Kategorie: technology

“Outthink” comes alive in insurance industry drones application

The concept of “outthink” is sweeping through numerous industries as companies and individuals uncover new ways to transform their businesses using social, mobile, cloud, Internet of Things (IoT) and cognitive technologies.
To make this strategy a success, outthink must come alive to fuel innovation. This new approach to technology must be thoughtfully applied to a company’s daily processes, enabling real transformation and driving unprecedented value with the goal of vastly improving customer experiences and lives.
An example of a simple, IBM Cloud Platform-based application designed to help insurance claims adjusters assess hail damage for faster, safer and more accurate claims processing at lower cost.
For example, weather-related damages have been in the news recently. In the aftermath of a natural disaster, service demands for insurance providers peak, which can become overwhelming as consumers and businesses seek help and support.
To better manage these spikes in demand, some insurance companies are experimenting with drones and other unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for risk prevention and damage assessment after a storm. These programs are expected to save time and money for the business by streamlining claims processing while improving their ability to respond quickly to customer needs.
However, to date, the return on investment (ROI) of these initiatives has not panned out. The time and cost savings of using drones have been overshadowed by the investment it takes to deploy drones and train agents to pilot them. The expected ROI of drones can be realized faster if they are accompanied with a digital transformation of the entire claims processing processes.
Thinking outside the box, insurance industry service providers may build applications on the IBM cloud platform to help accelerate this transformation. With services like IBM Watson Visual Recognition, IBM Watson IoT, Watson Analytics and IBM Cloud Object Storage, drone applications hosted on the IBM Cloud platform can not only help reduce risk but also improve the speed and accuracy of loss assessment. These improvements help boost efficiency in end-to-end claims processing and improve the lives of citizens impacted by a disaster.

With such cloud-hosted applications, insurers can quickly deploy video-equipped drones to assess damage. Video images from the site are uploaded to IBM Cloud Object Storage and dispersed in multiple regions for protection and availability. These images can be processed quickly by powerful, bare metal servers in IBM Cloud, helping insurers promptly assess the most affected areas and respond to a high volume of requests in a timely manner.
With innovative platform-as-a-service (PaaS) solutions that help empower recovery through safety, accuracy and efficiency, insurance providers can accelerate ROI and make “outthink the status quo” more than a slogan. It’s a philosophy that empowers them to reimagine their processes and boost their effectiveness in helping their customers recover after a storm or other natural disaster.
IBM will demonstrate a prototype of one such PaaS application at World of Watson in Las Vegas this week. See for yourself at World of Watson.
Learn more about IBM Cloud Object Storage.
A version of this post appeared on the IBM Bluemix blog.
The post “Outthink” comes alive in insurance industry drones application appeared first on #Cloud computing news.
Quelle: Thoughts on Cloud

Why Celanese moved to a cloud managed services solution

Celanese Corporation reduced operational costs by more than 50 percent while improving response to workload demands and delivering superior service levels for its managed infrastructure by switching to a cloud managed services solution.
Now the chemical company can reallocate these cost savings to drive innovation, strategy and an increased emphasis on security.
Based in Dallas, Texas, Celanese produces a wide variety of specialty materials used in everyday household and industrial products. The company’s Materials Solutions division and Acetyl Chain division share an IT infrastructure running a single instance of SAP.
This infrastructure supports various business-critical functions such as finance, human resources and manufacturing, as well as applications including business intelligence, advanced planning, risk and compliance.
Costs piling up
To support its SAP deployment, Celanese hosted its servers in a data center owned and operated by a third party. As the infrastructure expanded to match the company’s growth, Celanese faced serious the challenge of rising costs associated with owning physical assets that were managed and maintained by somebody else. Frequent upgrades also required the company to outsource for people with niche SAP skills, which drove costs even higher.
“The costs were piling up, and we reached the point where we had to transition away from the capital expense model,” Madhu Bangalore, Senior Manager of Application Development Strategy for Celanese, said. “As we moved to a virtual environment, we were still tied up in the old world of physical machines, and the upkeep with maintenance costs, operating costs and licensing costs became exorbitant.”
To remain competitive, Celanese sought to cut operational costs with a more flexible delivery model for its SAP platforms and operations, reducing the need to outsource for people with niche skills to manage the infrastructure.
Cutting costs with managed cloud hosting
Celanese engaged IBM Cloud Managed Services for SAP to help the company move 40 SAP systems, 213 interfaces and approximately 30 terabytes (TB) of data to a private hosted cloud infrastructure. The new solution provides Celanese with a security-rich, cost-effective and scalable cloud environment with nearly all operating system and system management licenses and services consolidated into a single, monthly charge.
By moving to a private hosted cloud solution, Celanese can quickly bring new businesses online and see the immediate impact on the company’s operating budget while avoiding the usual capital expenses associated with such acquisitions. The solution drives a lower total cost of ownership and is a simpler way to measure return on investment. This is particularly valuable in an industry in which mergers, acquisitions and divestitures are common.
As a result of this successful implementation, the company is now looking into moving its non-SAP data center into the cloud as well. “[IBM] definitely knew what they were doing,” Bangalore said. “We were confident they were the right partner to help take us through the migration.”
Learn more about what a cloud managed services solution can do for your business, whether you’re using SAP, Oracle or another application.
The post Why Celanese moved to a cloud managed services solution appeared first on #Cloud computing news.
Quelle: Thoughts on Cloud

Is your cloud strategy ready for the cognitive era?

