Technical secrets of service delivery

"Transition to the service" once saved IBM. Today, IBM is constantly expanding into high-value areas and the content of services is constantly changing. Today's customers not only need IT service providers to help them cut costs, but also hope that IT service providers can help them make better use of IT resources in their businesses, thereby stimulating business growth and preparing for future growth. By combining business insights, industry-leading software portfolios, and technical research and operational skills, IBM has redefined the design, deployment, and delivery of IT services. How does the value of service be defined? What is the value of technology in the service? How does unique advantage in service delivery be reflected? Laura W. Sanders, general manager of engineering and technology delivery at IBM Global Information Technology Services, recently accepted the report Exclusive interview.

Service and Service Technology

Li Shukai: The industry generally understands the CTO responsibilities of the product department very clearly. What is your responsibility as the CTO of the service department?

Laura W. Sanders: First of all we can explore this topic in a wider area. The client hopes that IBM can meet their needs and bring value to them. On the whole, IBM can bring three aspects of value to customers. It is also IBM's values. The first is called innovation. It is not only our own innovation but also our contribution to the entire IT industry. The second aspect is customer success. IBM can help each customer succeed. The third area is trust and responsibility embodied in all relationships. Therefore, the value or mission of the service is to deliver the value of IBM to our customers. Delivery is a difficulty, because it is a very complicated process to deliver the value to the customer. The service department's job is to bring together all aspects of IBM's capabilities and deliver IBM's value from a customer-centric perspective.

In what way do we deliver value? IBM Global Information Technology Services will focus on products and services that can be reused. In this case, each customer will not have to recreate, but only use these reusable values. The second point that needs to be emphasized is what our mission and mission are. When we have to deliver some non-reusable products and services, we must pay attention to IBM's other value - innovation. IBM needs to bring value through innovation, this time we must use the most important service assets. The service assets of IBM Global Information Technology Services are personnel. The ability of IBM services to help customers maximize their ability to use technology is based on their innovation and skills. IBM Services is committed to integrating the customer's philosophy into innovation, with the main purpose of designing and building information technology that can meet business needs. We must be good at organizing people and providing assistance so that they can better complete their work. The third point is technology. We need to define the technology, and consider the use of technology, how to use the technology for reuse or the use of innovation, to bring value to customers.

Shushu Li: IBM has unique technologies and excellent products in terms of software and hardware. In the service field, what unique technologies does IBM have to deliver value to customers?

Laura W. Sanders: IBM is not only a technology service company but also a business service company. This means that IBM needs to keep focusing on the development of various industries such as finance, telecommunications, government, power, and transportation, and to tie itself closely with its customers. So how does IBM service embody technical capabilities? We need to integrate technology into the industry framework so that technology can better meet the customer's industry sector.

Second, technology and service delivery are closely related. IBM mainly adopts two methods, one is outward-oriented service. IBM needs to convert technology into a reusable architecture and deliver value. IBM provides its customers with management services, including process management and IT management services. The service department needs to combine key technical elements created by the product department, R&D department, and its own to deliver value. In addition, we can also hire other service providers to deliver the services, and we need to predict through technical capabilities that these service providers can deliver on time and in quality. Therefore, we are able to predict and implement our services, and are in a reusable form.

Reusable innovation

Shushu Li: We mentioned multiplexing just now. In fact, the issue of standardization and differentiation in the delivery of IT services has always been a balancing factor in the development of IT services. How does IBM face, and what methodologies, concrete measures, and technical solutions can solve these problems? What experience do you share in this area?

Laura W. Sanders: The needs of different customers are certainly different. As a service provider, IBM is to meet the diverse needs of customers. We can provide these services in an innovative and flexible way. Reusability is the key, which means that innovation is also reusable. In this way, customers will feel the continuous and reliable innovation. In fact, the IBM infrastructure has a strong continuity. No matter what kind of customer, you get the same functionality and the same experience. IBM can ensure that customers' design and implementation capabilities are consistent and consistent.

Of course, there are also differences in products and services for different customers and industries. IBM serves customers in various industries in more than 170 countries and regions around the world. All the services we provide are consistent and at the same time guarantee the targeted service. In turn, IBM services such a complex customer base, which has become IBM's service experience. While summarizing its inherent experience, IBM continues to follow the trend of new technologies and continues to meet customer-specific requirements.

Shushu Li: You mentioned that IBM has operations in more than 170 countries and regions, covering almost all industries and providing them with reusable innovations. In other words, IBM has accumulated rich experience. Is this a major advantage of IBM in the service sector?

