Perspectives
How IBM has adapted early professional recruitment and onboarding strategies in light of the pandemic
Organisations spent £6.6 billion in 2020 on the skills shortage, up from £4.4 billion in 2019 [1] (Open University Business Barometer 2020). These skill shortages are predominantly addressed through recruitment activities, with ever more businesses opting for a sustainable, long-term approach to address the skills gap. Nearly half (48%) of employers acknowledged that apprenticeships and […]
How to build a self-reinventing workforce
Nine principles that underpin skills transformation at IBM When we asked 5,000 business leaders what core skills they look for in the workforce, technical, digital and data skills featured prominently in their responses. As businesses wake up to the reality that data, automation and artificial intelligence will not just feature in but shape their futures, […]
Redefining the contact centre of tomorrow
It’s still early to draw conclusions for the year 2020, however, it’s likely that businesses will remember it as a time when the workplace changed forever. When, for many companies, the sudden shift to remote working and working from home coincided with a surge in customer calls. To face the challenge, customer contact centres need […]
Return to the workplace with confidence
2020 has been the year of unforeseen challenges for businesses and society alike. In the face of crisis, people are becoming increasingly concerned with health and safety measures. To demonstrate to employees that they are protected, organizations need to ensure that health and safety policies are being fully implemented and that there are quick responses […]
It’s time for enterprises to learn from experience
IBM iX European Client Innovation Centres lead, Andrei Savin, argues that customer experience can be both a catalyst and a guiding principle for enterprise transformation. As the world starts to emerge from pandemic-fueled disruption, many of us are sensing an opportunity to consciously reset the way business and society operate. We’re all facing up to […]
Why Salesforce is a secret weapon for digital transformation
As the IBM Bluewolf team publishes its ninth annual The State of Salesforce report, Luis Chiang, Salesforce Innovation Unit Leader, IBM EMEA, argues that businesses facing up to digital transformation can make significant headway by creatively building on a platform they’re probably already using. I’m always excited about the release of The State of Salesforce, […]
The key to exceptional experiences? Harnessing the speed of change
2020 has transformed the way we live and work. With the pace of change only set to accelerate, Tracey Gilbert, Business Unit Leader, Enterprise Strategy & iX, looks at how businesses can use speed as an advantage to design better experiences for customers and employees in the long run. It’s safe to say we’re living […]
Virtual delivery of a virtual agent using Watson Assistant, helping real fans and players during COVID.
For seven years now, IBM has been the Rugby Football Union’s Official AI and Cloud platforms Partner, helping the RFU harness technology to enhance the experiences England Rugby creates for players, customers and fans. But with the unexpected impact of COVID, IBM has also been working with the RFU to transform the customer support experience. Customer support is vital for […]
Why it’s time to get smart about experience.
As the world’s businesses start to reopen, it’s time to rethink how we move forward. The key to transforming our businesses for the future, writes John Sullivan, Managing Partner, IBM Enterprise Strategy & iX, EMEA, is to lead with experience. Exceptional experience has long been recognised as a critical factor for business success. As customers, […]
Never underestimate the power of the contact centre
In a hyperconnected world, customers have come to expect great experiences – anywhere and anytime – whether they’re checking their bank balance on their mobile, calling a gas company to query a bill or ordering a pizza online. In their quest to meet such modern demands, businesses have expanded their communication channels and this, in […]
Unlocking the potential of industrial digitalisation with 5G
Innovative thinkers across Britain are using their creativity to harness the power of 5G to boost economic productivity, reduce pollution and congestion, and develop the next generation of entertainment. In the North of England the focus is firmly on accelerating the growth of advanced manufacturing across the region. There are many possibilities for innovation and […]
COVID-19 recovery with Artificial Intelligence
Accelerating COVID-19 recovery with Artificial Intelligence As organisations across Ireland are looking to move forward and apply the lessons learnt from the first wave of the pandemic, they are faced with an overwhelming amount of information from within their business. Or ironically, a lack of the information they actually need to solve problems and help […]
CBM4Cloud Workshops
CBM4Cloud Workshops Since the turn of the year, alongside my usual job responsibilities, I have found myself running Component Business Model for Cloud (CBM4Cloud) workshops with our Public Sector clients. For those who are not aware, a CBM4Cloud workshop is a method that IBM uses (with or without a client) to understand the client landscape […]
IBM continues to deepen its collaboration with the University of Oxford
Partnerships between academia and business have taken place for hundreds of years and IBM’s involvement stretches back to 1945. In the modern world, these partnerships have become ever more necessary, with universities requiring access to funding, technology and real-world skills, and industry needing greater creativity, invention and vision to tackle problems of the future. With […]
Emerging stronger and smarter: A three-stage strategy to help clear the NHS backlog and build operational resilience post-lockdown
As the UK steels itself for potential further waves of COVID-19, we are still calculating the toll on our health service. With NHS resources significantly consumed by the pandemic, what will be the impact on healthcare provision in the medium term, and how can technology help alleviate the pressure? A new Ipsos MORI online poll […]