses how postal services are enabling the digital economy by providing e-services. It provides examples of postal e-communication services like internet kiosks in post offices. It also discusses e-government services provided by posts like acting as access points for e-government or hybrid mail delivery. Further, it outlines UPU programs to support postal e-services and e-commerce like the digital action plan, international secure email box, and .post top level domain.
Accenture Communications Research Pts Digital Lifestyle To Digital Lifeblood[1]khogan25
Communications & High Tech
As technology becomes more integral to consumers' lives, they increasingly need technology to work well and reliably. Providing technology services that meet consumers' needs represents a major market opportunity. However, it also poses challenges due to the complex technology landscape and high expectations of users. Key considerations for providers include viewing this as supporting a changing ecosystem, specializing services for specific customer segments, ensuring convenience for users, and providing consistent, high-quality support through an industrial-strength solution.
This document outlines 14 potential "game changers" or emerging technologies for 2011-2012:
1. Consumerized IT and knowledge workers who are always connected via mobile devices.
2. Changes in storage and bandwidth brought by new networks, technologies, and price reductions enabling new applications.
3. Curated computing that simplifies support through standardized solutions.
4. Hybrid cloud computing models using private, public, and service-based clouds.
5. A new operating system for the internet.
6. New generations of appliances and mobile apps.
7. Increased role of gamification, social networks, and crowd sourcing.
8. Emergence of sensors and location-
This document discusses improving customer experience through better network and IT quality management. It proposes a three-level framework to: 1) fix basic technical issues, 2) align network/IT workflows with customer perspectives, and 3) exceed customer expectations through predictive analytics. The approach considers both improving customer experience and agent work conditions. Incremental benefits are gained at each maturity level.
Ivette c. alvarez cantú, m.sc., pmp (2) optIvetteAlvarez
Ivette C. Alvarez Cantú has over 20 years of experience leading technology projects in Mexico. She has held roles as a Project Engineer, Project Manager, Operations Engineer, and Project Administrator. Some of her key achievements include ensuring systems were ready for Y2K, implementing infrastructure expansions on time and on budget, and achieving high customer satisfaction ratings. Currently, she works as an independent consultant, helping organizations establish project management best practices.
This document discusses Verizon's Open Video Communications solution which aims to connect dispersed collaboration tools and address challenges of communicating across different networks and devices. It highlights benefits like improved productivity, cost control, competitive advantage and supporting green initiatives. Key features include interoperability, global connectivity, flexible pricing options and lifecycle support services.
Enabling the digital economy: Postal services 2020angelic961
The document discusses how postal services are enabling the digital economy by providing e-services. It provides examples of postal e-communication services like internet kiosks in post offices. It also discusses e-government services provided by posts like acting as access points for e-government or hybrid mail delivery. Further, it outlines UPU programs to support postal e-services and e-commerce like the digital action plan, international secure email box, and .post top level domain.
Confluence Adoption: Techniques for Growing Your WikiAtlassian
Whether you're starting small, or aiming big, it helps to have a good set of ideas to aid adoption. This session discusses some of the best tools in the wiki adoption toolbox - from where to start, to how best to grow.
Atlassian Speaker: Bill Arconati
Customer Speaker: Michael Mielke of Deutsche Bahn
Key Takeaways:
* Success patterns for wiki adoption
* Roles and activities to aid a successful deployment
* What to try, what to avoid
Bull is a European technology company that provides high-performance computing and cybersecurity solutions. It helps customers innovate with new technologies, optimize their infrastructure through outsourcing and cloud services, integrate critical business applications, and guarantee trust through cybersecurity products and services. Bull has a presence in over 50 countries and expertise in key verticals such as public sector, telecom, finance, energy, defense, and transportation.
Dan Livingstone provides bid management, technical authoring, and graphic design services. He has over 15 years of experience in these fields. His skills include excellent communication, adapting to different business environments, prioritizing work to meet deadlines, and being highly computer literate. He holds a BA in Multimedia & Sonic Art and has secured multi-million pound contracts for organizations across various industries.
Integrated Service Management provides visibility, control, and automation across business infrastructure to enable the delivery of innovative services. It offers service architectures tailored by industry and across the service lifecycle. Key benefits include improved scalability and flexibility, reduced costs, increased compliance and security, and optimized productivity through automated management. Customers in various industries like mining, insurance, telecom have leveraged IBM's solutions to significantly reduce expenses, drive innovation, comply with regulations, and enhance business efficiency.
Corporations are often hampered in responding quickly to customer needs by their legacy systems. Analyzing that complexity and linking it to customer visible change can free them to respond.
The document discusses the paradox of service industrialization. It notes that while industrialization aims to standardize services, customers still desire customized experiences. The document outlines three pillars of service systems - technology, people, and shared information - and proposes that people are often the least considered factor. It suggests service providers should focus on immersing customers, enabling participation, and personalizing services in order to build strong customer experiences despite industrialization efforts.
Radiant Communications Corp. provides Internet protocol-based solutions including high-speed internet access, virtual private networks, web hosting, and business phone services. It offers a range of connectivity options and private networking technologies to small and medium-sized businesses. Radiant aims to capture more of this underserved market by expanding its service portfolio and partnering with industry leaders. It provides cloud computing services connected directly into customers' private networks, including hosting applications and disaster recovery.
Enterprise Intelligence in GEM is a collection of sensed and recorded data, treated as resources, that guide enterprise decisions in responding to changes. It encompasses aspects of "sense, analyze, respond" operations known as netcentricity. These intelligence resources are best managed together to provide integrated information for decisions. GEM categorizes intelligence in terms of questions like location, who, what, why, how, when to provide context. The key intelligence categories in GEM are Location, Organization, Organization Unit, Function, Process, Resource, and Requirement, forming an "upper ontology" for knowledge modeling and management.
The document discusses emerging digital banking trends and identifies leading practices. It highlights that digital capabilities are putting customers at the center and increasing their expectations around managing their finances simply across all channels. Banks need to deploy digital capabilities to deliver seamless, integrated experiences at speed to meet these expectations or risk losing customers to more nimble competitors focusing on customer experience. Mobile, social media, analytics and the cloud will drive significant changes in banking models and capabilities.
The Avaya Desktop Video Device with Avaya Flare Experience interface simplifies collaboration by integrating communication tools like voice, video, email and IM into a single interface. It coordinates these tools with business applications, enabling effective collaboration. With a large touchscreen, Flare Experience provides content in context and adapts to user preferences. It delivers capabilities like HD video and mobility to make collaboration as easy as using a phone.
Manufacturing jobs provide opportunities for career growth and economic security. Hamilton Connection, a staffing firm, works to connect skilled workers with manufacturing jobs. They have a long history of serving clients and supporting employees. While manufacturing currently faces a shortage of qualified workers, firms are expanding training to help workers gain skills. Manufacturing careers allow workers to learn skills that can increase salaries over time and provide job stability.
Lundegaard helps improve and expand customer businesses through internet and mobile technologies. They offer customized solutions that are built upon proven frameworks but tailored to meet specific client needs. Lundegaard has extensive experience in this area from developing several reservation systems over their 10 year history.
Emerging technology in fashion retail business pankaj bansal
The document discusses emerging technology in fashion retail business. It proposes using digital signage, interactive screens on shelves, and innovative dressing rooms at Wills Lifestyle stores to enhance customer experience. This would allow customers to access product information, see their purchase history, and get support in choosing outfits. Collecting consumer behavior data could also help Wills Lifestyle improve customer engagement and monitor reactions to new technologies. The proposed technologies aim to transform shopping into a distinctive experience that strengthens the brand's relationship with customers.
Windstream is a nationwide provider of communications and technology solutions, with over $6 billion in annual revenue (1). They offer a variety of solutions including data centers, networking, cloud, voice, and managed services (2). Windstream has a strong focus on personalized customer service through their local customer care and network operations centers (3).
The document discusses enterprise mobility and traceability solutions provided by VisionID. It notes that VisionID is an Irish company that has been in business for 11 years and provides mobile computing and traceability solutions through offices in Dublin, Clonmel, Limerick and Belfast. It then provides details on VisionID's products, partners, customers and the industries it serves, with a focus on healthcare, retail, transport/logistics, manufacturing and government.
This document discusses STS Digital, a provider of digital smartphone technology training and consulting services for businesses. It describes STS Digital's offerings, which include courses on using BlackBerry technology for business, smartphone consulting services, and social media marketing solutions using LinkedIn. It also introduces STS Digital's work with Research in Motion (Rim) on the new BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express, which allows businesses to connect employees wirelessly at low cost.
1) Advocate Consulting is a trusted advisor that helps clients accelerate business decisions by developing strategies and executing plans around cloud services, mobility, communications, and collaboration technologies.
2) They assess clients' current IT and communications infrastructure, benchmark against best practices, and develop roadmaps to address challenges like network scalability, mobile enablement, cost containment, and productivity.
3) Advocate Consulting provides end-to-end strategic consulting and execution support, from assessing the current state and developing strategies, to optimizing solutions, sourcing vendors, implementing technologies, and managing projects to ensure successful delivery.
The document discusses various perspectives on whether decision making can be taught and developed as a skill. Several respondents believe decision making can be improved through experience, learning from past decisions, studying processes and outcomes, and gaining maturity over time. Others note there are rational and non-rational aspects of decision making, and while the rational elements can be learned and improved, the non-rational intuitive aspects are more innate. Overall, most agree that while perfection can't be achieved, decision making as a skill can be enhanced through practice, learning from mistakes, considering different factors in decisions, and gaining experience over time.
Mobile research provides opportunities to capture in-the-moment data through various techniques:
1) Geo surveys can track respondent locations and target surveys based on GPS data.
2) Diary studies use repeated mobile surveys to collect rich data on behaviors and sentiments over time.
3) Uploads of photos, videos, and barcodes can provide visual documentation of products, displays, and experiences to supplement survey responses.
When done effectively, mobile research enables insights into usage scenarios, purchase influences, and brand perceptions that traditional methods cannot match. Careful design is needed around sampling, questionnaire length, and media requests.
Delivering ITaaS With a Software-Defined Data CenterEMC
This document discusses delivering IT as a service (ITaaS) using a software-defined data center (SDDC). Key points include:
1) ITaaS allows IT to quickly respond to changing business needs through standardized, virtualized solutions deployed on demand.
2) An SDDC enables automated, elastic provisioning of compute, storage, networking and security resources according to policies.
3) ITaaS positions IT as a strategic partner rather than just a support function, improving its ability to enable the business.
Confluence Adoption: Techniques for Growing Your WikiAtlassian
Whether you're starting small, or aiming big, it helps to have a good set of ideas to aid adoption. This session discusses some of the best tools in the wiki adoption toolbox - from where to start, to how best to grow.
Atlassian Speaker: Bill Arconati
Customer Speaker: Michael Mielke of Deutsche Bahn
Key Takeaways:
* Success patterns for wiki adoption
* Roles and activities to aid a successful deployment
* What to try, what to avoid
Bull is a European technology company that provides high-performance computing and cybersecurity solutions. It helps customers innovate with new technologies, optimize their infrastructure through outsourcing and cloud services, integrate critical business applications, and guarantee trust through cybersecurity products and services. Bull has a presence in over 50 countries and expertise in key verticals such as public sector, telecom, finance, energy, defense, and transportation.
