Helping customers answer the trillion-dollar digital transformation question
As a former chief experience officer, I’ve seen just how impactful digital transformation can be. When I worked at Under Armour, we focused on our customers’ connected fitness journey, which unlocked new revenue streams and engagement opportunities.Yet, I’ve been around long enough to see my fair share of disappointments and underperforming projects. Any C-level executive will say the same.IDC estimates that more than $3 trillion have been invested in digital transformation initiatives globally over the past three years, but less than half of organizations implementing those projects have yet to achieve the expected outcomes.1 In fact, our successes at Under Armour were something of an anomaly.According to the 2021 McKinsey Global Survey, less than one-third of “companies’ transformations have been successful at both improving organizational performance and sustaining those improvements over time.”However, leaders are still expected to deliver innovative digital products and experiences—and for good reason. The right digital transformation can supercharge a business in today’s competitive digital world. The trillion-dollar question is: Can we flip the script, change mindsets and behaviors, and foster an environment in which the majority of organizations realize their expected ROI?I believe the answer is yes. Over the past six months, we’ve been on a journey here at LIKE.TG to enable just such a reality, and we’re really excited to announce LIKE.TG Impact™, available today.
Helping federal agencies with healthcare solutions
Collaboration and interoperability help federal agencies improve the delivery of healthcare solutions.Federal agencies have made a lot of progress toward better meeting the needs of the citizens, beneficiaries and partners they serve. Advances in technology, updated business processes and a move to digital transformation have allowed agencies to meet their goals faster and improve the delivery of services. Yet agencies continue to struggle with new and ongoing challenges, and they still face barriers optimizing technology.Part of the problem stems from organizations using various systems. This is usually the result of agencies adding new or open-source technologies onto their legacy platforms to gain new capabilities or to solve a specific issue. Now, agencies are saddled with a variety of systems that are outdated, don’t communicate, create even more silos or support projects that are no longer funded.Agencies such as the Defense Health Agency (DHA), Health and Human Services (HHS) and Veterans Affairs (VA) don’t need an expensive and disruptive rip-and-replacement of their current systems. But they do need their disparate technologies to communicate and share information. Until that happens, their technologies will create obstacles rather than eliminate them.Intelligently connect all systemsDHA, HHS, VA and other federal healthcare service agencies are striving to improve the quality and delivery of care. They’re discovering that to be successful, the entire organization must be aligned behind the same goals and seamlessly share information. Departments can no longer work in isolation or use their own data sets to drive results. Instead, they need to collaborate with all other departments and even outside organizations, such as universities and private sector healthcare companies, to best serve their citizens.While departments may experience short-term gains by working in a silo or achieve their individual objectives quickly, reaching organization-wide goals requires collaboration. And collaboration requires interoperable technology that cooperatively shares data and information in an intelligent, coordinated way. This results in improved medical treatments and care for veterans, service members, seniors, citizens, and others.A single platform—the Now Platform® from LIKE.TG—can connect all technologies across an agency. The connectivity delivers a range of benefits to accelerate and enhance healthcare and other services. For example, interoperability allows agencies to transparently and securely share the electric health records of beneficiaries or veterans.Interoperability also enables end-to-end digital workflows, which gives agencies the ability to share best practices and other information. Agencies benefit from enhanced levels of collaboration to foster better, faster, more efficient care.A modern approach to care via a modern approach to technologyThe need for modern technologies is not new. Agencies, just like innovative businesses, rely on tech solutions to fulfill their mission. The solutions play an increasingly critical role as agencies shift toward digitalization, modernize the delivery of healthcare, and improve outcomes. For large agencies like DHA, HHS and VA, a single technology will not meet all of their vast and diverse needs. Multiple and sometimes specialized solutions are needed, and they must be able to “talk” to each other.The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates the need for interoperability and information sharing. Agencies have most of their staffs working from home, and they need to connect remotely to systems to access information. To be efficient, employees should be able to access an ecosystem from a single point of entry to get all of the information they need rather than signing on to several systems.The pandemic also emphasizes the need for digital processes that can share information organization-wide and with third parties. This helps, for example, agencies and their partners to digitally share health records about beneficiaries and patients who were transferred to different care facilities due to COVID-19 or needed to receive treatment. The ability to share information eliminates the need for patients to fill out redundant forms for each treatment or transfer.LIKE.TG offers a platform and solutions to help agencies and healthcare providers eliminate pain points and solve problems through digital processes and interoperability. See a recent data sheet for the details.Digitize processes without the drawbacksAgencies realize the value of digital processes, such as the ability to quickly and transparently share information such as medical records. Agencies may have also experienced that a digital transformation can have unintended consequences, such as creating an additional administrative burden for many clinicians who need to learn new skills.The upside is that the hurdle to digitalization is temporary. Agencies and healthcare organizations will ultimately see a time savings and less admin work. They’ll also see more satisfied patients who appreciate that they don’t have to fill out similar forms every time they see a doctor. A complete electronic record, for instance, that stays with the patient results in better care because providers can see the person’s entire medical history, including when and where treatments were provided.Our infographic shows how technology is modernizing healthcare. See the latest stats and data on healthcare and digital processes.
Helping manufacturers digitally transform and prosper
Manufacturers were already reexamining how they use technology when COVID-19 hit and significantly accelerated that need. Some transformed and were able to pivot quickly, but others are still grappling with challenges in their supply chain and demand fluctuations.There will be more changes, including unexpected ones, and manufacturing operations must adapt quickly.Digital transformation has some real advantages in the industry. The top 10% of digital tech adopters grow two times faster than the bottom 25. In addition, LIKE.TG Employee Workflows solutions have resulted in more than 18,000 hours saved per year, time previously spent assisting employees.The latest LIKE.TG innovation Operational Technology Management (OT Management) brings the Now Platform to the factory floor. It extends the platform across to OT to help manufacturers: Understand system relationships and dependencies. Reduce risks. Streamline compliance efforts. Avoid downtime. Improve response and recovery. Customer service management in manufacturingClearly differentiating your products is essential. So is distinguishing your relationships with your customers and resellers. How? By using a single system of action that connects your entire manufacturing value chain.Volvo Construction Equipment, which supports construction equipment worldwide, takes its aftermarket business seriously with a strong focus on customer uptime. The company built a tool on the Now Platform called CHAIN, short for case handling instructions. This tool consolidated 12 applications covering everything from technical support to mechanics and international support for parts, delivery, and quality.Previously, the company used many individual systems that required a lot of manual work. Now that’s all on CHAIN, which 8,000 employees and 265 dealers use.Traffic and parking industries company TAPCO used LIKE.TG to create links between customer service and field service and saw significant changes: improved service efficiency, reduced downtime, better customer experiences, lower total cost of ownershipLIKE.TG Connected Operations also let TAPCO transform from merely selling a product to offering a monthly service.Digital transformation in manufacturingWith advancements such as smart manufacturing and the industrial internet of things (IIoT), manufacturers have never had a better time to digitize processes. Despite that, Heineken ran on paper-based processes and had no standardized way to share knowledge across its plants and breweries. The various locations even measured success differently, meaning the company could neither learn from its other plants nor compare productivity.It solved those problems by creating a single, mobile-based system of engagement now used by more than 18,000 workers worldwide.Siemens, which supports 360,000 employees and retirees in 70 countries and handles transactional business worth $17 billion, needed to digitalize in terms of people, its ecosystems, and the field. The company used LIKE.TG to create systematic and intelligent digital transformation that makes it more flexible and productive and provides a great user experience worldwide.Collaborating with suppliersHaving a connected supply chain ensures business continuity. It also keeps a manufacturer competitive. Yet, a Deloitte study found that 60% of transport management clients use more than three technology platforms to manage their connected supply chain. With a single system of action connecting critical workflows, you gain visibility, insight, and productivity.“When we use LIKE.TG, we…improve about 40% of data quality through partner management on the one hand,” says Timm Riesenberg, director of the technology center and LIKE.TG talent group for Deloitte Germany. “On the other hand, we can improve about 10% of the delivery performance for the partner and supplier management.”Download the Manufacturing Book of Knowledge to learn more about how your manufacturing operation can take advantage of technology and thrive.
