Rapidly changing markets and ever-increasing consumer expectations are forcing organizations to quickly transform their businesses, using IT as a critical differentiator. Cloud is now the norm, enabling organizations to optimize IT investments, while also enhancing and innovating using new cloud services.
IBM has been the early mover and in many ways the trendsetter for both getting your business on the cloud and adding a cognitive edge to it. Putting these two things together actually opens up endless possibilities to optimize data analysis and to streamline problem solving. So when I got a chance to attend the IBM Cloud Innovation Forum here in Bangalore on 7th December 2016, I jumped at it. I was going to join IBM SMEs, clients, partners, and some of my brightest peers to explore the latest trends and innovations, and learn how they are using cloud as a business enabler.
I got a chance to experience at the conference the most disruptive cloud technologies at work including Watson, IoT, Blockchain, Mobile, DevOps and weather analytics. And discover how, when combined with these technologies, the potential of any business to transform and innovate increases exponentially.
What were my expectations?
Learn. Quickly get up to speed on the latest technologies to create, connect and optimize using cloud.
Accelerate. Hear client uses cases to understand how they overcame their challenges, and define your next steps.
Network. Meet and network with peers, influencers, business partners and IBM subject matter experts.
And true to that, I got to experience really cutting edge innovation and problem solving that was taking the cloud and putting it to very creative uses. There were people making cities smarter, there were smart displays that decided what ads to play based on who was sitting in front of them and there were really interesting twists given to functions like Hiring by the right use of the cloud and cognitive technology.
The IBM SMEs gave out very engaging keynotes about what was happening in each aspect of cloud and cognitive adoption. There was abundant reference material if you were there to gain insights. There were even thoughtful demos that showed the systems at work in the real world improving the quality of lives that we lead. Solutions ranging from Healthcare to Real time analytics to help govern a state. Totally mind-boggling stuff.
Vanitha N, who Heads IBM in India started with an informative keynote. She told us the various ways in which cloud adoption can leverage massive data analysis to improve decision making. That is where IBM’s Watson platform adds immense power. There are instances like the IBM Metro Pulse that can help you to quite literally read your city’s pulse and make business decisions based on what is going on in the city now. Smart Cities make businesses run smarter and this was a great example of that.
There are Watson applications that are currently helping doctors treat heart ailments and even cancer, where they augment the doctor’s knowledge with Watson’s cognitive edge and make analysis and inference very fast and efficient, this in turn saves many many lives.
There is a company called Talview that is using the Watson API on the cloud to support hiring in corporates. The system starts from identifying the right candidate to fit your requirement to supporting the entire hiring and resource management cycle. This is something that large companies will find particularly useful and very profitable.
The good folks at TechZert are using Watson to help the government to Rajasthan to make better governance and workflow optimizations with real time data analysis support. This is currently live and the CM of the state is actively involved in the implementation.
These are just a few examples. There was so much to learn and absorb that it will be impossible to fit it into one blog post here. But overall, I am not going to miss a single IBM Cloud event henceforth. The value proposition from a technology takeaway angle is too good to pass up. You should come too, try it once and you will be hooked! See you there next time!
