The leading real estate developer wanted to increase its share of its domestic real estate market by taking on additional builds each year without increasing headcount. The company was facing challenges with its manual, paper-based processes which were time-consuming and increased the risk of misplacing key approval documents. This reduced the company's ability to ensure that materials reached construction sites in a timely manner. The company decided to replace as many manual processes as possible with automated, integrated business processes.

The major utility organization aimed to expand its services to new regions in its domestic market while continually enhancing customer services. To achieve these goals, the company wanted to ensure that it could onboard and manage new suppliers and customers without impacting service quality. The company decided to upgrade its SAP solutions – used by thousands of employees across the business – to the latest versions. The organization targeted a fresh IT infrastructure to support the new requirements.

Mizuho Bank, Ltd.’s aging system lacked the flexibility and support necessary to meet its goals of delivering an improved customer experience through its services and enhancing business continuity while decreasing IT costs. The bank wanted to make better use of advanced risk management capabilities and offer industry knowledge to help develop new products and offerings and expand to non-Japanese overseas customers. Another priority for Mizuho was establishing a platform that provided stability and continuity while creating new, innovative Internet and mobile services at a low cost and within a short development and deployment window.

Navneet Education Limited, the publishing arm of Navneet Group, aimed to expand its operations across its domestic market in India. However, the company lacked an accurate, comprehensive view of its operational costs, which limited its ability to allocate the necessary investment to pursue growth opportunities. The manufacturing, sales, and accounting functions of the publishing business operated independently of one another, making the process of gathering data for group financial reporting complex and time-consuming. This process involved collating information from across the business held in multiple different spreadsheets and emails.

NetApp Customer Success Services (CSS) provides around-the-clock support for customers using NetApp comprehensive storage and data management solutions. To assess and solve technical issues, the NetApp CSS team needs to acquire specific information from their customers. The key artifact needed is the core file – a log that is created when a program encounters an error and terminates unexpectedly – which is then analyzed to discover the root of the problem and develop a diagnosis and repair plan. Previously, NetApp used a web-based upload site (HTTPS) to upload clients’ core files. However, the upload site could only support transfer of files up to 4 GB in size; anything larger would fail. This became a critical problem when customers presented core files of up to 130 GB. As a last resort for high-priority cases, NetApp occasionally retrieved core files by sending a support engineer to the customer site to physically load the data onto a drive. But this method was expensive, time consuming and did not meet the stringent security that NetApp requires.

Resene Paints Ltd., a multinational paint manufacturer, developed a cloud-based online tool to help customers accurately and efficiently estimate paint volumes for large-scale construction projects. The manufacturer’s small IT department sought a simple, cost-effective solution for publishing onsite data to the application’s cloud-hosted database. They needed a solution that would not only be efficient but also reduce the ongoing costs for the offering, including development, licensing, and support.

SunTrust, a leading retail bank based in Atlanta, GA, recognized that the changing regulatory environment presented both a challenge and an opportunity. The bank had to move quickly to meet a range of data-driven reporting requirements, including liquidity capital, risk-adjusted return on capital (RAROC), comprehensive capital analysis and review (CCAR), Basel III and more. One of the challenges identified was the separation of finance and risk communities in the organization. Because each community had traditionally used its own systems and processes for reporting, there were often different definitions for similar metrics, even if the underlying data for the calculations was derived from identical source systems. The result was a different version of the truth in each business area—leading to a reporting process that was complex, time-consuming and error-prone.

Amica, a mutual insurer providing auto, home, and life insurance, was facing issues with its software deployment processes. The company's environment included numerous web services, multiple web apps, and core applications. With dozens of developers checking in code, deploying the correct version of each service and application to multiple test, production, and backup environments had become extremely difficult. The process of ensuring the proper version of the right code was installed correctly on each environment had become a logistical nightmare. When issues arose with the deployment, they were often caused by application inconsistencies, rather than a code defect.

HANSA-FLEX, a hydraulics specialist, differentiates itself through the speed of its logistics processes. However, as the business grew, it faced the challenge of ensuring that its SAP landscape would keep up the pace. The company's previous server landscape, which was based on larger, monolithic servers, needed regular upgrades, which could lead to downtime. This was a significant challenge as HANSA-FLEX uses SAP ERP applications to operate a global network of branches and a fleet of express vehicles that enable its technicians to respond rapidly to failures and maintenance requests. The company needed a more flexible, modular configuration, where it could expand capacity as needed with minimal impact on its 12 production systems.

The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU) needed to satisfy customer demand for access to financial services anytime, anywhere, through any device. The bank sought to launch these new services using only its existing IT assets. In today’s banking environment financial institutions compete on the ability to quickly launch products and services and deliver them through new channels. As BTMU developed a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) platform to realize this “cloud-banking” concept it found that long-term effective use of existing business systems and information was essential. The bank's biggest priority was to ensure zero impact on existing systems.