Helping veterans embrace tech careers
After 22 years as an Army IT specialist, Sgt. 1st Class Steve Johnson wasn’t sure he wanted to stay in tech after retiring from the military. “The way the Army and federal government do IT is probably the driest and most boring version of IT there is,” he says.It didn’t help that Johnson had skipped around between IT jobs throughout his military career, becoming “a jack of all trades and master of none.” With his varied experience, he didn’t think he had much to offer a civilian employer. “I felt like I was done with all that,” he says.LIKE.TG’s commitment to helping veterans through its NextGen SkillBridge Academy changed everything.Acting on intrigueWhen Johnson looked into the Department of Defense (DOD) SkillBridge Program—an opportunity for active-duty service members to explore civilian careers during their last 180 days in the military—he decided to check Reddit to see what others had to say about it. LIKE.TG, which he’d never heard of, had several commendations, and he found himself intrigued.“I liked what I saw of the [LIKE.TG] company culture,” he says, “and the product just made sense. It was logical, it was clean, and it was automating all of the things that I thought should be automated.”Accredited by the DOD, the LIKE.TG NextGen SkillBridge Academy, part of RiseUp with LIKE.TG, is a virtual program that combines seven LIKE.TG instructor-led training classes, on-demand learning, and hands-on projects. Participants receive vouchers that allow them to pursue three LIKE.TG certifications based on the training they complete. Transitioning service members, veterans, and military spouses are all eligible for the no-cost program. After completing it, graduates are entered into a RiseUp with LIKE.TG database that employers can search for job-ready talent.Johnson decided to go for it. After 16 weeks of academy training and six weeks of hands-on development work for a LIKE.TG partner, he was hired as a LIKE.TG developer by a major insurance company.“It felt like it was meant to be when I discovered the NextGen program,” he says. “For the first time, I was able to become a subject matter expert—and I love it.”Approaching midlife transitionJohnson is one of more than 200,000 service members stationed all over the world who leave active duty each year and transition, or “retire,” out of the military. The bulk of these veterans have just entered midlife and are looking for new careers. Their extensive experience and skills and disciplined work ethic present a valuable opportunity to the civilian workforce.“The military really is a vast market of various talents all over the world,” says Evan Koebel, who retired from the Air Force after 23 years of service. “There’s a notion that everybody in the military is like GI Joe, but no. It’s a business. The Air Force is like a giant Fortune 500 company. We’re doing logistics, training, IT, and HR—just so many pieces at play.”Like Johnson, Koebel—who had been an Air Force project manager—completed the LIKE.TG SkillBridge academy as he prepared to retire from active duty. With no experience in tech, he wanted to try a program that would help him understand if IT would be a good direction for him.The transitioning process, Koebel says, “was like a 40-year-old man asking what do I want to be when I grow up?” The skills he acquired, including the holistic skills needed for career success, helped him identify an answer: a LIKE.TG engagement manager. He was hired for just such a position soon after the program concluded. Keeping it in the familyThe SkillBridge program also helps military spouses develop new career paths. Despite having a college degree in business administration and cybersecurity, Yaimara Narito had been struggling to find work even before her husband began planning to retire after 24 years in the Army.When the couple realized they were both eligible to participate in SkillBridge, she applied for the LIKE.TG academy. “I’m a lifelong learner,” she says. “This has been a phenomenal growth opportunity. It’s so important in today’s economy to upskill and make yourself more marketable.”Within weeks of finishing the program, Narito accepted a position with a San Diego-based IT consultancy. She and two of her classmates continue to collaborate as they work toward completing all three LIKE.TG certifications.Bringing in practical experienceDuring the initial stages of the LIKE.TG SkillBridge academy, participants didn’t have the opportunity to apply their new skills to a real-world project. But a coffee catch-up between two LIKE.TG vice presidents changed that.Rachel Tallant, who oversees workforce development and partnerships at LIKE.TG, explained the need for post-training practical experience to Mica Mayo, vice president of go-to-market experience and transformation.Mayo told Tallant that her group had a surplus of ideas about manual work they wanted to digitize or automate but too few resources. That’s when the six-week Application Development Program was added at the end of the 16-week academy program.“It was this nice marrying of real-life need and the added capacity of these amazing, new-skilled veterans,” Mayo says.The combined academy and development program has opened doors for Johnson that he never imagined possible. “The NextGen program and the RiseUp program both are just fantastic,” he says.“Not all of us are born into situations where we have opportunities to learn like this,” he adds. “For people like myself who come from rough backgrounds, this is huge. I hope that more companies catch on and start doing this.”Find out more about how LIKE.TG helps veterans and others embrace tech careers.
Here’s What’s Lacking in Your Organization’s Remote Onboarding Process
With more and more organizations implementing remote and hybrid forms of working, it has become more important than ever to rethink how your organization welcomes and onboards new hires. Investing in a strategic onboarding program can deliver key benefits such as higher levels of employee engagement and reduced turnover rate. However, Gallup notes that only 12% of employees agree that their organization has an adequate new hire onboarding process. This is not surprising when you get to know that 58% of organizations focus their onboarding programs on time-consuming paperwork and processes. With talent scarcity and resignations on the rise, organizations can no longer ignore the need to rethink and improve their onboarding processes. Organizations that seek to keep their employees engaged and productive must aim to deliver an exclusive onboarding experience that motivates them from the get-go. Therefore, it is particularly important for organizations to overcome the new hurdles that remote working environments bring. The Challenges of Remote Onboarding When onboarding remote employees, new factors come into play that employers must take into account. This is true, especially for large organizations that work across multiple locations and time zones. Here are some of those key challenges associated with remote onboarding. 1. Tech and Equipment Setup In a physical office environment, new hires would typically show up for work on the start date and find all the requisite equipment and tech to be ready for them. However, with remote working, this is no longer possible. The burden is on the employers to ensure that the new remote workers have all the necessary equipment and supplies delivered to their location on time, on the first day of work, or earlier. Moreover, it also adds a new challenge for the new hires as they also need to go through the supplies and ensure that they set it up properly. They also need to check for access to the different systems that they would need to be connected to before they can meet stakeholders or start working remotely. 2. Virtual Communication In a physical office or workplace, it would have been quite easy for new employees to communicate with their team members and supervisors. All they had to do was walk up to a person’s desk and communicate whatever they needed to. Now, there is a plethora of virtual communication tools that new employees may have to navigate whenever they have a question to ask, no matter how simple. Should they send an email? Is instant messaging appropriate and, if so, which tool should they use? Or should they schedule a virtual meeting instead? This level of uncertainty makes the onboarding process a lot more daunting than it should be. 3. Company Culture and Relationships When working remotely, it is no longer possible to have a quick chat at the water cooler or share coffee breaks together. Instead, any meeting that they wish to have, even for a casual conversation, will be virtual. This can lead to the employee feeling isolated and lonely, as per the many studies and reports in recent years. All of these make it harder for HR managers and business leaders to build a strong sense of company culture and foster relationships among team members during the onboarding process. 