Transform IT: Recent Episodes
Smartbridge, LLC
Have you heard that you have to undergo a “digital transformation” in order for your business to stay afloat? Do you feel the pressure to re-invent your current processes and technology? If you’re in IT, you know the pressure all too well. If you’re in marketing, finance, or any other department, the pressure to work with or around IT can cause friction. Welcome to the Transform IT podcast, where our hosts Patrick Pahls and Miraj Ali break down some of the most relevant IT topics du jour, with interviews from our favorite subject-matter experts. Transform IT is produced by Smartbridge, a professional services group that simplifies business transformation, with thought-leadership and innovation to create digitally connected enterprises.
Today, many business leaders are familiar with the team “robotic process automation”, both on the technical and non-technical side. RPA, as a form of software automation technology, is sweeping through business processes faster than many other technologies on the market today, streamlining both rule-based and end-to-end tasks.
This impact of RPA in the workforce has only accelerated amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Organizations are recognizing the reality of automating repetitive tasks that exists in their workforce to save their employees time, and enhance their innovative efforts. To gain a better perspective of this impact, Smartbridge hosts Zach Reynolds, and senior RPA developer Raul Pena, sit down with Sanjay Patel, Director of Q&A at Weingarten Realty.
As it happens, Smartbridge recently concluded an RPA implementation project with Weingarten which served to completely automate their user provisioning processes. From a leadership perspective, Sanjay discusses the challenges, growing points, and immediate benefits that he experienced during and after the project was complete.
🍔 Enhancing the Customer Journey in the Restaurant Industry 🍕
Among the various industries impacted by digital transformation, food service (and the restaurant industry alike) has experienced perhaps the most dramatic shift pertaining to the dynamic journey of the customer. From social influencing, streamlined services and advertising channels, food service establishments are beginning to amplify the customer experience through digitally transforming their operations and business structure.
Recognizing how to appeal, generate, and nurture customer leads is perhaps the most impacted channel within food service establishments. Further, ensuring that the customer journey encompasses various digital touch points to appeal to unique senses is crucial. In the competitive cycle to stay relevant and retain a loyal customer base, only the strong (and digitally savvy) survive.
David “Rev” Ciancio – Yeah Management! Marketing Consultant, social influencer, and longtime food enthusiast has operated in this realm for over 25 years, gaining significant experience in the customer journey/experience in the food service industry. We joined Rev for an in-depth discussion on the ins and outs, dos and dont’s, and critical need to knows pertaining to the customer’s digital journey in food service.
A Skeptic is NOT a Nay-Sayer! 🤔
Often in the IT industry, the term "skeptic" can get get a bad rap. The perception of the term is someone who refuses to digitally transform, adopt new technologies, or doesn't want to evaluate their current business processes. However, healthy skepticism in IT is far from a negative concept, and can impact a organization's custom retention rate for the better.
Randy Laker, recently retired CIO of Oil States International, says that few (if any) companies understand the true value of productive skepticism. Randy states that customers are the biggest skeptics an organization will encounter, and looking at products, processes and services through their point of view will help create customer-centric value and retention in the long run.
In the ever changing world of IT, it's crucial for an organization to test, troubleshoot and structure their technological offerings from the perspective of a customer, not a subject matter expert. Further, questioning "if" something can be implemented just because it "can" be implemented is a pillar in the customer value offering.
😷😷 A Silver Lining Through the COVID-19 Crisis...
The Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has impacted multiple businesses in various industries. Small businesses are rapidly loosing revenue, workers are strapped for hours, and multiple projects continue to be put on hold. Among more vulnerable industries like shipping and oil & gas, nonprofit organizations such as food banks, charitable organizations and social advocacy groups, especially have significant challenges to face, and the worst is perhaps yet to come.
However, technology professionals have the means to provide a glimpse of hope during the economic downturn caused by the global Coronavirus, especially within the Salesforce community. Tyler Colby, Data Infrastructure Director at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), has initiated a call to arms in the Salesforce community (and the IT community in general), to provide whatever means of expertise they have to assist nonprofit organizations affected by COVID-19.
Tyler has had extensive experience in assisting nonprofits during community crises. His call to action, or more accurately - The COVID-19 Sprint, has already generated sizable buzz from Salesforce and IT professionals wanting to get involved. Transform IT was the first to capture his passionate message through a remote podcast, which we're eager to share with our listeners here.