Technopolis, a leading consumer technology and domestic electricals retail chain in Bulgaria, was facing challenges with its online sales. Despite the growing popularity of online sales, customers were frustrated by poor web performance as the back-end systems struggled under high demand. Marketing teams were unable to connect online and instore promotions, resulting in missed sales opportunities. The company wanted to introduce true omni-channel retailing, enabling customers to browse and buy from both online and offline stores interchangeably, with integrated marketing and promotions. However, its current software and systems landscape could not deliver the required omni-channel capabilities.

Five healthcare facilities were all looking to establish themselves as fully functioning Patient-Centered Medical Homes (PCMH). The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) PCMH recognition program is the most widely adopted model for transforming primary care practices in ways that mutually benefit patients and providers while improving outcomes. Organizations that achieve PCMH recognition establish the foundation to succeed as accountable care organizations and clinically integrated networks, earn reimbursements such as Medicare’s new Chronic Care Management (CCM) fee, and qualify for financial incentives from commercial and government payers. Increasingly, clients of Watson Health™ are large healthcare systems or provider organizations that have entered value-based contracts with payers and employers to deliver on explicit Triple Aim metrics. The principles, competencies, and activities of the PCMH model are widely accepted as the bedrock of provider-driven population health management, and essential for practice transformation and sustained performance.

Kutxabank, a Spanish bank, faced a significant challenge after a four-way consolidation among rival financial institutions. The bank needed to integrate IT for all four banks, rationalize datacenters, and enable mobility, all while ensuring no data loss and no downtime for core systems. This integration included the core systems as well as the technology that touched customers and employees. The bank’s 8,000 workstations and 2,000 ATMs needed to be integrated with no disruption to the 6,500 employees or 2.8 million customers. Furthermore, all the bank’s technology had to be geared to a data-dependent future.

UmbraGroup, an Italian manufacturer, is a strategic supplier to aerospace companies globally. The company's clients depend on UmbraGroup’s high-precision mechanical components to keep their aircraft in the air and their machinery running. In today’s operating environment of just-in-time supply chain management, these companies demand a lot from their suppliers. UmbraGroup needed to ensure its resiliency as a key supplier. The importance of resiliency for UmbraGroup took on added urgency as it began acquiring new operations, including two manufacturers in Germany and one in the United States. The company had to ensure the worldwide availability of their systems across multiple time zones, well beyond their headquarters and main datacenter in Foligno. In addition to the usual resiliency challenges, earthquakes are a fact of life in central Italy. UmbraGroup needed to be sure that even an earthquake won’t stop production and shipment to clients.

Continuum Managed Services, LLC was preparing to launch its new Continuity247 backup and disaster recovery solution. For this, the company needed a scalable, highly reliable cloud hosting platform that could support compliance requirements for financial and healthcare users. The platform needed to offer performance, flexibility, a well-established brand, and international data center locations.

Epic Piping, a startup company, saw the opportunity to build a multi-million-dollar business. However, the challenge was to create an enterprise-scale operation in a matter of 12 to 18 months. The company needed to focus on its core business – winning customers and establishing its manufacturing credentials – as well as removing administrative barriers. Selecting, implementing and configuring business management solutions, such as financial and logistics systems, threatened to drain valuable time and energy. Epic Piping looked for a business partner that could address business management issues and allow the team to devote itself to building the company. Additionally, Epic Piping was keen to avoid the capital outlay of implementing an ERP solution on fixed server hardware, and to avoid the ongoing costs of hiring an IT team to administer and maintain the system.

Factor-y S.r.l., a web portal developer, was faced with the challenge of migrating its development infrastructure to a reliable cloud services provider with highly responsive technical support. The company needed a solution that would not only provide a secure and reliable environment but also support its expansion by providing resources to create and deliver innovative offerings.

The German Climate Computing Center (DKRZ) is a national facility based in Hamburg, Germany. The organization provides high-performance computing and storage resources to scientists examining the Earth’s climate system, addressing global climate change and its regional effects. With an estimated annual growth rate of 75 PB over the next five years, DKRZ needed to upgrade to a more powerful storage solution. Michael Böttinger, Group Head of Visualization and Public Relations at DKRZ, says: “Storing and retrieving data efficiently is absolutely essential for our HPC systems to always deliver the best performance for scientists. To continue providing world-class high-performance computing systems, we needed an equally world-class data archiving system.”

Grace Co., Ltd., a leading fashion accessory design group, was aiming to standardize its business processes and systems to drive its global growth. However, the company realized that deploying the physical server, storage, and networking infrastructure to support the new way of working would incur significant capital costs. The company was also facing challenges with multiple business systems which increased the time required to extract actionable insights from business data and introduced the risk of inaccurate data entering the reporting process.

The leading chemicals manufacturer was facing challenges in gaining fast insight required to boost business performance and profitability due to staff and systems spread across many different business units. The company was also experiencing availability problems, often having to take the system offline for software upgrades, back-ups and patches. The company's SAP application user base was expected to grow by several thousand users due to internal reorganization, making capturing operational insights even more difficult. The company recognized the need to reduce downtime, and ensure high availability and reliability for users, and looked for a stable platform it could rely on to keep operations running smoothly around the clock.