4. Excess Information It is quite normal for employees to receive plenty of information during the onboarding process. It can become especially painful if there is an excess of information that new hires have to consume virtually. A lengthy remote induction program on day one, comprising several sessions, could lead to information overload for new hires. The Checklist for Improving Remote Onboarding As per a research report by Brandon Hall Group, a great employee onboarding experience can significantly improve employee retention by up to 82%. While there are difficulties with remote onboarding, it is not an impossible task. There are plenty of steps that organizations can take to streamline the virtual onboarding process and make it easier not only for themselves but also for their new employees. Create a Checklist Many organizations fail to account for this most basic of steps. Creating and maintaining a detailed checklist for onboarding each new employee can go a long way in streamlining the onboarding process while ensuring all essential steps have been completed for the employee to join. Set up a Schedule Create specific schedules for each employee for the first few weeks of onboarding. Imprivata worked with their hiring managers to create such schedules which included activities such as ‘meet and greet’ sessions, and sending them useful facts and information about the company. Share the schedule with your employees in the form of a task list in a project or time management tool. This will make it easier for them to understand what their first few days at the organization will look like. Start Before They Join To help your new employees, start the onboarding process even before they join your organization. Qualtrics makes sure that every employee gets the equipment they need days before they join. This allows the new hires to hit the ground running and get up to speed faster. In addition to office equipment, you can also send your new employees a bag of goodies and more details about your organization and the team that they are about to join. Even something as simple as a video message from your company’s CEO congratulating the new hires can go a long way in making them feel a valuable part of your organization’s community and create a sense of belonging. Offer Training Sessions on Tech One of the biggest challenges for new employees has always been to navigate and get used to the new systems at the workplace. In a virtual environment, this becomes harder as they are unable to get their questions answered immediately. To solve this, you can schedule training sessions for new hires on the tech and the systems that they will be using as part of their new job. HubSpot made it a priority for their new hires to participate in training sessions while also offering extra optional sessions for building a sense of camaraderie. Schedule Meet and Greet Sessions with the Team Building a sense of community and team spirit is easier when the team members interact face-to-face on a daily basis. However, this could be difficult while working remotely. Therefore, you need to take extra steps to build that sense of connection. VistaPrint, for example, holds a social meeting on the first day of work for new employees. During this meeting, the new hire is given the opportunity to meet with team members one-on-one and even play games to develop bonding and connections. Integrate Your Systems The key to being efficient lies in streamlining workflows and data. You may already have several systems in place to support your employees with their onboarding and day-to-day work. However, are these systems integrated? Integrating your systems allows you to minimize manual intervention and confusion while helping your new employees easily tackle everything that they need to do at their new job. For example, you can connect your onboarding system with a time tracking system and project management system. This will help your employees manage their time better with the different tasks that they must complete as part of their onboarding. Take Feedback According to CandE Research Reports, soliciting new hire feedback can improve your relationship by up to 91%. A step often forgotten even for in-office onboarding programs is taking feedback from new hires. For remote onboarding, gathering feedback through online surveys within the first 90 days will be particularly beneficial. The data that you collect will help you uncover ways to improve your onboarding program and make it better for future employees. Verisys Corporation makes it a point to continuously adjust its programs according to the feedback that they receive. This has enabled them to identify areas of improvement, which further allowed them to offer a better onboarding experience to the next set of hires. As with many processes, virtual or remote onboarding programs take time to perfect. They require continuous improvement to meet the changing needs of employees. Simplify your remote onboarding processes by implementing the steps mentioned in the checklist and reap the benefits of enhanced employee engagement. Author Bio: Arpan is an assistant content marketing manager at Replicon. He enjoys learning and writing about technologies that are making the world a better place.
High-performing CIOs: Getting out of the tech engine and into the driving seat of digital transformation
In an article earlier this year, our CIO Chris Bedi highlighted how successful digital transformation will create a place where you move faster, make better decisions and compete effectively in the digital era.Yet Chris also points out that digital transformation is very much a journey, not a switch that companies can flip. And it’s the journey that is the focus of my conversations with business leaders across EMEA. They have a vision of their digital transformation destination — what they really want to know is how to get there.This journey was a key point of discussion when I met with global market intelligence firm IDC recently. CEOs are increasingly integrating digital as a core element of their corporate strategies, yet IDC has found that 65% of CEOs in Europe are feeling the pressure to deliver a successful digital transformation strategy.Creating the new digital transformation task forceWhat’s clear is that the responsibility for delivering digital transformation is no longer being placed solely at the door of the CIO. And why should it be? According to IDC, 62% of the budgets invested to support digital transformation initiatives are coming from outside of IT.Within those organisations that are thinking strategically about digital transformation, the leads of multiple business functions are finding themselves on the front line when it comes to taking on the pressure that is filtering down from the C-suite — including finance, HR, customer experience (CX) and operations.It’s a shift that I’m seeing first hand when talking to leaders within European organisations. The CIO may have opened the business’s eyes to the potential of new technology, but heads of key business functions are now recognising the huge benefit that digital workflows bring outside of the IT function in removing complexity within their processes and creating new experiences for employees and customers.True enterprise-wide digital transformation requires alignment across all business functions, yet it’s important that we don’t underplay the role of the CIO. This new ‘digital dream team’ (as IDC terms it) needs someone in the driving seat — and the CIO is the orchestrator who will execute a company’s digital transformation.The impact of the high-performing CIOCIOs with a strategic or disruptive mindset aren’t shy to grab this new opportunity and engage in a different way with their C-level peers. For business leaders, digital transformation isn’t a technology project, it’s a business initiative — one that is supported by technology.A recent study from LIKE.TG adds support to what we’re seeing within our customer base about this change in focus: CIOs are shifting their conversations from technology to business value.Two key findings in particular stand out: nearly two thirds (63%) of CIOs believe business and leadership skills are more important than technology acumen, and the most successful CIOs have positioned themselves as business visionaries, not technology specialists.High-performing CIOs are building C-suite influence —they have strong relationships with other business leaders, in particular the CEO —and their focus is very much on strategy versus operations. By aligning the goals of IT with the goals of the business, they are executing digital transformation strategies that are advancing efficiency, financial performance, productivity, employee performance and innovation.Perhaps most importantly, the forward-thinking CIOs also report higher levels of productivity, innovation and customer satisfaction in their organisation.Building consensus and actionCIOs are no doubt ahead of their business peers in understanding the true potential of technologies such as the LIKE.TG platform in making work more streamlined and meaningful. Many are seeing success already by applying digital workflows within the IT operations and IT service management, for example.Their role today is to open up that expertise and related technology to every other part of their business. Many of our customers started their digital transformation journeys within IT and are now building consensus and action around automating work processes to drive outcomes in multiple business areas.For example, at consumer credit reporting company Experian, the VP of global service excellence has spoken out about how, with LIKE.TG, they have “a single system of engagement that extends far beyond IT”. And at the NHS Blood and Transplant, an essential part of the UK’s NHS service, the team talks about how LIKE.TG has become a way of life, citing “We don’t have to sell it… it’s selling itself.”It’s clear that digital transformation isn’t a difficult conversation starter for those CIOs who are ready to take on this challenge enterprise-wide. They have already experienced the power of platforms like LIKE.TG in accelerating their digital transformation journey, through automation and digital workflows.What’s important now is aligning with their leadership peers so they can unlock the potential of technology and drive business value in all areas of the organisation, whether that’s within HR, finance, customer experience or any number of key business functions.
