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How cognitive business operations can elevate your business

Every business operates with the aim to serve its customers as best as possible. Here are just a few examples of how businesses use the cloud to elevate service:

A small retail store uses cloud software to manage its inventory, finances and ordering processes
A large healthcare provider combines private health data with publicly-available scientific studies to provide better patient care
A medium-sized bank leverages automated processes and rules to onboard new customers more quickly

What if all this could be done even better?
Traditional business operations are being transformed by new capabilities that infuse humanlike understanding into the very fabric of business. The retail store and its order process can now leverage cognitive services to convert speech-to-text and perform trade-off analysis. The healthcare provider could analyze images and extract relationships to tailor treatment to its individual patients. The bank can determine sentiment and automate natural language conversations to ensure quick and accurate service.
You can now infuse operational systems with cognitive services to take action at the right time. This level of innovation and efficiency was not previously possible.
Patterns combine cognitive and process transformation
Cognitive business operations, powered by IBM Watson, is the next step. Businesses need to innovate while also maintaining their existing systems. This hybrid model is ideal for process and decision management. Companies can deliver excellent service through efficiency, effectiveness and visibility. What if you added the ability to sense new, unstructured events in real time? What if you could correlate across time, space and individual customer? Your engagement could leap ahead.
Cognitive business operations at Interconnect
Are you and your business ready for systems that augment discover, and learn? Join us at IBM InterConnect 2017. Check out a few highlighted sessions on cognitive business operations:
Session 2867: Patterns to combine cognitive computing and process transformation       
Explore cognitive patterns and see real-life demos of Watson Cognitive Business Operations in action. Learn how to create a solution that augments, discovers and learns to improve business outcomes.
Session 4562: Transforming processes with Watson Cognitive Business Operations   
Learn how operational systems can now leverage cognitive services to take operations to a new level.  Learn how to convert speech-to-text, analyze images, hold conversations, extract relationships, determine sentiment and perform trade-off analysis. See a real-world demo of how IBM Process Transformation and Watson work together to optimize operations.
Session 4570: Using IBM Watson language services to transform business operations    
Does your company take timely action in response to customer emails? Correspondence now extends from traditional communication channels into social, mobile, text and chat. Companies must quickly act on a rapidly expanding set of interactions. Learn about cognitive language services that can intelligently interpret customer correspondence and automatically take action.
At InterConnect, see how cognitive visual recognition, natural language services and more are used in a variety of industries and operational systems. Then take the next steps and learn the patterns necessary to combine business operations with cognitive capabilities. All sessions include live demos, so get ready to see cognitive business operations in action. Register today.
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Bringing an app that rewards kindness to life

This is the second part in a series about a group of competitors in the Connect to Cognitive Build contest. Read the first part to find out how the team developed the idea for the #HatsOff app.
The hard decisions started almost immediately after we hit the submit button.
After getting through that first level of “what if,” we submitted a proposal for an app designed to reward kindness called HatsOff to the Connect to Cloud Cognitive Build contest. That was the easy part. Who wouldn’t support an app that encouraged kindness?
Our team didn’t wait until we received the “you have been accepted” notification to begin our next round of brainstorming. We were confident that our HatsOff app was a great idea. We believed in it and had the passion to drive it forward. We had already gone through these design thinking exercises:

Divergent thinking to generate a list of industries in which the app would be appropriate, as well as the problems it solved
Convergent thinking to narrow possibilities by building out personas
Empathy maps to better understand customers