Dan Livingstone provides bid management, technical authoring, and graphic design services. He has over 15 years of experience in these fields. His skills include excellent communication, adapting to different business environments, prioritizing work to meet deadlines, and being highly computer literate. He holds a BA in Multimedia & Sonic Art and has secured multi-million pound contracts for organizations across various industries.
Integrated Service Management provides visibility, control, and automation across business infrastructure to enable the delivery of innovative services. It offers service architectures tailored by industry and across the service lifecycle. Key benefits include improved scalability and flexibility, reduced costs, increased compliance and security, and optimized productivity through automated management. Customers in various industries like mining, insurance, telecom have leveraged IBM's solutions to significantly reduce expenses, drive innovation, comply with regulations, and enhance business efficiency.
Corporations are often hampered in responding quickly to customer needs by their legacy systems. Analyzing that complexity and linking it to customer visible change can free them to respond.
The document discusses the paradox of service industrialization. It notes that while industrialization aims to standardize services, customers still desire customized experiences. The document outlines three pillars of service systems - technology, people, and shared information - and proposes that people are often the least considered factor. It suggests service providers should focus on immersing customers, enabling participation, and personalizing services in order to build strong customer experiences despite industrialization efforts.
Radiant Communications Corp. provides Internet protocol-based solutions including high-speed internet access, virtual private networks, web hosting, and business phone services. It offers a range of connectivity options and private networking technologies to small and medium-sized businesses. Radiant aims to capture more of this underserved market by expanding its service portfolio and partnering with industry leaders. It provides cloud computing services connected directly into customers' private networks, including hosting applications and disaster recovery.
Enterprise Intelligence in GEM is a collection of sensed and recorded data, treated as resources, that guide enterprise decisions in responding to changes. It encompasses aspects of "sense, analyze, respond" operations known as netcentricity. These intelligence resources are best managed together to provide integrated information for decisions. GEM categorizes intelligence in terms of questions like location, who, what, why, how, when to provide context. The key intelligence categories in GEM are Location, Organization, Organization Unit, Function, Process, Resource, and Requirement, forming an "upper ontology" for knowledge modeling and management.
The document discusses emerging digital banking trends and identifies leading practices. It highlights that digital capabilities are putting customers at the center and increasing their expectations around managing their finances simply across all channels. Banks need to deploy digital capabilities to deliver seamless, integrated experiences at speed to meet these expectations or risk losing customers to more nimble competitors focusing on customer experience. Mobile, social media, analytics and the cloud will drive significant changes in banking models and capabilities.
The Avaya Desktop Video Device with Avaya Flare Experience interface simplifies collaboration by integrating communication tools like voice, video, email and IM into a single interface. It coordinates these tools with business applications, enabling effective collaboration. With a large touchscreen, Flare Experience provides content in context and adapts to user preferences. It delivers capabilities like HD video and mobility to make collaboration as easy as using a phone.
Manufacturing jobs provide opportunities for career growth and economic security. Hamilton Connection, a staffing firm, works to connect skilled workers with manufacturing jobs. They have a long history of serving clients and supporting employees. While manufacturing currently faces a shortage of qualified workers, firms are expanding training to help workers gain skills. Manufacturing careers allow workers to learn skills that can increase salaries over time and provide job stability.
Lundegaard helps improve and expand customer businesses through internet and mobile technologies. They offer customized solutions that are built upon proven frameworks but tailored to meet specific client needs. Lundegaard has extensive experience in this area from developing several reservation systems over their 10 year history.
Emerging technology in fashion retail business pankaj bansal
The document discusses emerging technology in fashion retail business. It proposes using digital signage, interactive screens on shelves, and innovative dressing rooms at Wills Lifestyle stores to enhance customer experience. This would allow customers to access product information, see their purchase history, and get support in choosing outfits. Collecting consumer behavior data could also help Wills Lifestyle improve customer engagement and monitor reactions to new technologies. The proposed technologies aim to transform shopping into a distinctive experience that strengthens the brand's relationship with customers.
Windstream is a nationwide provider of communications and technology solutions, with over $6 billion in annual revenue (1). They offer a variety of solutions including data centers, networking, cloud, voice, and managed services (2). Windstream has a strong focus on personalized customer service through their local customer care and network operations centers (3).
The document discusses enterprise mobility and traceability solutions provided by VisionID. It notes that VisionID is an Irish company that has been in business for 11 years and provides mobile computing and traceability solutions through offices in Dublin, Clonmel, Limerick and Belfast. It then provides details on VisionID's products, partners, customers and the industries it serves, with a focus on healthcare, retail, transport/logistics, manufacturing and government.
This document discusses STS Digital, a provider of digital smartphone technology training and consulting services for businesses. It describes STS Digital's offerings, which include courses on using BlackBerry technology for business, smartphone consulting services, and social media marketing solutions using LinkedIn. It also introduces STS Digital's work with Research in Motion (Rim) on the new BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express, which allows businesses to connect employees wirelessly at low cost.
1) Advocate Consulting is a trusted advisor that helps clients accelerate business decisions by developing strategies and executing plans around cloud services, mobility, communications, and collaboration technologies.
2) They assess clients' current IT and communications infrastructure, benchmark against best practices, and develop roadmaps to address challenges like network scalability, mobile enablement, cost containment, and productivity.
3) Advocate Consulting provides end-to-end strategic consulting and execution support, from assessing the current state and developing strategies, to optimizing solutions, sourcing vendors, implementing technologies, and managing projects to ensure successful delivery.
The document discusses various perspectives on whether decision making can be taught and developed as a skill. Several respondents believe decision making can be improved through experience, learning from past decisions, studying processes and outcomes, and gaining maturity over time. Others note there are rational and non-rational aspects of decision making, and while the rational elements can be learned and improved, the non-rational intuitive aspects are more innate. Overall, most agree that while perfection can't be achieved, decision making as a skill can be enhanced through practice, learning from mistakes, considering different factors in decisions, and gaining experience over time.
Mobile research provides opportunities to capture in-the-moment data through various techniques:
1) Geo surveys can track respondent locations and target surveys based on GPS data.
2) Diary studies use repeated mobile surveys to collect rich data on behaviors and sentiments over time.
3) Uploads of photos, videos, and barcodes can provide visual documentation of products, displays, and experiences to supplement survey responses.
When done effectively, mobile research enables insights into usage scenarios, purchase influences, and brand perceptions that traditional methods cannot match. Careful design is needed around sampling, questionnaire length, and media requests.
Delivering ITaaS With a Software-Defined Data CenterEMC
This document discusses delivering IT as a service (ITaaS) using a software-defined data center (SDDC). Key points include:
1) ITaaS allows IT to quickly respond to changing business needs through standardized, virtualized solutions deployed on demand.
2) An SDDC enables automated, elastic provisioning of compute, storage, networking and security resources according to policies.
3) ITaaS positions IT as a strategic partner rather than just a support function, improving its ability to enable the business.
The document provides instructions for a presentation on monetary policy actions the Federal Reserve could take for the rest of the year to impact real GDP, CPI, and unemployment. It includes directions to cite statistics from macroeconomic apps, identify preferred monetary policy tools and their outcomes, and answer survey questions on policies to increase employment and spending among Pueblo seniors through monetary, fiscal, and aggregate demand and supply modeling.
El documento contiene 22 formularios de clientes que incluyen información básica como el nombre, número de identificación, teléfono, dirección, correo electrónico y ciudad de cada cliente.
The document contains questions from students in various economics classes about topics related to the economy, such as how politics and the stock market affect the economy, the national debt, taxes, gas prices, and economic conditions in different states and countries.
This document appears to be instructions for an in-class activity where students will:
1) Answer questions about their favorite and least favorite foods and the estimated prices.
2) Analyze a graph about birth rates among different ethnic groups in the US.
3) Take notes on economic concepts like scarcity, choice, opportunity cost, and trade as part of learning how the economy works.
The document discusses the importance of implementing a transformational ICT policy approach to enable a networked society. A transformational policy has the goals of sustaining economic growth, increasing competitiveness, growing new businesses and jobs, and addressing societal challenges through more efficient use of resources. It requires a holistic, cross-sector coordination approach to policy implementation using regulatory frameworks, innovation policies, government procurement, and fiscal/monetary tools in an interconnected manner. The risks of maintaining the status quo include market distortions, decreased investments and benefits, and delays in enabling societal transformation.
1. The document lists the 10 richest people in the world according to Forbes magazine in 2012, led by Carlos Slim Helú of Mexico with $69 billion.
2. It then discusses various investment and retirement options such as savings accounts, bonds, mutual funds, traditional and Roth IRAs, 401k plans, real estate, stocks, and international markets.
3. Key factors to consider with investments include liquidity, risk, and diversification. More liquid assets like savings accounts have lower risk and returns while less liquid assets like real estate and pensions have higher risk but potential for higher returns.
This document provides information about the end of World War 1 and the Treaty of Versailles through a series of passages and images:
1) US troops provided fresh reinforcements for the Allied forces in 1918, helping them break through German lines during the decisive "Hundred Days Offensive." An armistice ended the war on November 11, 1918.
2) World leaders from the US, France, Britain, and Italy met secretly at the Palace of Versailles in 1919 to negotiate a peace treaty. The Treaty of Versailles placed blame on Germany, took territory, and imposed heavy reparations. It also created the League of Nations.
3) The treaty negatively impacted Germany by stripping it of land and imposing a large
Smartphone Vehicle Integration & Connectivity 2014
Vehicle OEMs are under increasing pressure to bring customers' connected lives into the vehicle. The challenge lies in providing seamless functionality whilemaintaining product differentiation to sell more vehicles in a world where demand for smart phone integration is rapidly increasing.
The solution lies in optimizing the balance between embedded solutions and smartphone integration to maximize customer appeal and overcome connected device reliability issues while minimizing security threats and driver distraction.
Varying development cycles between vehicles and consumer electronics and a lack of standardization across operating systems and connectivity protocols add further complexity to these challenges meaning OEMs must assess big data and understand industry trends to develop market leading products.
The most effective way to overcome interoperability, enhance smartphone connectivity and minimize security risks and driver distraction is to share best practice with all industry stakeholders including OEMs, operating systems, app developers, wireless carriers, consumer electronics manufacturers, government regulators and suppliers.
The first Smartphone & Embedded Connectivity Vehicle Integration 2014 has been engineered specifically to focus on this very latest challenge in vehicle infotainment. Hosting 20+ industry leading speakers, the congress will outline operating system and platform solutions, connectivity architecture, app development and user interfaces to create competitive infotainment systems, optimize integrated with embedded functionality and maximize customer appeal tosell more vehicles.
For more information please visit: http://www.smart-phone-vehicle-integration-2014.com/
Every now and then something comes along that has the potential to change the face of business as we know it. Currently big data is being touted as that thing, and CIOs everywhere need to get a grip on what it is and how it can benefit their company.
Visibility & Security for the Virtualized EnterpriseEMC
Identifying and understanding high-value digital assets in the context of the business is critical in assessing what work-loads to move to the cloud. But doing so is difficult without an effective model to help define and classify these assets. This session presents a down-to-earth methodology for identifying assets and understanding their value that you can apply in critical business decisions.
Objective 1: Understand what to look for when identifying valuable information assets.
After this session you will be able to:
Objective 2: Identify critical steps in the process of identifying and understanding digital assets.
Objective 3: Apply asset value when deciding what digital assets to entrust to the cloud.
