Wireless Wednesday Exclusive: Briana Frank, Director IBM Cloud

In a recent survey from IBM, U.S. consumers said they are feeling slightly more festive for the 2021 holiday season than they were in 2020, and are reporting higher household budget allocation for travel and local activities. In fact, consumers started buying presents weeks ago and have been planning their travel earlier than usual. In the wake of potential supply chain delays, its clear consumers are eager to get their holiday gifts in advance and following last year’s holiday season, they’re looking forward to spending time with loved ones near and far. With expectations of a frictionless, safe, secure and fulfilling shopping and travel experience, technology is going to play an important role in transforming the end-to-end experience for consumers this holiday season.

So Rick is joined by Briana Frank, Director, IBM Cloud.

This holiday season, travel and retail companies must remember that although consumers are looking to avoid the usual holiday pains - such as endless checkout lines or difficulty renting a car - they are still prioritizing safety as the US continues to navigate COVID-19. As these industries face higher consumer demand compared to last year, they need to take advantage of technology, like hybrid cloud, to address the various needs of today’s consumers – both in person and online.

Here's the interview:

Throughout the pandemic, companies across industries have been challenged to remain agile and flexible and as a result, brands across the globe have turned to IBM to accelerate their hybrid cloud strategies. On the back-end, an enormous effort is underway to modernize operations to address the rapidly changing consumer travel experience. Travel companies are accelerating years’ worth of digital transformation into months - revamping entire tech stacks to deliver better, frictionless customer experiences in the new normal. At the same time, retailers are adopting strong, hybrid cloud strategies that can allow them to adapt to greater market shifts and keep up with consumers.

A few examples of how businesses are shifting and addressing these trends with technology include:

Retailers Adopt Hybrid Cloud: Virgin Megastore KSA, a major entertainment retailer in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is migrating its SAP ERP application workloads to IBM Cloud as part of its hybrid cloud strategy. With a secured and open hybrid cloud approach from IBM, the retailer aims to significantly reduce administration and reporting time, allowing their sales team to stay focused on driving client experiences.

Travel Companies Take to the Cloud: EGYPTAIR, one of the world’s pioneer airlines, is taking a hybrid cloud approach to scale and modernize EGYPTAIR Duty-Free back-end operations and enhance the customer retail experience. Leveraging IBM Watson Assistant on IBM Cloud they have transformed the travel shopping experience.  

Topics:

How have consumer trends changed due to the pandemic?

How are retailers and travel companies adjusting to these trends and shifting demands?

What is hybrid cloud, and how will it impact consumers this holiday season?

What are some of the benefits retailers and travel companies have seen with the adoption of various technologies?

What other technologies are impacting these industries?

Where can viewers go for more information?

For more information please visit: https://www.ibm.com/cloud