Our idea was applicable to many industries, but we needed to focus on just a few: retail, hospitality, insurance and transportation. We further narrowed in on insurance to scope the problem being solved. We chose the two personas of the driver and the insurance agent, which gave the team enough information to begin the next phase of prototyping.
What we didn’t expect was the time it would take to develop the business case and market our idea internally to receive group resource funding. We knew that we had to get both the business case and the technology to be compelling enough to convince our voting colleagues that it was worthy enough for them to vote with their dollars.
Competition was stiff. We started with our management chain, gaining support and input, and expanded our circle to communities we were active in and our network of contacts, actively telling our story like a startup. Our storytelling skills paid off, and we achieved the largest amount of funding, supporters and enthusiasm in the group of candidate submissions.
The next phase was the prototype. Luckily, we had a visual designer and two user-experience designers volunteer to join our team. With low-fidelity, paper-and-pencil prototypes, we started the layout of the app. Then we iterated many times. That’s how we came to a decision on the logo that would represent in a single visual what the app was all about. We did the same for the color selection that would be appealing to the targeted buyer and users. Details mattered.

Our next critical tasks were setting up our development environment, refining our architecture and designing the important API services layer. By this time, our initial thinking that HatsOff would be a single solution with a user interface and a backend services component to it had evolved.
As we went through the design thinking process and hashed ideas, it became evident that we could provide value to other apps and industries through APIs such as an app for an automobile insurer.
The first draft of our architectural diagram had a lot of lines and boxes with question marks. These corresponded with the technical choices we had to make from a wide variety of runtimes, along with cognitive, analytic and data service options that Bluemix offered for our solution.
We realized that we were not experts in some of these. Blockchain was an example of something that we needed to learn more about to determine if it was something that could add value or not.
The HatsOff app core team and several incredible volunteers are fast at work putting together a working prototype in which all the details come together. We are confident that we are asking the right questions, open to learning, and have our focus on the customer that will take our app to the next level. Stay tuned.
Learn more about IBM is helping clients take advantage of the digital economy.
HatsOff team members Ron Lynn, Padma Chukka and Soad Abu El-Naga contributed to this story.
 
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Explore IBM Cloud Orchestrator at InterConnect

To meet a wide range of business requirements, many companies build a complex multi-cloud environment. Managing multiple clouds used to be difficult. In 2017, is that still the case?
It shouldn’t be. IBM offers a complete cloud management platform that simplifies management of multi-cloud environments. Developers can use the platform to build and run applications on variety of clouds. IT can use the platform to help manage, deliver and govern services across the entire company.
With IBM Cloud Orchestrator, you can better manage your cloud applications and services from a single pane of glass. By leveraging hybrid cloud environments, you can reduce costs, get more value from existing investments and speed time-to-market.
IBM Cloud Orchestrator at InterConnect
This year, IBM InterConnect will offer a broad range of topics for IT operations executives and developers who want better control over their complex multi-cloud environments. You can discover the latest hybrid cloud management solutions. And you can learn from industry experts and peers on how to accelerate, optimize and scale across hybrid cloud environments.
The roster of speakers features real clients addressing real challenges across many different industries. Session leaders and panel groups will discuss the implications of multispeed IT and dealing with legacy, cloud-enabled and cloud-ready workloads. You can join a discussion about how open standards can facilitate optimal workload deployments to private and public clouds.
Automation is at the heart of managing hybrid cloud environments. We will discuss how IBM Cloud Orchestrator allows you to automate and standardize many manual IT processes. You can provide self-service opportunities to clients, as well as speed and consistency in service delivery.
Can’t-miss IBM Cloud Orchestrator sessions
As you’re planning your InterConnect schedule, check out a few of the many sessions and educational opportunities around hybrid cloud and IBM Cloud Orchestrator. Click the following links for a few highlighted session details:

Session #1391:Swiss Re&8217;s approach to content lifecycle management in a DevOps world
Session #6009: Benefits of IBM Cloud Orchestrator Customization: Ativas&8217; datacenter case study
Session #3071: Implementing a hybrid cloud environment in the financial sector at JN Data
Session #3340: How IBM Cloud Orchestrator allowed Poste Italiane to integrate legacy services with cloud services
Session #3190: From MSP to CSP: A hybrid journey in a transformed industry

I hope we’ll see you in Las Vegas this March. Explore about InterConnect 2017, and register to attend today.
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Technical Customer Success Manager