Full recording via http://www.brainshark.com/emcworld/vu?pi=zHJzQJGhyzB8sLz0
Este documento contiene información de contacto de 35 personas incluyendo su nombre, número de identificación, número de teléfono y ciudad. La información está organizada en una tabla con un código de identificación para cada registro.
The document outlines a group assignment where students must create a YouTube video answering questions about government provision of public goods like roads, defense, and street lights. It discusses characteristics of private and public goods, and how free riding poses a challenge for funding public goods. Students are asked to brainstorm goods that are rivaled or non-rivaled in consumption between friends. The document also covers excludability, examples of different types of goods, and sample AP questions about public goods.
This document provides information for students taking online mathematics courses through ALEKS and Moodle. It outlines the instructors, websites used, course requirements, grading policies, proctored test details, and completion deadlines. Students must complete assignments on Moodle and work in ALEKS to master topics in order to pass the course, ALEKS final exam, and district final exam.
Capgemini implements new mobile banking service concepts to provide innovative services and increase revenues for financial clients. A new era of mobile banking has emerged with smart phones allowing location-based services, touch interfaces, and increased mobile internet access. Banks face challenges keeping up with technology changes and applying innovations individuals already use. Capgemini's Direct Banking Service Concept provides on-demand access to IT resources and services to help banks more quickly develop and deploy new mobile banking applications and experiences that meet evolving customer demands.
1) The document discusses how banks are investing heavily in information technologies and telecommunications to provide more sophisticated services to clients through increased mobility and internet banking.
2) It highlights how HSBC is investing in videoconferencing and mobile technologies to improve collaboration and efficiency.
3) Michael Page is outsourcing its infrastructure and expanding use of collaboration technologies like Cisco to improve communications.
1) The document discusses how banks are investing heavily in information technologies and telecommunications to provide more sophisticated services to clients through increased mobility and internet banking.
2) It highlights how HSBC is investing in videoconferencing and mobile technologies to improve collaboration and efficiency.
3) Michael Page is outsourcing its infrastructure and expanding use of collaboration technologies like Cisco to improve communications.
The document discusses challenges in customer service today including more technically savvy customers who want to troubleshoot issues themselves. It argues traditional call centers are ill-equipped to meet these demands due to measuring performance based on cost reduction rather than value creation, and agents lacking sufficient technical skills. It describes how best-in-class companies are transforming call centers into contact centers that are integrated with other functions and staffed by technically competent agents. Comcast is highlighted as offering a self-installation option that reduces costs while increasing customer satisfaction.
Customer centric digital platform for utilities: Process to valueCapgemini
New digital technologies like smart metering and smart
homes, together with the rise of mobile connectivity and
social media, are playing a major role in transforming
how utilities and customers interact
This document discusses the increasing importance of services as a major global industry and economic driver. It examines the factors underlying the growth of services, including technological advances, knowledge dissemination through the internet, and the role of networks. The key points are:
1) Services now lie at the heart of economic activity and competition is based on the services offered, not just physical products.
2) Technological innovations like the internet have made knowledge more accessible, changing the nature of business and allowing instantaneous global services.
3) Networks of relationships and partnerships are also essential for service firms to develop the capabilities and knowledge needed to meet customer needs.
4) For service organizations to be innovative and maintain leadership, they
tw telecom delivered strong results in 2008, growing revenue to $1.16 billion and generating $8.5 million in net income. The company invested in new managed services for enterprise customers and launched a customer portal for network monitoring and management. Looking ahead, tw telecom aims to continue investing in opportunities to serve evolving customer demand and position itself for future growth.
This document discusses Cisco's "one bank, one architecture" solution for financial services companies. It addresses challenges such as increasing customer intimacy, minimizing risk, integrating applications, and reducing costs. The solution converges voice, data, wireless and video onto a single, secure network. This allows customers to transact anywhere anytime and gives employees a 360-degree view of customers. The goal is to improve customer service, security, and return on investment.
This white paper discusses customer self-service in business-to-business order to cash processes through the use of Electronic Invoice Presentment and Payment (EIPP). EIPP allows customers to access invoices and billing information online, reducing costs for companies. The paper outlines strategies for companies to encourage customer adoption of EIPP, such as understanding customer needs, focusing on internal adoption first, and actively marketing EIPP internally and externally to achieve full acceptance and return on investment. Successful EIPP implementation can significantly improve cash flow, lower costs, and enhance the customer experience.
The document discusses AT&T's vision for how mobility will transform businesses over the next 3-5 years. It envisions that mobility will allow companies to streamline operations, increase worker productivity, and enable real-time response. It then elaborates on how mobility will enhance workflows, improve access to knowledge, speed up transactions, and provide better reporting and management. Specifically, it outlines how mobility can enhance businesses in four ways: by improving workflows, knowledge management, transactions processing, and reporting.
5 reasons why every business owner must understand unified communicationsGreg Eicke
Five reasons why every business owner must understand unified communications:
1. Unified communications can improve customer satisfaction by 21% and increase productivity by 10% according to a survey.
2. Unified communications is a key element for business growth by supporting internal collaboration, greater business efficiency, and a more flexible workforce.
3. Remote worker voice solutions extend the office boundaries allowing for a 37% higher net profit.
4. Teleworking has provided companies with big savings on real estate and accommodation costs while increasing productivity between 20-43%.
5. Teleworking also provides employees with a no-cost net wage increase as they save thousands on reduced travel costs and benefit from reduced travel time.
This document discusses how integrating design thinking with IT project development can lead to more successful outcomes. It proposes a 3-D model consisting of three phases: Discovery, Development, and Deployment.
In the Discovery phase, both design thinking methods like ethnography and traditional strategic analysis are used to understand user needs. For a project with the Virginia Employment Commission, user archetypes were identified which enriched the request for proposal.
The Development phase involves creating prototypes and visual representations of concepts to get user feedback. Iterative testing and refining occurs. Technical requirements are defined later based on the user vision.
Once a strong prototype and business case are established, the potential service moves into the Deployment phase where a final
The document discusses the ecosystem for data services in India. It notes that the ecosystem is more complex than for voice services, as it involves content owners, mobile application developers, and content aggregators in addition to service providers, technology providers, and handset manufacturers. The focus in data services is more on subscribers and providing them with enriching content and experiences, unlike voice where the focus is more on infrastructure. Successful portals that list mobile applications can benefit handset manufacturers, service providers, and developers by increasing revenue share and stickiness to their platforms.
Business intelligence systems allow companies to analyze data from different sources to make real-time decisions, and vendors are pushing to make these systems more widely available and easy to use across organizations. While large vendors like Oracle, SAP, and Microsoft have grown through acquisitions, smaller firms believe flexibility and usability will be keys to success. The goal of pervasive business intelligence is to provide accurate and timely information to employees at all levels to improve decision-making and business performance.
This document summarizes an article that discusses how the global economic crisis will require improved financial management of IT budgets. It recommends that IT departments present their budgets focused on the value of the technology products and services they provide rather than just expenses. This involves allocating costs to specific products and services, detailing service level agreements, and standardizing systems to control costs. Doing so frames IT spending as an investment that delivers business value rather than just an expense.
This document provides an overview of ATALIAN's international expansion and operations in 2011. Key points include:
- ATALIAN doubled in size in cleaning services and multi-technique businesses through acquisitions in Central and Eastern Europe, making it a leader in the EU region.
- Acquisitions in Hungary, Romania, Poland, and Croatia rounded out ATALIAN's presence and allowed it to offer multi-service solutions.
- ATALIAN plans to set up offices soon in four new countries: United Kingdom, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Morocco to ensure two new facilities per year.
- Through acquisitions, ATALIAN has leading positions in cleaning,
Utilities are facing an explosion of data from smart meter and grid technologies that they are ill-equipped to manage and analyze. This data, if properly analyzed, could provide strategic insights but utilities currently lack capabilities to interpret usage patterns, forecast demand, and leverage data for competitive advantage. The future requires utilities to develop competencies in data management, cross-functional analysis, and demand response programs in order to unlock value from consumer data and gain competitive advantages over other utilities.
1) Enterprises are at an inflection point with the rise of mobility and BYOD, but managing mobility in-house presents many complexities and difficulties.
2) Finding the right mobility partner is important to help enterprises navigate these challenges. Look for a comprehensive partner that can offer flexible, scalable solutions and act as an agent for business transformation.
3) Toyota Australia worked with UXC Connect to implement a successful enterprise mobility managed services program that provided a stable platform for innovation while avoiding overburdening their IT department.
This document discusses how intelligent session border controllers (SBCs) can help network operators meet challenges around network convergence, quality expectations, and profitability pressures. It outlines three key realities operators face: network convergence across services, networks and devices; demands for high quality of service; and declining revenues. Intelligent SBCs can provide insightful policy enforcement, holistic network visibility, and dynamic policy adaptation to help operators simplify, scale and secure their networks in the face of these challenges. The document provides examples of how intelligent SBC capabilities such as normalization, session management and routing can help operators manage traffic more efficiently while improving security, interoperability and customer experience.
iStrategy Melbourne - Redefining Commerce in the Age of the Empowered Consume...iStrategy
This session will examine how today's hyper-aware consumer will continue to change the engagement approach of today's organisations. It will focus on the importance of meeting the needs of today's consumer and look at the key imperatives required by marketers to succeed in this ever changing environment by knowing your customer as an individual, creating value at every touch point and being an authentic brand and culture.
Similar to The Banker Special Report: Moving Tech with the Times (20)
INDUSTRY-LEADING TECHNOLOGY FOR LONG TERM RETENTION OF BACKUPS IN THE CLOUDEMC
CloudBoost is a cloud-enabling solution from EMC
Facilitates secure, automatic, efficient data transfer to private and public clouds for Long-Term Retention (LTR) of backups. Seamlessly extends existing data protection solutions to elastic, resilient, scale-out cloud storage
Transforming Desktop Virtualization with Citrix XenDesktop and EMC XtremIOEMC
With EMC XtremIO all-flash array, improve
1) your competitive agility with real-time analytics & development
2) your infrastructure agility with elastic provisioning for performance & capacity
3) your TCO with 50% lower capex and opex and double the storage lifecycle.
• Citrix & EMC XtremIO: Better Together
• XtremIO Design Fundamentals for VDI
• Citrix XenDesktop & XtremIO
-- Image Management & Storage
-- Demonstrations
-- XtremIO XenDesktop Integration
EMC XtremIO and Citrix XenDesktop provide an optimized virtual desktop infrastructure solution. XtremIO's all-flash storage delivers high performance, scalability, and predictable low latency required for large VDI deployments. Its agile copy services and data reduction features help reduce storage costs. Joint demonstrations showed XtremIO supporting thousands of desktops with sub-millisecond response times during boot storms and login storms. A unique plug-in streamlines the automated deployment and management of large XenDesktop environments using XtremIO's advanced capabilities.
EMC FORUM RESEARCH GLOBAL RESULTS - 10,451 RESPONSES ACROSS 33 COUNTRIES EMC
Explore findings from the EMC Forum IT Study and learn how cloud computing, social, mobile, and big data megatrends are shaping IT as a business driver globally.
Reference architecture with MIRANTIS OPENSTACK PLATFORM.The changes that are going on in IT with disruptions from technology, business and culture and so IT to solve the issues has to change from moving from traditional models to broker provider model.