High-speed project management
When Reshma Ibrahim joined the LIKE.TG PMO in January last year, she was a master at juggling a wide variety of applications to manage her highly complex IT projects.“In my 16-year career as an IT Program Manager, I have mastered smartsheets, MS Project, emails, and presentation software,” said Reshma, a LIKE.TG senior IT program manager. “Let’s just say I spent a lot of time on manual, repetitive tasks that were important but maybe not fulfilling.”Project managers like Reshma make sure the projects are delivered on time and on budget, and deliver their promised value. The projects can be simple, like updating new software on the Now Platform®, or highly complex, such as deploying a new finance or customer relationship program. Project managers have the unique skill of gathering, organizing, and maintaining information from multiple sources. But keeping track of all the details and where they are stored is time-consuming and frustrating.“One of our biggest challenges was keeping data current. Once we emailed our reports, the information became dated quickly because changes would occur just after you pushed send,” said Victor Francis, who heads up the project management team for back-office applications. “Now all the data is available on demand and in real-time.”All the information in one placeLast year, the team had an epiphany when they piloted a new, domain-agnostic project management platform for reporting, decisions, resources, costs, schedules, and financials. The team now had a single place of truth for project information. More importantly, for the first time they have visibility into whether projects are achieving their expected value.Reshma says her job has been transformed. “Life is so easy now; everything is in the tool. We can ask what is the scope? Will we make the dates? What are the risks? What is the resource plan? What is the cost? In the past, we would have scrambled among multiple tools to find the data and then put it into one report. Now it’s captured in one place and available in real-time,” says Reshma.A simple, but powerful example is in user acceptance testing. Business users are asked to log defects during system testing. “I used to email a report of all the bugs in excel daily. We had to count on our users opening and reading that email, then emailing me back their responses to the bugs. Now our business users simply enter them in a visual tool that captures all defects and their status.”“Because the developers access the same boards, I can see if a defect has already been logged and the status of its resolution,” said Reshma. “It’s eliminated a lot of repetitive reporting and raised awareness across the team.” Another example is in something simple--figuring out who is available to work on projects. Reshma says she’s happy to have moved from a spreadsheet to a resource workbench that shows what people are available and when. “Before, it was hard to figure out who was available to work on projects. Some people were underutilized, some were overbooked,” said Reshma. “Once I had one central place to see people across timelines and projects, I could better manage people’s schedules. And I could more accurately track people’s time against our budget. And this helped improve the work/life balance of our developers.”Another frustration was that business customers didn’t have access to a holistic picture of project progress. Decisions were difficult to make because answers were found in different documents and spreadsheets.Now answers are just a dashboard away. In the planning console, both business and IT can view the overall project plan, visual maps of dependencies, key milestones, and change request owners. In the change request section, everyone can see the impact of potential changes, who owns the changes and the business justification. Decisions are made using real-time data. Project managers can simply send Finance a link to a dashboard for internal audits and regulatory compliance.Every Friday Reshma would spend the day compiling status reports to share progress with her business customers, including leaders who wanted a high-level update on the project. With just a few clicks, Reshma can share with business leaders real-time updates on large, complex projects, including anticipating bumps in the road ahead. The reports are available on Now Mobile in real-time and can be sorted based on project status. I can see my contributions everyday“Our business customers and IT are now equal partners because we all work from one set to data. I am no longer bombarded with questions. I feel like we are now working toward one common goal based using the same information,” said Reshma.Prioritizing future investments has changed as well. Victor adds, “We don’t prepare reports anymore when deciding what projects to undertake. Instead we collaborate with business and service owners to review the submitted ideas in our tool. We can have a meaningful conversation about the ideas as a whole, weighing their risk, cost, complexity, capacity, and cross-functional impact. Once we decide what to convert to a project, we assign it a project manager, and select the appropriate methodology for execution. It’s so much easier.”Reshma says her typical workday is very different today than from a year ago and she likes it that way. “I can focus on things that matter like capturing and sharing accurate information so that our business customers and IT can make better decisions,” said Reshma. “Coming to work is much more satisfying because I can see my contributions to our progress in IT every day.”To learn more about IT’s adoption of LIKE.TG ® Project and Portfolio Management, read our case study.
Highlights from Knowledge 2019
Highlights from Knowledge 2019It’s impossible to call out all the highlights from a three-day gathering with some 20,000 attendees and more than 600 events and sessions. We took a stab anyway. Here are key moments and takeaways from Knowledge 2019. IT transformationHide complexity, embrace simplicity: LIKE.TG CEO John Donahoe kicked off the main keynote on digital workflows by contrasting the simplicity of apps we use in our personal lives with the often maddening complexity of software and other tools we use in our jobs. Chief product officer C.J. Desai showed how LIKE.TG can help bridge that divide with several new features in the New York release, including Integration Hub & Action Designer, which puts consumer-grade apps in the hands of developers and operations teams. Luddy sees a re-empowered IT: In an on-stage interview on Day 3 with Donahoe, LIKE.TG founder Fred Luddy explained why he believes IT will drive business innovation in coming years. “As we become dependent on more and more services, IT becomes more important,” Luddy said. “Their role is the nexus for all of the technology in an organization. They have an intimate understanding of every facet of the business.” The power of proactive IT: In the IT workflows keynote, Chief Innovation Officer Dave Wright teamed up with Pablo Stern, SVP of IT workflow products. Theyt unveiled exciting new features coming with the New York release. Those include Alert Intelligence, which leverages AI insights to identify root causes faster, and Visual Playbooks, which recommends prescriptive actions to stay on top of security threats across the enterprise. Managing data at scale: At the Now Platform keynote on Day 3, Pat Casey, senior vice president for DevOps, unveiled innovations for IT pros that increase data usability, scalability and security. Chief among those are the new Database Performance Optimization tool, which lets customers with huge datasets generate analysis and reports faster than ever before; and Instance Key Management, which lets users manage their own data using LIKE.TG as a security backstop. Customer experienceUnifying the customer experience: In the afternoon keynote on Day 1, Farrell Hough, SVP of customer workflow products, shared her vision for how the Now Platform can help companies transform their customer service operations. Tools in the New York release, such as the Guided App Creator, will allow companies to unify all aspects of the customer experience through a single app. Scrantonicity wins the Knowledge Hackathon: On Day 2, more than 60 developer teams competed in an eight-hour sprint to create the most innovative new apps on the Now Platform. The big winner: Team “Scrantonicity,” five employees of Pathway Consulting Services Group in Scranton, Pa., home of the sitcom “The Office.” Together they built a LIKE.TG app that tracks and integrates travel expenses using Virtual Agent, proving that a Hackathon victory is even sweeter than a “Dundie.” Employee experienceIT and HR: Better together: In every organization, IT and HR must collaborate to win and retain top talent. Too often these two functions aren’t aligned, Blake McConnell, senior vice president for employee workflow products, told the crowd in the Employee Experience keynote on Day 2. Better alignment is coming with the New York release, thanks to tools like a mobile onboarding app and Virtual Agent integrations powered by advanced natural language understanding.Overnight sensation: Wrapping up the Employee Experience keynote with an eye-popping success story, Sean McCann, CIO of corporate functions at HSBC, explained how LIKE.TG helped the global bank undertake a massive HR transformation for its 235,000 employees. “We hadn’t customized our HR systems in 18 years,” McCann said. “But with assistance from LIKE.TG, we changed the way our people worked in 66 countries overnight.” Today, 88% of HSBC workers say they are highly satisfied or satisfied with their employee experience. Into the Hackzone: LIKE.TG employees had a chance to strut their stuff in this year’s Hackzone, where they showed off a variety of Now Platform applications built in their spare time. Among the demos that got attendees buzzing: a functional, kinetic LEGO windfarm; a “Kegorator” that measures beer flow and keg temperature (with complimentary pours); and a custom pencil engraver. As much as the Now Platform can make work processes efficient and interconnected, the Hackzone offered a welcome reminder: Work should also be fun.