Enterprises are increasingly looking to focus on business outcomes rather than infrastructure. However, they often face challenges when it comes to outsourcing their infrastructure, particularly when it comes to moving mission-critical applications running on the IBM AIX and IBM i operating systems. Finding an external hosting partner with the necessary skills and enterprise-class support can be difficult, and migrating these core business systems to another, less reliable platform is not a viable option. In this context, Logicalis US saw an opportunity to create an enterprise-class cloud based on IBM Power Systems servers to address these outsourcing challenges, as well as providing a high-quality option for businesses requiring offsite backup and disaster recovery capabilities.

Tabicel, a construction company, aimed to expand its precast concrete materials business. However, the company's IT support teams were often occupied with the maintenance and management of a slow, costly, and inflexible infrastructure which hosted the company’s core SAP Business One platform. This prevented employees from focusing on higher-value activities. To support its newly launched three-year growth plan based on the delivery of eco-friendly products, Tabicel needed to optimize the use of its internal resources, cut costs, and boost productivity.

A U.S. government organization was struggling with a sprawling, inefficient data storage infrastructure due to years of deploying disk arrays on a project-by-project basis. Each application had a separately managed silo of storage that could not be shared with new applications. These islands of storage were either bursting at the seams or significantly under-utilized, causing performance issues or representing wasted investment. The costs for acquiring and operating storage systems from multiple different vendors were high and rising, and the organization recognized that its unplanned approach to data storage was unsustainable. The need to maintain multiple different hardware and software configurations meant that operating costs for storage were too high. The organization also had islands of both under- and over-utilization: a large proportion of its investment in storage capacity was doing no useful work while in other areas it was struggling to scale its arrays to meet growing needs.

Vestel Elektronik, a leading producer of consumer electronics, was looking to expand into the fast-growing Central European markets. However, the company faced challenges in minimizing cost, risk, and time-to-market when opening new business units. The company's operations in Italy, Spain, and the UK were managed independently within the group, each with its own separate business processes and systems. This siloed approach was identified as costly, complex, and time-consuming, especially when establishing new operating units. Vestel Elektronik decided to create standardized business processes that could act as a template for operations in new markets.

The 2013 merger between Edward Hospital & Health Services and Elmhurst Memorial Healthcare created one of the largest health systems in Illinois. As is often the case with this type of amalgamation, executives of the newly named Edward-Elmhurst Healthcare faced numerous integration challenges and had to determine the best way to maximize each organization’s strengths. One of the challenges was deciding on a cardiology system. Before the merger, both hospitals used Merge’s cardiology solutions, Merge Cardio™ and Merge Hemo™, for a single web-based view of each patient’s complete record. The decision to continue using these products was an easy one, says Jeff Hanson, manager of imaging informatics at Edward-Elmhurst Healthcare, since users at both locations are delighted with their performance.

The social services organization for a German city was facing challenges in managing child welfare services as demand grew in size and complexity. Much of its case management work was still paper-based so if a child moved, or a case manager left the organization or went on vacation, paperwork might not be transferred, or the case could be lost. Service provider selection was based on case manager experience and intuition rather than on systematic matching of providers with children’s needs. A lack of integration between case management and provider payment systems meant that payments might continue long after service provision stopped or after a child had moved or left the system.

The public sector organization was unknowingly under attack. An attacker was attempting to stealthily exfiltrate confidential information from a highly sensitive asset that was not considered at risk. The organization's log-based security information and event management (SIEM) solution from its managed security services provider was incapable of detecting such stealth attacks. This posed a significant challenge as the organization was at risk of losing confidential data and was vulnerable to further undiscovered activity by the attacker.

Jefferies, a leading financial institution, was under pressure to defend its market share and sharpen its competitive edge in challenging times for the Prime Broker industry. The company aimed to enhance its offering by providing hedge-fund clients with deeper, more accurate insights into risk across their portfolios at lower cost. The company was looking for ways to improve its reports detailing the risk exposure across their portfolios, by incorporating more detail and raising accuracy. The company was also looking to reduce its reliance on its incumbent market-data provider.

Streebo Inc., a developer of mobile technology solutions, conceptualized a new chatbot accelerator solution but needed the right technology and support to bring this new tool to market. Many of the company’s existing customers had already approached the business, requesting digital transformation apps that included chatbot and messaging functionality. However, the process of delivering on these requests was less than ideal. To bring this breakthrough accelerator to market, Streebo needed the right technology and the right partner.

The HR services company, an IBM client, was facing the challenge of understanding the factors underlying personal employment choices. They wanted to offer their clients unprecedented insight into what motivates employees and prospective job candidates. However, their existing systems were not capable of handling the surging data volumes collected from a wide range of different data sources. With the total volume likely to keep on growing, the firm looked for a solution that could meet current needs and scale to meet tomorrow’s demands.