This document summarizes a presentation about scale-out converged solutions for analytics. The presentation covers the history of analytic infrastructure, why scale-out converged solutions are beneficial, an analytic workflow enabled by EMC Isilon storage and Hadoop, test results showing performance benefits, customer use cases, and next steps. It includes an agenda, diagrams demonstrating analytic workflows, performance comparisons, and descriptions of enterprise features provided by using EMC Isilon with Hadoop.
The document discusses identity and access management challenges for retailers. It outlines security concerns retailers face, including the need to protect customer data and payment card information from cyber criminals. It then describes specific identity challenges retailers deal with related to compliance, access governance, and managing identity lifecycles. The document proposes using RSA Identity Management and Governance solutions to help retailers with access reviews, governing access through policies, and keeping compliant with regulations. Use cases are provided showing how IMG can help with challenges like point of sale monitoring, unowned accounts, seasonal workers, and operational issues.
Container-based technology has experienced a recent revival and is becoming adopted at an explosive rate. For those that are new to the conversation, containers offer a way to virtualize an operating system. This virtualization isolates processes, providing limited visibility and resource utilization to each, such that the processes appear to be running on separate machines. In short, allowing more applications to run on a single machine. Here is a brief timeline of key moments in container history.
This white paper provides an overview of EMC's data protection solutions for the data lake - an active repository to manage varied and complex Big Data workloads
This infographic highlights key stats and messages from the analyst report from J.Gold Associates that addresses the growing economic impact of mobile cybercrime and fraud.
Virtualization does not have to be expensive, cause downtime, or require specialized skills. In fact, virtualization can reduce hardware and energy costs by up to 50% and 80% respectively, accelerate provisioning time from weeks to hours, and improve average uptime and business response times. With proper training and resources, virtualization can be easier to manage than physical environments and save over $3,000 per year for each virtualized server workload through server consolidation.
An Intelligence Driven GRC model provides organizations with comprehensive visibility and context across their digital assets, processes, and relationships. It enables prioritization of risks based on their potential business impact and streamlines remediation. By collecting and analyzing data in real time, an Intelligence Driven GRC strategy reveals insights into critical risks and compliance issues and facilitates coordinated responses across security, risk management, and compliance functions.
The Trust Paradox: Access Management and Trust in an Insecure AgeEMC
This white paper discusses the results of a CIO UK survey on a“Trust Paradox,” defined as employees and business partners being both the weakest link in an organization’s security as well as trusted agents in achieving the company’s goals.
Emory's 2015 Technology Day conference brought together faculty, staff and students to discuss innovative uses of technology in teaching and research. Attendees learned about new tools and platforms through hands-on workshops and presentations by Emory experts. The conference highlighted how technology is enhancing collaboration and creativity across Emory's campus.
Data Science and Big Data Analytics Book from EMC Education ServicesEMC
This document provides information about data science and big data analytics. It discusses discovering, analyzing, visualizing and presenting data as key activities for data scientists. It also provides a website for further information on a book covering the tools and methods used by data scientists.
Using EMC VNX storage with VMware vSphereTechBookEMC
This document provides an overview of using EMC VNX storage with VMware vSphere. It covers topics such as VNX technology and management tools, installing vSphere on VNX, configuring storage access, provisioning storage, cloning virtual machines, backup and recovery options, data replication solutions, data migration, and monitoring. Configuration steps and best practices are also discussed.
Driving Business Innovation: Latest Generative AI Advancements & Success StorySafe Software
Are you ready to revolutionize how you handle data? Join us for a webinar where we’ll bring you up to speed with the latest advancements in Generative AI technology and discover how leveraging FME with tools from giants like Google Gemini, Amazon, and Microsoft OpenAI can supercharge your workflow efficiency.
During the hour, we’ll take you through:
Guest Speaker Segment with Hannah Barrington: Dive into the world of dynamic real estate marketing with Hannah, the Marketing Manager at Workspace Group. Hear firsthand how their team generates engaging descriptions for thousands of office units by integrating diverse data sources—from PDF floorplans to web pages—using FME transformers, like OpenAIVisionConnector and AnthropicVisionConnector. This use case will show you how GenAI can streamline content creation for marketing across the board.
Ollama Use Case: Learn how Scenario Specialist Dmitri Bagh has utilized Ollama within FME to input data, create custom models, and enhance security protocols. This segment will include demos to illustrate the full capabilities of FME in AI-driven processes.
Custom AI Models: Discover how to leverage FME to build personalized AI models using your data. Whether it’s populating a model with local data for added security or integrating public AI tools, find out how FME facilitates a versatile and secure approach to AI.
We’ll wrap up with a live Q&A session where you can engage with our experts on your specific use cases, and learn more about optimizing your data workflows with AI.
This webinar is ideal for professionals seeking to harness the power of AI within their data management systems while ensuring high levels of customization and security. Whether you're a novice or an expert, gain actionable insights and strategies to elevate your data processes. Join us to see how FME and AI can revolutionize how you work with data!
In the rapidly evolving landscape of technologies, XML continues to play a vital role in structuring, storing, and transporting data across diverse systems. The recent advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) present new methodologies for enhancing XML development workflows, introducing efficiency, automation, and intelligent capabilities. This presentation will outline the scope and perspective of utilizing AI in XML development. The potential benefits and the possible pitfalls will be highlighted, providing a balanced view of the subject.
We will explore the capabilities of AI in understanding XML markup languages and autonomously creating structured XML content. Additionally, we will examine the capacity of AI to enrich plain text with appropriate XML markup. Practical examples and methodological guidelines will be provided to elucidate how AI can be effectively prompted to interpret and generate accurate XML markup.
Further emphasis will be placed on the role of AI in developing XSLT, or schemas such as XSD and Schematron. We will address the techniques and strategies adopted to create prompts for generating code, explaining code, or refactoring the code, and the results achieved.
The discussion will extend to how AI can be used to transform XML content. In particular, the focus will be on the use of AI XPath extension functions in XSLT, Schematron, Schematron Quick Fixes, or for XML content refactoring.
The presentation aims to deliver a comprehensive overview of AI usage in XML development, providing attendees with the necessary knowledge to make informed decisions. Whether you’re at the early stages of adopting AI or considering integrating it in advanced XML development, this presentation will cover all levels of expertise.
By highlighting the potential advantages and challenges of integrating AI with XML development tools and languages, the presentation seeks to inspire thoughtful conversation around the future of XML development. We’ll not only delve into the technical aspects of AI-powered XML development but also discuss practical implications and possible future directions.
Essentials of Automations: The Art of Triggers and Actions in FMESafe Software
In this second installment of our Essentials of Automations webinar series, we’ll explore the landscape of triggers and actions, guiding you through the nuances of authoring and adapting workspaces for seamless automations. Gain an understanding of the full spectrum of triggers and actions available in FME, empowering you to enhance your workspaces for efficient automation.
We’ll kick things off by showcasing the most commonly used event-based triggers, introducing you to various automation workflows like manual triggers, schedules, directory watchers, and more. Plus, see how these elements play out in real scenarios.
Whether you’re tweaking your current setup or building from the ground up, this session will arm you with the tools and insights needed to transform your FME usage into a powerhouse of productivity. Join us to discover effective strategies that simplify complex processes, enhancing your productivity and transforming your data management practices with FME. Let’s turn complexity into clarity and make your workspaces work wonders!
Your One-Stop Shop for Python Success: Top 10 US Python Development Providersakankshawande
Simplify your search for a reliable Python development partner! This list presents the top 10 trusted US providers offering comprehensive Python development services, ensuring your project's success from conception to completion.
Full-RAG: A modern architecture for hyper-personalizationZilliz
Mike Del Balso, CEO & Co-Founder at Tecton, presents "Full RAG," a novel approach to AI recommendation systems, aiming to push beyond the limitations of traditional models through a deep integration of contextual insights and real-time data, leveraging the Retrieval-Augmented Generation architecture. This talk will outline Full RAG's potential to significantly enhance personalization, address engineering challenges such as data management and model training, and introduce data enrichment with reranking as a key solution. Attendees will gain crucial insights into the importance of hyperpersonalization in AI, the capabilities of Full RAG for advanced personalization, and strategies for managing complex data integrations for deploying cutting-edge AI solutions.
Ivanti’s Patch Tuesday breakdown goes beyond patching your applications and brings you the intelligence and guidance needed to prioritize where to focus your attention first. Catch early analysis on our Ivanti blog, then join industry expert Chris Goettl for the Patch Tuesday Webinar Event. There we’ll do a deep dive into each of the bulletins and give guidance on the risks associated with the newly-identified vulnerabilities.
Best 20 SEO Techniques To Improve Website Visibility In SERPPixlogix Infotech
Boost your website's visibility with proven SEO techniques! Our latest blog dives into essential strategies to enhance your online presence, increase traffic, and rank higher on search engines. From keyword optimization to quality content creation, learn how to make your site stand out in the crowded digital landscape. Discover actionable tips and expert insights to elevate your SEO game.
Unlocking Productivity: Leveraging the Potential of Copilot in Microsoft 365, a presentation by Christoforos Vlachos, Senior Solutions Manager – Modern Workplace, Uni Systems
Generating privacy-protected synthetic data using Secludy and MilvusZilliz
During this demo, the founders of Secludy will demonstrate how their system utilizes Milvus to store and manipulate embeddings for generating privacy-protected synthetic data. Their approach not only maintains the confidentiality of the original data but also enhances the utility and scalability of LLMs under privacy constraints. Attendees, including machine learning engineers, data scientists, and data managers, will witness first-hand how Secludy's integration with Milvus empowers organizations to harness the power of LLMs securely and efficiently.
TrustArc Webinar - 2024 Global Privacy SurveyTrustArc
How does your privacy program stack up against your peers? What challenges are privacy teams tackling and prioritizing in 2024?
In the fifth annual Global Privacy Benchmarks Survey, we asked over 1,800 global privacy professionals and business executives to share their perspectives on the current state of privacy inside and outside of their organizations. This year’s report focused on emerging areas of importance for privacy and compliance professionals, including considerations and implications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies, building brand trust, and different approaches for achieving higher privacy competence scores.
See how organizational priorities and strategic approaches to data security and privacy are evolving around the globe.
This webinar will review:
- The top 10 privacy insights from the fifth annual Global Privacy Benchmarks Survey
- The top challenges for privacy leaders, practitioners, and organizations in 2024
- Key themes to consider in developing and maintaining your privacy program
Fueling AI with Great Data with Airbyte WebinarZilliz
This talk will focus on how to collect data from a variety of sources, leveraging this data for RAG and other GenAI use cases, and finally charting your course to productionalization.
Have you ever been confused by the myriad of choices offered by AWS for hosting a website or an API?
Lambda, Elastic Beanstalk, Lightsail, Amplify, S3 (and more!) can each host websites + APIs. But which one should we choose?
Which one is cheapest? Which one is fastest? Which one will scale to meet our needs?
Join me in this session as we dive into each AWS hosting service to determine which one is best for your scenario and explain why!
CAKE: Sharing Slices of Confidential Data on BlockchainClaudio Di Ciccio
Presented at the CAiSE 2024 Forum, Intelligent Information Systems, June 6th, Limassol, Cyprus.
Synopsis: Cooperative information systems typically involve various entities in a collaborative process within a distributed environment. Blockchain technology offers a mechanism for automating such processes, even when only partial trust exists among participants. The data stored on the blockchain is replicated across all nodes in the network, ensuring accessibility to all participants. While this aspect facilitates traceability, integrity, and persistence, it poses challenges for adopting public blockchains in enterprise settings due to confidentiality issues. In this paper, we present a software tool named Control Access via Key Encryption (CAKE), designed to ensure data confidentiality in scenarios involving public blockchains. After outlining its core components and functionalities, we showcase the application of CAKE in the context of a real-world cyber-security project within the logistics domain.
