Author: Andrew Dvirnyk

For many of us in the business of providing and working with technology solutions, mainframes are the old standbys that we love to hate. Sometimes, mainframes feel like the dinosaurs the next generation of developers and engineers joke that they are. But in truth, with the right solutions, mainframes can run smarter and more efficiently.

But it is not all about cheering the virtues of the mainframes that some still see as a necessary evil in our day-to-day operations. Let’s take a moment to look at how, with the right tools, we can resolve mainframe issues and free up time for our engineers, programmers, and technology managers, to get back to the reasons we all do this work.

Once we solve the common mainframe issues that slow us down, by implementing DevOps, we are able to return to the business of being creative and innovative. We can explore how automation opens up new avenues. And we can do more, better, faster, all while knowing that we no longer need to worry about mainframe issues that threaten to stop us in our tracks and keep us from running our operations smoothly.

What is DevOps?

DevOps is flexible. It taps into the scalability, flexibility, and agility that we most often associate with cloud computing and open source development solutions. With DevOps, therefore, we see that we are able to improve efficiencies in real and important ways that matter not only to the business on a large scale, but to the everyday life of everyone who works with the mainframe.

First and foremost, DevOps enables us to meet one of the most common challenges we all face. It helps us to develop software faster. Great, you might be thinking, but I am concerned with how to solve the immediate challenges that I am facing now. While it is interesting to think ahead, you may be saying, I just need to get through my day.

This is an excellent point, and a challenge that we help our clients face. Even though it is part of our ethos as programmers and engineers, to think ahead to future solutions, we are here to help you solve problems now, so we can all free up space to design the future together.

That is why it is time to look at how DevOps makes every day more efficient and more productive. Simply put, DevOps makes it possible to deploy updates faster. And, solving one of the most common issues that threatens productivity (and frustrates us all!), DevOps also makes it possible to dispatch fixes faster.

Better, Stronger, Faster

In many ways, DevOps implementation moves mainframes out of the old idea that they are rigid, slow, and laborious to maintain and manage. The new era DevOps brings all of our cloud knowledge, open source creativity, and automation power, to resolve mainframe issues. DevOps enables us to have more reliable mainframes.

And it makes those mainframes easier to service. At the same time, and this is important for all of us, DevOps also allows us to provide on-demand solutions. One of the chief complaints about mainframes is that they are harbingers of the old era. Now, our technology world is defined by smart solutions that allow us to deploy creative, flexible solutions in near real-time.

These are the kinds of solutions that we can all get excited about. And, taken together, we have found one approach (DevOps) that allows us to be better, faster, and stronger. All the while, we are decreasing costs over time, and increasing efficiencies almost immediately.

Let’s take a deeper dive into the specifics of how DevOps really is stronger, better, and faster. And what that means for your business on the day-to-day, and as you continue to grow.

Move Beyond Manual Operations

We all know (too well) how taxing manual operations can be. In our new world of innovation and efficiency, there is little room for the manual operations that slow us down. And, frankly, bore us, and prevent us from flexing our muscle as developers and engineers.

So, what does DevOps do to help us move beyond manual operations? It frees us up from having to do manual code building to resolve mainframe issues or enable new solutions. It allows for environment setups that make it easier to do what you need, more quickly, and to customize responses, outputs, and solutions.

Further, moving beyond manual operations allows for the installation of a new level of code. All of that, clearly, benefits those of us who work with mainframes day-to-day. It also improves the functionality of the mainframe, and the technology solutions overall. It does this in the immediate, and over time, because of the flexibility that we are now able to access, deploy, and scale. To ensure these kinds of future-forward benefits, DevOps also includes all levels of testing.

Shorten Deployment Cycles

Now, we all understand that if we really want to move into the future, we need to get there faster. We need to start to bring the future to us. That is why one of the chief benefits of DevOps, as we see it, is that is shortens the deployment cycle.

In these cases, we are looking at deployment cycles of one month, or even deployment cycles of one week. That is a major difference from standard expectations without solutions like DevOps.

Improve Control

When it comes to control, we encounter one of the biggest frustrations that we all associate with mainframes. Namely, that, while current sets of programs like SCLMs (Software Configuration and Library Manager) may work, they are not at all integrated with modern technologies.

On the other hand, DevOps solutions focus version control for mainframes that fully integrates with the scope and pace of modern technologies. This means that you can expect more from your mainframe. And it will deliver.

With improved control for mainframes, we see yet another opportunity to increase efficiency, lower costs across the board, and free up time and resources to focus on doing new, better, and more creative work.

Embrace Automation

Whether we are talking about control, troubleshooting, or customization, automation is at the forefront of our minds as we develop and deploy technologies across business platforms. So, of course, when it comes to working with mainframes and providing solutions for improved responses and efficiencies, it is necessary to look at how to bring automation into play. At the same time, that automation must not, for any reason, reduce quality or reliability.

This is where DevOps for mainframes offers additional value. Even with a limited set of automation tools, we know that we are able to deliver more for less cost and in a shorter amount of time. This brings together the overall benefits of DevOps for mainframe, while also introducing automation into a space that has been lacking.

