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Customer Experience & Technology

11 Mar
Customer Experience & Technology

Every organisation has a different array of stakeholders, whether it be customers, staff, consumers, suppliers, the Board, shareholders, clients or owners.  Each of these stakeholders have different needs and expectations. For example, customers may want great service or excellent value, staff may want certainty and to be paid well for what they do, and shareholders may seek a solid return on their investment.  As professionals, we are there to help balance the needs of these stakeholder groups. At the end of the day, none of these groups would exist without the need for the service or product in the first place, and no business would survive without these consumers paying for (or being funded for) these products and services.

So, why would consumers spend money with your organisation, and keep on coming back?

Customer Experience

Happy customers receive a perceived value or benefit from purchasing a product or service. A core component of receiving value and benefits is through having a positive customer experience.

Positive customer experiences drive positive emotions, brand loyalty and referrals. For companies it is also shown to increase stock prices.  You enable trust in your brand by providing products and services which are timely, consistent, easy/simple, are of great value and meet needs of customers. Customer intimacy is also an important sustainable differentiator.

Two thirds of companies now compete on the basis of customer experience (and that figure is projected to increase).

So, how do we improve customer experience?

There are many ways to improve customer experience, some of which involve technology, all of which involve process change, people and leadership.

Technology is a significant enabler of customer experience but is certainly not the magic pill to address all customer experience challenges. For the perspective of the IT department and IT leader there is a need to reprioritise technology projects towards those that are geared towards providing better customer experiences. The technology department must work very closely with other areas of the organisation (such as HR, Marketing, PMO, etc) to make this happen and to ensure alignment of change.

The Approach

I believe the best approach is simply talk with people. Talk and (more importantly) listen to as many stakeholders as possible to find out what they do, how they do it, and what their challenges and pain points are.

Synthesize this information, along with research, experience and best practice to devise a plan, ensuring that the end goals and objectives were well defined and aligned to Corporate Strategy.

This should be broken into phases and prioritised based on costs, value for money, effort, complexity and risk.

In Summary

  • Identify the end goals & objectives. What are the problems you are trying to solve?
  • Liaise with key internal and external stakeholders
  • Develop a plan (aligned with corporate strategy) that includes:
    • An integrated approach to encompass people, process and technology
    • Customer experience (mostly external) and operational excellence (mostly internal)
    • Prioritisation of initiatives based on value, cost, risk, complexity, effort.
    • Identify low hanging fruit, quick wins, etc. Celebrate the wins. Be agile. Fail/learn fast.
  • Leadership, leadership, leadership (plus teamwork and accountability)
  • “Sell” the plan. It’s all about the people. Communicate as one with simplicity and meaning.
  • Change management. Answer the “what’s in it for me” question to improve change acceptance
  • Measure benefits and success. Reassess the plan and priorities regularly.

“Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don’t want to“

Richard Branson
 
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Posted by on March 11, 2019 in customer experience, digital, strategy, technology, Uncategorized

 

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2017 Strategy Considerations

15 Dec
2017 Strategy Considerations

 

This post explores some key innovations and technologies that are worthy of consideration for strategy planning in 2017 and beyond. Whilst each of the technology innovations are at different stages of maturity, hype and utilisation in the market, each should be considered for their potential uses and applicability as part of blue-sky innovation and strategic planning processes.

 

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Artificial Intelligence and machine learning include systems that appear to learn, understand, predict and operate with minimal (or no) human guidance. These characteristics make machines appear intelligent. Smart machines intelligent applications can change their future behaviour through learning. Real world examples include robots, autonomous vehicles, drones and virtual personal assistants, intelligent sensors, smart appliances and smart tools (such as a digital stethoscope).

 

The New “Realities” – Virtual and Augmented

Virtual reality (VR) is essentially technology that generates a virtual environment, and simulates a user’s physical presence in this environment through interaction. The virtual environment is separate from the real-world environment, and headwear is typically used to shut-out the immediate surroundings from the virtual world. In a work environment VR can be very beneficial for training, where staff can develop skills in the virtual world without the real-world consequences of failing.