Laura W.Sanders: Indeed, our large-scale business and customer diversity have made IBM a unique service provider. In addition, as a service provider, IBM Global Information Technology Services is not an independent company but is part of the IBM Business Unit and has received strong support from IBM.

IBM Research Institute has an extremely close relationship with service business. A portion of IBM's $6 billion annual R&D expenditure is dedicated to meeting our needs. For example, we have developed specific applications, such as the Defect Prevention Process software analysis tool. The tool can discover patterns of problems, formulate solutions, and automatically resolve problems in the future when similar situations arise. We are currently creating a "customer cloud" so that our customers can clearly understand their operations. The key is to create a system and be successful at one time. The problem is often that companies will ignore some basic principles - and the basic principle of service is how we deliver solutions. To do this, we need to have all the latest tools, software, and capabilities available. By cooperating with the research institute, we can get the new technology that is not yet on the market when we start the service business.

Shushu Li: Because the value of services is difficult to be fully quantified, what is the difference between good services and bad services? How to measure the status of services in information systems?

Laura W. Sanders: The value of anything, including the value of the service, is determined by market demand. IBM's combination of different product divisions is actually based on market priorities.

IBM’s original sale of the PC division was due to the homogeneity and the value manifestation was no longer obvious. On the contrary, in the current profit structure of IBM, the contribution of services to profits is three times that of the past. So the value is not only reflected in the ability to add hardware and software, the service itself is also of high value.

Shushu Li: Project-based services, integrated management services, cloud services, and outsourcing services represent different levels of service delivery. China's more services are still in the first category. Corporate customers encounter bottlenecks in their own development and think of ways to seek external cooperation. How do you think we can create a long-term and close cooperative relationship with customers so that customers can realize the value of services?

Laura W.Sanders: In the process of project-based delivery of service value, we followed the same idea of ​​diligently integrating appropriate technologies, skills, and experiences to focus on serving our customers. In China I believe this needs a gradual process. We can see that the demand for services in China is the same as the demand for services in foreign countries. Therefore, regardless of whether companies are located in China or other regions, we are providing them with skills, assets, and methods.

IBM did a CEO survey and reported that only 4% of CEOs believe that everything needs to be done internally. Therefore, we believe that services need multiple modes at the time of delivery. Regardless of the construction, operation, management, and maintenance, in fact, the underlying methodology and technology have commonalities. So we are also very excited. In the face of Chinese customers, we also provide them with multiple options.

Diversification of service delivery

Shushu Li: Cloud computing is a new service approach developed in recent years. What is the difference between it and IBM's previous services? IBM provides cloud computing services, or technologies specific to public and private cloud service models. What are the advantages?

Laura W. Sanders: In our 2015 roadmap for growth, cloud has become one of the four core growth plans. First, IBM has made significant investments in the cloud. IBM is investing in R&D and acquisition activities to accelerate the implementation of its cloud plan. We have also established 11 IBM Cloud Development Labs worldwide, including China. IBM launched the cloud plan five years ago and eventually established a "Blue Cloud" lab in the world to discover similar projects and help corporate customers, government agencies, and universities speed up the proof of concept process. IBM's service department also began delivering cloud services early on, so that we can feed back past experience and knowledge to the hardware and software departments. And in service delivery, new technologies will also be included. These new technologies are used and tested by us.

Second, we can deliver this capability in the way the customer is willing to adopt when it comes to providing the cloud. For example, public cloud, we have some applications that can be used in the cloud. In terms of private clouds, we have a rich combination of delivery from infrastructure platforms to software as a service. We can further expand our capabilities to apply the cloud to the "Smart Earth". For example, the "Smart City" can be based on the IBM Cloud at the time of delivery. The IBM cloud service team can also provide related cloud services in the case of different customer infrastructures. So the way we deliver the cloud to our customers is a wide variety.

Shushu Li: Since the rise of the concept of cloud computing, all data centers are expected to change their name to cloud data centers. However, the industry currently has no clear definition of cloud data centers. So when IBM is providing cloud services for customers' data centers, what technical indicators should be provided for customers to help customers achieve the required services?

Laura W. Sanders: "Cloud Computing Center" is more like a marketing vocabulary. However, IBM is the world's largest provider of management services. We now have certain indicators and management systems for public or private clouds. These are the technologies and innovation capabilities we provide to the market. They can help us Customers make predictions and ensure that customers get results.