This is where DevOps for mainframes offers additional value. Even with a limited set of automation tools, we know that we are able to deliver more for less cost and in a shorter amount of time. This brings together the overall benefits of DevOps for mainframe, while also introducing automation into a space that has been lacking.

Excite the Next Generation

So, it seems that working with a mainframe does not mean that you are in the dinosaur days, after all. Rather, the mainframes that we all have to deal with have become a new landscape of opportunities for creative solutions that make us able to do our jobs, faster, smarter, and better than we once were able to do.

This is good news for our next generation of programmers, engineers, and technology managers. Let’s face it, it’s not easy to attract talent using the promise of working on mainframes! Now, on the other hand, we have simple, smart, future-forward solutions like DevOps, that changes the game. And this helps us to get the next generation excited about taking on the responsibilities and challenges associated with mainframes.

It assures creative programming and engineering talent that there is a place for new ideas and new projects. And it not only acknowledges, but it embraces the open source mentality that the next generation (and certainly some of us “more experienced” older folks) gets excited about. Ideas about flexibility, innovation, and agility do not have to be separate from work with (and work on) mainframes. In fact, it is just the opposite.

In this new context, we are giving the next generation a newly improved canvas to work with and to put their stamp of creativity on. With DevOps, we are giving them the opportunity to experiment with open source tools on mainframe. It is the best of both worlds. And the future is ripe for innovation that brings better functionality, and better experiences to everyone who uses the systems, and to all our businesses.

What’s Next?

In our next article, we are taking a closer look at DevOps from the inside out. We are going into the what, why, and how of the DevOps value as an agile solution, and a smart addition for your business.

Looking ahead, in our series on DevOps and the New Mainframe, we will be taking you behind the scenes, where we will walk you through everything from APIs to zSystems, and talk about the mainframe DevOps lifecycle and what that means for you.

Finally, we wrap up our series with more on how DevOps helps us at IBA bring to life our mission to Co-create a SMART future. A future that, like IBA, is Sustainable, Multi-faceted, Automated, Reliable, and Trusted.

Author: Andrew Dvirnyk

In honor of Labor Day here in the US, we are outlining four ways to improve employee satisfaction. Regardless of organization size, you can design ways to educate, train, and empower employees.

But that is just the start. Building a community for and with your employees inside the organization and in local areas where you work is key. Creating and sustaining a community with your employees helps to develop the kind of holistic experiences – and satisfaction – that makes employees proud to be part of your team. And invested in staying with you for the future.

Educate Employees

Truly successful individuals and organizations never stop learning. The never-stop-learning mentality is especially important in the IT field, where innovations and advancements happen at a fast pace.

One way to build employee satisfaction, individual employee confidence, and an overall stronger organization, is to offer ongoing opportunities for employee education. A great way to offer educational opportunities to your employees is to collaborate with colleges and universities. Connect your employees with relevant courses or certifications.

But do not stop with building the relationship with colleges and universities. Make sure you are doing all you can to make it possible for your employees to reach their educational goals. That may mean building more flexible schedules or offering tuition remission. Before you offer education opportunities to your employees, make sure you can offer what you want (and what they want) both from a cost perspective and a time perspective.

Of course, education, and the never-stop-learning mindset extend beyond individual employees. Brainstorm ways you can provide value to local colleges and universities. For our part, we cooperate with universities through R&D labs and training courses. We participate in conferences and workshops and support inter-university programming competitions.

We also look to those same local schools when we want to hire interns. When you have an established relationship with a school, you get stronger internship candidates. It becomes much easier to find the right fit for your organization. Then, those same interns may become long-term employees, who have felt like they are a vital part of your organization since they were in school. That is the kind of employee satisfaction – and employee loyalty – you can’t put a price on.

Train Employees

If employee satisfaction is a priority for your organization, make a commitment to help your employees do their best every day. This goes beyond motivation in the general sense. Make a commitment to provide your employees with the ongoing professional development and training that keep them at the top of their game.

The value to your organization speaks for itself. The better able your employees are to do their jobs, the better it is for you. But take a deeper look and see how training improves confidence, teamwork, quality, and efficiency across your organization. When you look at it this way, investments in training are an obvious choice for your overall organizational health.

Of course, not all training is equal. Be sure you are seeking the right opportunities for your employees, so you are not wasting their time or yours. Look at innovations in your industry. Think about the skill sets you most need on your team. For guidance in choosing the right training for your employees, start by looking at member associations in your field.

Empower Employees

Education and training lead to empowerment. And empowered employees are motivated, successful, loyal employees. In addition to training and education in IT skills, we offer foreign language training to our employees to help them connect with our clients across the globe, and to add value to their overall employee experience.

Think about ways you can empower your employees beyond the immediate skill requirements for their positions. Whether you have returned to office, or you are managing a remote workforce, you have a variety of ways to improve the daily working lives of your employees and to empower them. If employees are on-site, invest in fitness centers and outdoor space where employees can improve wellness and their sense of camaraderie. In remote work scenarios, consider partnering with local fitness centers for discounts for your employees, or providing vouchers. Design ways for remote employees to connect with each other to offer support and to collaborate on projects so they feel empowered as part of a team.