In this special episode, we’re joined in the studio by former military members from Smartbridge to discuss veterans in the IT industry, and the benefits of hiring veterans.
❗ Veterans are impacting the IT industry ❗
Many organizations are aware of the various benefits of hiring veterans. They’re work ethic, loyalty, and leadership capabilities can serve them well in the public sector after their military separation. Further, their above average ability to adapt in unfamiliar environments can benefit organizations in various industries. However, the benefits of hiring veterans in the IT industry can often go overlooked.
Prior service men and women from all backgrounds serve as cornerstones in many organizations, especially in the aspect of leadership and project management. In this special episode, we’re joined by four Smartbridge military veterans who share their thoughts, experiences, and insight regarding veterans in the IT industry.
🗣 "The usefulness of hiring veterans in the IT field is because you are now placing very ambitious and self-driven individuals in the work layer of your teams. This frees up leadership to do more innovative things since they now have embedded leadership in their departments to drive efforts.” - Rob Amason, Digital Innovations Manager at Smartbridge
🎧 Listen on your preferred platform 🎧 https://smartbridge.com/podcast/transform-it-ep-19-veterans-in-it/
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Hosts Miraj & Patrick sit down with Senior Manager of Buckeye Partners L.P, Steven Fein, to discuss the impact of RPA on process improvement.
❗ RPA is Impacting Business Process Improvement ❗
Among the various technologies emerging in business today, Robotic Process Automation is on the forefront. More and more organizations are adopting RPA technology to significantly enhance the mundane processes bogging down their workforce.
However, as the pressure to innovate continues to weigh on organizations, various questions emerge in the process. What is the true value proposition of RPA? What is the ROI and how is it measured? How do I get decision makers on board?
🗣 "You have to ask yourself, ‘what am I preventing myself from doing?’ Because RPA could potentially remove that barrier.” - Steven Fein, Senior Manager at Buckeye Partners L.P
🎧 Listen on your preferred platform 🎧 https://smartbridge.com/podcast/transform-it-podcast-ep-18-rpa-process-improvement/
The majority of businesses today are data driven in some form or fashion. Organizations in various industries rely on their unique data to drive processes, innovate, and of course house valuable information.
This holds true for every department in a given business, be it finance, sales or service. For businesses in more dynamic industries like health care, data may even house health sensitive information, crucial for clinical trials and other special needs. Thanks to new compliance regulations like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), data is now protected more than ever.
However, as regulations and new protection tools develop, avenues of intrusion also evolve. Businesses must adapt new technology, and take strategic steps to ensure their data is secure across multiple departments. For companies like United BioSource (UBC), implementing JD Edwards for data protection was a key to that security.
Content marketing in business is essentially nothing new. Organizations have placed a focus on developing content to promote their business in various avenues for the past decade. From website postings, creative pamphlets, videos and more, the need for marketing expertise continues to grow. However, as we evolve more into the digital era of business processes, how is traditional marketing practices effected? What's changing?
Digital transformation is changing businesses, and marketing is no exception. Marketing teams who choose not to embrace new technology and opt solely for the "traditional" approach are falling short of their goals, and failing to support business development efforts. A strategic, holistic approach to content marketing is the approach marketers must adopt.
In today's episode, hosts Miraj and Patrick sit down with Smartbridge Marketing Director, Brooke Browne to discuss the essentials in today's strategic content marketing practices.
By now, businesses in various industries are catching the buzz on robotic process automation (RPA). Integrating digital bots into an internal system to automate and oversee standard processes does more than free up time. Adopting this form of automation eliminates downtime, reduces G&A costs, and gives employees more time for innovative projects. Organizations at the front end of innovation want a piece of this technology, but many are still trying to figure out how to adopt and implement it.
George Danner has earned the reputation as a leader and subject matter expert in the space of innovation. He has been a student of business for many years, experiencing decisions, processes and technological adoptions from a front row seat of many global organizations. His journey to further explore the inner workings of various businesses lead him to create his second novel, The Executive's How-To Guide to Automation. Through many discussions with senior level leaders, he noticed a consistent trend in the desire and importance of adapting automation. Through the scope of RPA, George has developed an immense amount of knowledge and know-how on adopting this form of technology, and why it's crucial for businesses to thrive.
By definition, Accounts Payable (AP) automation is the initiative of digitally streamlining the accounts payable process in the most efficient way possible. Though AP Automation isn't necessarily a new topic of discussion, many organizations actually know very little about its dynamics and the benefits of transforming their accounts payable process. Organizations are especially unaware of the importance of properly integrating AP Automation into their Enterprise Resource Planning system (ERP).