Augmented reality (AR) overlays virtual objects with the environment around you. Unlike virtual reality, which creates a totally artificial environment, augmented reality uses the existing environment and overlays new information on top of it. The most well-known real-world example is Pokomon Go. Other examples include the Topshop AR dressing rooms which allows shoppers to virtually try on new clothes. There is also the Shisedio makeup mirror, the IKEA AR catalogue (to visualise how various furniture would look inside your home) and the IBM shopping app, which provides personalised information whilst browsing the shelves.

 

Mobile Wallet

The use of mobile wallets is continuing to go mainstream, and fully integrated mobile wallets are starting to become a reality. Mobile wallets store payment credentials to enable users to authenticate themselves and/or make transactions from a mobile device. The credentials can be payment-related, such as a bank card, bank account or prepaid card, or non-payment-related, such as a loyalty card or mileage card. There are also closed wallets that allow use at specific merchants and open wallets that allow use at many other merchants. Businesses, retailers and organisations need to embrace this change, and identify the opportunities and risks of the technology.

 

Natural Language Question Answering

Natural-language question answering (NLQA) technology is a type of natural-language processing technology, composed of applications that provide users with a means of asking a question in plain language. A computer or service can answer it meaningfully, while maintaining the flow of interaction.

Unlike information retrieval systems such as search engines, NLQA aims to supply users with “just the right information” instead of merely providing a list of hits. NLQA technology is improving at a rapid pace. Current day examples include SIRI, Cortana and GoogleNow, however they are more like voice assistants and text analysers than true NLQA systems. Future uses in business include the use of NLQA in answering customer queries, contact centre applications and staff training.

 

Analytics

Analytics comes in many variants. Some examples are predictive, prescriptive, real-time, graph, personal and embedded analytics. It is no secret that the use of analytics and business intelligence in helping make and shape business decisions is critical for all organisations. Analytics can be used to transition organisations from a reactive to a proactive mode of operations and must be considered a core enabler of strategic and operational development.

 

Geospatial and location intelligence

Geospatial and location intelligence (GLI) includes applications, infrastructure and tools that enable access to, and utilisation of, geospatial and location data of people, things and information for location-referenced information analysis.

It is estimated that 80% of all business data contains a location component. It is therefore critical to understand how location affects business. Properly analysing location can provide insights that support and improve decision making in virtually anything, including marketing and supply chain logistics and operations. Location intelligence involves layering multiple data sets spatially and/or chronologically, for easy reference on a map.

Location intelligence complements business intelligence – where business intelligence may find one-dimensional relationships between customer demographics or store and warehouse locations, location intelligence enables much deeper dives into the relationships between geography and customer data.

 

Blockchain

Blockchain is a type of distributed ledger technology where transactions are sequentially grouped into blocks. Blockchain is used to track the ownership of assets without the need for a central authority, which speeds up transactions and cuts costs whilst lowering the chance of fraud. Blockchain is widely known as the technology that underpins the digital currency bitcoin. Whilst blockchain is still a relatively new and experimental technology, the ecosystem is growing rapidly and includes start-ups to major technology vendors.

Blockchain comes with cautions however. Considerations include potential lack of transparency, limitations concerning consumption of resources, operational risk from unintended centralisation of resources; and lack of alignment to existing legal and accounting frameworks. There are also potential adoption challenges, including the lack of standards, robust platforms, scalable distributed consensus systems and interoperability mechanisms.

 

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV’s)

UAV’s include miniature helicopters, airplanes and multirotors that can be remotely controlled by human pilots on the ground or outfitted for autonomous navigation and used to perform aerial surveillance. UAVs typically incorporate GNSS, camera, sonar sensors and navigation systems that guide them for imaging, thermal and spectral analysis. Memory caches and communications links allow UAVs to collect and transmit datasets, as well as transfer them to the cloud for record or instance calculation.

More and more commercial applications for UAV’s are emerging, and there is an increasing number of investments made in UAV start-ups and big companies. Practical examples of commercial UAV applications include parcel delivery, pipeline inspection, disaster inspection, security inspection, and agriculture inspection.

