Cognitive Computing: Turning IT Operators into IT Innovators

Jul 12, 2016 | All Blogs, Big Data and Analytics, Systems

We are on the cusp of a new age of computing. One where smart businesses are starting to think differently about how they design, build, and deliver technology solutions. We believe that IT teams need rise up and help drive this innovation.
That’s why we’re collaborating with IBM to help our clients apply the power of cognitive insights to transform their businesses. This starts with a perception shift.

Technology as the Job Maker, Not the Job Taker

So much of what you hear about technology today puts technology in the position of job taker. Conversations about which jobs computers and robots will make obsolete pop up frequently in conversations about the future of tech, business, and the economy.
We have advocated version of that view ourselves: Consolidate your servers and reduce the manpower needed to maintain your technology, outsource aspects of your technology as PaaS, SaaS, Iaas, cloud based, and so forth. This kind of efficiency is part of the story. BUT, we’ve worked hard to relay the second half of this story loudly (but maybe not always clearly).

Yes, this takes away tasks from your IT team, BUT it frees them up to focus on more mission-critical IT work.

IT teams have looked at these kinds of statements skeptically. What would their function be if it weren’t maintaining IT operations?

The Cognitive Computing Era

Welcome to the cognitive computing era, where that vision of IT experts focusing on mission-critical tasks is more of a reality than ever. In the cognitive era, technology no longer just supports the business. It BECOMES the business. Your IT infrastructure is the foundation of this, but IT professionals must do more than just keep the machines running. They must embrace the role of business innovator.

According to IDC, line-of-business leaders say that they perceive IT leaders as business innovators more than business operators. Yet, that same study found that IT leaders viewed themselves more as operators. It’s time for that to change.

The I in IT

Business leaders are recognizing that IT needs to be more tightly integrated into the overall business strategy. In order for this to happen, IT needs to be enabled and viewed as more than infrastructure architects.

IT needs to embrace the idea that they can use technology to drive the business forward. They need to throw off the idea that the I in IT just stands for Information. They need to come forward and proclaim that it stands for Ideas, Imagination, Invention—and that the core of all of that is Innovation.

Priming Your Business for the Cognitive Computing Era

In the cognitive computing era, data analytics has been cut from hours to milliseconds. Organizations have the ability to take action on data in real time. Machines are learning in the cognitive era. They’re learning how to help run businesses more efficiently.
None of this is possible without the right IT infrastructure. Today’s machines can understand, reason, and learn. Traditional IT environments work, but to take the leap into the cognitive, you need more.

We believe the core of this is through enhanced capabilities. In the coming weeks, we’ll dive deeper into the following capabilities:

  • Analytics Acceleration
  • Data Centric Design
  • Innovate with Open Technologies
  • Choice for Optimization
  • Lock Down while Opening Up
  • Controlled Iteration at Scale

When these capabilities are wrapped in the core principals of Design for Cognitive Business, Build with Collaborative Innovation, and Deliver through Cloud Platform, business can start to map out a path where IT is innovative.

Watch for future blogs where we’ll be making the case for an IT team that is more than just the architects of the machines – but rather the architects of a new kind of business. Schedule a consultation to learn more.

If you liked this blog, you also might like:  How to Get Started with Analytics and Cognitive Computing

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IBM Watson

IBM Watson is a technology platform that uses natural language processing and machine learning to reveal insights from large amounts of unstructured data.  First Watson learns a new subject:All related materials are loaded into Watson, such as Word documents, PDFs and web pagesQuestions and answers pairs are added to train Watson on the subjectWatson is automatically updated as new information is published  Then Watson answers a question:Watson searches millions of documents to find thousands of possible answersCollects evidence and uses a scoring algorithm to rate the quality of this evidenceRanks all possible answers based on the score of its supporting evidence  What Watson can do for you:Answer your customers' most pressing questionsQuickly extract key information from all documentsReveal insights, patterns and relationships across data   

  • Watson in IBM’s Technical Support – Improve Customer Service & Tech Support via Cognitive Computing

  • What differentiates IBM’s Technical Support Services (TSS) from its competitors? In addition to our global, trained field staff and decades of experience, IBM uses the power of Watson and its cognitive computing capabilities to find the right answers more quickly and resolve your IT technical support problems more easily in order to get your systems back online. When you are troubleshooting over 5 million problems a year, solving problems right the first time is essential and Watson is just one tool IBM’s Technical Support Agents use to help you and your business. For more information, visit: http://www-935.ibm.com/services/us/en…

  • IBM Watson: How it Works

  • Learn how IBM Watson works and has similar thought processes to a human. http://www.ibm.com/watson

  • Delivering value with the Internet of Things

  • Chris O’Connor, GM of IBM IoT Offerings, discussed how industries are adopting IoT to transform operations and create new business models. Check out http://ibm.com/iot

  • Video: Hilton and IBM Pilot “Connie,” The World’s First Watson-Enabled Hotel Concierge

  • Using Watson Analytics in the restaurant business

  • See how Watson Analytics helps someone who wants to start a new restaurant determine what cuisine and location would work best.

  • What Watson Analytics Means for the World and You

  • Want to know what people are saying about Watson Analytics? Check out these highlights from the Watson Analytics Signature Moment held in New York on 14 Oct. 2015.

  • Welcome to Watson Analytics: Let’s get started

  • Welcome to Watson Analytics! Take a quick tour in this video and see how quickly you can get started analyzing your data.

  • Infographic: Watson Analytics DIY

  • Do-it-yourself with Watson Analytics. No matter what part of the organization you’re in, find what drives your business–on your own.

     

  • Infographic: Watson Goes To Work For You

  • Consumers are increasingly looking for personalized, efficient interactions with the brands they frequent. To address this need, IBM has unveiled the IBM Watson Engagement Advisor, which uses cloud-delivered mobile and online chat technology to assist businesses’ customers, anytime and anywhere. From answering questions to offering guidance for purchases, IBM Watson will allow a brand’s customer-facing employees to make better recommendations, or sit directly in the hands of consumers, offering helpful advice via mobile engagement. 

  • Video: Announcing the IBM Watson Engagement Advisor

  • Watson can transform the way people interact with companies and other organizations over the lifetime of their relationship. IBM Watson Engagement Advisor is the industry’s first consumer facing cognitive computing breakthrough that will assist a brand’s customer service agents or sit directly in the hands of consumers through mobile devices, cloud-delivered services and online chat sessions.

  • Video: Welcome to the cognitive era – IBM CEO Ginni Rometty describes a new era in technology and business

  • For the past several years, the converging forces of data, cloud, mobile and social technologies and the Internet of Things have disrupted industries and led to unprecedented transformation across every type of business. Many enterprises have made the shift to become ‘digital.’ However, at IBM we believe that digital is not the destination, but the foundation for a new era of business, which we call cognitive. When digital disruption meets digital intelligence, new possibilities are created by systems that understand, reason and learn.0:00 – Introduction / What is IBM?7:01 – IBM’s Strategic Imperatives15:58 – The IBM Transformation22:44 – The Cognitive Era31:53 – Implications of Cognitive Business38:46 – Lightning Round41:24 – The Future of IBMLearn more at: http://ibm.com/outthinkSubscribe to the IBM YouTube Channel: http://bit.ly/1UXBIlJWelcome to the #CognitiveEra:https://www.youtube.com/IBM https://www.facebook.com/IBMhttps://www.google.com/+IBMhttps://www.twitter.com/ibm https://www.linkedin.com/company/ibm