It was one fortunate moment when I got the chance to meet with Didier Chincholle, Head of Experience Design at Ericsson Digital Services.
We started our discussion by talking about their award-winning Ericsson Design System (EDS) and also conversed about two prestigious global design awards Ericsson were awarded in both 2018 and 2019
the Red Dot Awards for Brand and Interface Design in 2018
the iF Design 2019
Later Didier’s shared his thoughts on what makes a good design system, their brand goal ‘the quest for easy’ and how much has this affected their design system and what type of things were taken into consideration, and some significant tips and advice on how organisations can approach launching their own Design System.
Didier even told us what the Ericsson design system is, the characteristics of a good system design, and then we talked about where it accommodates in the business.
I further discussed with Didier that as seen there are still some organizations that are resistant to investing in some form of design thinking and the reason is they think that it’s potentially a nonessential investment that maybe someone else will fix for them. However, as observed, Erikson’s been capable of showing very technically and commercially that the investment you’re creating and the implementation of the Ericsson design system is reducing the design time, you’re competent of rolling out new functionality in a very seamless way, and you’re capable of reducing that time to market.
Business demand creates double whammy on recruitment pressure
Skills-related issues have hit a quarter of SAP users, in some cases putting projects on hold, according to a survey of companies in the Americas.
Research released by the Americas’ SAP Users’ Group (ASUG) shows that 26 per cent of organisations see skills in supporting, developing, and upgrading SAP systems as their number one challenge in working with the technology.
A quarter of users loyal to the German vendor said skills problems were holding up projects.
Geoff Scott, ASUG CEO, told a webinar last week that the combination of skills shortages in businesses and their technology teams created a vicious cycle of driving the demand for new tools and technologies.
“Business functions come and say, ‘Hey, I need to have all these things done.’ And technology teams say, ‘Well, I don’t have the same skills I used to have.’ And I think it creates a major disruption inside many of our member companies,” he said.
Skills were also a major issue for SAP users looking either to migrate to or support S/4HANA, the latest version of the tech giant’s ERP software based on an in-memory database.
“We are going to feel the pinch of that skill gap. My word of caution is that as you think about moving to S/4 if you have not already, the ability for you to plan that migration may hit some turbulence related to skill gaps with your external partners. That’s something that you absolutely positively should consider,” he said.
While technology issues were the greatest concern in the research overall, broken down, only integration problems were more cited than staff turnover and maintaining knowledgeable staff.
Of those with integration problems, 28 per cent said they were causing data errors to spread, 17 per cent said they were affecting the compatibility between SAP and other applications, and 17 per cent said it meant they were unable to keep up with new technologies.
One respondent said: “Changes made in SAP and Salesforce that do not get reflected in the other system are causing data inconsistencies.”
Overall, the majority of SAP users were increasing their spending on the technology. Fifty-two per cent said they were increasing spending, up from 46 per cent last year.
However, the proportion of users saying they were cutting spending on SAP also rose from 5 per cent last year to 8 per cent in 2022. The number of organisations making the same level of investment fell, according to the ASUG research.
I got this beautiful opportunity to talk with Zee Hussain, Senior Vice President of Global Business for Finance, Sports & Entertainment, Healthcare, and Industry Solutions at AT&T Business. We conversed about the current hot topic going around that is what he and his team at AT&T Business have been accomplishing in response to the #COVID19 Coronavirus global pandemic.
Zee Hussain at AT&T is accountable for guiding the enterprise sales teams centred on obtaining AT&T products, services, and industry-specific sales play to consumers in healthcare, finance, and all other sectors headquartered in the eastern U.S.
There’s been a lot of emphasis on the testing centres and hospital facilities that are on the front lines, making efforts to assist flatten the curve and make people secure. I requested Zee to update all of us on what they are doing to help make healthcare consumers run with such an immense rise in demand lately due to the global pandemic.
AT&T Healthcare Solution
Zee even mentioned his thoughts on the fantastic work AT&T Business has been doing currently, with people working outside of the direct healthcare providers, for instance, support staff, cleaners & sanitation workers, and administration, knowing full well that the COVID19 pandemic is affecting those healthcare-related industry segments as well, creating new pressures to keep everything neat and keep all the processes at the hospital running well.
In the discourse, we also discuss the fact that a lot is going on in these hospitals, not just for the healthcare workers, and it’s an entirely new world for patients as well; for instance, it can be risky for them to visit with their families and friends, and when you’re unhealthy, that can be a huge convenience – Zee conveyed some great points and instances of works AT&T Business are accomplishing to address this challenge for patients.
One more exciting matter we discussed is that of digital connection, especially, the likes of telehealth, which before COVID19 had already been expanding at an insane rate over a few years – I questioned Zee what he and his team are witnessing and doing around that section of the healthcare industry sector. Zee expressed some key predictions around growth, new areas that will grow up as of this issue, and plenty more.
We also talked about what’s being done around the healthcare workers working on a vaccine or a cure and their urgent demand for support and services as much as those on the front-line caring for the patients and testing for the virus.
Zee also conveyed insights near the impact outside of the direct healthcare system, for instance, what he and his team at AT&T Business are now witnessing around the areas related to prevention, for instance, something that all can and must now do, esp. now that we’re in “lock down” and being asked to “stay at home” other than for essential requirements like shopping for food and basic living supplies, etc. – knowing there’s a lot to be still addressed for say, retailers, and what they are doing to assist limit exposure to other people and this infectious virus and what’s moving on in this area.
This was nothing less than a compelling conversation, with so many facts and fundamental takeaways over a wide array of topical business & technologies. I hope you enjoy tuning in as much as we did create for you.
I caught up with Sorabh Saxena, EVP – Global Operations & Services, AT&T Business in Dallas, to talk about consumer driven disruption, and how this is age of the customer, a study AT&T Business recently ran to look into how customers & evolving consumer demands are evolving and what they gleaned from this study, insights in to how as former CIO, Sorabh and his team are infusing technology into business operations, and their overall approach, where Sorabh is seeing technology have a real impact for AT&T’s customers, and advice Sorabh gives to business & technology decision makers looking to make a difference for their customers & their own organisations? For more information about AT&T Business and their solutions & services click here http://j.mp/attbusiness
