Accelerating the benefits of cognitive solutions with cloud managed services

A recent internal IBM survey found that 70 percent of IT leaders are looking to expand the capabilities of their IT landscape by integrating cognitive technology.
As mentioned in previous Thoughts on Cloud blog posts, deploying your IT environment with a cloud managed services solution can free up IT staff to focus more on innovation while also helping organizations avoid the costs associated with an on-premises data center.
These benefits seem particularly relevant for cognitive solutions. Allowing skilled specialists to handle day-to-day IT management can help businesses reach the benefits of cognitive computing faster and more effectively.
With that in mind, here are three examples of companies that have used cloud managed services to help save time and reduce costs, accelerating the benefits of cognitive technology.
1. Capturing the voice of the customer through cognitive on cloud
An insurance company noticed that its customers were increasingly choosing short-term contracts that allowed them to shop around and switch providers more frequently. As a result, the company decided that improving customer satisfaction through a better user experience needed to be a top priority.
To achieve this goal, the company focused on the customer experience offered at its call centers. Its existing IT environment couldn’t analyze the massive amounts of data associated with each customer interaction in a way that could yield usable insight.
In response, the company deployed a natural language processing (NLP) analytics solution in a managed cloud environment. Powered by IBM Watson technology, this solution can collect and analyze hundreds of thousands of records, providing insights that the business can use to prepare for customer queries before they occur.
This approach has resulted in fewer inbound calls from disgruntled customers, increased rates of completed customer calls and improved customer satisfaction. Since implementation, the call center has increased its rate of completed calls by more than 11 percent and received the highest possible satisfaction rating. The company accomplished this while cutting costs by reducing the need for supplemental operators to handle peak call volumes.
2. Harnessing the weather with cloud cognitive solutions
Up-to-the-minute weather updates are nothing new. Users have had that information at their fingertips for years, but one transportation company recently discovered it could use cognitive computing to transform weather data into usable business insight.
An aging infrastructure and outdated enterprise resource planning (ERP) environment prevented the company from competing with newer, more innovative transportation services. To remain competitive, it needed to find new ways to deliver a better, safer rider experience.
The company implemented a fully-managed cloud solution that combines real-time weather analytics and Watson Internet of Things (IoT). By tapping into cognitive-powered applications, the company can now predict and prepare for increased customer demand due to upcoming rain. More critically, they can improve rider safety by quickly identifying potential flood areas, supplying drivers with alternate routes.
Watson IoT helps the company to further boost its customer experience by monitoring and incentivizing preferred driver behaviors and helping them integrate roadside support.
Through a cloud managed services environment, the business freed up capital that it can use for funding new revenue-generating initiatives. It also enabled IT staff to devote time to finding other ways to transform their business.  In addition, the environment is backed by service level agreements (SLAs) that drive high availability rates for new capabilities.
3. Creating new revenue streams with cognitive on cloud
A pharmaceutical company was projecting a steep decline in revenue when its patent on a very successful psychiatric drug was about to expire, leaving an opening for generic versions of the drug to flood the market. In the pharmaceutical industry, this drop-off in revenue is called the “patent cliff.” For this company, the results could have been devastating, as the drug accounted for 40 percent of its annual revenue.
To reduce its dependence on the ebb and flow of patent periods, the pharmaceutical company sought to create a product that would leverage its extensive psychiatric expertise and research. This company developed and deployed a predictive analytics solution in a managed cloud environment that helps psychiatric hospitals better diagnose and treat patients.
The solution analyzes millions of anonymized case records to predict how patients might respond to certain treatments., how long they may stay in the hospital and the likelihood of rehospitalization. By deploying in the cloud, the company can deliver the solution to hospitals without the need for onsite infrastructure.
The company’s new solution helps it avoid a forecast 12 percent drop in revenue by creating a new revenue stream. Its insights are also helping doctors and hospitals improve patient outcomes through more personalized treatment plans and evidence-based policies to improve quality of care and efficiency.
Ready to explore how cloud managed services can free up your IT resources for innovation? Visit the IBM Cloud Managed Services website.
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Quelle: Thoughts on Cloud