This morning, IBM World of Watson 2016 welcomed thousands to explore the latest developments in the cognitive era of computing. Conversations are buzzing about the intelligence that will reshape the trajectory of business. I’m here on the ground, and the energy is electrifying. 
Cognitive capabilities, endless possibilities  
World of Watson spotlights the future of cognitive computing. But cognitive apps are here. They’re delivering powerful insights and amazing experiences, on IBM Cloud. Take the Seiko M-Tracer Golf Swing Analyzer, an app that connects with IBM Cloud to let golfers immediately analyze performance data like attack angle, club path and club head speed.
Or take the app Walk and Explore New York, a personalized tour guide that customizes an itinerary just for you. If Watson predicts bad weather will affect your trip, it will automatically adjust your itinerary.
Insights become action. Cool stuff.
A better cloud drives innovation
Moving to the cloud is no longer just a step on the path to your company’s future. Cloud technology delivers low-cost storage and app hosting, even at massive scales. But the cloud is no longer just about IT cost and speed.
The cloud is the foundation of business transformation.
It’s the platform that unlocks value and enables better decisions. IBM Cloud is transforming cloud so companies can create new business models and industry categories. We aim to drive business innovation: massive Internet of Things deployments, blockchain technology, those experience-rich cognitive apps and much more. Only IBM Cloud gives businesses the ability to unlock new value from their data — and the freedom and flexibility to do it how they want to.
Building the best cloud for your business  
So how can you unleash a cognitive-ready cloud for your business? I believe companies succeed when they have the resources and flexibility to build exactly the cloud they need. There shouldn’t be limits to what you can do with cloud. Some of our competitors lock in a business’ data on their proprietary cloud. When you need to move data, you’re hit with data transfer fees. It can feel like paying ransom.
IBM Cloud makes it easy to expand into the public cloud and quickly realize its speed and cost benefits. For most companies, the optimal cloud strategy is a hybrid cloud approach. We can help you integrate your public cloud-based applications, services and data with your existing on-premises systems. If you can connect systems across your entire business, you can achieve maximum value from all of your data.
This is amplified by a new IBM announcement. IBM Cloud Object Storage sets us apart from the competition and helps you realize your data’s true potential.
Drawing from hundreds of patents, Cloud Object Storage enables you to deploy solutions flexibly, on-premises and across the public cloud. You get access to more than 45 global data centers to maximize data security. The best part? All of this costs less than other cloud storage providers, so you can use more your cloud investment to build apps and businesses.
IBM is continuously advancing what’s possible with #cloud computing. I know World of Watson attendees will enjoy learning about the emerging technologies that only IBM Cloud can enable in the cognitive era. Explore capabilities and demos at our cloud site, and check out success story videos to see how businesses are realizing their ambitions with cloud.
The post Is your cloud strategy ready for the cognitive era? appeared first on Cloud computing news.
Quelle: Thoughts on Cloud

Partnerships make the clouds go round

The phrase “it takes a village” is rarely more true than in the technology industry. Time and again, when a company chooses not to collaborate with other industry leaders, it is almost certain to fail. Instead, real innovation and business value in emerging and maturing markets comes when companies work together to deliver value to the market.
Take, for instance, IBM. After more than 100 years of leading an industry, we know better than most that the success of our company and clients often hinges on creating strong partnerships with other leaders in their respective spaces.
Here are just a few recent examples that have already garnered meaningful results:

Apple to bring together the power of IBM cognitive and cloud with Apple’s design thinking and iOS platform
VMware to rapidly move enterprise workloads to the cloud, Cisco for social collaboration
AT&T for Internet of Things (IoT) and providing our clients networking options

Recently, IBM and SAP announced an expansion of their longstanding relationship to co-innovate solutions that increase client value with cognitive, enhance experiences and deliver industry-rich functionality, on premises and in the cloud.
This has led to the two companies driving clients’ digital transformation. In fact, it’s fair to say that the IBM-SAP Digital Transformation Partnership is our most significant partnership announcement in our 45 years of working together.  By combining the best of IBM solutions, such as IBM Cloud and cognitive, with the best of SAP solutions, we help clients modernize their core systems and digitally transform their businesses. The response from our customers has been tremendous.
Dallas-based Celanese Corp. is the latest example of how our clients are reaping the rewards of the IBM-SAP partnership. Celanese develops an extensive list of specialty materials used in household and industrial products.
The company’s Materials Solutions division and Acetyl Chain division share an IT infrastructure running a single instance of SAP to support various business-critical functions such as finance, human resources and manufacturing and applications including business intelligence, advanced planning, risk and compliance.
To keep everything running smoothly, Celanese maintained its servers in a third-party data center. As the infrastructure expanded to match the company’s growth, so did its costs. Upgrades meant that Celanese had to outsource for specific SAP skill sets, driving costs even higher.
In short, Celanese’s business growth was costing it IT dollars. The company needed an infrastructure that helped reduce costs with a more flexible delivery model for its SAP platforms and operations.
Understanding that SAP had partnered with IBM to deliver its application on the IBM Cloud, Celanese moved about 40 SAP systems, 213 interfaces and 30 terabytes of data to a private hosted cloud from IBM. This provides Celanese with a security-rich, cost-effective and scalable cloud environment with nearly all operating system and system management licenses and services consolidated into a single, monthly charge.
Now, Celanese can more easily bring new businesses online and see the immediate impact on the company’s operating budget while avoiding typical expenses that was once considered the price of doing business.
As I said, Celanese is just one of the latest examples of how our partnerships with companies are delivering meaningful results to our clients. After all, this industry is built on the premise that we need to make it easier and faster for companies to go to market and reduce costs without sacrificing what their businesses are built on.
The post Partnerships make the clouds go round appeared first on #Cloud computing news.
Quelle: Thoughts on Cloud