Paper: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-61000-4_16
For the full video of this presentation, please visit: https://www.edge-ai-vision.com/2024/06/building-and-scaling-ai-applications-with-the-nx-ai-manager-a-presentation-from-network-optix/
Robin van Emden, Senior Director of Data Science at Network Optix, presents the “Building and Scaling AI Applications with the Nx AI Manager,” tutorial at the May 2024 Embedded Vision Summit.
In this presentation, van Emden covers the basics of scaling edge AI solutions using the Nx tool kit. He emphasizes the process of developing AI models and deploying them globally. He also showcases the conversion of AI models and the creation of effective edge AI pipelines, with a focus on pre-processing, model conversion, selecting the appropriate inference engine for the target hardware and post-processing.
van Emden shows how Nx can simplify the developer’s life and facilitate a rapid transition from concept to production-ready applications.He provides valuable insights into developing scalable and efficient edge AI solutions, with a strong focus on practical implementation.
Unlock the Future of Search with MongoDB Atlas_ Vector Search Unleashed.pdfMalak Abu Hammad
Discover how MongoDB Atlas and vector search technology can revolutionize your application's search capabilities. This comprehensive presentation covers:
* What is Vector Search?
* Importance and benefits of vector search
* Practical use cases across various industries
* Step-by-step implementation guide
* Live demos with code snippets
* Enhancing LLM capabilities with vector search
* Best practices and optimization strategies
Perfect for developers, AI enthusiasts, and tech leaders. Learn how to leverage MongoDB Atlas to deliver highly relevant, context-aware search results, transforming your data retrieval process. Stay ahead in tech innovation and maximize the potential of your applications.
#MongoDB #VectorSearch #AI #SemanticSearch #TechInnovation #DataScience #LLM #MachineLearning #SearchTechnology
3. reporT | technology
introduction
How to mAKe tecHnology
move witH tHe times
Introduction
Strong forces are at work reshaping the financial sector. If firms are to survive and
thrive in this dynamic environment, Alexis Kane and Shailen Salvi believe they need
to take a long, hard look at their IT and modernise it to ensure it is fit for purpose.
Banks, insurance companies, asset man- drastic automatic tax increases and spend-
agers and other financial services firms are ing cutbacks (the ‘fiscal cliff ’) facing the US
facing a range of economic, market, regula- in January 2013. More encouragingly, the
tory and technological changes like never IMF believes economic output will remain
before. these forces are compelling firms to “relatively solid” in developing economies.
adjust their business and operating models,
and to review, update and transform their It regulaTory concerns
strategies, systems and software. Financial markets everywhere have a long
technological change, whether it is evolu- way to go before they recover from the 2008
tionary or revolutionary, is not restricted to an economic crisis. the IMF’s latest global
organisation’s It department, rather it is an Financial Stability Report finds “increased
enterprise-wide issue. the wholesale over- risks to the global financial system, with the
haul and modernisation of an organisation’s euro area crisis the principal source of con-
It systems is something that has to take place cern”. the report also examines whether reg-
in close co-operation with every part of the ulatory reforms are moving the financial
organisation. It must meet the needs of the system in the right direction, and notes that
Alexis Kane, senior director, EMC Consulting
business lines and the support functions, such “progress has been limited”.
as finance, risk and human resources. not surprisingly, financial institutions
So what are the powerful external forces themselves are publicly expressing doubt at
affecting financial services institutions today? their ability to ride the tidal wave of regula-
First, you have to look at what is happening in tion: Basel III, the Dodd–Frank Act, the For-
the macroeconomic environment. global eign Account tax compliance Act, the
growth has slowed. the International Mone- Markets in Financial Instruments Directive
tary Fund (IMF) in its october 2012 World II, the european Market Infrastructure Reg-
economic outlook is forecasting growth of ulation, the Alternative Investment Fund
3.3% in 2012 and 3.6% in 2013, weaker than Managers Directive, to name a few. Firms
in its July outlook. are worried in the short term about their
“output is expected to remain sluggish ability to comply in time. And in the long
in advanced economies,” says the IMF. It term, they are concerned about the negative
points to two main difficulties: the sovereign impact that over-regulation will have on
debt crisis and other financial and economic their business strategies, profitability and
problems afflicting the eurozone, and the return on equity.
shailen salvi, director, financial services, EMC corporAte profile
Consulting EMC Corporation is a global leader in the delivery of IT infrastructure, software and services,
and is ranked 139 in the Fortune 500 ranking of the largest corporations in the US. EMC helps
clients store, manage, protect and analyse their data, increasingly through the power of
cloud computing.
EMC Consulting, the consulting arm, advises businesses on how to transform their IT
departments so they can operate more efficiently, including as internal service providers to
the rest of the business – the concept of‘IT as a service’ EMC Consulting has grown 51%
.
annually since 2004, and has business relationships with 73 of the Fortune 100, including the
10 largest global banks.
2| The Banker | December 2012
4. technology | reporT
introduction
Technological changes revenues, higher profits and increased share-
As if that were not enough, financial services holder value.
practitioners are having to cope with funda-
mental shifts in the competitive market- prioriTy areas
place, changing customer attitudes and Cloud Computing – eMc consulting has extensive experience of
technological advances. Disruptive, non-tra- running It strategy and transformation pro-
ditional competitors and discriminating
publiC, private and hybrid grammes for banks and other financial ser-
customers are squeezing banks’ profit mar- – offers the elastiC vices companies. We call it It as a Service
gins. Although emerging markets are being (ItaaS). We combine innovative ideas with a
tapped, those markets usually come with Computing platforms pragmatic approach to transformation,
regulatory, reporting and operational com- required to provide new some of it delivered over the cloud, to help
plexities that are just as tough, if not tougher, firms maximise their It effectiveness and
than in advanced economies. produCts and serviCes, cost efficiency. ItaaS is tailored to each cli-
the rise of social computing, such as net- and to CrunCh the huge ent’s particular circumstances, all within the
working sites Facebook and twitter, is pro- context of the client’s marketplace and the
viding huge opportunities to improve amounts of data assoCiated broader economic environment.
customer intimacy and loyalty, but requires with soCial networks We have identified three priority areas
more sophisticated tools for analysing large in financial services that require a transfor-
amounts of unstructured data. Meanwhile, mational approach to technology. you can
the proliferation of mobile devices is chang- read about them on the following pages.
ing the ways employees and customers inter- the first is big data, by which we mean, of
act with financial firms, and creating have probably already played a role in an course, managing and analysing the huge
significant security risks and trust problems. original transformation programme; you amounts of information available to firms
cloud computing – public, private and now need to get ready for the sequel. today, made available through better and
hybrid – offers the elastic computing plat- It departments that do not step up to cheaper processing and storage. to grasp
forms required to provide new products and these challenges risk being displaced by a the opportunities and cope with the prob-
services, and to crunch the huge amounts of growing number of external service provid- lems big data presents, firms must invest in
data associated with social networks. to ers, such as ‘software as a service’ models, a new generation of platforms, tools, meth-
make the most of cloud technologies how- business-led shadow It organisations and odologies and skill sets.
ever, new platforms and applications must full outsourced service providers. the firm the second priority is multichannel
be introduced, and legacy applications and overall will suffer if the It department does sales and service – delivering multiple
databases migrated. these migrations must not keep up. Failure to transform It will products and services through branches,
be managed carefully to avoid prohibitive result in lost business opportunities, falling call centres, AtMs, the internet and mobile
costs and business disruption. revenue, declining profits and reduced channels. ensuring that all those channels
Powerful new tools are becoming availa- shareholder value. are properly integrated, so that customer
ble that combine and analyse data from data originating in one channel can be
social networks, customer profiles, transac- seTTing The goals accessed in all the others, requires a trans-
tion repositories and third parties to create What should be the goals of a successful It formational approach.
insights into new product, service, customer transformation programme? there are the third area of focus is trust in It.
and market opportunities, but those tools many, including: Banks, insurers and fund managers must be
only work if they are used correctly and inte- ■ A strong alignment of It with the needs of able to demonstrate that they can be trusted
grated into existing business processes. the business partners. to look after customers’ money, and to pro-
■ the introduction of new technology to aid vide a reliable and good quality service.
iT TransformaTion revisiTed the development of new business models, that is their fiduciary duty. they must be
All the developments outlined – the economic products and services. able to engender trust in staff, shareholders
trends, the risks to the financial system, over- ■ Increased agility, efficiency and the ability and other stakeholders too. capable and
regulation, new competitive threats, more to deliver solutions to the business faster. dependable It systems are central to win-
discerning customers and technological ■ cost transparency. ning and maintaining trust.
advances – require financial institutions to ■ changing the operating model of the It these three priorities are interdepend-
transform their It. to cope with the threats department so it is more like a standalone ent. there is no point embarking on a
and take advantage of the opportunities, they business than an internal cost centre. transformational project in just one or two
must review every aspect of their It and ■ the evolution of It processes and the sup- of them. you have to involve them all. And,
update it to ensure it is fit for purpose. porting infrastructure to allow automation as we said at the outset, radical change ini-
the concept of It transformation is not and self-provisioning of It components. tiated by the It department has to involve
new. Firms have transformed their It ■ the modification of data warehouses to the business lines and support functions as
before. But as times change, technology accommodate the increased requirements well. only an enterprise-wide approach
must change too. even though every bank for better data analytics, for both structured will do.
or insurance company will have modern- and unstructured data.
ised its It in the past, it will eventually need ■ Better risk management. Alexis Kane is senior director and Shailen
to do so again if it is to move with the times. the ultimate goals should be increased Salvi is director, financial services consult-
If you are a seasoned It professional, you customer satisfaction and loyalty, enhanced ing, EMC Consulting.
December 2012 | The Banker |3
5. reporT | TEChnOlOgY
Big data
bigger is better
banks have to decide what they want to keep
and what they want to ditch. Even what they
keep is not that useful unless it is structured.
Big data Most data is unstructured, meaning that it
does not have a predefined data model, it
does not fit well into relational tables and is
The truly enormous volumes of information available to financial usually text heavy, and text is harder to struc-
institutions today is transforming the way they do business and helping ture than numbers. But it is becoming easier
them to provide a better service for their customers. Michael Imeson reports. to make sense of both structured and
unstructured data.