Highlights from Knowledge 2019
Highlights from Knowledge 2019It’s impossible to call out all the highlights from a three-day gathering with some 20,000 attendees and more than 600 events and sessions. We took a stab anyway. Here are key moments and takeaways from Knowledge 2019. IT transformationHide complexity, embrace simplicity: LIKE.TG CEO John Donahoe kicked off the main keynote on digital workflows by contrasting the simplicity of apps we use in our personal lives with the often maddening complexity of software and other tools we use in our jobs. Chief product officer C.J. Desai showed how LIKE.TG can help bridge that divide with several new features in the New York release, including Integration Hub & Action Designer, which puts consumer-grade apps in the hands of developers and operations teams. Luddy sees a re-empowered IT: In an on-stage interview on Day 3 with Donahoe, LIKE.TG founder Fred Luddy explained why he believes IT will drive business innovation in coming years. “As we become dependent on more and more services, IT becomes more important,” Luddy said. “Their role is the nexus for all of the technology in an organization. They have an intimate understanding of every facet of the business.” The power of proactive IT: In the IT workflows keynote, Chief Innovation Officer Dave Wright teamed up with Pablo Stern, SVP of IT workflow products. Theyt unveiled exciting new features coming with the New York release. Those include Alert Intelligence, which leverages AI insights to identify root causes faster, and Visual Playbooks, which recommends prescriptive actions to stay on top of security threats across the enterprise. Managing data at scale: At the Now Platform keynote on Day 3, Pat Casey, senior vice president for DevOps, unveiled innovations for IT pros that increase data usability, scalability and security. Chief among those are the new Database Performance Optimization tool, which lets customers with huge datasets generate analysis and reports faster than ever before; and Instance Key Management, which lets users manage their own data using LIKE.TG as a security backstop. Customer experienceUnifying the customer experience: In the afternoon keynote on Day 1, Farrell Hough, SVP of customer workflow products, shared her vision for how the Now Platform can help companies transform their customer service operations. Tools in the New York release, such as the Guided App Creator, will allow companies to unify all aspects of the customer experience through a single app. Scrantonicity wins the Knowledge Hackathon: On Day 2, more than 60 developer teams competed in an eight-hour sprint to create the most innovative new apps on the Now Platform. The big winner: Team “Scrantonicity,” five employees of Pathway Consulting Services Group in Scranton, Pa., home of the sitcom “The Office.” Together they built a LIKE.TG app that tracks and integrates travel expenses using Virtual Agent, proving that a Hackathon victory is even sweeter than a “Dundie.” Employee experienceIT and HR: Better together: In every organization, IT and HR must collaborate to win and retain top talent. Too often these two functions aren’t aligned, Blake McConnell, senior vice president for employee workflow products, told the crowd in the Employee Experience keynote on Day 2. Better alignment is coming with the New York release, thanks to tools like a mobile onboarding app and Virtual Agent integrations powered by advanced natural language understanding.Overnight sensation: Wrapping up the Employee Experience keynote with an eye-popping success story, Sean McCann, CIO of corporate functions at HSBC, explained how LIKE.TG helped the global bank undertake a massive HR transformation for its 235,000 employees. “We hadn’t customized our HR systems in 18 years,” McCann said. “But with assistance from LIKE.TG, we changed the way our people worked in 66 countries overnight.” Today, 88% of HSBC workers say they are highly satisfied or satisfied with their employee experience. Into the Hackzone: LIKE.TG employees had a chance to strut their stuff in this year’s Hackzone, where they showed off a variety of Now Platform applications built in their spare time. Among the demos that got attendees buzzing: a functional, kinetic LEGO windfarm; a “Kegorator” that measures beer flow and keg temperature (with complimentary pours); and a custom pencil engraver. As much as the Now Platform can make work processes efficient and interconnected, the Hackzone offered a welcome reminder: Work should also be fun.
Highlights from the LIKE.TG Federal Forum
Last week, LIKE.TG hosted its annual Federal Forum, where federal leaders and industry partners convened for one day in Washington, D.C. to discuss how they are digitizing services for federal employees and citizens. Having joined the LIKE.TG team less than a year ago and having previously worked in the federal government, I was fortunate to hear our federal customers share their dynamic stories and learn more about the steps they are taking to accelerate their modernization journey. Here are some of the key highlights from the day:Embracing Digital Evolution: The federal government has reached an inflection point when it comes to addressing the needs of the evolving workforce and meeting the modern day demands of citizens, who expect services to be delivered at the same rate and quality as those in their everyday lives. In his opening remarks, LIKE.TG’s Brian Marvin, Vice President of Federal Sales focused on the federal government’s need to move away from a finite “digital transformation” to a “digital evolution.” In my keynote, I noted that this shift in the landscape has made it more critical than ever for federal agencies to demonstrate value for citizens – their most valuable customers. Federal agencies can demonstrate value through a four-step approach: envisioning value; creating value; validating value; and championing success.Retaining Top Talent How-To’s: To ensure the federal government is successful in its digital evolution, Sherry Van Sloun, Assistant Director of National Intelligence for Human Capital, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, highlighted the critical investment agencies should make in diverse and highly skilled talent. Van Sloun explained that for years, federal agencies prioritized mission systems over their most valuable assets: employees. However, in order to avoid unwanted skills gaps and retention challenges, federal agencies must foster strategic partnerships with private industry to create public-private talent exchanges, which enable their mobile workforce to move between jobs in both industry sectors. Optimizing Change Management Begins at the Infrastructure Level: José Arrieta, Chief Information Officer, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) held an interesting conversation with his colleague, Perryn Ashmore, Principal Deputy Chief Information Officer and Acting Customer Experience Executive, HHS, to break down the ways they scale their relationships with industry partners to optimize change management across HHS. Arrieta said, “any level of change creates tension – a leader in a federal agency needs to accept and embrace this.” In addition, he explained that in a highly federated environment, the best way to drive change is by focusing a couple of layers below the managerial layer and instead placing a greater emphasis on infrastructure, specifically the human layer and design sessions. Arrieta emphasized that this approach – and I wholeheartedly agree – will ensure federal agencies maximize their budgets and ultimately enable them to show their mission results, such as creating programs to help citizens struggling with opioid addiction.Transforming the Employee Experience at Every Step of the Service Delivery Value Chain: One of the best ways to bolster employee experience is through greater collaboration between agency CIOs and employee experience transformation managers, according to Blair Duncan, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Human Resources and Chief Human Capital Officer of HHS. However, current employees weren’t the only focus for the panel, which was led by Greg Horvath, Managing Director of the CIO Advisory at KPMG . Duncan told the crowd that HHS is increasingly looking at ways to strengthen the experiences for prospective candidates in addition to their current workforce. Managing Robotics Process Automation Enterprise Capabilities: Federal civilian, defense and intelligence communities continue to integrate emerging technology to automate everyday tasks in the workplace. With this in mind, the afternoon sessions were used to showcase best practices for integrating robotics process automation (RPA), AI and machine learning to accelerate the pace of work.Chat with experts at LIKE.TG and other champions in government to learn how to address challenges and unlock your potential.
