Unlocking the power of your data
The market is shifting with incredible speed. Digital banks and new providers are bringing new products and offers to market, opening new market segments filled with consumers who are looking for enhanced, mobile-first experiences. Right now, you may be trying to provide customers with a richer experience – and customer’s expectations are rapidly changing and increasing.
Your customers are now used to information on-demand and expect an experience that is curated for them, allowing instant access to their historical financial records and preferences. They don’t want their phone call to be placed on hold while a human looks up their information. Increasingly, your customers want to self-direct their interactions with their financial institutions. And these expectations are no longer an opportunity for businesses to differentiate themselves with; they are the baseline.
In an environment where ‘good’ is the bare minimum, how can you offer your customers that next level of customer experience?
One of the most powerful ways to create enhanced experiences that delight your customers is to transform your data and feed real-time analytics.
You will likely have massive volumes of data in legacy systems, siloed applications, Data Lakes and others. This information is valuable – but it’s information with inconsistent protocols and complexity. So how do you turn legacy data stores, inconsistent language protocols and increased complexity into the data that you need, when you need it, accessed across the entire organisation?
The opportunity lies in Data in Motion, the evolution of an Operational Data Store which gives you a Data Fabric that is flexible and always-on. This takes the business beyond Digital Transformation and into Data Transformation, which enables you to provide customers with the next level of insight – insights derived from their data and the data you already have – real-time.
And now that you know what you want to create, the key to success is choosing the right technology provider to partner with.
So what are some of the key attributes of a successful technology partner?
- Understands regulation and governance
In your financial services business, regulations change constantly, and the pandemic has highlighted the need for more transparency in data. One of the things to look for in a technology partner is a provider who has experience in managing highly sensitive, heavily regulated data systems which serve audit governance as part of a platform integration and not an add-on.
2. Has exceptional customer service
It’s your data. A provider who understands that is key to helping you unlock the true potential of it. Look for a technology company who builds their solutions around their customers and makes you the highest priority.
3. Simplifies architecture, not complicates it
Reliable data delivery comes down to the millisecond. That’s how long you have to respond to what’s driving your customers back to you. Look for a provider who understands that a smaller tech stack is better for your business and beware of the provider who builds you a tower-to-nowhere and leaves you with expensive, unused parts of your system.
4. Wants to partner with you, not ‘sell’ to you
Some open-source and cloud native solutions opt for a service subscription model – which seems appealing at first, but you might find yourself left on your own in the long term. When a provider wants to partner with you, they want to work by your side to build and deliver the most value to you and your organisation as a whole. They measure their success by your success.
- Has innovation in their DNA
Now is the time when providers who are always seeking to innovate are really getting noticed. Look for demonstrated proof of innovation as well as a culture of innovation. It’s not just about keeping up with customer demands – it’s about anticipating those demands before they happen – and that is what delivers a differentiating customer experience. Companies who have innovation at their core will always drive you forward on your transformation journey.
No matter what stage of the transformation journey you’re in, choosing the right technology provider is pivotal to your customer experience. With the right technology partner, you can achieve greater efficiencies in resources and enhanced customer experience – the two don’t have to be mutually exclusive. Chosen wisely, the right technology provider can be the difference between winning in the turns versus falling behind.
To learn more about InterSystems and the ways we’re helping organisations turn their data into great experiences, take a look at InterSystems IRIS Data System or drop Michael a line