Create Community

Remember that your employees are people. The more supported they feel as individuals, and the more pride they take as productive members of a team, the more value they bring to your organization. Employee satisfaction improves when your employees notice that you recognize them as individuals, and valued members of your team.

Create community with that in mind. Our employees enjoy participating in sporting competitions, attending retreats, and going on tours together. Think about what resonates with your team – or better yet – ask your employees what they want to do together.

And finally, think about the world outside your business. Remind your employees (and your executive teams) that we are all part of a larger society; and we are stronger when we work to improve that society. Think about CSR not just as another organization goal, but as a way of connecting your employees with each other and with local and global communities. Then work together to make things better inside the office and out.

Author: Andrew Dvirnyk

This Thursday is Thanksgiving in the US. One thing we appreciate about this holiday – and this entire time of year – is that it gives us the opportunity to pause and reflect on what we are grateful for.

As we take this time, we realize that we are grateful for so many things. And they all start in the same place: with our customers. We invite you to take a moment and reflect with us as we celebrate how our customers have helped us grow. And how they continue to open up new opportunities for our teams this year and beyond.

Customers Stretch the Boundaries of Our Creativity

As needs continue to evolve, and technology evolves to meet those needs, creativity becomes more important than ever. Over the course of this year, our clients have come to us with a broad range of needs and goals.

Simply put, we all deserve more than plug-and-play solutions. We deserve customized solutions that utilize technology to create real improvements for consumers, employees, commuters, and patrons. But how can we create solutions with those qualities if we don’t take the time to listen and collaborate? So, we thank our clients for having real conversations with us. For letting us get a peek inside their worlds, to learn more about what their customers need, and what the success of their operations demand.

Inspire Us to Build Stronger Employee Experiences

Working with so many different types of businesses that have a wide range of responsibilities both in-house and to their customers, demonstrates the importance of employee experience. No organization can succeed without a backbone of a strong, positive employee experience.

In many cases, we are able to utilize technology to help organizations improve experiences for their employees. With our help, organizations improve efficiency, and free up time for employees to engage in more creative work that enables them to have a bigger impact on their company and the clients they serve.

With everything from applications for mainframe, to cloud hosting, and SAP integration, we work to improve employee environments, enhance employee experiences, and create spaces for professionals to tap into their creativity and apply their talents in new ways.

In turn, working with clients that challenge and inspire us, helps to improve our own employees’ experiences. From taking advantage of training and community-building exercises to the day-to-day work delivering new, creative solutions for our customers, our own employees feel engaged and excited about the work we do. And that is directly because of our customers!

Co-Create the SMART Future We Envision

Finally, we are most grateful to our customers for entrusting us to co-create the future we all deserve. When we say we view our customers as partners, that’s not some nice-to-have marketing aphorism. It is the truth of how we design solutions, engage with each other, and work together to create sustainable improvements for the needs of the present and the future.

We learn something (actually, many things!) from all our customers. From getting inside urban transit systems, to looking at the inner workings of large banking institutions, we get to know our customers and theirs. We learn what timelines mean in a wide range of high stakes environments. We listen to find out how to design for privacy and safety needs in our ever-changing global environment. Sometimes that means diverting extra attention to solving for contactless payment challenges. Other times, it means connecting large enterprises with AI solutions the uniquely suit them – and their employees.

Whatever problem we set out to solve, or enhancement we decide to co-create, none of it can be done without a collaboration built on trust, talent, and mutual respect. To get to do this kind of collaborative work every day around the world, and to get to bring our valued customers closer to their own customers is a privilege. We are grateful to them, and we are grateful to you.

As the Thanksgiving Holiday kicks off, we raise a glass to our customers, for continuing to challenge, inspire, and motivate us. Cheers!

Author: Andrew Dvirnyk

As we break to connect with family and friends and prepare for the new year, together with our IBA Group colleagues, we would like to share three tips for the holiday season. Coming from a technology solutions partner, these “must dos” may come as a bit of a surprise.

We are not offering a list of how to get more from your mainframe. Or all the ways automation will improve your performance in 2022 (spoiler alert, look for that next week!). Nor are we reminding you how to get your teams cloud-ready, or how to integrate contactless payments into your post-pandemic strategies. Today, we are giving some good old-fashioned holiday advice that is smart for your business. And for your state of mind.

Take a Break

We mean that. Seriously. Take a break from the daily demands of work, with its constant deadlines and instant communication. Step away from your devices. Power down. And use this time to reconnect. Start by reconnecting with yourself.

Get active! Do something invigorating like going on a hike. Consider exploring a new part of your city by foot. Use quiet time outdoors, or at home in your favorite chair, to clear your head. Even if it is only for a day, rid yourself of the noise that constantly battles for your attention.