The post Technical Customer Success Manager appeared first on Mirantis | Pure Play Open Cloud.
Technical Customer Success ManagerAs our increasing roster of enterprises and service providers begin their cloud transformation, we are in need of technical and customer relationship talent to usher our customers through the operational challenges of adopting Mirantis as their #cloud computing platform. As a Technical Customer Success Manager, you will be one of the primary technical points of contact for our customers; helping to plan, implement, and coordinate ongoing operations of business critical Mirantis cloud infrastructure.  You will work hand-in-hand with technical staff and executives on improving the performance and business value of our customers’ clouds. In this role, you will also act as the voice of the customer within Mirantis to escalate problems and to drive prioritization of business needs for our customers.  Your success in this role means higher customer satisfaction, retention and expansion of Mirantis business. 

We guarantee that there will never be a boring moment while working at Mirantis!Responsibilities:Develop a trusted advisor relationship with key customer stakeholders and executive sponsors Define and maintain success plans for customers that outline the critical success factors, metrics for success, potential issues, and action plansAssist in the design and architecture of Mirantis cloud infrastructure.
Oversee pre-production operations planning and conduct customer on-boardingEnsure that change management, incident and problem management processes are working well Drive technical issue escalation within multiple internal and external teams
Provide detailed reviews of service disruptions, including recommendations to prevent a recurrencePrepare and review operational performance reports with customer, as appropriate for weekly, monthly, and quarterly cadenceLeverage knowledge of your customers’ environments to assist support engineers and service teams in better serving customer’s needs
Provide timely account or issue executive summary status reporting both to customers and management.Champion and advocate for customer requirements within Mirantis (be their voice)
Prepare and educate customers on new features and releases.Monitor adoption and utilization trends, work closely with customer and Mirantis teams to address adoption blockers.Proactively work with sales on subscription renewals, identify renewal risk and collaborate with internal teams to remediate and ensure a successful renewal.Required Skills / Experience:3+ years design/implementation/operations/consulting experience of distributed applications
2+ years hands-on systems administration / networking / troubleshooting
Background in multiple disciplines is a plus: business/operations reviews, process improvement, technical support and data center operations, program and project management, software development and deployment, business consulting.Solid understanding of cloud architecture and technologies.
Ability to manage multiple tasks and projects in a fast-moving and sometimes ambiguous environment
, work effectively across corporate functions (e.g. Sales, Services, Product Management, and Development).
Exceptional customer focus and bias for action
, ability to translate customer business goals and issues into actionable plans and solutions.Demonstrated ability to adapt to new technologies and learn quicklyAbility to manage customer escalations (internally and externally) and negotiate resolution.Excellent problem solving skills, including issue tracking, triaging and crisis management.Previous customer facing experience as a technical leadExceptional verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to lead and facilitate meetings and presentations, create content for documentation deliverablesBachelor degree required, at a minimum. Business or technical degree preferred.Be mobile and be able to travel to client locations as neededThe post Technical Customer Success Manager appeared first on Mirantis | Pure Play Open Cloud.
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Technical Customer Success Manager

The post Technical Customer Success Manager appeared first on Mirantis | Pure Play Open Cloud.
As our increasing roster of enterprises and service providers begin their cloud transformation, we are in need of technical and customer relationship talent to usher our customers through the operational challenges of adopting Mirantis as their #cloud computing platform.As a Technical Customer Success Manager, you will be one of the primary technical points of contact for our customers; helping to plan, implement, and coordinate ongoing operations of business critical Mirantis cloud infrastructure.  You will work hand-in-hand with technical staff and executives on improving the performance and business value of our customers’ clouds. In this role, you will also act as the voice of the customer within Mirantis to escalate problems and to drive prioritization of business needs for our customers.  Your success in this role means higher customer satisfaction, retention and expansion of Mirantis business. 