‘Big data’ is one of the latest Buzzwords MaxiMising opporTuniTies
in the lexicon of IT professionals, especially “Without question, big data provides finan-
in financial services. Banks and other finan- cial institutions with a great many opportuni-
cial institutions have always had to handle ties,” says Sharad Kumar, director of financial
high volumes of data – concerning their cus- services at IT specialists, EMC Consulting. “It
tomers and the products and services they allows them to get closer to their customers by
use, and all the support functions. The understanding their behaviour, which can be
amount of data available to them today, how- derived from deeper analysis of data from
ever, is truly mind-boggling. multiple sources and channels. One step
Better and faster processing and storage ahead, it can help them predict certain events
is the reason for this explosion of informa- such as customer attrition or fraudulent
tion. Every expert has something to say on behaviour. Big data analytics help them iden-
the scale of the growth, but a commonly tify their more profitable products and mone-
quoted estimate is that the amount of data tisation of this data – selling the data and/or
available to financial institutions is doubling analytics on the data – presents them with
every 18 months. That is forcing banks to new revenue opportunities. From an opera-
invest in a new generation of platforms, tional perspective, it helps them become more
tools, methodologies and skill sets. efficient and provides them with an ability to
The increasing level of information pre- better manage risk,” he says.
sents banks with great opportunities. It pro- “Online retailers such as Amazon are
vides them with a deeper insight into among the best users of big data. They use it
customer behaviour and profitability. It facili- to find out an individual’s buying patterns
tates the creation of new products and ser- and preferences, improve customer satisfac-
vices. It helps executive management control tion, cross-sell and detect fraud. Banks,
the finances, measure and manage risk, and investment managers and insurers have seen
much more. But it presents problems too. what the likes of Amazon are doing and
Old tools and technologies for storing, applying it in their markets,” says Mr Kumar.
managing and analysing big data do not suf- Joe Dossantos, director of enterprise
fice. Creating new data governance and information management at EMC Consult-
management policies is a must. Implement- ing, says financial institutions have to act
ing these policies is costly, because it is a quickly to grasp the big data opportunities,
transformational process. The volume of even if the initial up-front investment is
data is in many cases unmanageable and high. “If you do not act because you are wor-
ried about the costs, then someone else will
step in,” he says. “You will save money in the
short term, but in the long run the cost of
inaction will be that you allow your competi-
Online retailers such as tors to move ahead.”
amazOn are amOng the EMC Consulting advises financial firms,
their IT experts and business executives on
best users Of big data... how best to manage and make commercial
banks, investment use of big data. IT departments want to
know about the practicalities of gathering,
managers and insurers cleansing, analysing, storing and retrieving
have seen what the likes the data. The business lines, on the other
hand, are less interested in the technicalities
Of amazOn are dOing and and more interested in how they can use the
data – especially the power of predictive ana-
applying it in their
lytics – to understand customers and their
markets Sharad Kumar needs, to develop new products and services,
4| The Banker | December 2012
6. TEChnOlOgY | reporT
Big data
and ultimately to monetise the data. tional data governance and data manage-
“We can help [financial firms] integrate ment practices are not capable of handling
the analytics into their upfront business pro- the deluge of big data,” according to the
cesses,” says Mr Kumar. “It used to be the report. These practices must be standard-
case that only the back office was interested ised, transformed and integrated.
in predictive analytics. now they are used in
the front office too, to help with direct cus- coMMercial value
tomer interactions, dealing with mortgage Alan grogan, director of corporate analytics
applicants, underwriting insurance policies and value optimisation in the product, sales
and giving investment advice. Analytics can and marketing division of Royal Bank of
drive decision-making at the front end of the Scotland’s corporate and institutional bank-
business, as well as doing the number ing, is recognised as a leading expert on big
crunching in the background.” data and its commercial uses.
EMC runs a big data advisory service “Since the dawn of technology, data has
(BDAS). “When new technology arrives, the always been used by banks to better under-
non-IT people are often unsure how to use stand the key drivers of organisational value
it,” says Mr Dossantos. “So the BDAS and risk,” says Mr grogan. “Banking leaders
matches the technological developments to increasingly understand that big data ana-
the business opportunities. Things such as lytics – turning data into actionable knowl-
Apache hadoop – open-source software that edge and insight – should not be restricted to
allows big data to be stored and processed on the credit risk function, but that it presents big data allOws us tO
a large number of computers – and Apache endless opportunities across all areas of a
hive – an open-source, big-data warehous- bank. At RBS, we use analytics to free up knOw Our custOmers
ing system than runs on hadoop – are too staff time, which they can then use to spend well, hear them well
technical for most business people. They more time with clients.”
only want to know how to use the technology Mr grogan says the commercial aspects and service them well
to meet their commercial needs, which is of big data need to be front of mind. “You David Gledhill
what our BDAS shows them.” cannot look at data across only the three vs:
velocity, volume and variety. You have to give
growTh forecasTs priority to the fourth v: value.”
gartner, a Connecticut-based IT research The amount of data available to organisa-
firm, predicts that IT spending across all sec- tions has increased tremendously, but the
tors of the world economy will increase to infrastructure and human capital required to
$3700bn in 2013, up 3.8% on 2012 – and it collect and manage it requires a significant
is spending on big data that is creating the investment. To control costs Mr grogan rec-
most excitement. “By 2015, 4.4 million IT ommends avoiding complexity, and reusing
jobs globally will be created to support big data across different functions and platforms
data, generating 1.9 million IT jobs in the to create synergies. Banks should also ques-
US,” says Peter Sondergaard, gartner’s tion whether predictive analytics – applying
global head of research. “In addition, every statistical methodology and computing power
big data-related role in the US will create to data to predict what might happen in the
employment for three people outside of IT, future – is always necessary. Simple, cheaper
so over the next four years a total of 6 million human analysis of data may be adequate.
jobs in the US will be generated by the infor- Ensuring that big data is properly man-
mation economy.” aged and used is crucial. “The first building
But there is a problem. There are cur- block is to have a central analytics function
rently not enough skilled technology profes- that is allowed to join up and generate value
sionals in the US to cater to the big data across what is really a spider’s web of data
demand. Mr Sondergaard says the public across organisational units,” says Mr grogan.
and private education systems cannot cope “Big data that is mishandled statistically
and, on current projections, only a third of or wrongly interpreted is a very dangerous
those IT jobs will be filled. “Data experts will thing. So its operating model is critical. The
be a scarce, valuable commodity. IT leaders leading analytically enabled businesses have
will need immediate focus on how their been through their own learning curve and
organisation develops and attracts the skills are now using analytics to drive a great deal
required,” he says. of systems and process re-engineering cap-
As for financial services firms, gartner turing better data, refocusing staff time on a
published a report recently noting that value basis and increasing operational excel-
banks’ big data initiatives are in their infancy, lence and effectiveness,” he says.
and for them to mature, banks must rewrite Perhaps the biggest challenge of big data
their data governance policies. “Many tradi- analytics is ensuring that the IT depart-
December 2012 | The Banker |5
7. reporT | TEChnOlOgY
Big data
ment is able to facilitate the analytics unit’s
needs. “There is little point in having a team of
analytics experts who are acting as important
consultants to the business if you do not give
them the right tools or if you restrict them if yOu dO nOt act because
with bureaucracy and a meaningless analytics
infrastructure. That would be like hiring a
yOu are wOrried abOut the
Formula 1 driver and giving him a bicycle cOsts, then sOmeOne else
with a puncture and no seat,” says Mr grogan.
will step in Joe Dossantos
iMproving cusToMer insighT
The main beneficiaries of the big data trend
are retailers, but banks are not far behind, thing about big data is the positive impact it
according to Voranuch Dejakaisaya, head of can have on the customer experience. “It
information technology at Krungsri Bank, allows us to know our customers well, hear
one of Thailand’s top five banks. “All of this them well and service them well,” says David
data improves our customer insight, allowing gledhill, managing director and head of
us to enhance service as well as offer the right group technology and operations at the bank.
products at the right time,” she says. “It is also he cites the example of how big data has
useful for credit risk analysis, fraud detection been used to reduce the number of times that
and anti-money laundering measures. ATMs run out of cash. DBS used to have a
The bank is in the early stages of tapping manual process for determining when they
into non-traditional data and accumulating needed topping up, but that process some-
it at a high rate. Ms Dejakaisaya estimates times got it wrong and machines dried up.
that the year-on-year growth rate will reach Big data was the solution.
800 to 1000% compared with about 30% for “We got all the transaction data on all of
traditional data. The bank has only just our ATMs, 24/7 over a number of years and
started using Facebook and has yet to move gave it to a business analytics company who
into social media or streaming data such as do high-end analysis work,” says Mr gledhill.
images, voice and video. “They put their best optimisation and fore-
“Once we tap into that terrain, we are casting engineers on to it, working with us,
talking about petabytes of data rather than to see how we could use technology to keep
terabytes,” she says. The most important the ATMs filled. It involved looking at the
aspect of big data analytics is to ensure that it dynamics of the flow of cash at thousands of
is properly aligned with the bank’s product access points to figure out how optimally to
and service offerings, so the data is used to get notes to those machines. Even with all
improve the customer experience and antici- the PhD-qualified analytics experts deployed
pate customer needs. on the project, it took a long time to figure
“IT departments must be willing to out how to do it. But we did figure it out and
invest in talented personnel as well as the reduced ‘cash-outs’ by 80%.
technologies if they want to get the most out “We also reduced the number of trips to
of big data,” says Ms Dejakaisaya. “There fill up ATMs by 10% and optimised the
should be regular ‘road shows’ to relevant amount of returned cash – how much comes
business departments, telling them about back if the machines are not empty – by 60
any newly discovered insights that could be to 70%. The vans filling the machines are on
translated into commercial opportunities. In global positioning systems, so the system
some cases business managers may make knows where they are and how soon the
specific requests for analytics that support vans will get to a machine. Overall, it is an
their objectives,” she says. amazing use of data, involving really
“Big data is huge in volume, comes in fast advanced analytics.”
and is widely varied. The challenge for organi- It was the UK economist EF Schumacher
sations is to translate it into genuine insights who wrote the best-selling book Small is
that create business value. To do this they Beautiful in the 1970s, a critique of conven-
must align people, process and technologies. tional Western economic thinking and it
high-performance analytical tools are received much praise. Small may indeed be
needed to create rapid results. A governance beautiful, but not when it comes to data. In
framework is essential,” says Ms Dejakaisaya. the eyes of today’s financial services practi-
tioners whose job it is to collect, manage and
cusToMer convenience analyse data, and for whom information is
For IT executives at DBS Bank, Singapore’s their lifeblood, essential for career and com-
largest bank by assets, the most important pany success, big is definitely better.
6| The Banker | December 2012
8. TEChNOlOgy | reporT
multichannel sales and service
Access all areas: India’s largest private sector bank, ICICI, has opened 25 electronic branches (pictured), which are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and
offer a range of banking services. ICICI is just one of the banks widening its range of IT-based services
Managing custoMer
experience across channels
Multichannel sales and service
Customers are increasingly interacting with their bank using different technology platforms, including
tablets, mobile phones and laptops. While customers are enthusiastically embracing new technologies, as
Michael Imeson finds out, the more traditional bank branches are also being given a new lease of life.