 

 

 
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Posted by on December 15, 2016 in innovation, strategy, technology

 

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Technology Trends 2015 – The CIO Perspective

12 May
Technology Trends 2015 – The CIO Perspective

Early in 2015 Deloittes published their sixth annual Technology Trends report (Tech Trends 2015: The fusion of business and IT).  This publication identifies the eight technology trends that have the most potential business impact over the next 12 to 24 months for technology and business.

Reading through the entire report may not appeal to all audiences, so I have attempted to distil the most relevant take-away points from the perspective of the CIO. What does this actually mean on a day-to-day basis? What aspects of this report deserve serious consideration and action for strategy and planning?

 

 

  1. CIO as a Chief Integration Officer

In brief:  The CIO role is evolving, with integration at the core of its mission. CIO’s need to harness emerging disruptive technologies for the business while balancing future needs with today’s operational realities.

Actions:

  • Engage leadership resources to solicit feedback and understand priorities
  • Tap into ideas through new employee and partnership channels
  • Prototype and demo to make the possible become feasible
  • Evaluate the current positioning, and understand the balance sheet of IT
  • Invest in underlying capabilities to improve efficacy

 

  1. API Economy

In brief:  Application programming interfaces (API’s) are the key to integration, exposing core business assets for reuse, growth, and innovation.

Actions:

  • Have a clear API strategy to define the intention, value and audience of the API.
  • Establish ownership by placing effort under an IT executive to simplify the path forward
  • Evaluate the available tools, platforms and integration possibilities
  • Plan big, start small. Businesses should balance payoff with added complexity
  • See it through. Drive a sustained campaign for awareness and support, while keeping ongoing documentation and maintenance needs in mind.

 

  1. Ambient Computing

In brief: Harnessing the real potential of the Internet of Things. From the growth of embedded sensors and connected devices, focus on translating the possibilities into real business impact.

Actions:

  • Beware of fragmentation. Use cases will require cross-organisational collaboration
  • Avoid distractions from exciting new technologies by starting with concrete business outcomes.
  • Usability should guide implementation, even if the solution is automated
  • IoT standards are evolving. Don’t wait to invest until the standards are finalised – help shape them.

 

  1. Dimensional Marketing

In brief:  A new vision for marketing is being formed as CMO’s and CIO’s invest in technology to reach digitally connected customers. CIO’s can help deliver analytics, mobile, social and web.

Actions:

  • Understand the customer journey and focus on authentic engagement
  • Big data and predictive analytics should play a role in how you invest in targets and priorities
  • Have a holistic approach – explore new channels and tools to complement existing ones
  • Authoring, provisioning and measuring usage and effectiveness should be seamless processes that provide users with contextual content across channels
  • Social activation – move beyond passive listening to inspiring brand ambassadors

 

  1. Software-Defined Everything

In brief: The entire operating environment (server, storage, and network) can now be virtualized and automated.

Actions:

  • Employ standardised design techniques. Emphasise templates and commonality to manage complexity
  • Infrastructure and application teams should work in tandem for rapid deployment
  • Every asset/application should be analysed to determine technical considerations for migration
  • Some vendors may accommodate creative financing arrangements
  • Consider potential benefits in coupling SDDC initiatives with broader IT transformation effort

 

  1. Core Renaissance

In brief: Use existing investments in core systems to form the foundation for growth and new service development. Modernise systems, re-platform solutions and extend legacy systems to fuel new services & offerings.

Actions:

  • Have a plan – balance business needs with limitations of existing systems and potential of emerging technology
  • Invest deliberately in the core to eventually become a catalyst for growth
  • Partner with strategic venders to explore new solutions for existing issues
  • Embrace a living approach to architecture with usability, integration, data and security in mind
  • Find a burning platform to move the conversation about the core to the centre stage

 

  1. Amplified Intelligence

In brief: Companies are applying machine learning and predictive modeling to large and complex data sets. Artificial intelligence is now a reality that is not about replacing workers, but augmenting their capabilities. Advanced analytics can help amplify our intelligence for more effective decision making.