We guarantee that there will never be a boring moment while working at Mirantis!Responsibilities:Develop a trusted advisor relationship with key customer stakeholders and executive sponsorsDefine and maintain success plans for customers that outline the critical success factors, metrics for success, potential issues, and action plansAssist in the design and architecture of Mirantis cloud infrastructure.
Oversee pre-production operations planning and conduct customer on-boardingEnsure that change management, incident and problem management processes are working wellDrive technical issue escalation within multiple internal and external teams
Provide detailed reviews of service disruptions, including recommendations to prevent a recurrencePrepare and review operational performance reports with customer, as appropriate for weekly, monthly, and quarterly cadenceLeverage knowledge of your customers’ environments to assist support engineers and service teams in better serving customer’s needs
Provide timely account or issue executive summary status reporting both to customers and management.Champion and advocate for customer requirements within Mirantis (be their voice)
Prepare and educate customers on new features and releases.Monitor adoption and utilization trends, work closely with customer and Mirantis teams to address adoption blockers.Proactively work with sales on subscription renewals, identify renewal risk and collaborate with internal teams to remediate and ensure a successful renewal.Required Skills / Experience:3+ years design/implementation/operations/consulting experience of distributed applications
2+ years hands-on systems administration / networking / troubleshooting
Background in multiple disciplines is a plus: business/operations reviews, process improvement, technical support and data center operations, program and project management, software development and deployment, business consulting.Solid understanding of cloud architecture and technologies.
Ability to manage multiple tasks and projects in a fast-moving and sometimes ambiguous environment
, work effectively across corporate functions (e.g. Sales, Services, Product Management, and Development).
Exceptional customer focus and bias for action
, ability to translate customer business goals and issues into actionable plans and solutions.Demonstrated ability to adapt to new technologies and learn quicklyAbility to manage customer escalations (internally and externally) and negotiate resolution.Excellent problem solving skills, including issue tracking, triaging and crisis management.Previous customer facing experience as a technical leadExceptional verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to lead and facilitate meetings and presentations, create content for documentation deliverablesBachelor degree required, at a minimum. Business or technical degree preferred.Be mobile and be able to travel to client locations as neededThe post Technical Customer Success Manager appeared first on Mirantis | Pure Play Open Cloud.
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Cloud-based genomics means fast, secure and affordable analytics

The big bottleneck for research centers and clinical labs doing genomic analysis no longer comes from the sequencing itself, but the data analysis.
That’s why labs turn to Bluebee’s cloud-based genomics solution that flexibly and accurately supports scientific projects and patient diagnoses.
Customers can analyze sequenced DNA or RNA data coming from any type of sequencer on Bluebee’s secure, scalable high-performance computing environment. With Bluebee’s accelerated process, next-generation sequencing (NGS) pipelines run orders of magnitude faster than onsite infrastructure without compromising algorithms and methods. This means data can be interpreted faster so patients can be diagnosed and treated as soon as possible.
For example, a Bluebee’s client’s cancer diagnostics capabilities are seven times faster than its former process.
Diagnostic test providers and sequencing service providers also count on Bluebee’s cloud-based genomics solution to shorten data analysis turnaround times and to provide a better service to its customers.
Origin and foundation
A spinoff of the Technical University of Delft and the Imperial College in London, Bluebee is based in the Netherlands, with offices in Belgium and Boston. Its cloud-based genomics platform uses IBM Bluemix bare metal cloud servers and IBM Cloud Object Storage, as well as IBM Aspera to get the vast amounts of data in and out of the platform.
Aspera’s high-speed, reliable and resilient transfers contribute to reducing the end-to-end turnaround time of computational data analysis. It also enables Bluebee to comply with the strict security standards within the genomics industry.
Choosing IBM
Bluebee chose IBM Bluemix bare metal servers because IBM offers a “menu” from which the company can specify how much memory, how much CPU and what type of bandwidth it needs for each specific project. This means that Bluebee has the capability to engineer a system that exactly fits the task at hand. Bluebee found that other providers had more of a one-size-fits all approach.
Availability of local data centers was a key factor. Depending on where the customer is based, some regions have regulatory requirements that human genomic information may not leave the region. The Bluebee solution can be deployed in any of the 31 Bluemix data centers across the globe, and thus data residency control can be guaranteed to customers who can keep a consolidated overview of their data.
Benefits of cloud-based genomics
With Bluebee’s cloud-based genomics solution, customers don’t have to worry about the capital expenditure incurred by creating and maintaining in-house computer clusters. Customers don’t have to make any upfront investment at all. They pay as they go.
The solution offers the ability to scale, which is important when considering the large samples that come from cancer centers, for example. They typically submit two to three tumor cell samples along with a control sample for each patient, which could mean a total volume of data of more than 360 gigabytes per patient. In some cases, genomics data must be kept for at least five years, and a single genome string can potentially consume up to a terabyte of data.
Bluebee’s vision
Innovative technologies and techniques in genetic screening and analytics will enable the introduction of completely new diagnostics and therapies in healthcare. Bluebee believes that its unique combination of in-depth knowledge of the NGS field, high performance computing, clinical grade security, user convenience and cost effectiveness is essential to facilitate these breakthrough therapies.
Read the related cased study. Find out more about other IBM clients who are poised for success using the IBM Cloud as their foundation here.
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Payroll Specialist- Contract