Multichannel delivery has truly arrived exploring “new avenues of thought, new tech- And while technology – new and tradi-
in the retail banking, private banking and nologies and new strategies that could help tional – is central to the success of a multi-
wealth management sectors. Customers are banks to restore consumer confidence, channel strategy, “financial institutions need
spoilt for choice when interacting with their develop new business models and achieve to use it wisely and invest in solutions that
financial services providers and the quality greater long-term efficiency and profitability”. are best for both the bank and its customers”,
of delivery – whether it be through branch, Multichannel delivery is the council’s advises the council.
call centre, ATM, kiosk, internet or mobile – current preoccupation and the subject of its
is improving all the time. seventh annual report, published in October high sTreeT Branches
There is no shortage of expert opinion on 2012. “New channels have arisen over recent “A multichannel strategy is not just about
the topic. In Europe, the European Financial years but banks have to be wary of focusing multiple delivery channels – it is about deliv-
Management and Marketing Association on these at the expense of tried and tested ering multiple products too,” says Mark Mau-
(EFMA) keeps track of the latest develop- approaches that still have a role to play within riello, banking practice lead at EMC
ments in retail banking, insurance and invest- a multichannel environment,” warns the Consulting. “The two go together. It is about
ments, and disseminates ideas through council in its report. Now that banks are plac- customers transacting in various ways, across
surveys, reports and events. EFMA’s retail ing even more emphasis on customer centric- the bank’s product and business lines.”
banking advisory council, made up of senior ity, the management and personalisation of Eric Disend, director of digital at EMC
executives from a wide range of banks, the customer experience across all channels Consulting, adds that each customer typi-
describes itself as a leading “think tank”, is becoming increasingly important. cally uses several channels and that tech-
December 2012 | The Banker |7
9. reporT | TEChNOlOgy
multichannel sales and service
nology enables their interconnectedness. ATMs to free up staff to provide advice. “We
“Banks are placing more emphasis on creat- are working harder at recognising custom-
ing a digital experience in branches that ers’ needs and their value to the bank when
‘connects the dots’ with ATMs and other dig- they walk into a branch,” says Ms Cromme-
ital devices such as tablets, mobile phones If anyone needs help, lin-Risch.
and laptops,” he says. “Banks have invested “Are they a new or an existing client? Do
heavily in digital challenges, so if a customer
shop employees can assIst.
they have an appointment or not? Do they
walks into a branch and asks about a feature these employees have been have high-growth potential? Should we
of the mobile channel, the tellers need to focus on retaining them? Are they very
have been briefed on what to say. Almost all
traIned by InG and are interesting for the business?,” asks Ms
the banks I have worked with want their fully up to our standards Crommelin-Risch. “They may be greeted by
branches to be the Apple stores of banking.” a host at the door who asks them what they
That is a fundamentally important Philippine Crommelin-Risch need and can help, or sends them to another
observation. It is why bank branches, what- person to provide advice. We are also exper-
ever their detractors say, have a bright future. ■ The ability to open accounts through any imenting with machines in busy branches
If Apple, the world’s most valuable and for- channel; many banks still require customers where clients can input their questions,
ward-thinking IT company for which the to visit a branch. take a ticket and wait to be served.”
virtual world is its oyster, believes it is impor- ■ Finding new ways of acquiring customers INg’s branches, similar to those of most
tant to expand its high street presence, through different channels. banks in Europe and other parts of the
which it is doing, then banks are right to ■ getting the right mix of channels for each world, are being transformed. The transac-
think along the same lines. geographical market. tional and operational needs of customers
A multichannel strategy has to be a ■ Using new channels (such as social media are being met by machines, while their
blended experience. “Most of our banking and mobile phones) to establish a better dia- more complex needs – a mortgage applica-
clients talk about having, or aiming to have, logue with customers. tion or investment advice, for instance – are
a holistic, cross-channel collaborative expe- ■Being able to move staff more easily being met by staff.
rience, but that is a difficult goal to achieve between different channels, and more multi- “We are using IT to facilitate that shift
because all of the channels have been devel- tasking – that is, branch staff acting as call and free up capacity for our branch people
oped separately over different time peri- centre operators when required. to offer advice. We are making the branch
ods,” says Mr Mauriello. “Contact centres ■ Exploring whether banks should offer the an intimacy-oriented channel,” says Ms
providing a human interface are more same services at the same prices through all Crommelin-Risch. “For this to work the sta-
important than ever in the digital age. channels or whether a more segmented bility, security and broad functionality of
Remember that every digital channel needs approach can be taken. our ATMs is vital.”
a support component – someone they can INg launched a mobile app a year ago,
call,” he says. Banking in corner shops which now has 1 million users. Interest-
EMC Consulting advises many banks INg Bank, one of the top three Dutch ingly, the new mobile traffic has not been at
around the world on multichannel sales banks, has 274 conventional branches in the expense of the branches. “It is addi-
and service strategies. Banks must start by the Netherlands and a further 400 agents tional interaction. Clients still find a lot of
identifying the needs of their customers, or ‘service corners’, in book shops, newsa- reasons to visit our branches.”
creating an integrated view of them and gents, supermarkets and other retail outlets All of INg’s channels are, of course,
then helping them use and traverse differ- in the country. These agents have been in linked. But there is a big difference between
ent channels. It is a transformative process place for some time, in partnership with the channel interaction and channel integration.
in terms of IT because the technology has to Dutch post office and cobranded as such. “We are improving channel interaction with-
become more responsive to the needs of the however, the joint venture has ended and out fully integrating all channels,” says Ms
digitally engaged client. the bank is halfway through the process of Crommelin-Risch. “Staff can access data
“IT transformation is essential,” says re-branding them all as 100% INg and from call centres, branches and service cor-
Mr Disend. “Banks must change their leg- making them almost fully automated. ners, but that data is kept in separate data-
acy systems if they are to implement a mul- Philippine Crommelin-Risch, managing bases. We aim to have one general customer
tichannel strategy. These channels are director of the branch network for INg database in which all channels keep their cli-
expensive, especially in large banks. EMC Bank, says that clients can be served through ent data, but we are not there yet.”
has done some work to virtualise those these service corners at a lower cost than
channel architectures, which makes them through bank-owned branches, and it service as an asseT
more cost effective.” improves the proximity of the bank to cus- US-based bank Wells Fargo attaches more
tomers. “There are now only cash machines importance to service than sales, and sees
MulTichannel sTraTegy in the service corners, where people can technology as a great facilitator. “More sales
In EFMA’s report on multichannel strategy make withdrawals and deposits,” she says. do not always lead to better service, but bet-
models, EFMA director John Kirkbright “however, if anyone needs help, shop ter service always leads to more sales,” states
identities a few central themes relating to employees can provide assisted service. the bank in its latest strategy document. “Put
multichannel delivery in retail banking. These employees have been trained by INg simply, our product is service. We use tech-
They include: and are fully up to our standards.” nology to personalise service, not to deper-
■ The need “for more personalisation in The bank’s branches are also becoming sonalise it. Technology allows us to connect
each channel”. more automated, with more kiosks and with our customers in new ways.”
8| The Banker | December 2012
10. TEChNOlOgy | reporT
multichannel sales and service
The bank has identified six key areas of tomers can use the electronic branches to
opportunity, including retail banking, com- deposit cheques and cash, withdraw cash,
mercial banking, cards and residential mort- conduct online banking and carry out video
gages. It is the US’s main mortgage conferencing with customer care personnel.
originator, with $189bn of new mortgages ‘Tab banking’ is another new initiative
written directly in the first nine months of from ICICI. It allows new customers to open
this year, slightly higher than the same an account from their home or office using a
period in 2011. tablet computer with an internet or mobile
“Strong distribution channels are the key phone connection. All the relevant docu-
to reaching customers,” says Mike heid, head ments and the customer’s photograph are
of home lending at Wells Fargo. “We have a scanned and viewed on the tablet and the
very broad distribution network. We have the bank’s computer screens, without the cus-
ability to service customers when they come tomer needing to visit a branch. “Our con-
to us for purchases and refinancing.” tinuing adoption of innovative technology
The bank has two ways of looking at reinforces our commitment to improving
mortgage production. One is direct lending, and developing our relationship with our
through 11,695 home mortgage consultants, customers,” says Chanda Kochhar, ICICI’s
many of them operating from the bank’s chief executive.
stores. About half of the bank’s total mort- Meanwhile, hDFC Bank, India’s second
gage volume comes from them – roughly largest private sector bank, providing ser-
$189bn. The other half – $191bn in the first vices to 25 million retail banking customers
nine months of 2012 – comes from what the in hundreds of cities, as well as wholesale
banks are placInG more
bank calls its ‘correspondent’ or ‘aggregator’ banking and treasury services, believes its emphasIs on creatInG a
channel. Small to medium-sized mortgage competitive strength lies in its use of tech-
origination companies underwrite and close nology and its ability “to deliver world-class
dIGItal experIence In
loans, then sell them to Wells Fargo, which service with rapid response time”. branches that ‘connects
in turn pools them and securitises them for Although it already has 2564 branches,
sale on the secondary market. more than 10,000 ATMs, and extensive the dots’ wIth atms and
The direct retail channel provides the phone, mobile and internet banking ser- other dIGItal devIces such
greatest benefits for Wells Fargo, rather than vices, that is not enough. That is why in
the third-party originators. “It gives us full October it tied up with Indian Oil Corpora- as tablets, mobIle phones
control of the customer experience, the best tion (IOCl) to provide banking services and laptops Eric Disend
opportunities for cross-selling, stronger cus- through the company’s KSK petrol stations.
tomer retention, wider margins and better The objective is to reach more people living
credit quality,” says Mr heid. in semi-urban and rural parts of the country
Chase, the US consumer and commer- who cannot get to a branch.
cial banking division of JPMorgan Chase, “This initiative in partnership with IOCl
provides a good example of retail channel is yet another step towards taking banking to
innovation. It has just created a Spanish enterprising Indians in the hinterlands,” says
language version – chase.com/espanol – of Michael Andrade, head of agribusiness at
its online banking service. “We continue to hDFC. The target is to have 1000 petrol sta-
tailor products and services to meet the tions in the network, each serving about
needs of the hispanic community, which is 1500 customers with savings accounts,
a significant and growing customer seg- loans, insurance and investments.
ment,” says Pablo Sanchez, national execu- The bank switched on its 10,001st ATM
tive for Chase consumer banking. in September in Kovalam, a beach town near
The Spanish language website has been Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala.
around for several years, but up until now it “The launch of the ATM at Kovalam reflects
has provided information only, not transac- the fact that customer centricity is at the core
tion services. Spanish-speaking customers of the bank’s impetus of offering a wide array
can now use the website to manage their of electronic channels,” says hari Velloor,
accounts, pay bills and do many other zonal head in Kerala for hDFC.
things, all in Spanish. Chase already pro- For all banks, innovation is key to reach-
vided bilingual customer service through ing and serving customers. If you can have a
call centres, ATMs, bank statements and bank branch in a petrol station in rural India,
promotional literature. you can probably have one anywhere.
With banks today having to place more
indian innovaTion emphasis on customer centricity, managing
ICICI, India’s largest private sector bank, and personalising the customer experience
has just rolled out 25 electronic branches, across as many channels as possible is the
open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Cus- only way forward.
December 2012 | The Banker |9
11. reporT | TECHNOLOgy
IT SECURITY
Can you trust your It?