Actions:

  • Develop a wish list to guide priorities and reveal what data is needed
  • Balance opportunity against expected organisational resistance.
  • Let user experience dictate the format, granularity and decisiveness of insights
  • Be transparent in intent, and consider programs to re-tool and redeploy workers

 

  1. IT Worker of the Future

In brief:  Technical talent is scarce, the legacy-skilled workforce is retiring, and skills are needed in the latest emerging, disruptive technologies.  Companies need to cultivate the IT worker of the future, with habits, incentives and skills that are inherently different from those in play today.

Actions:

  • Incentivise IT leaders
  • Rethink hiring. Include externships, hackathons, and recruit those with design aptitude
  • Introduce mechanisms to submit, explore, and develop new ideas
  • Create a virtual culture – provide tools that support remote workers
  • Leverage crowdsourcing, incubators and start-up spaces
  • Invest in your own IT workforce to drive retention and encourage referrals

 

Exponentials

In brief: Science and technology breakthroughs advancing faster than Moore’s law. Fields include: artificial intelligence; robotics; additive manufacturing; quantum computing; industrial biology; cyber security.

Four dimensions for effective innovation strategy:

  • Trend sensing: stay on top of new developments. Use “show” versus “tell” in demos and prototypes
  • Ecosystems: combine the traditional allies with entrepreneurs, start-ups, venture capitalists, etc
  • Experimentation: fail fast and cheap, move forward, and think about the impact, feasibility and risk
  • Scaling edges: achieve innovation by establishing new teams on the fringes of the organisation
 
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Posted by on May 12, 2015 in general, innovation, strategy

 

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The Mobile eHealth Revolution

21 Aug
The Mobile eHealth Revolution

The mobile e-health landscape is about to be transformed. We are now embarking on an era where consumerisation will drive the proliferation of integrated mobile medical health.

There are already a staggering number of healthcare apps available to consumers, but the piece of the puzzle that will take consumerised healthcare to another level is the integration and usability of applications, systems and devices across the full spectrum of care.

Research suggests that smartphone and tablet shipments are still on the rise. Another metric on the rise relates to the number of seniors going online. In a recent article from Senior Housing News, 71% of seniors go on-line every day.  In addition, tablet ownership among seniors has risen from 2% in 2010 to 25% in 2014. According to the study, the number of seniors going online from their phone has quadrupled from 7% in 2009 to 29% in 2014.

Not only do the families of seniors want to be connected and involved in care, it’s the seniors themselves who are becoming engaged in mobile and internet connectivity.

Further to this, data published on the Intel Healthcare Innovation Barometer demonstrates that we are more ready than ever to embrace technology in monitoring and maintaining our health.  The Intel study showed that:

  • People are more willing to anonymously share their health records or genetic information than their banking information or phone records.
  • Seventy-two percent are receptive to communication technologies that allow them to remotely connect to their doctor.
  • Almost half of respondents (43 percent) globally would trust themselves to monitor their own blood pressure and other basic vitals.
  • Fifty-three percent of people say they would trust a test they personally administered as much or more than if performed by a doctor.

It’s been no secret that Samsung, WebMD, Apple and Google are all investing heavily into health. Their aim is to help consumers see all their health and wellness data in one place, and provide both platform and integration capabilities into the consumer space. The term “ubiquitous connectivity” is often used in this situation; where mobile platforms are used to integrate health data from disparate sources to provide people with a complete integrated view of their health.

The two dominant players in the mobile space are Apple (iOS) and Samsung (Android). They are both ramping up investment from a device and application perspective.  Looking first at the devices, both companies are making use of an increased number of device sensors.  The iPhone had 3 sensors in 2007 – accelerometer, proximity, ambient light. In 2013 the iPhone 5s had 5 sensors, adding a 3-axis gyro and fingerprint sensor. The Samsung Galaxy S in 2010 had 3 sensors – accelerometer, proximity and compass, whereas the 2014 Galaxy S5 has 10 sensors adding gyro, fingerprint, barometer, hall, gesture, heart rate, ambient light.

Secondly, Apple and Google are in a race to have the health and fitness platform of choice.  The Apple Health platform (HealthKit) allows apps that provide health and fitness services to share their data with the new Health app and with each other. A user’s health information is stored in a centralized and secure location and the user decides which data should be shared with your app. Independent programmers can develop additional apps to integrate with Apple Health.