For example, IBM is the world's largest outsourcing service provider with more than 1,000 customers worldwide. We have signed service agreements with every outsourcing customer and must meet the SLA requirements on a certain cost control basis. So we have some experience and we have demonstrated a certain ability to manage ourselves and submit reports to our customers so that they realize that we are able to meet service level agreements. This is where our differences lie.

Li Shuzheng: Smart Earth is also one of the main goals of IBM's 2015 roadmap for development. In fact, smart transportation, smart logistics, smart power, and smart cities have formed the vision of a smart planet. How will IBM Global Information Technology Services Department help different fields? Customers, achieve their smart goals?

Laura W.Sanders: "Smart Earth" is one of IBM's four key investment areas. We have continuous investment in more than 170 countries and regions. We are also a cross-industry service provider with a great deal of technical input. Why does IBM pay so much attention to it? It also goes back to our values. It is to innovate, and innovation must be beneficial to ourselves and the world as a whole. Innovation is one of IBM's values.

In fact, we also have similar methods to promote around the world. We have standards-based, reusable products, assets, and skills. Through reusable innovation, we can promote products and services to all countries in the world, including China.

Li Shuzheng: There are many demands for personalization of enterprises. For example, many companies now have the need for mobilization. How does IBM Global Information Technology Services meet the company's mobile requirements from the technical level and the service level?

Laura W.Sanders: Mobility is a very hot topic. When it comes to mobility, I have to talk about collaboration. What do we think about mobility? Mobility is an entry point issue, or an enforcement point issue. Back to the CEO survey report, for many CEOs, they believe that collaboration is the key to enabling them to achieve differentiation. Specific to the technical implementation level, we now focus on mobility or assistance to further develop technologies or acquire new technologies. This can turn our devices into good access points and enforcement points and become collaborative devices. For example, Lotus Tools has such an application. Recently, IBM also acquired Enterprise Worklight, a company specializing in mobile management and security platforms.

Through these technologies, we allow customers to use current mobile as an access point and collaboration point. In fact, customers have a demand for mobility. They hope that mobility can be well integrated with existing assets of enterprises. In other words, they want to monitor and manage the equipment. Not only must the mobile device be used, but it must also ensure its security throughout the enterprise network and the security of the corporate network to mobile devices. Mobility is not an independent service but part of the entire service. Mobility is also a great opportunity to help customers achieve collaboration.

Shushu Li: Recently, big data and data analysis are very hot, especially based on structured and unstructured data analysis. The future “wisdom city” construction should also be inseparable from the analysis of these big data. As an IBM service department, are there cases where we have successfully used big data and big data analysis technologies to solve problems for our customers? Can these cases better integrate with China's actual situation?

Laura W.Sanders: The introduction of successful cases in this area to China has implications. IBM has the ability to introduce data analysis cases into China. Customers can slowly accept the analytical business model as a very important part of the service. In fact, customers need these real-time information and integrate these real-time information for analysis.

For example, within IBM's "blue insight" case, IBM has a total of 450,000 employees, of which 160,000 employees are using it and can integrate information from multiple data warehouses. When we provide relevant information to our customers, we can do so in a highly integrated manner.

Reporter's notes

Service adhesion

IT services are changing the relationship between IT companies and customers. Between them is no longer a simple product trading relationship, more of a strategic partnership. This determines that in the customer relationship, the service is more adhesive than the product. Instead of relying on simple product upgrades and relying on complex solutions, it seems to rely on a subtle sense of trust. And the generation of this sense of trust requires a qualified service delivery method. Among the metrics for service delivery, the most critical is how to ensure high-quality, low-cost on-time delivery, which is closely related to the matching of IT service provider personnel, execution, and assets.

As chief technology officer of IBM Global Information Technology Services, Laura W. Sanders focuses on two points: first, reusable innovation. Reusability is the main factor that determines low-cost delivery, and innovation is a unique manifestation of service value based on technology. Second, they provide services they can accept from a customer-centric perspective. The implication is that how to accurately define user needs is the difficulty of services, because customers often do not know exactly what kind of services they need, so the formation of service contracts is rather vague. How to achieve specific business goals by obtaining information technology, define customer needs more clearly, and embed customer concepts into IT technology innovations to design and build information technologies that meet business needs. This is affecting services. Delivery and the success of the entire service are important factors. Laura W.Sanders's responsibilities are also here. She needs to combine the innovation and skills of IBM employees, in-depth understanding of the customer industry and business goals, and the creative application of IT to bring together the best they need for their customers. service. Perhaps this is the difference between the chief technology officer of the service department and the chief technology officer of the product department. Only by doing this well can the service deliver high value to customers and create a higher degree of consistency with customers.