IT security
If a bank does not ‘RestoRing tRust ’ was the title of the high levels of business continuity.
command the trust of its British Bankers’ Association’s annual inter- Keith Andrzejewski, practice lead for
national banking conference this year, and risk, compliance and regulatory response at
customers and the wider
appropriately so. Banks in the UK, Europe EMC Consulting, says a bank needs a first-
population, it is nothing. and the US are still struggling to regain pub- rate IT department to ensure consistent
An essential foundation of lic confidence in the wake of the 2008 global service availability, business continuity
that trust is a dependable financial crisis. They are hindered in their when disasters strike or things go wrong,
and secure IT system. efforts by the sovereign debt crisis and reces- robust security, regulatory compliance,
Michael Imeson reports. sion in the eurozone, mis-selling scandals, effective risk management, integrity and
the manipulation of Libor, Iranian sanctions good corporate governance.
busting, breaching anti-money laundering “As customers do more of their banking
regulations, rogue trading, internet security on mobile devices and over the internet it is
breaches and more. important that, in this virtual world, they
Because of the inter-connectedness of have confidence in their banks’ IT systems
the global financial system, even banks in and that there is trust in who they are doing
countries that have not suffered any of these business with at the other end of the device,”
problems are afraid of being tarred with the says Mr Andrzejewski. “But they must have
same brush and so must work hard to main- the right degree of business continuity and
tain the trust of customers, shareholders, IT security. There has to be a balance. A
governments and wider society. bank’s business continuity capabilities
There are many facets to this trust: trust- should not be over-engineered, because not
ing a bank to safeguard customers’ funds; to everything needs to have 100% availability,
provide a secure and reliable service; to treat or uptime.”
customers fairly; to support the economy
through targeted and responsible lending, MiniMising risk
efficient payments processing and other When working on uptime assurance for
essential financial services; and to be a good financial institutions, Mr Andrzejewski
‘corporate citizen’. always starts with the legal and regulatory
IT is central to everything a bank does requirements. The aspects of a banking ser-
these days. Trust in IT is therefore vital. vice that regulators regard as the most
Banks must be able to demonstrate to cus- important must take precedence when plan-
tomers and shareholders that they can be ning service availability. “The next step is
trusted to look after their money and their risk assessment,” he says. “That starts with
investments, and to provide a good service. classifying assets, and deciding on the pro-
Capable and dependable IT systems are cen- tection and support that ought to be assigned
tral to winning and maintaining that trust. to each. Separating assets into those where
some downtime is acceptable and those that
VirTual ThreaTs are not is a delicate business, but the key
HSBC suffered a severe ‘denial-of-service’ consideration is that they are separate.
cyber attack in October 2012. Its web-based “The risks posed by potential equipment
services around the world crashed, leaving failure, and by malicious agents inside and
millions of customers without access to their outside your organisation are relatively easy
An importAnt driver accounts for many hours. It could have been to quantify. Harder to account for is human
behind trAnsformAtion is disastrous for customer trust. But the bank carelessness, though it should always be fac-
was quick to acknowledge the problem, tored in to any risk assessment. A huge and
derisking.You cAn never apologise to customers, work with the rele- costly denial-of-service attack that cost a
get to zero risk in An it vant authorities and tell the press what was well-known organisation a great deal of
happening. Customer data was not compro- money was only made possible because a
environment, but whAt You mised and the bank was able to restore nor- technician plugged a USB stick into a server.
mal service in a day. That organisation’s risk assessment was oth-
cAn do is be obsessed About
No banking platform is safe from cyber erwise solid,” says Mr Andrzejewski.
where You see potentiAl attackers – even US defence agencies can “Uptime in the IT infrastructure, and the
be hacked into – but the best banks will risk assessment that goes with it, is merely a
risks And then mitigAte
deploy the latest security measures, limit part of the wider business risk assessment
them David Gledhill any damage caused by breaches and ensure process. It is still very common to see senior
10 | The Banker | December 2012
12. TECHNOLOgy | reporT
IT SECURITY
executives in the financial services sector sig- the hurricane evacuation zone. To minimise
nificantly underestimate the risks that their disruption to these services, Citi used its
business faces, in IT or elsewhere. It is very back-up locations to ensure continuity of
common to see short-term business impera- operations until staff were able to return to
tives take precedence over risk control, and their lower Manhattan offices.
that is fundamentally flawed as a long-term
strategy. Sometimes those responsible for eliMinaTing inconVenience
risk assessment have to tell their bosses David gledhill, managing director and head
things they do not want to hear,” he says. of group technology and operations for DBS,
Effective means of preventing, detecting Singapore’s biggest bank by assets, says reli-
and mitigating fraud is essential for main- ability, resilience, security and performance
taining customer trust. Banks in advanced all play a part in the customer’s mind. “It is
countries are good at this, those in emerging one thing to build a back-end internet resil-
markets less so. ience solution, so if the internet banking
“Banking fraud in China is rampant,” goes down there is an immediate alternative,
says Mr Andrzejewski. “Banks there know but if the user feels that the performance of
how to stop it, but are reluctant to improve that alternative is not up to standard, then it
counter-measures for fear of making it more is not a good solution,” he says. “From my risk
difficult for people to open accounts. Many management point of view it may be alright,
bankers believe that if they require six pieces but it may not meet the customer’s expecta-
of information from an applicant for an tions of reliability and dependability.” As customers do more of
account, and another bank requires only DBS uses a number of tools to constantly
five, then the applicant will be more likely to monitor the availability of its digital channels. their bAnking on mobile
choose the second bank – so the first lowers It also monitors what its competitors are devices And over the
its requirement to five as well.” doing. Planned downtime for maintenance
has been reduced significantly as this was internet, it is importAnt
WeaThering The sTorM identified as an inconvenience for customers. thAt, in this virtuAl world,
The destruction wrought by Hurricane “Historically, banks have regarded
Sandy on the US north-east coast in October planned downtime as OK, because the idea theY hAve confidence in
2012 caused immense problems for banks was that all you do is inform customers and their bAnks’ it sYstems
and really put their disaster recovery plans – they should accept it,” says Mr gledhill. “But
and customer trust – to the test. Most banks informing customers in advance is not good Keith Andrzejewski
coped well. For example, although the storm enough these days. The principle we applied
severely disrupted Citibank’s network, is that planned downtime is almost as bad as
within a few days service was restored to unplanned downtime, so the aim has been to
nearly 90% of the bank’s branches and get planned downtime to as close to zero as
ATMs, including all six branches on Staten possible. In the past few years we have
Island, one of the worst affected areas. striven to reduce it and have done so by 95%.
In a move that showed it understood “At the back-end this has required a mas-
customers’ problems, the bank offered sig- sive amount of re-engineering on the main
nificant relief to those in the disaster zone. It frame. We have had to re-architect the main
allowed mortgage customers more time to frame and put in place all sorts of parallel
make repayments, waived late payment processing. On the internet front-end, we
charges for 90 days and suspended foreclo- have completely revamped it to provide par-
sure sales. For other customers it provided allel environments. I can now take down one
overdraft protection, wired emergency funds online banking site to upgrade it and flip to
to them and said it would refund fees for the the other. This is all invisible to customers,”
use of ATMs outside its network. To cap it all, says Mr gledhill.
the bank donated $1m to the American Red
Cross’s relief and recovery efforts. iT TransforMaTion
“Our Hurricane Sandy relief pro- Mr gledhill says this re-engineering is a
grammes are intended to alleviate some of prime example of IT transformation. In the
the financial hardships facing our customers past three to four years DBS has almost com-
so they can focus on the most pressing issues pletely transformed much of its IT infra-
in front of them,” said Citi CEO Michael Cor- structure and many of its applications to
bat. “Citi is committed to helping our cus- make banking easy for customers. It has
tomers recover and rebuild by being sensitive been a long journey, focused on what really
and accommodating their needs.” delivers value to customers.
Another issue for the bank was the fact “An important driver behind transfor-
that its investment banking operations in mation is derisking. you can never get to zero
New york city were situated at the heart of risk in an IT environment, but what you
December 2012 | The Banker | 11
13. reporT | TECHNOLOgy
IT SECURITY
can do is be obsessed about where you see the country’s academic ability in all fields of
potential risks and then mitigate them. We cyber security. Its research will ultimately
have an availability strategy that allows us to make it easier for businesses, individuals and
decide what capacity we need to build to governments to protect their computer net-
cope with a crisis,” says Mr gledhill. works and the data they contain. compliAnce with
“Some of the systems when I first arrived Professor Angela Sasse, director of the
here had a disaster recovery capacity that was institute and professor of human-centred
regulAtion often
less than 100% of the total need. Imagine a technology in the department of computer deteriorAtes into A
scenario where you lose a data centre. Many science at UCL, is looking for businesses,
more customers than usual will log onto their including financial institutions, to get tick-box exercise And the
online account to check their balance. So you involved with the research the institute will ‘best-prActice’ ApproAch,
will need even more capacity in a disaster carry out to assess the costs and benefits of
than in a normal situation,” he says. security measures for all stakeholders. She which should reAllY be
“But you shouldn’t have too much capac- believes that banks take cyber security seri- cAlled ‘common prActice’
ity. If a data centre goes down you might have ously. They are well aware that fraudsters tar-
a 200% to 300% surge of customers in the get online banking because that is where the As theY Are onlY doing
first couple of hours of them hearing the money is. But controls are not always effec- whAt others Are doing
news, then it trails off. So you probably don’t tive, as evidenced by the fact that there have
want to build 200% to 300% of emergency been a number of examples of banks losing Angela Sasse
capacity. What else can you do that is better customer data and countless more examples
than putting up a ‘service not available’ mes- every year of customers being defrauded.
sage, which for customers would be the worst “Regulators may require a firm to have a
possible time for them to see such a message? security policy, but do not specify how strong
We have therefore invested in ‘overflow tech- the policy has to be and whether it is working
nology’ from third-party vendors, so that in in practice,” says Ms Sasse. “For instance, a
such situations we can gracefully overflow, bank may require that employees have
with a reassuring message saying that due to strong passwords, but if employees re-use
high traffic they may experience a delay, so the same password on external services or
could they try again later,” says Mr gledhill. sites, to make it more memorable, it may
become compromised. Compliance with
acTion By The auThoriTies regulation often deteriorates into a tick-box
Although banking fraud is endemic in China, exercise and the ‘best-practice’ approach,
Hong Kong is a different matter. Hong Kong which should really be called ‘common prac-
banks are in the process of adopting chip- tice’ as they are only doing what others are
based technology to strengthen ATM secu- doing rather than what is ‘best’.”
rity even more, assisted by the Hong Kong
Monetary Authority (HKMA), which has set proTecTing nuMBer one
the technical and security standards banks Another problem is that banks tend to focus on
must implement. All ATMs must comply protecting themselves more than their cus-
with the new standards by the end of Febru- tomers, who are wide open to phishing and
ary 2013 and existing cards must be replaced malware attacks. “There have been some
by new chip cards by 2015. efforts to protect them with two-factor authen-
“Although ATM fraud is not a significant tication devices, such as Barclays’ PINsentry,
fraud in Hong Kong, it is important for Hong and anti-phishing software such as Solid, but
Kong to stay at the forefront of the technol- customers are still vulnerable,” says Ms Sasse.
ogy and be in line with international trends,” “This is particularly the case where
says Arthur yuen, HKMA’s deputy chief banks still have bad habits such as phoning
executive. Anita Fung, chairwoman of the up customers to ask for their credentials,
Hong Kong Association of Banks, says that when the customer has no way of verifying
banks set up a taskforce on ATM fraud more that the caller is actually from the bank and
than two years ago to work with the HKMA not an attacker,” she says.
on developing the new security measures. So, there is no denying that bankers, reg-
An indication of how seriously politicians ulators, politicians and academics share the
treat IT security is provided by the UK gov- same view – that it is a bank’s fiduciary duty
ernment, which in 2011 launched a cyber to safeguard customers’ money from loss or
security strategy. As part of that initiative it set fraud, as well as provide a reliable service
up a research institute in the science of cyber that works even when disaster strikes. Just
security in October, funded by the govern- as importantly, everyone also agrees that for
ment intelligence agency gCHQ and other a bank to fulfil that duty it must have a
official bodies, and hosted by University Col- dependable, secure, high-performance IT
lege London (UCL). Its purpose is to increase infrastructure. Trust in IT is everything.
12 | The Banker | December 2012