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IBM IOD/Gold - Information Agenda - Part II

The dominant theme at IBM IOD was the Information Agenda (IA). Do you have an information agenda? …was the challenge to all attendees.

The first session of the Gold Consulting briefings was by Ambuj Goyal, GM of IBM Information Mgt Software, the blog of which is here. Through the week, I was struggling with this theme. How much substance does IA really contain? How will IA influence IBM’s strategies and practices?

Part of the answer lies in the corner of the exhibit hall. Did you see the IA exhibit? I would not, except that a colleague - Piyush Malik, an IBM GBS Consulting Executive serving as the Global Delivery Leader for IOD and Business Intelligence solutions - dragged me over to the booth. Having been involved with the design and staffing, Piyush gave me a personal in-depth tour, guiding me through the IA Experience that shows how this approach can transform information into a strategic asset.

The focus was on the activities of the Henson family - typical family with a teenage daughter Lily who is about to go off to college in Switzerland. The family is confronted with arranging bank financing and insurance before Lily's trip and purchasing the right in-style clothes for college. Unfortunately on the way to the airport, they were in a car accident. Lily is hospitalized, and her luggage is damaged. The family is urgently confronted with medical issues and insurance issues. Luckily, integrated medical systems exchange Lily's medical records between US and Swiss hospitals, and insurance data was instantly transferred to quickly repair the damages. The story ends happily. Lily graduates and becomes manager at IBM. :)

At each stage, the story describes the difficulties and satisfaction that the Hensons experience at the digital hands of complex information systems. Behaviors of today’s customers are complex and continuously evolving. Through approaches like IA, companies can identify the proper services for customers like the Henson family, integrate the relevant data across their data silos, and properly design their business processes to leverage that information. In particular, the linkages into the pie slice of IBM methodologies and products were explained. Remember that

The pitch. . . If your company is lacking in understanding customers, then shape up! Let IBM assist in developing an IA tailored to your unique requirements!

My take on this. . . It was a bit corny but definitely refreshing to see/understand specific ways that typical families are dependent on complex information systems. For me, it gave new meaning to CRM. In other words. . . Help me, just don't segment me!

The point is to understand all the ways that the Hensons are (could have been) served by intelligent systems that integrates data into a single version of business reality, enabling innovative business processes. Hmmmm Now I am sounding a bit corny!

[Blog stream from IBM IOD/Gold October 2008 is here]

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