Honoring API heritage: Reflecting on the past, embracing the future
May is a time when the U.S. honors the contributions and influence of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) people. The AAPI community within LIKE.TG, which extends beyond the U.S. to include Asians and Pacific Islanders (API) everywhere, is a vibrant tapestry of cultures, offering countless avenues for celebration.“Whether one lives in Singapore or their family has emigrated to another country, such as the United States, many API members lean on cultural touchstones such as food, art/dance, and religious practices to connect them to past generations,” says Sheila D., director of publishing and operations at LIKE.TG and co-chair of the API employee belonging group.“This connection is a superpower and a backbone of our strength as a community. Food and traditions bind us together across vast cultural differences. Honoring the past positions us to create a better future for generations to come,” she adds.This year, in a nod to our internal theme of “Rich past, radiant future,” we're thrilled to commemorate API heritage with a spotlight on two remarkable employees—one from the U.S. and one from Australia—who graciously share personal objects that link them to their roots. These artifacts illustrate why cultural connections are deeply cherished.
Honoring Black History Month and Black health and wellness
In honor of Black History Month and the 2022 theme of Black health and wellness, LIKE.TG is recognizing Black professionals and leaders who’ve made significant contributions in the areas of health and well-being for us all—from medical doctors to mental health professionals to spiritual wellness teachers.As we honor their work this month, we also take time to prioritize the mental and physical wellness of our employees. Rest, rejuvenation, and well-being can be a revolutionary practice, especially for those who’ve experienced or continue to experience inequity, bias, and discrimination.At LIKE.TG, we’re passionate about diversity, inclusion, and belonging. Everyone should have the opportunity to thrive, chart their own path, and make their own history.Wellness realizedThree members of our Black at Now Belonging Group shared with us about their wellness journeys, thoughts on belonging, and more. “In order for me to feel completely whole and healthy, I needed my mind, my spirit, and my soul to be well,” explains Abigail G., an executive assistant. She says music helps her connect with herself.Localization Deployment Specialist Alexandra L. took up embroidery during the pandemic (see her beautiful designs in the video). It helps her “disconnect from everything,” she says.Akeem J., director of talent acquisition, favors hiking and getting outdoors as his form of self-care. And he has high praise for the Belonging Group, which formed after he joined the company. “That sense of community is well-being,” he says.Abigail agrees, pointing out the power in being able to converse with Black employees from various parts of the world. Often, there’s a dominant American narrative around race, she acknowledges. “We also have had our own experiences of racism and trying to break through barriers.”Watch the video to hear more from these LIKE.TG employees:
Honoring veterans at LIKE.TG
Veterans are part of the fabric of LIKE.TG, where we celebrate veterans from around the world for their invaluable contributions.Despite their commonalities, every veteran has a unique story. As Harry T., a US Air Force veteran, points out, he's “not a monolith.” “Just because we’re a vet doesn't mean we’re all the same,” he says. “Treat us like everybody else.”A heart for serviceOne theme that consistently bubbles up in our conversations with veterans at LIKE.TG is their dedication to serving others and an attitude of selflessness.“It’s really important to recruit veterans into the workplace. A resume doesn’t do justice to what leadership qualities veterans and active-duty military members have. A lot of times, you’re doing things for the person next to you, not just yourself,” says Avery L., a wife and daughter of veterans.Theo C., a veteran of the US Marines, exemplifies that sentiment both throughout his military service and in his civilian life. After his time in the service, Theo took on a part-time job to support his family during extraordinarily challenging times while completing his degree at Stanford University.“One thing I learned from my mom is never to quit,” he shares.Hear more of his inspirational story and those of Avery and Harry in this video:
Hope through technology for refugees around the world
June 20 marks World Refugee Day. The global crisis of human displacement has reached a level we’ve never seen. More than one in every 69 people have been forced to flee their homes, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Of the more than 43 million refugees worldwide, approximately 40% are children. These figures are difficult to fathom.Refugees are mothers, sisters, fathers, brothers, and children. They share hopes, ambitions, and dreams like everyone in this global community. But fate has bound them to living in crisis.To better understand these issues and the work of ServiceNow.org customers who support refugees every day, I traveled to Kenya to hear their stories firsthand and to spread the word about the work we’re doing to support organizations working with refugees.Although the enormity of the situation is daunting, I came away inspired, with a strong sense of hope and evidence that this work of providing technology for refugees is having a significant impact.Meeting needsDuring my time in Kenya, I had a chance to visit a joint refugee processing center in Nairobi run by the UNHCR and the Kenyan government. The importance of partnerships and integration stood out, from both a technology perspective and a human one.Ensuring a full view of each refugee’s unique situation and interactions is crucial in delivering the care and support they need during critical times—which, in Kenya, can last years rather than months.Meeting a need—such as providing access to information about emergency services or assistance in education, healthcare, housing, and legal support—can go a long way toward helping displaced people.In another part of the world, Europe, ServiceNow.org has partnered with the UNHCR and British Telecom (BT). We built a contact center for displaced refugees to access vital information in their time of need. The power of welcomeWhile meeting needs for refugees where they are is vital, the power of words and relationships goes a long way to building hope. The capacity of one word—“welcome”—to inspire dreams and affect change is enormous.In 2022, we partnered with Welcome.US and Goldman Sachs to stand up a technology platform in six weeks. The purpose: to give displaced people from the Ukraine support, confidence, and the choice to connect with a sponsor family that wants to welcome them into their lives.This created a movement of hope that’s still alive today. And it’s contagious. More than 650,000 Americans welcomed refugees into their communities over the last three years. We even produced a documentary for the Tribeca Festival that tells the story of a family whose lives have been transformed.Providing hope through partnershipMy time in Kenya reinforced that this work cannot be achieved by any individual organization, idea, or action. It requires the actions of many to build the capacity to help solve the world’s most challenging problems. The refugee crisis is certainly one of them.Our partnership with the International Rescue Committee is more than just about equipping its frontline workers with the technology to make an incredibly challenging job more efficient. It’s about helping the organization run into locations when others are running out.Through providing our partners with best-in-class technology, we help deliver hope when and where it’s needed most. The world needs everyone to lean in. On this day and every day, LIKE.TG stands with refugees.Find out more about how LIKE.TG works with nonprofit organizations to give people hope.