Trust us, your To Do List will keep. And, you may be surprised to know, taking time to rest improves mental clarity. Ultimately, rest even enhances productivity. In fact, at the start of this year, Forbes called rest a “fundamental part of success.” How many of us have tried to put that lesson into practice over the course of a busy, and sometimes chaotic 2021?

It’s not too late. Take your break now. Then, come back ready to do even more in 2022.

Reclaim your Home

Many of us around the world have been living the work from home life for more than a year. And while it does offer advantages, the ability to work from home can make it difficult to separate your home life from your work life. Of course, that makes it even more difficult to take a break and reset for the new year.

Use holiday time away from work to cultivate a more relaxing environment, even if you have only one corner of a room that you can free up for yourself. Designate an area in your home that you will not use for work during your break. And, if you can, try to maintain this separate sliver of space when you get back to work in full force in 2022.

A TINYpulse employee engagement survey that polled remote workers in May 2021 revealed 86% of individuals who work remotely report experiencing a great deal of burnout. So, if you are experiencing burnout, you are not alone. Fortunately, there are things you can do to help, starting with reclaiming your space. Creating spaces, even small ones, in which we can work, and then other spaces in which we can unwind, helps to prevent burnout.

Designate a separate zone that is just for you, not for Zoom, or anything related to work demands. Then enjoy some quiet time in your separate space (again, even if it is just your favorite chair!).

Make Plans Intentionally – and Have Fun

Networking for the sake of networking is not really socializing. Nor is it likely to revive you if you are feeling burned out or just run down. We know it is difficult to get together right now. But, if you can get out in the world and connect with colleagues safely, do it!

We are not talking about scheduling sales meetings and pitches. We are talking about making intentional plans to meet up with a coworker or a business partner to do something fun. You do not even have to talk about work. In fact, do not talk about work. Get together intentionally and connect person-to-person. Learn more about each other. Use the opportunity to share something meaningful to you. That could include getting together to watch a game, see a show, try a new restaurant, or go for a walk. Simple human interactions have been lacking from our calendars in 2021. So, before the year is over, make the effort (health and safety permitting) to spend quality time with someone you have been working with remotely. Or to reconnect with an old friend.

Harvard Business Review cited research that demonstrates “professional and personal networks have shrunk by close to 16%” from the start of the pandemic to the beginning of 2021. And that was a year ago! If, as HBR puts it, our networks are shrinking, now is the time to commit to building them back up again. More than helping to position young employees on their career trajectories, networks help executives, business owners, and other professionals feel less alone and more supported. In addition to opening opportunities for partnerships, real networking – connecting with others on an individual level – helps us to make more creative decisions, explore new ideas, and find pathways to success in the coming year and beyond.

So, we encourage you to reach out and connect with someone in your network. Even if it is just a phone call, take time to listen to their story and to share some of yours. And take time to take a break, together. 2022 will be much brighter for you – and for your business – as a result.

Author: Andrew Dvirnyk

By this point, we all should know that contactless technology is convenient, easy to use, secure, and future-ready. But these contactless technology basics are not what we are focusing on today. We are looking at the four things to know about contactless technology so you can better implement it into your business.

Contactless Technology is Not Only for Payments

Speaking of the basics, although most individuals (and many businesses) associate contactless technology with payments, that is not the only environment where we deploy them.

In fact, contactless technology is used for security, for access to buildings, and for transit, among other applications.

For different companies there are different changes to introduce new or contactless technologies

Ultimately, the goal of all businesses is to evolve to the point at which they can best serve customers. This means they aim for efficiency across all processes. It also means they seek out the most efficient technologies that serve their customers seamlessly. Contactless technology puts customer convenience front and center. It also improves the speed of service from suppliers, hitting business targets from both sides.

With this comprehensive utility, contactless technology is not limited to payment processing, even though that is what tends to get the most attention. Customer convenience and efficiency notwithstanding, contactless technology does present a set of complexities in whatever environment it is implemented.

Those complexities include migrating and supporting the technology. To address these complexities, companies like ours must provide a new level of service to support contactless technologies.

Mindset Shift to Meet Customer Needs

Contactless technology is an example of a mindset shift to meet customer needs. It is a prime example of technology that serves the customer, rather than technology for its own sake.

So, where does that come from? It comes from global changes in the ways we do business. And how customer expectations are changing. In so many cases, transportation authorities and other services are dealing with more people concentrated in the same place. We see this with our railway clients who come to us for contactless technology.

They are recognizing a new demand for contactless technology. And for the services to support that technology in ways that enable them to serve their customers better. Their customers demand speed, more than anything. Contactless is the first step to meeting that demand.

This is an exciting time for contactless. With more demand comes more of a push for technology adoption, straight from the customer. That is the surest way to move towards SMARTer cities and to see contactless and other innovative technologies help more cities grow and thrive around the world.

Contactless Technology ROI

In many cases, you can get a better return on investment (ROI) with contactless than with other technologies. And you can see those returns more quickly. For this, let’s take a look at contactless payment.

If you are a small vendor and you want to accept credit or debit, in the past, you needed to purchase at least one expensive piece of hardware. This is an overhead cost that can take a long time to recuperate. On the other hand, with contactless, a vendor does not need to invest in new hardware. Your point of sale (POS) device is the software, not hardware. It is cheaper to purchase and to maintain.

Environmentally Responsible

When there is no hardware, there is also no e-waste. Because contactless technology does not require a special device to accept payment, for instance, you avoid the negative environmental impact associated with hardware. Both on the production side and on the disposal side, you are saving energy. And you are keeping harmful metals, plastics, and other materials out of the environment.

Devices do not need to be replaced. So, electronics waste stays out of landfills. Instead, you are able to accept payments using just an application. With contactless payment, you no longer need to provide paper receipts, adding to a reduction in the environmental impact of sales transactions.

To learn more about contactless technology and whether it is the right decision for your business, contact us.

Author: Andrew Dvirnyk

Recently, we have covered some of our contactless solutions in action for the transportation sector, as well as best practices for implementing contactless solutions. Today, we are digging a little deeper into how contactless payments operate for businesses. And how they lower costs and create opportunities for smaller businesses, as well as the large-scale organizations we have looked at previously.

To begin, let’s examine some of the terminology around payment solutions. We will also take a moment to outline how standards protect privacy and promote safety in the contactless space.

What is PCI CPoC?

As an industry, we refer to Payment Card Industry Contactless Payments on Commercial off-the-shelf device as a PCI CPoC.

PCIPoC makes it possible to turn any NFC-enabled handset into a payment terminal. Effectively, it enables a business (even a one-person business) to have a Point of Sale instrument without having to buy a costly POS device.

The NFC (near-field communication)-enabled device makes it possible for two devices (such as a customer’s smartphone and a retailer’s smartphone) to exchange data with each other.

Using software (specifically a mobile application), rather than any additional hardware, that retailer can process payments without the burden of equipment maintenance, or the overhead of equipment purchase.

What is the PCI CPoC Standard for Contactless Payment Solutions?

Certainly, this is good news for any business (no matter the size) that wants to make payment collection efficient and cost effective. However, it is also easy to imagine some hesitation on the part of businesses and consumers who are faced with utilizing mobile devices to complete transactions.

A host of safety and privacy concerns spring to mind. That is why there is a PCI CPoC Standard. The PCI Security Standards Council, a global council whose objective is to “increase payment security by providing industry-driven, flexible and effective data security standards and programs that help businesses detect, mitigate and prevent cyberattacks and breaches [of the] PCI CPoC Standard.”

In 2019, the PCI Security Standards Council issued an updated security standard for contactless payments The updated PCI CPoC Standard includes requirements that protect payment data. It also ensures that software and back-end systems are “independent from the COTS device and support monitoring, integrity checks and payment processing.”

PCI Security Standards Council

PCI Security Standards for contactless payment providers are rigorous. At this time, less than a dozen companies worldwide have been able to meet all requirements laid out in the PCI CPoC Standard.

Recently, the PCI Security Standards Council informed IBA Group that our solution has been certified by the Council. The letter of Attestation and Validation confirmed that IBA Group’s tapXphone is certified as meeting the standard.

TapXphone

Bringing tapXphone to the market has been a long journey for the Development Team at IBA Group. We are excited to report that tapXphone has joined the field of global leaders in accepting contactless payments.

TapXphone leverages the power of contactless payment solutions to reduce costs for businesses accepting contactless payments. And it maximizes ease of use for customers.

To learn more about tapXphone for your business, contact us.

Author: Andrew Dvirnyk

Recently, we celebrated a decade of working with global shipping company Hapag-Lloyd. Naturally, this led to some great conversations about how our businesses are growing together as our partnership enters its second decade. And we came up with this list of 10 Ways to Keep a Client for 10 Years. Think about how you can apply these tips to your own client relationships.

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Like Each Other

On a personal level, we really like our partners at Hapag-Lloyd. From the start, we got along well. Both sides are open to conversation, and to listening to and learning from each other.

Ultimately, this simple foundation of liking each other allows us to really communicate. Without this fundamental respect and appreciation for each other, the relationship cannot go deeper. There is no second step with the client. With respect and appreciation, comes an opportunity to trust each other enough to grow together.

Take Interest in Each Other’s Businesses

In this case, both on the client and the provider side, we enjoy discussing our businesses together. When each side demonstrates that they care about (and want to learn more about) what the other does, working as partners and succeeding together is the natural next step.

You start thinking about how you can help each other. And you start considering the dynamics of your business relationship from the other’s point of view. This deepens your relationship. It enables you to come up with new ideas together and to expand your conversations beyond immediate transactions and services. Instead, you start investing in each other’s success. You learn from each other, and talk about more than what you can do for each other.

Talk and Listen

It can be difficult to create meaningful connections with clients when working remotely, whether it is offshoring or another scenario. So, for Hapag-Lloyd, our philosophy of building a partnership through talking and listening made a big difference.

That give and take of real conversation often is a new experience for clients and service provider partners. On both sides, we underscore it with valuable information exchange that lets us do better work for our clients. Effectively, we have created a culture between client and provider that enriches the culture of both our companies. This means a lot with a company like Hapag-Lloyd, which has operated for 150 years. We became a listening ear, and a guiding voice for them to try out new ideas. In turn, we benefited from their rich experiences.

Empathize with Each Other’s Challenges

The longer you work with a client, the more you start to understand how they do business. You also come to understand – and empathize with – the challenges they face. Once you understand those challenges, you can help to resolve them in your work for the client.

As a service company, that means finding ways to help. Remember, the best way to discover how to help is to understand (and care about) what your client needs, what matters to them, and what challenges they face.

Meet Regularly

With a longstanding client, meetings can take up a significant chunk of time. And too many meetings take you both away from the work you need to be doing for your businesses. Moreover, getting on the schedule of a busy client can be difficult.

However, taking time to meet directly with your client (consistently but not constantly) is key to maintaining your healthy, mutually productive relationship. Dedicated meetings hep you concentrate on what needs to be done. They give you the opportunity to exchange important information. And they prevent your longstanding client from feeling like it’s always “business as usual.”

Meeting quarterly, for instance, gives you time to prepare, and to present information on trends and performance. Quarterly client meetings also force you, as the provider, to concentrate on tasks and goals. And to be more effective.

Know When to Say No

This is an important one. There were times when this client asked us to do things and we had to decline. Over our decade-plus relationship, we have had difficult negotiations and faced challenges. The most important thing is that both sides consider this normal. We remained respectful and considerate of each other. On both sides, we always had intentions to solve problems.

Even when we had to decline certain projects, the idea to separate was not in mind on either side. We understood that together, we can achieve more. Part of why we understand this is because we are honest about our limitations and respectful of our boundaries and theirs.  If we can assist them, we do. But we know we cannot do everything. So, we find another way to get them what they need, but that does not change our relationship.

Say No at the Right Time

The most important thing about saying no to a client is that you do so directly, clearly, and immediately. Do not equivocate. Do not say yes, then come back and tell them all the reasons you should have said no.

Be clear and respectful, and a “no” will get you a better relationship than a “yes.”

If You Say Yes, Mean It

And don’t just mean it. Do it. Be certain that you can do what you promise to do for your client.

Then, focus on doing everything you need to deliver on that promise.

Develop Your Professional Relationship Together

We know you are busy, especially if you are good at what you do. So, you cannot develop every relationship the same way. The challenge is to choose what relationships you develop and what your goals are for those relationships. The challenge also is to develop yourself professionally and personally, so you continue to bring more value and more interest to every client relationship you have, especially the longstanding relationships.

When you take this approach, you grow and nurture your client relationship over time across projects and changes in the cycles of each of your businesses. Creating the contract does not foster that kind of living relationship. Your engagement in the relationship does. Appealing to each other and growing together on a human level does.

Be Flexible – and Stable

Dr. Bastian Dolle, IT Director for Software Engineering, Quality Assurance, and FIS Management for Hapag-Lloyd, points to flexibility as key to our longstanding relationship. He says, “We appreciate the reliability, flexibility, and professionalism of IBA experts.”

As the client, it is that mixture of flexibility and stability that assures him we are a solid partner for the long haul. In addition to flexibility to move with the changing demands of business, he notes our stability. He says, “The stability of the IBA teams created an atmosphere of friendship, resulting in high productivity and efficiency within the partnership.” We couldn’t agree more! And we are grateful to Hapag-Lloyd for their flexibility, stability, and continued trust in us.

Author: Andrew Dvirnyk

Recently, we sat down with Inga Prangishvili, Deputy Director of the Information Technology (WBS) branch of the JSC Georgian Railway, to talk about a challenging innovative SAP/S4 HANA implementation project. JSC Georgian Railway is a major transportation company, and the largest employer in its country. Companies like this have unique demands for SAP/S4 HANA, and a host of challenges in the best of circumstances.

In our candid, three-part conversation, Inga walks us through some of those challenges. In this installment, Inga shares how the GR engaged IBA Group after the initial project had stalled in the Deploy phase failing to transition from legacy systems to S/4HANA.

She offers helpful insight on when to involve project managers and project architects in the supplier selection process and how to create a matrix to select the right supplier for a project when the stakes are high.

Transitioning From Legacy Systems to SAP S/4 HANA Problems

“In the summer of 2017, we faced difficulties completing the Deploy phase and transitioning to S/4 HANA and had to choose a supplier to help us restart the project. We had full support and executive sponsorship for this,” Inga explains. As a result, the GR needed to choose a new supplier when they were crunched for time, and quick turnaround was imperative.

After committing time, money, and trust to the initial SAP S/4HANA project, it was a “difficult decision” to take a step back and restart. However, as Inga explains, the GR needed to find experts who could deliver on time and meet the project’s objectives.

So, the company was strategic about the selection process. They developed a specific set of requirements and a clear idea of needs. Then they evaluated meticulously.

“When Georgian Railway faced the necessity to find a new SAP deployment supplier mid-project, there were concerns that the first of the year deadlines would not be met, says Inga, “but thanks to IBA Group, we were able to meet our deadline and get superior quality.”

Selection Process

The GR looked at five SAP S/4HANA implementation providers. Inga notes that it is important to involve the project manager and the project architect at the selection phase. These are the individuals who understand the scope of the project. They need to be able to have a good workflow with the supplier and to feel confident that project goals are met in a timely manner.

Throughout the selection process, Inga says, the GR was looking for “a strong, well established company in the market who [also] had strong subject matter expertise.” They narrowed down the search to five SAP S/4HANA suppliers. Because the company had no time for error, they not only held personal meetings with each of the suppliers; they “went onsite to look for a good team that knows how to work together.”

SAP S/4HANA Supplier Selection Matrix

Inga and her team looked at what projects the prospective suppliers had completed previously. They looked at the results of those projects. And they reviewed how the suppliers were perceived by customers. After meeting with suppliers who had successful large-scale projects and good customer feedback, the company created a matrix and weighted the answers.

In addition to evaluating projects, they used the matrix to look at the people who needed to be involved in the project. The matrix was built on the initial project’s experience. They evaluated partners, project managers, architects, analysts, organizational leaders, and their respective areas and levels of expertise.

We analyzed the data collected in the partner selection matrix,” says Inga, “and it showed that IBA came out first in virtually every selection criterion.”

Choosing the Right SAP S/4HANA Supplier

Inga admits that, even after the rigorous selection process, she and her team still could not be sure if they made the right choice. After the issues they encountered in the original project, Inga and her team “couldn’t be sure IBA Group wouldn’t fail either.”

But after taking a leap of faith, it was time to get started. The company engaged IBA Group in November 2017, to start on the project with a go-live date of January 1, 2018.

What Happens When the Unexpected Arises and You’re Running Out of Time?

In the second part of our conversation, Inga and IBA Group’s Global Delivery Director for SAP Services, Igor Bordak, talk about what happened with the implementation project.

They speak frankly about some of the surprises they encountered. They talk about the flexibility required by a supplier who inherits a project mid-way through the process. And they explain whether it is possible to simplify implementation solutions for a company – and a project – of this magnitude.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of our conversation!

Author: Andrew Dvirnyk

In the post-pandemic age, we are seeing a rise in demand for contactless technology across industries and around the world. But contactless is neither new, nor linked to health and safety alone. When we deploy contactless technology in the field, our clients (particularly transportation systems) attest to convenience, ease of use, and seamlessness. This translates to better experiences for them and for their passengers.

Of course, that does not mean that contactless technology generally or contactless payment solutions specifically, are without their challenges. Before we jump into some of those challenges, however, let’s take a moment to examine how contactless technology helps to power Fare Collection solutions.

Fare Collection Solutions

Contactless technology is one of the keys to Fare Collection solution viability. For the state-of-the-art Fare Collection system, it is essential to create interfaces with traditional ways of fare payments as well as payment cards from traditional players like MasterCard and Visa.

“Right now,” Vadim Smotryaev, IBA Group Director of Technical Division says, “contactless is best” for passenger journeys, for sustainability, and for ease of use across the band of service. In terms of closing the loop, as Vadim explains, it is important to integrate contactless payment solutions with multiple payment options, not just MasterCard and Visa.

In fact, as he explains it, options like Apple Pay are “really popular among more passengers.” What he calls the “new wave of payments” is not contactless for the sake of contactless. It is a solution that allows technology providers to create a true user experience for passengers.

Ease of Use is Not Always Easy

Along this journey, new opportunities emerge to add simplicity and efficiency. This includes launching Rapid Payment. Rapid Payment eliminates extra steps for the transit systems and for passengers, maximizing technologies that allow faster payment processing.

That said, in order to create these efficiencies, there are a number of challenges. On the transit side, for instance, we recognize that the best way to collect payment is digitization. However, digitization requires significant investments of time and money. Before a project can even get off the ground, especially one with as broad a scope as a city’s entire transit system, the transit operator must be willing and able to make the necessary investments.

Securing that willingness to invest rests on the vendor’s ability to explain the technologies involved, and to put together an appropriate strategy to come in on time and on budget.

Legacy Challenges and Construction Implications

Once again, legacy systems come back to haunt technology solutions providers. While we most often associate legacy challenges with the mainframe support side of our business, we also see legacy challenges in our contactless payment projects for transit system clients.

In this case, we are looking at the complexities that arise from legacy construction. This includes what Vadim calls the “old-fashioned ways of collecting fares.” And it ranges from cards to coins to tickets, across public transportation. Remember, many stations were designed to accommodate these forms of conducting transactions.

That means existing architecture needs to be adapted or replaced to accommodate – and to maximize the customer experience impact – of contactless payment. Doing so can involve adding construction, and often unexpected expense, to the overall project scope.

Security Challenges

Security is another complexity that lurks behind seamless contactless experiences. In order for the system to operate, it must be completely safe. There can be absolutely no risk to use credit cards or other types of payments.

Again, this is where investment comes in. When safety is a priority, as Vadim points out, “cheaper solutions simply will not work.” As an example, look at the new programs Visa and MasterCard are offering. With a focus on mobility that extends from public transit to car and bike sharing, both companies have strict requirements for transaction security. This is one of the reasons we partner with them to protect the security and privacy of both our clients and their passengers.

Hardware Challenges

However, security is not only an issue as it relates to protecting financial information and securing transactions. In the physical space, the technology itself is vulnerable.

Think about the damage vandals can do to card readers in train stations. Something as simple as cutting a few wires can upend a system’s ability to collect fares.

Data Challenges

In addition to building safety measures for the physical space, it is also possible to manage security challenges and improve efficiencies by creating more data centers. In working with major transit systems, we found that, often, they are not ready. They need to hire new employees to handle operations in the physical space. But they also need to increase data capacity.

Now that we understand these challenges, we are working to create cloud platforms and bring them to market as cloud business services. By doing so, we are making it easier for our clients to deliver the experiences their passengers need, while mitigating the challenges that emerge as threats to successful implementation of contactless solutions.

Software Solutions

Observed in this context, SaaS emerges as one of the most important components of the technology services required to build, implement, and support contactless payments. Fundamentally, it is the fact that software as a service actually has the customer, not just the technology, in mind.

Weaving customer-focused technologies throughout the passenger journey helps to reduce contactless challenges and deliver the simplicity customers want. Of course, that is impossible to do without the right work behind the scenes.

Author: Andrew Dvirnyk

As we close out 2020, we are rounding up four trends to watch across industries. We are looking at looming deadlines to migrate systems. And we are checking in on automation technologies that make it easier to co-create a SMART future. These 2021 trends all point to better ways of doing business. See what you can embrace to make 2021 a year of innovation and success.

SAP S/4HANA Migration

The clock is ticking on the timeline for SAP S/4HANA migration. By the end 2027, SAP will not support SAP Business Suite 7, including the flagship product SAP ERP 6.0 that so many businesses currently rely on.

One of the many lessons from the last year is that preparation and reliable systems help to protect our businesses and our livelihoods. With that in mind, in 2021, it is time to stop thinking about S/4HANA migration and start doing it. Using 2021 to get started on the SAP S/4HANA migration process gives you enough time to update system elements and modules. This lowers your risk and makes migration seamless and successful with time to spare before you lose access to support.

Recently, we shared tips on how to prepare for SAP S/4HANA migration, and when and how to plan SAP migration to best fit your needs, goals, and budgets.

Automation

As we enter 2021, we see automation touching all parts of the organization. From increasing efficiencies, to reducing costs, to creating new employment opportunities, automation is more than just a trend. It is a smarter, more sustainable way to do business.

One thing we are most excited about is how intelligent automation improves performance and enhances employee creativity. The ability, for instance, to automate data extraction and classification despite complexities creates countless opportunities for our clients and their employees.

As the world continues to embrace intelligent automation, it becomes even more clear how this technology empowers you to orchestrate users, tasks, systems, and robots that align with business needs. Our Intelligent Automation Systems are poised to deliver even more in 2021. They learn from data, identify patterns, and make smart decisions.

Intelligent Technology Tools

This brings us to our next 2021 trend: embracing intelligent technology tools. Intelligent technology tools like our Appulse product make it easier to create and maintain efficiencies across organizations. They improve issues resolution times and make it easier for employees to collaborate.

As a hallmark of intelligent technology, we like to say that “developers learn from Appulse, and Appulse learns from developers.”  Because of its AI module, Appulse suggests solutions based on historical data and new information. All this improves speed and accuracy, benchmarks that are important in the new year. From helping to keep essential systems running well, to improving turnaround time on resolutions, to saving money, Appulse is just one example of many intelligent technology tools that will improve how we work in 2021.

Partnerships Instead of Transactional Relationships

The landscape of work changed over the course of 2020 in many unexpected ways. And the changes and challenges of 2020 accelerated the cycle of change that was already coming to characterize how we do business in the new decade. Chief among these changes, and a trend we are excited to report, is the increasing reliance on partnerships, or relationships, rather than mere transactions.

For us, we have always considered ourselves supportive partners to our clients. In fact, building strong client partnerships is one of our key commitments. The trusted partnerships we build allow us to truly understand our clients’ needs, and to deliver more. Does this sometimes mean that we go beyond our own initial expectations of scope and time? Yes, it does. But we do so willingly and enthusiastically because we always put our client’s (and their customers’) needs at the forefront of our work.

When we build partnerships like this, we allow for more creativity, in addition to more efficiency and value. And beyond that, we get to live out the promise we make to everyone we work with, to co-create a smarter, more innovative, more rewarding future. The idea of co-creating with partners is a somewhat radical one, even as we enter 2021. Knowledge transfer, trust, and collaboration do not come easily to everyone. In fact, they require a strong commitment to shared success that matches the commitment to delivering expertise and value on all sides.

This is one of the trends we are most excited to see our colleagues and clients embrace in the new year and beyond. For more ideas on how to create lasting partnerships that generate value now, and in the future, reach out to us. Let’s talk about what we can create together!