The post Payroll Specialist- Contract appeared first on Mirantis | Pure Play Open Cloud.
Mirantis, Inc. is the number one pure-play OpenStack Company. We deliver all the technology, integration, training and support required for companies to succeed with production-grade open source cloud. We are transforming the #cloud computing industry, and you will be helping us lead the charge.If you’re an ambitious Payroll Specialist and thrive on working on tough, real-world problems, you want to work here.SummaryAs the Payroll Specialist at Mirantis, you will be part a high performance accounting team to support hyper-growth of the company. This position manages Payroll and Employee expense reimbursement payments for US employees.Responsibilities3-4 Month ContractProcess semi-monthly payroll for approximately 200 US employeesProcess and audit data entry and import/export interfaces for employee changes and make corrections/adjustments as appropriateReview, audit and balance payroll-related input to ensure accurate and timely payment of salaries and benefits and compliant with federal and state regulationsCreate payroll Journal EntriesResearch and respond to tax agency inquiries and tracers as requiredRespond to employees on payroll-related inquiries in a timely manner and provide excellent customer serviceEntry and on-going audit of all tax levies, child support and garnishmentsPrepare manual checks for out-of-cycle paymentsAssist in stock administrationReconcile taxes, garnishments, stock option exercises and 401K contributionsCreate and update payroll procedures and run ad hoc reports as necessaryAssist with special projects related to the payroll function and streamline processesProcess accurate and timely year-end reporting (W-2, W-2c, etc)Work closing with HR to timely and accurately update pay rate adjustments and bonus payoutsProcess employee expense reimbursements in accordance with Company reimbursement policyReconcile Concur expense reports to NetsuiteQualifications:5+ years of payroll experience in mid-to-large tech, multi-state companyExperience with Paylocity preferredExperience with Netsuite and Concur preferredComplete understanding of payroll process and US payroll tax lawsExcellent analytical and problem solving skills, ability to define problems, collect data to establish facts, draw valid conclusion and report on findings for resolutionSelf-starter with ability to work independently with minimum supervisionProficient in PC skills including, ability to perform pivots, Vlookups and other functions within ExcelWorking knowledge of payroll best practicesStrong work ethic and team playerHigh degree of professionalismAbility to deal sensitively with confidential materialStrong interpersonal (verbal and written) communication skillsDecision-making, problem-solving, and analytical skillsOrganizational, multi-tasking, and prioritizing skillsThe post Payroll Specialist- Contract appeared first on Mirantis | Pure Play Open Cloud.
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