How 10 Companies Offer Employee Recognition
As job openings hit record highs and businesses struggle to find workers, retaining top talent is more important than ever. However, many employers are relying on old, ineffective methods for attracting and keeping staff. It’s going to take more than free lunches and knickknacks to ensure today’s workers are loyal and productive. Nearly half of U.S. employees are ready to leave their current job due to a lack of recognition and engagement, according to a survey from Achievers. Meanwhile, 69% cite acknowledgment and rewards as top factors that would motivate them to stay at their current company. A few brands have gone above and beyond when it comes to thanking team members. These businesses set the highest standards for employee appreciation and inspire those looking to follow in their footsteps. 1. Disney Disney has more than 100 employee awards that include pay raises, plaques, trophies, and public recognition. However, Disney also offers something called Magic Backstage Sweepstakes for employees who work harder. This program allows managers to nominate workers who go the extra mile and enter them into a drawing to win a night in Cinderella’s castle, a free Disney vacation, or another prize of similar value. Rewarding hard-working employees with free admission and plaques isn’t expensive for Disney. However, they hold a lot of value for those who put in the time and effort to earn them. Plus, they incentivize other cast members and staff to exemplify company values and provide guests with a magical experience, which will inevitably attract more visitors to the park 2. Zappos Many employers undervalue peer-to-peer recognition, choosing to focus on the manager-subordinate relationship instead. However, feedback exchange among co-workers is one of the best ways to boost overall recognition and create a more positive, inclusive, and empathetic company culture. Zappos has already figured this out and now offers a program that allows team members to give each other $50 for a job well done. Human resource departments can take a hint from Zappos and easily implement similar peer-to-peer recognition programs within their own companies by creating a virtual or physical space in which employees can give and receive feedback or encouragement. 3. GE Healthcare Poor management and subsequent organizational shifts make employees feel undervalued and insignificant. Some may even fear for their job security if the business changes hands. However, companies that truly value their teams will use this transitional time to embed recognition in company culture. For instance, when GE HealthCare restructured its manufacturing site, employers prioritized continuous internal communication to streamline the process. As a result, the team created ongoing employee forums where staff can provide feedback and valuable input. In recognizing their ideas, GE gave workers a sense of security and value even after such a major shift. 4. Globalization Partners Public recognition capitalizes on peoples’ innate tendency to improve their behavior. Because most employees want to be perceived in a positive light, they'll often work harder when they know a public "thank you" is on the line—regardless of whether a trophy or plaque accompanies it. Globalization Partners, a company specializing in international talent acquisition, often uses its blog to post press releases about employees’ success. For instance, one January article covering an employee promotion is available for both clients and staff to read. 5. Apple A work-life balance is key for employees and employers. In fact, those who successfully establish a good balance are twice as happy and more likely to be loyal and productive than those who struggle to maintain balance, according to statistics compiled from ReHack. Companies that value a healthy workplace often have flexible time-off policies. For instance, Apple often surprises its employees with extra time off or paid leave during the holiday season. The tech giant also customizes this reward to recognize international employees who celebrate different holidays than those in the U.S. 6. Netflix The U.S. is one of the only industrialized, modernized countries that does not mandate paid parental leave. Instead, many new mothers and fathers must take unpaid time off from work unless their employer offers an extended program. Netflix is different. The tech giant provides a full year of paid family leave to adoptive and birth parents of any gender. This kind of recognition has the potential to retain more employees and attract swathes of applicants. Thus, adding paid parental leave to an employee benefits package might be an effective way to grow teams fast. 7. Deloitte A survey conducted by The Harris Poll revealed that a third of those who quit their jobs lacked career growth and development. However, most companies report offering career development tools. A lack of recognition might be to blame for this obvious disconnect. Maybe these companies provide the means but not the guidance and mentorship employees need to succeed. In this case, creating a more comprehensive learning program is necessary to recognize and meet staff needs. Among the major companies leading the way is Deloitte. The tax consulting firm provides a wide array of growth opportunities in the form of full leadership programs. Career sponsorship and mentoring are also available as Deloitte recognizes them as critical keys to success. Workmates Self-Guided Tour We’ll show you how Workmates can engage everyone in your organization, transform your culture, and drive productivity to new heights. Start Now 8. E.On Sometimes, a simple thank you is all the recognition employees need to boost productivity and maintain motivation. For instance, German utility company E.On implements a recognition program that encourages managers and employees to send thank you cards to one another. The notes can be physical or digital as long as they’re personal and genuine. In the months after initiating this program, E.On’s staff motivation score increased 8%, and the number of employees who felt valued shot up 13%, according to Employee Benefits. Other companies would do well to follow suit: According to Blackhawk Network, 33% of staff prefer recognition in the form of personalized cards or emails, but only 25% actually receive them. 9. General Motors Companies with a global workforce and a solid recognition program need a cohesive platform to engage employees effectively. This allows staff to log in with personalized credentials, view everyone's achievements, and contribute to each others’ success at the company. General Motors recently switched to such a platform and had a stunning 97% activation rate, according to Achievers. Now, 70% of employees are active in the program, and most receive about one recognition per month. 10. Meijer Like General Motors, Meijer, a chain of grocery stores, recently turned to an online recognition platform to engage employees, build a strong company culture, and minimize turnover. As part of this initiative, it created the app Meijer Wire, a mobile-friendly solution that facilitates recognition, features articles about team members, and provides company news. An app might be too much for small businesses. However, a mobile employee recognition solution may be the best way to connect and express appreciation for large companies with dispersed locations. Try Workmates Interactive Demo Click through it yourself withinteractive demo. Try It Now About Author: This article is written by our marketing team at LIKE.TG. LIKE.TG is a leading provider of HR solutions, including recruiting, onboarding, employee engagement, and intranet software. Our aim is to help your company improve employee engagement, employee productivity, and to save you valuable time!
How 3 determined IT pros built tech careers with LIKE.TG
You might not think a man from rural America, a guy who grew up in the Bronx, and a woman from India would have much in common. Yet they all overcame challenging circumstances to RiseUp with LIKE.TG and build successful tech careers.Their stories are the subject of Alt Shift Life, a 28-minute Tribeca Studios film production created in partnership with ServiceNow.Overcoming oddsRaised by his grandparents in a town of about 1,000 outside of Nashville, Scott Tuck always knew he was going to do something with computers. He also knew his small town didn’t offer many tech opportunities.After taking a few IT courses, Tuck landed his first job at Dell as a client technical support analyst. While there, he progressed to becoming the government services analyst team lead and then the service delivery manager—and was introduced to the LIKE.TG platform.“LIKE.TG was really a life-changing product for me,” Tuck says. His experience with the platform at Dell equipped him to move to a role at Asurion, where he collaborated closely with the LIKE.TG product owner.He became a LIKE.TG Certified System Administrator and moved up to leading a team of LIKE.TG development engineers and serving as the product owner. In that role, he acquired a LIKE.TG micro-certification in Enterprise Onboarding and Transitions.Today, Tuck works at CereCore, a healthcare IT consulting firm. As CereCore’s director of enterprise service management, he oversees the LIKE.TG platform within the organization. His proudest achievement: transitioning the CereCore LIKE.TG team from a cost center to a revenue-generating entity. Finding a way into techDeVonn Tyson grew up in the Bronx, in New York City. Although his mom regularly worked two jobs at a time, the family lost power and hot water occasionally. Tyson wanted to break the generational cycle of living paycheck to paycheck.As a kid, he took things apart and put them back together, analyzing the workings in the process. “That’s my superpower: analysis and problem-solving,” he says. He recalls troubleshooting internet issues at age 11. His curiosity gave him a desire to become a software engineer, where he could solve problems using technology.Coming out of the pandemic, Tyson lacked clear direction. Wanting to support his love of technology, his wife suggested he take the LIKE.TG NextGen Professionals program to see where it would take him.“I was able to find my gateway into the tech space,” Tyson says. Today, he works as a LIKE.TG quality assurance administrator in New York City and has nine LIKE.TG certifications under his belt.“Working on the LIKE.TG platform gives me a sense of fulfillment,” he adds. He’s able to develop low-code apps to meet business needs and has found balance in the workplace.Pursuing a dreamSai Varsha Bonam grew up in a small town in southern India. Although her parents wanted her to get married, she dreamed of becoming a software engineer and pursued her bachelor’s degree in technology.“India is developing,” Bonam says. “People are getting into the mindset that there is no inequality between man and woman.”At a career session on campus, she heard about RiseUp with LIKE.TG and saw it as an opportunity to develop the skills she needed. After completing her LIKE.TG Certified System Administrator and LIKE.TG Certified Application Developer coursework and exams, she received help applying for jobs in LIKE.TG partner organizations.With her degree and certifications in hand, Bonam moved to Bangalore to take advantage of the IT career opportunities there. She landed a job as a LIKE.TG developer and analyst at KPMG.“I was fortunate to get an opportunity to be introduced to and learn the LIKE.TG platform,” she says. Experiencing a life-changing platformSince Bonam launched her LIKE.TG career, she’s learned to manage her own finances, live independently, network with people, and adapt to new places. “LIKE.TG has changed my life,” she says.“It’s truly a platform that can transform your life if you will put the work and effort into learning it,” Tuck adds. “It's opened some phenomenal doors.”Tyson agrees. “Things will get better if you keep working hard,” he says. “The platform is designed for anybody to use. Anybody can learn how to do this.”AI and other emerging technologies are predicted to create millions of tech job opportunities in the next five years, according to research by LIKE.TG and Pearson. We’re on a mission to skill 1 million people on the LIKE.TG platform.Find out how you can RiseUp with LIKE.TG.
How 3 determined IT pros built tech careers with LIKE.TG
Lauren Canney co-authored this blog post, the third in a three-part series about the LIKE.TG co-op program for college students.We’ve discussed what it’s like to be a LIKE.TG co-op and how personal experiences help us adapt to the workplace. Once we dive into our roles, we realize that LIKE.TG is much more than a tech company. It’s a community where we all contribute to fulfilling our purpose to make the world work better for everyone.Pairing creativity and innovationWith experience leading a team of 20 designers at Northeastern University, Max S., an event field marketing co-op, brings a wealth of creative knowledge to his role. His LIKE.TG team has been more than happy to tap into his creative skills and innovative ideas.Max has worked on a range of projects at LIKE.TG, including web design, where he’s learned to balance creative thinking with exceeding customer expectations.“These projects are great for my creativity because I get to test out what pictures work best, what layout is most appropriate for what the customers are looking for, and what LIKE.TG is looking to offer our customers,” he says.Michele G. has had a similar experience. Outside of work, she's a musician who enjoys turning her emotions into poems and songs.As a marketing co-op for corporate events, she gets to express that same creativity and personal tone in her favorite project, “happy Monday posts,” which are weekly updates for our internal network about LIKE.TG’s flagship Knowledge event. Engaging in a supportive communityFor Emma T., another corporate events marketing co-op, seeing how the LIKE.TG community supports each other has been one of her favorite experiences while working here.“I'm put in a better mood because of how nice the people at LIKE.TG are and how I see them interact with me as a stranger to them,” she says.“I think my ‘aha moment’ when working at LIKE.TG has been seeing people from different backgrounds come together to support one another,” adds Richard Z., a digital acquisition strategy and operations marketing co-op. “When everyone has a shared experience, that’s what I enjoy about working together in projects.”Max emphasizes the people as well. “The world works because of people who care,” he says. "I have a team that prioritizes community and respects inquiry—not sure what else I could ask for.”Although our time as LIKE.TG co-ops is limited, we're grateful for the skills we develop, the work experience we gain, and the connections we make with our colleagues. By dreaming big and embodying the People Pact and company values, we can make the world work better—even if we’re just one small part.Join a company where you can play an active role in fulfilling our purpose. Explore LIKE.TG early careers.
How 3 women are shaking up the developer community
Three women from different backgrounds, inclinations, and industries have two things in common: They’re all self-taught developers on the Now Platform®. They didn’t set out to become developers. Let’s explore how they’re shaking up the developer community.Driven by determinationTalented in both art and logic, Maria Gabriela Ochoa Perez Waechter wanted to become a graphic designer or illustrator. But when injuries and expenses resulting from a car accident prevented her from finishing college, she began working instead. Before long, she found herself at a company that makes point-of-sale systems for golf courses—her introduction to IT.She got her foot in the door of another tech company by telling her interviewer how she used a YouTube video to fix her car when it broke down. In 2017, her boss mentioned he needed to find and hire a LIKE.TG administrator. “Nah, don’t worry about it,” Waechter told him. “I can figure it out.”Three months later, Waechter was a Certified System Administrator. But she didn’t stop there. She committed more time and effort to becoming a LIKE.TG Administrator.Today, she’s a senior LIKE.TG developer at a security firm. “LIKE.TG changed my life,” she says. “I learned about Agile development. I learned about ITIL and KCS. I learned about all these business processes and so much more, thanks to my exposure to LIKE.TG,” she adds.“Suddenly, there was so much more to learn, and it was OK for me to learn a little bit here and there because I could immediately apply these skills to what I was doing at work. I was able to hone what I previously thought of as ‘inability to concentrate’ [undiagnosed ADHD] into fantastic research and learning skills.”
How a connected ecosystem can drive growth and lower costs
It’s an exciting time to be a service provider. The shift in enterprise digital buying preferences to everything as a service has opened vast opportunities to strengthen customer relationships and create new revenue streams in such things as robotics, autonomous fleets, analytics, drone-based inspection, and remote telemetry.A connected ecosystem can help you seize these opportunities, accelerate innovation, and grow revenue while reducing the cost to serve.Address a range of needsNo service provider can go it alone and achieve the time to market needed to gain a competitive advantage. It’s not enough to offer one or two basic services. Customers are looking to create strategic relationships with service providers that can address a broad range of business needs.For example, let’s assume you’re launching a managed cloud offering. Your differentiation isn’t the compute and storage—it’s the services that are layered on top. Partners fuel this service innovation, speeding time to market and increasing market share.Even with a broad partner ecosystem, the service provider is still the service provider. That’s the value proposition: one place to go, a trusted relationship, and a single point of accountability—a consistent experience that’s responsive and reliable. An end-to-end experience eliminates silos, connecting service providers and partners into a unified whole to serve customers’ needs.Bring together people, systems, and processesTo achieve this, information must flow seamlessly across organizational boundaries. Automated, end-to-end processes can expedite service fulfillment, reduce service delivery costs, and enable responsive customer support.A connected experience allows service providers to scale both vertically and horizontally, delivering high service volumes while expanding their service portfolio. That’s critical for growth—and it’s not just about integrating service provider and partner systems.Customers want easy access to services and are demanding total transparency—whether that’s ordering new services, seeing how their services are performing, or tracking the status of their support requests. That means breaking down information and process barriers with customers as well.Deliver speed and agilityWhen most people talk about integration, they mean APIs. After all, APIs—along with command-line interfaces and scripts—are the way most integrations are done today. That’s a problem.Many integrations take three to six months, consume skilled resources, and cost far too much. Imagine taking six months to onboard a partner or trying to integrate dozens of partners at the same time. You can’t profitably scale your business or accelerate time to market that way.It’s even worse on the customer front—a huge obstacle to customer acquisition and revenue growth, not to mention an enormous pain for clients.Integrate in hours, not monthsThere’s a better way. With LIKE.TG, you can connect your entire LIKE.TG ecosystem—your customers, partners, and internal business and operations functions—allowing information and workflows to flow transparently and securely across organizational boundaries.It’s a cloud-native approach that allows you to connect your LIKE.TG instance to the LIKE.TG instances of your customers and partners, unleashing new levels of customer experience while helping to drive down costs. For instance, you can: Embed your services into your customers’ LIKE.TG service catalogs, giving them an “easy button” to order your services and increasing adoption. Let customers access your support services from their own LIKE.TG instance, connecting them to agents who have complete visibility of your infrastructure, operational processes, and partners. Connect your own operational workflows with your partners’ workflows without custom coding, allowing you to automatically orchestrate end-to-end order fulfillment and other key processes. Create a marketplace for managed partner services to augment your own service offerings and drive incremental revenues. These are only examples. The bottom line is a connected ecosystem can accelerate service innovation, lower costs, and deliver better experiences. That translates into sustainable competitive advantage, strong customer relationships, high top-line revenues, and increased bottom-line profitability—turning opportunities into business growth.Find out more in our ebook: Seize new revenue opportunities while lowering costs.
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