No matter what your industry, the customer is in charge

There is a common trend among the recent “Hype Cycles” published by Gartner: The consumer is driving the market.  This is forcing companies that are unprepared to look for quick wins to address new market conditions.

Changes in customer expectations are requiring companies to embrace a new style of IT that incorporates Systems of Engagement into their customer facing applications. The pressure to do this will continue to increase , requiring a dramatic transformation of your IT environment.

This is particularly evident in the healthcare industry, where the market is becoming increasingly consumer-driven. There is new dynamic.  The client has the power to influence new products, particularly enabled by Mobile technology. Modern applications can help understand customer habits, their history, and determine how to pro-actively prevent illness. The requeriments for pro-actively diagnosing and preventing illness include understanding customer risk factors, capturing customer demographics and assisting with customer health and wellness activities. Do do this, you will need an IT environment that integrates traditional Systems of Records with new Systems of Engagement.

Mobile technology is essential to the design of customer-centric applications.

Mobile devices are at the heart of the solution; not a small, limited front-end. Health Care payers have been replicating in their mobile apps with what is already available on their websites. Customers are expecting to have knowledge in their hands, offering the opportunity to take control of their own costs, information and health benefits.

This is where the new style of IT comes into play. Integration, Information Management & Analytics, Security and Cloud are the foundation for  planning your new apps.  If one of these four elements is missing, you probably won´t get the most from your customer-centric applications.

The user experience is key to any customer-centric application. Every detail counts towards achieving customer satisfaction. Even though the customer only sees a small and fragile mobile device in their hands, there is a massive IT environment behind it working to deliver a solution that thoroughly delights the customer.

This is what customers are expecting – to feel like your company is really taking care of them - in a very customized way, as never seen before. Are your applications ready to care of each of your customers?