IBM Cloud Satellite wins Business Intelligence Group Award for Business 2021 “New Product of the Year”
IBM Design is committed to using our design thinking framework and innovative ideas to solve our clients problems. Our product team at IBM Cloud Satellite worked tirelessly to use this strategy to bring cloud technology to even the most regulated industries. I’m excited to announce IBM Cloud Satellite received a 2021 New Product of the Year award from the Business Intelligence Group’s Big Awards for Business.
The Business Intelligence Group’s annual competition is the premier “____ of the Year” program, recognizing companies, products and people which lead in their respective industries. Applicants were judged by a jury of business executives using a unique scoring system which measures performance across multiple business domains. “We are so proud to reward IBM Cloud Satellite for their outstanding 2021 leadership and achievements,” said Maria Jimenez, chief nomination officer of the Business Intelligence Group. “This year’s group of winners are clearly leading by example in the global business community.”
I’ve seen the dedication the team has put into this product and I’m so proud they’ve been awarded for their efforts.
“Secure by Default”: IBM Cloud Satellite enables highly regulated enterprises to adopt hybrid cloud
IBM set a goal to be the top Hybrid Cloud provider, and revolutionize how customers can leverage cloud technology. Utilizing IBM’s Enterprise Design Thinking (EDT) framework, the product team at IBM Cloud Satellite set out to achieve this. The team conducted extensive user research, interviewing clients to better understand their customer journey and learning about a gap in the market which needed to be filled.
Shifting to the cloud can be a complicated process for any company but even harder for highly regulated industries. Strict compliance standards have typically prevented organizations like banks and hospitals from accessing cutting edge technology solutions. IBM Cloud Satellite was created to meet the needs of highly regulated industries in a rapidly evolving cloud market. Following the EDT framework, the product team built Satellite from the ground up using a ‘secure by default’ approach. This approach ensured compliance standards are met and clients feel confident and protected from rapidly growing security threats.
Enabling customers to embrace cloud solutions was just the first step. The product team used their research insights to create an intuitive support experience for customers who were using cloud for the first time. During the team’s beta testing, the process to set up a Satellite location required users to navigate 90 different screens. It was taking up to a month for clients to complete the complicated, multi-step process. The product team collaborated with engineering and product management to create a user experience that educates users about key Satellite concepts using progressive disclosure and cutting edge automation tools. This design solution, in combination with a rapidly evolving set of documentation, reduced the amount of customer support our users needed as they adopted Satellite to a simple 15 minutes process.
The product team at IBM Cloud Satellite turned the concept of the cloud upside down, enabling enterprises to use cloud services on-premises, at the edge, or on other public clouds. I’m so proud of our team at IBM Cloud Satellite for their innovation and diligence. They’ve managed to craft an exceptional product which is breaking barriers in the world of hybrid cloud, and I’m thrilled they’ve been recognized with this award.
Congratulations to the IBM Cloud Satellite product team for this stupendous recognition.
Arin Bhowmick (@arinbhowmick) is Vice President and Chief Design Officer, IBM Software Products, based in San Francisco, California. The above article is personal and does not necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions
