Marie Wieck IBM General Manager Describes Platform Systems of Engagement

by Susan Eustis

IBM is implementing automated process in a manner that is taking a customer centric view. Customer facing technology is available in a way that it never has been before using smarter technology. Marie Wieck noted that the differences between what can be achieved between old technology and new technology is significant. The new systems are being noted by industry leaders because the new systems deliver results. In the banking industry, loans are a process that can be compacted to 2 days from 70 days. Loan approvals can be achieved in 15 minutes, the time to approve up by a factor of 15 in some cases.

Connected systems are resetting expectations of customers. Delivering the difference in customer experience is a result of core competencies in evolving advanced systems offered by IBM, leveraging apps from cloud providers of every description. Marie emphasized that open systems provide the base for improved customer facing systems implementation. Partnerships between business and IT are needed to achieve improvements in customer service delivery. Cooperation between business and systems engineers is needed to deliver end-to-end business capability.

Marie L Wieck is general manager for the Application and Integration Middleware business unit in IBM Software. In this role, she leads an organization of more than 7,000 software development, marketing, services, and sales professionals. She has oversight for IBM’s WebSphere software portfolio including web application servers, transaction and messaging systems, integration, and business process management solutions. Marie also plays a leadership role in key strategic initiatives for IBM, including cloud and enterprise mobile technologies.

Customer centric systems go beyond traditional back-end transactional systems. Integration of systems of record with mobile customer systems creates the opportunity to transform release of content to customers, making processes more transparent. This is not an individual task, it is implemented through technology, through automated process.

Operational decision making is supported by IBM WebSphere Systems. Rules go directly from mobile devices to systems and web sites both. IBM systems permit their customers to build software that is able to deliver apps in the smart cloud. Apps are used for access and speed. key services and methodologies available from IBM help customers know what best practices really are out there and let managers get most out of them.

Marie interjected some humor into her IBM Impact 2013 presentation giving us pictures of a really good looking red sports car (she said it was hers) that had then tangled with a barbed wire fence (she said because of distracted driving trying to get to this presentation). She then demonstrated how the smart phone insurance app can eliminate one half of the processes that are usually necessary after an accident in a straight through traditional insurance claim process. By connecting to the back end of the insurance company records to the smart phone to begin to create a record of the accident from the information transmitted by the smart phone, significant efficiencies are gained. The audience could see and really participate in the new systems that are being rolled out. This was truly impressive and gave all the attendees a vision of the future. Mobile connectivity is where it is at.

Marie showed how the driver record of the accident situation is created using pictures from the scene of the accident, the app can order a tow truck, send someone to pick her up, get a cab if necessary, and work with the back end system to initiate the claims process automatically. Process rules and process integration are illustrated in this example; the tow service and car service are initiated through rules or by contact with the insurance company. The taxi service can be called if necessary, Marie illustrated she can be with her clients as she needs to be in spite of the accident because of the new systems being put in place.

The app demonstrated by Marie will document where the car is, what happened, what activity took place, all with notifications to the driver that are automatic. The core processes implemented by the app are made smarter by the systems of engagement. The systems can instantly respond to a situation. There is built in collaboration that leverages outside data sources. The app makes it seamless to include information about a policy.

Marie talked about how the new systems of engagement are new approaches to computing. They are not add ons to existing process management, the systems of engagement start with the mobile device and seek to leverage connectivity and implement good customer services using the new capabilities originating at the end point, the smart phone.

Rules evolve – how did the situation posed by Marie get resolved? How did insight about the accident get communicated? This whole process was illustrated onstage, it showed that the traditional ways of coping and filing an insurance claim have changed because the smart phone app is able to create more streamlined automated process and in turn a happy insurance customer.

Marie was very clear in her explanations that describe how systems of engagement based on smart phones can transform the entire business processes. The many many IBM Impact customer presentations from the conference illustrated the power of the IBM integration technology and mobile systems implementation value.

On stage as well with Marie Wieck of IBM was a COO who had a role in transforming healthcare delivery in an insurance practice He was from HCF in Australia. Steve Nugent is a general manager of operations at the hospital group. HFC was able to dramatically improve healthcare delivery using end point smart phone and tablet technology.

Customer interaction is instantiated by IBM WebSphere with smarter processes. Smarter processes are used to engage clients. In the case of healthcare, clients are patients. The healthcare organizations are positioning to provide services delivery to patients who have become customers demanding good customer service.