What do you do when you receive an invoice in your email inbox? Though most invoices are generated and exchanged electronically, many organizations still print them out to begin the process. Though optical character recognition (OCR) in the digital AP process is accurate roughly 80% of the time, many invoices require unique editing in some aspect before fully processing. Unique editing to an invoice could be triggered by numerous causes, such as a failure in the invoice line pairing, or that a PO based invoice does not have the PO number on it. However, what if the OCR is 100% accurate, and the digital invoice processing still falls through?
The solution lies within properly integrating AP Automation into your ERP system. In this episode, hosts Miraj and Patrick sit down with Inspyrus Executive Vice President & Chief Strategy Officer, Chris Preston to discuss the full scope of AP Automation in ERP systems.
Enterprise Content Management has often been a painful mainstay in most enterprise level organizations. The "death by folders" approach of keeping track of production files, important documents, and even contracts has caused various delays and issues in many businesses. However, organizations are transforming their efforts by turning to a more intelligent approach.
Metadata driven content management is establishing a new norm in how organizations manage their seemingly endless content. Understanding what the data is, instead of where it is, has drastically improved the efficiency of fast paced businesses that thrive on technology. Organizations like M-files are diving even deeper into this space, using tools like artificial intelligence to further automate information management.
In this episode, hosts Patrick and Miraj sit down with Aaron Howerton and Michael Dalrymple from M-Files to discuss digital innovation in the content management realm
Digital transformation has now become a frequently used term in business today. As 2019 brings about new trends in technology, organizations now more than ever are recognizing the importance of adapting new methods to automate their practices. C-level executives are especially pressed to make an impact on their businesses through digital transformation.
We are approaching an era where IT can no longer operate as a separate entity from the business. Companies are recognizing the importance of pairing IT expertise with standard business practices to further automate existing processes. From the perspective of a CEO or CIO, what are the essential elements of adapting a strategic mindset of transformation? Further, how do you ensure a foundation of innovation grows within your business?
In our Transform IT Season 2 opener, longtime hosts Miraj and Patrick sit down with Smartbridge CEO, Sri Raju to discuss the strategic approach to transforming your business.
The recent ruling of the South Dakota vs. Wayfair case set what many are calling a landmark court decision regarding out-of-state commerce. The previous and longstanding "law of the land," as many tax experts refer to it, has now been shifted to depict a new regulation of economic nexus. Nexus is defined as an obligation for an organization conducting business out-of-state to collect and remit sales tax. This Supreme Court decision ruled in favor of South Dakota, establishing that states could now tax purchases made from out-of-state sellers, even if the seller does not have a physical presence in the state. With this new ruling overturning the previous regulation established in 1992, how does this change the game for retailers?
Live from Denver, Colorado at the JD Edwards Infocus Conference, host Patrick Pahls sits down with Avalara Strategic Alliance Manager, Paul Turec to discuss how retailers can adapt to this newly established economic nexus regulation.
From clay tablets in the beginning of book keeping, to enterprise resource planning systems, our ledger based efforts have significantly progressed. Today, various businesses utilize a digital ledger known as blockchain, which is a collection of transactions issued on a distributed network.
Every exchange and transaction on the blockchain network is carefully tracked, transparent and extensively validated. This is why multiple industries are learning to use blockchain to ensure their products are secure and accounted for. Further, consumers are learning to rely on blockchain technology to validate the condition of their goods demanded from these companies.
In this episode, host Patrick Pahls sits down with subject matter expert and Smartbridge Director Matthew DiBona, to explore the full spectrum of blockchain technology.
Digital transformation is a buzzworthy term that is rapidly gaining more relevance in various industries. Taking a company’s traditional practices and transforming them into an efficient, technology-based platform requires hours of collaboration, ideas and expertise. But how does the process begin internally? Further, how does employee collusion play a role in discovering innovative solutions?
In today’s episode, hosts Miraj & Patrick discuss the various aspects of hackathons, an intense, collaborative experience among groups of specialist, working together to reach a common goal.
A High Level View of Positive Organizational Transformation with a Cloud Transition
Welcome to the season finale of Transform IT! What is the “Cloud” and why do we care? The Cloud is the internet. It is what drives business and how business gets done. It gives us instant access to business resources. Mobility and the Cloud give users instant access to needed information, from where ever the use is. It fulfills the human need for instant gratification.
