Firm launches 10 new Experience labs globally, adds 1,000 employees
IBM announced plans to commit more than $100 million to globally expand its consulting services capability to help clients with experience design and engagement. As part of the investment, the company will open 10 new IBM Interactive Experience labs around the world and plans to add 1,000 employees to create new, personalized models of engagement through data and design.
Located in Bangalore, Beijing, Groningen, London, Melbourne, Mexico City, New York, Sao Paulo, Shanghai, and Tokyo, the new labs provide clients with the opportunity to work side-by-side with researchers and consultants as well as experts in experience design, mobile and digital marketing.
"We're seeing such a shift in the marketplace and in our discussions with clients. In our last C-suite study, 55 percent of executives say consumers are now the biggest drivers of strategy outside of the C-suite," says Shannon Miller, Global Strategy, IBM Interactive Experience. "We really wanted to create something new that was going to drive customer experience for our clients and help them create better customer experiences for their customers."
These multi-discipline teams analyze business challenges and jointly create solutions that integrate next-generation mobile, social, analytics and cloud technologies. IBM plans to open additional labs in the future to support the global demand for data-driven experiences.
"We think what we're doing is very unique; we think it's something only we can do," Miller says. "We're pulling together our management consultant and systems integration teams together with our creative and design talent and then infusing that with IBM Research."
IBM spends billions of dollars annually on research, and Miller says about a quarter of that will now go towards the experience and engagement notion around customers. Now, IBM is announcing ten more labs worldwide. Miller will oversee the rollout of these new labs, which will enable companies to engage with their customers in entirely new ways, he says.
Researchers within the IBM Interactive Experience are developing capabilities to harness the value of data to help clients create personalized experiences, while designers within IBM Interactive Experience are working directly with clients to develop the design that makes a difference in business outcomes.
Both elements hinge on insights IBM converts from data—including information on individual decisions, choices, preferences and attitudes, Miller says.
In addition to the 10 new labs and four existing locations in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, and Toronto, clients can partner with IBM Interactive Experience teams in IBM Research Labs in 12 locations around the world.
Along with the new facilities, IBM also unveiled new data-driven innovations from the IBM Interactive Experience that help business leaders gain deeper insights into individuals and transform the way customers experience their products, services and brands. IBM researchers invented unique algorithms that conduct the analysis for these new capabilities:
• Intelligent Customer Profiles is an analytics-driven solution that enables consumers to directly manage the personal information companies use to provide them services.
• Influence Analysis is an analytical approach that goes beyond basic social media influencer scoring to identify individuals who influence other consumers related to a specific topic.
• Customer Identity Resolution is a rules-based matching toolkit that helps enterprises build a broader understanding of who their customers are by connecting information across different data sources such as customer relationship management (CRM) records, social media accounts and other profile information.
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