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Technology can drive significant business change and innovation

HAMILTON RATSHEFOLAChief information officers, supported by technology, can use in-house skills to improve productivity and client experience

HAMILTON RATSHEFOLAChief information officers, supported by technology, can use in-house skills to improve productivity and client experience

6th September 2013

By: Schalk Burger

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

  

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Technology can help companies improve business process cycle times, mitigate risks and exposures, while increasing throughput and profitability of enterprises, says information technology giant IBM South Africa sales director Hamilton Ratshefola.

Competition is fierce in most industries and there are limited productivity improvements to be gleaned from human skills alone. However, supported by technology that can process mundane tasks much faster than people can, chief information officers can use in-house skills to improve productivity and client experience, as well as gain and conduct more business quicker.

“Banks, for example, are concerned about their cost-to-income ratio. However, some banks can take up to eight hours to capture a new banking customer. Technology can reduce this cycle time to 15 minutes, enabling the bank to gain and serve more customers while reducing the workload of employees. The bank can, subsequently, also move skills to other productive and less mundane areas.”

Insurance companies use predictive analytics tools, which are information technology programs that analyse and compare data to predetermined trends and tolerances. The analytics tool matches claims against client history to differentiate between claims that can be processed quickly and those that require more investigation.

“The insurance company’s analytics tool weighs my status as a client against my previous claims, the sizes of the claims and my contribution history to determine whether it is profitable for the company to pay out my claim quickly, if I were a good customer, or whether further investigation is necessary, if I have a history of late payments of monthly instalments.

“By quickly analysing incoming claim variables against fixed points of measurement, the company can provide better service for existing customers, enabling better client experience and retention. It can also reduce the need to pay for the claimant’s expenses during the claims process, reducing costs to company,” Ratshefola explains.

The insurance company is paying out more claims and making more money by using technology systems to gain a competitive advantage, he emphasises.

Technology does not necessarily replace people or remove skills, but rather enables the use of skills more effectively to boost productivity.

“Banks should also use analytics tools to detect fraud, as these crimes often damage customer experience irreparably. However, by using a tool that analyses a client’s habitual spending points, any transactions in areas where no previous transaction history is present can trigger a query or confirmation request by the bank, reducing fraud.”

“Mines in Australia are more profitable than South African mines, despite both countries’ mines receiving the same international prices for their ore. This is partly because Australian mines are significantly more automated.”

Automation removes people from performing mundane and dangerous jobs, especially underground. However, these machines and systems require operators, maintenance staff, component manufacturers and engineers, besides others, while improving the output of the mine, he says.

“The relevance of technology is its ability to reduce the cycle times of business processes, improve business functions, jump-start innovation and adaptation and develop new processes and techniques, as well as improve customer experience and retention, leading to more robust companies,” concludes Ratshefola.

Story highlights:

* Companies should use technology more effectively to boost their business processes, gain more business and improve customer experience.
* Technology does not replace people or remove skills, but rather enables the use of skills more effectively to boost productivity.

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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