In addition, Apple Health:

  • Displays personal biometric data (heart rate, calories, blood sugar, and cholesterol) from other fitness devices (eg JawBone, Glocose Meter).
  • Provides a single app that collates all the data in an easy to read dashboard.
  • Allows users to share information with doctors and other healthcare professionals.
  • Enables health providers to take advantage of the sensors in iPhone 6 and the iWatch (coming soon).
  • Will soon allow apps to sync with providers electronic health care records, with the aim of seamless integration.

There is no doubt that Apple aims to be the “hub” for health care data. The Apple alliance with IBM will also lead to a significant influx of healthcare mobile apps for the iPhone and iPad.

Google has announced “Google Fit”, which is a health platform similar to Apple Health Kit that allows various apps to share health data for individual users to create a complete picture of their fitness. Whilst the open platform is soon to be released, it looks set to provide developers a single set of API’s to access and store fitness data from apps and sensors. Like Apple, this will eliminate the complexity of accessing multiple sources of information to provide a unified view of fitness activity & overall health.

With the increasing number of seniors going on line and their growing acceptance of technology to help manage and enhance health outcomes, combined with the development of platforms that bring all health data together by integrating apps, hardware and systems, we are positioned for a transformation in electronic healthcare opportunities and management.

So where does this leave us as Healthcare and IT leaders?

  • It’s time for a strategy refresh!!! People of all ages (including the older folk) are ready to embrace technology to improve and maintain their health. Ignore these trends at your own peril, and instead look to develop strategies that leverage mobile health app platforms. Depending on your situation, you may need to weigh up the benefits of building your own independent app versus building an app on an existing health platform.
  • Consider the opportunities for integrated medical records. Look at opportunities to use these mobile platforms to provide a more integrated solution that, at the end of the day, will ultimately assist the end user to view all their medical data in one place.
  • A greater number of sensors and integration points results in more data. As vast amounts of this user-generated data is collected there will be opportunities to monetize that data.
  • Telehealth, remote monitoring, telecare – Patient care will become less complex and more affordable with an increased number of devices and software able to connect and integrate seamlessly.
  • Issues around security, privacy, consent and ethics still need to be considered.

For more information, please feel free to contact me.

iwatch

 

 
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Posted by on August 21, 2014 in e-health, mobility, strategy

 

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Do we really need to upgrade to the iPhone 5 ?

19 Sep

It’s that time of year when employees work phones take a swim in the pool, get run over by the car, eaten by the dog or are accidently dropped from a great height. Yes, the new iteration of the iPhone is soon to be released, and employees will be keen to get their hands on the latest smartphone from Apple. Whether many of us like it or not, with each new release of the iphone or ipad, organisations are becoming more entrenched with these devices. A survey from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners found that 20% of consumers who brought the 3rd generation iPad plan to use the device for business. So it’s only a matter of time before the iPhone 5 makes its way into organisations.

The question is, will the iPhone 5 actually be better for business ?

With a faster processer, more memory and a bigger (4 inch) screen, you may argue that we will be more easily able to consume corporate data. A bigger screen will definitely help with looking at corporate information, business data, dashboards, emails, analytics (not to mention games and the internet). The iPhone 5 is also more capable of streaming media and consuming media-rich mobile apps, and is a more robust and sturdy device thanks to the aluminum backing (which may or may not help with breakages when the iPhone 6 is released !!!).

Are these improvements enough to justify the price premium over purchasing a iPhone 4 or iPhone 4s ?

The premium we currently pay is around $250 for the honor of having a iPhone 5 rather than an iPhone 4. The answer relates to many factors including how the device is used, the content that is consumed on the device and the processes/rules in place around purchasing. An iPhone 5 will certainly satisfy the hunger of those Executives who relish new technology, however making the switch is most likely to be a decision based on individual business circumstances. It may be challenging for organisations to justify the price premium against the benefits received for moving to the iPhone 5.

 
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Posted by on September 19, 2012 in mobility

 

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