In today’s episode, hosts Miraj & Patrick take a look at what the Cloud really is, how we access it and the pros and cons of using it.
The truth: People get comfortable in what they are doing. They know how to do it and they don't want to learn a new process (why fix it if it isn't broken?). When an organization changes a process or a technology, there is often times a knee-jerk reaction from the users—they don't want to accept the change. It's human nature to resist change. Companies need to understand user resistance in order to overcome it.
In today’s episode, hosts Miraj & Patrick take a look at how to transform user resistance to change. They discuss the issues users are feeling (fear of losing control, not wanting to step out of their comfort zone, not wanting to risk anything) and how company visionaries can address these issues through transparency.
Digital transformation IS happening and can represent either a huge opportunity or huge challenge for any business. The best way for a company to pro-actively move forward into digital transformation involves a change in mindset and corporate culture—not just in bits and pieces but through ALL processes. Organizations need to have an open-minded awareness and examine their existing processes. How long have they been in place (10 years? 15 years?) and ask the key question: Are those processes still relevant today?
In today’s episode, hosts Miraj & Patrick take a look at how Oracle’s JD Edwards is helping companies update their processes to better focus on the customer experience. Smartbridge VP of Enterprise Systems, Victor Lang, interviews Kem Butler, Product Strategy Director at Oracle focus on JD Edwards.
Keep IT from Wreaking Havoc with Employees
The goal of Digital Transformation is to make processes easier, faster and more user friendly. Sometimes without realizing it, Digital Transformation introduces unintended disruption. When that happens, those employees responsible for implementing the transformational change will create push back or even develop work arounds that defeat the goals of the change. How can businesses embrace technological change when it comes to their people and what can they do to do a better job facilitating new processes?
In today’s episode, hosts Miraj & Patrick introduce us to a company who expanded exponentially in a very short time, while embracing digital transformation. Smartbridge VP of Enterprise Systems, Victor Lang, interviews James Pham, Associate Director of IT for Aliso Viejo, CA based Avinir Pharmaceuticals.
Digital Transformation is a popular business buzzword today most associated with moving IT processes to the Cloud and creating software that is mobile and provides excellent user experiences. The word however, doesn’t belong just to the IT industry. Digital Transformation requires the C-Suite to “rewire and reimagine” how their companies work to achieve breakout performance. It requires adding the algorithms, modeling and analytics of data science to the mix to achieve a complete business transformation.
In today’s episode, hosts Miraj & Patrick introduce George Danner, CEO and President of Business Laboratory LLC.
How can your company CFO look at IT differently? It is the heart of every global business to find intrinsic value in people, processes and things when it comes to technology. How does IT prove its worth?
In today’s episode, hosts Miraj & Patrick introduce our returning guest who shares that vision. Smartbridge VP of Enterprise Systems, Victor Lang, interviews Anthony Lackey, Senior VP of IT – North America, at ISS Facility Services.
"The Relentless Pursuit of the Vision"
If you were to revamp an integral system in your business, that focuses on your most precious assets, what kind of challenges could you face? Would you be prepared for open, honest feedback from your employees? Technology enables the solution, but it's a small part of it.
In today's episode, hosts Miraj & Patrick introduce two guests that share one such endeavor. Smartbridge VP of Enterprise Systems, Victor Lang, interviews Anthony Lackey, Senior VP of IT - North America, at ISS Facility Services (www.us.issworld.com/).
Anthony talks about a vision of implementing the best labor management system in the world. He'll share his experience with training, analytics, user adoption and much more.
How do you maintain the relevancy of your company in the long term? Can you really die if you don't adapt, now? Look at the facts. Only the strong businesses survive in this era. Hosts Patrick Pahls and Miraj Ali will share some relatable examples of businesses that adapted - and those that died. In this first episode of "Transform IT", Patrick and Miraj may just force you to question everything you thought you knew about technology's influence on your ability to transform.
What does it mean to be a 'leadership company'? Raj and George, of Smartbridge and Business Laboratory respectfully, talk about what it takes for companies to re-imagine and re-invent how they work. They also share why the two companies are coming together to provide the skills and technology to help companies make sense of their mounds of data.
Smartbridge LLC founder & CEO Sri Raju visited KTEK Studio's "The Price of Business" to chat with host Charles Alvarez about our history and methodology.