The applications advantage.

Why do some companies reap a superior return on their technology investments? Applications designed for large-scale computers enable companies to better compete in a changing environment.

When organizations implement new, large-scale business applications, they must grapple with a host of questions: What strategic rewards will the applications deliver to the business? What do end users need and want? What computing platform will best serve business needs?

Although seemingly straightforward, this mixture of technology and business issues can cause confusion. To successfully select and implement new applications, a chief executive must develop and communicate overall business strategies to the organization's constituencies. The technology managers then must closely align software applications development or acquisition with these business tactics.

Companies also must address the evolving needs of end users whose appetites have been whetted by the power and flexibility of desktop computing applications. The challenge is to implement enterprisewide applications that combine the desktop's best features with easy, seamless access to rich stores of corporate data.

Such a combination leads to informed, empowered workers who can devote more time to business-centric issues--such as customer service and sales--instead of struggling against information technology inefficiencies. In addition, internal processes can be re-engineered to create an enterprise that is flatter and more open to collaboration among all workers.

THE MAINFRAME'S ROLE IN THE ENTERPRISE

Where does the mainframe fit into this scenario? Although certain applications are ideally suited for alternative platforms, mainframes will continue to play a crucial role in a variety of business environments. The latest generation of IBM mainframe technology, including servers built on parallel-processing technology, will enable workers to leverage data in new ways.

To achieve this information empowerment, businesses are seeking to link their entire enterprises and to distribute data companywide as needed--through whatever device an end user may employ. The mainframe remains the ideal platform for this goal.

For example, with an enterprisewide computer system that uses an IBM ES/9000 mainframe as a communications hub and file server, hospitals can store all medical and administrative records electronically, thus eliminating paperwork and permitting easy access to patient data from admission to discharge. Physicians scattered in various offices can request test results and patient information, regardless of the office management application they use.

In addition, authorized medical and administrative staff can access the information they need from either PCs or terminals. This means faster test results, better record-keeping, and more accurate administrative processing. In short, better patient care.

Mainframes in a client/server network also can improve services to clients in other industries. With sophisticated applications and the IBM ES/9000 mainframe, financial consultants at remote offices of a brokerage firm can instantly access customer account information stored on the mainframe at the company's corporate headquarters. Other information, including client profiles, resides on a local area network at the branch office. This environment enables financial consultants to rapidly search information sources and identify clients whose financial needs could be satisfied by a new investment product.

Many industries require applications that provide continuous and powerful transaction processing to ensure customer satisfaction. An insurance company must be able to process customers' claims quickly and accurately, especially in the event of natural disasters. Customers are not impressed by the fact that the insurer has to cope with tens of thousands of claims each day, nor do they want to hear, "Sorry, the system is down." IBM's parallel technology, combined with an insurer's existing software applications, enables customer claims to be processed more quickly.

NEW WAYS TO SUCCEED

Companies continuously seek innovative ways to boost profits and grow the business. As a result, marketing strategies are changing, fueled by the unprecedented ability to cull usable information from enormous stores of data amassed in daily operations.

A regional telephone company, for example, gathers hundreds of millions of files containing call data that it previously used only for billing purposes. Combining this data with other information sources and capitalizing on the IBM parallel processing's data mining capabilities yields new ways to use data. For example, profiles of customers' phone traffic can identify who would benefit from additional services such as call waiting, a second line, or an answering service.

Smarter marketing strategies also can steer companies into new and profitable lines of business. With data-mining applications using the System/390 Parallel Query Server, a department store can pinpoint which credit card customer bought which product at which time. Armed with this information, the store can start a home-delivery service to targeted customer segments, such as those who purchase gourmet food items.

THE PAYBACK 

The benefits of this new generation of enterprise applications are enormous.

* The means to leverage existing data and applications.

* The ability to connect disparate hardware platforms and systems.

* The power to deliver the right product at the right price to the right customers.

* Reduced computing costs.

MIXING HIGH-TECH WITH HIGH-TOUCH

These benefits maximize an organization's ability to compete and thrive. However, CEOs also must weigh benefits that do not translate directly into revenue when considering the value of business applications. For example, a multinational tool manufacturer can cut labor costs by electronically transmitting business documents to and from its customers over Electronic Data Interchange applications running on its ES/9000 mainframe. In addition, EDI applications open the lines of communication between the manufacturer and its trading partners, because information is exchanged quickly, easily, and accurately.

The range of business applications based on the IBM family of large-scale computers continues to expand dramatically. This set of current and evolving applications, representing increasingly diverse solutions, shares a common goal: to provide clear, effective answers to the business questions companies face every day.