As a customer experience executive, you understand the value of data. Today, it’s gold — and essential to providing personalized service. But like gold, data isn’t nearly as valuable in its raw state. It requires processing, analysis and must be made accessible to deliver business insights and value.

It also needs to be connected. In fact, a study conducted by Vanson Bourne found that businesses lose $140 billion annually due to disconnected data. The study also revealed that:

  • 41% of businesses say critical company data is trapped in legacy systems that cannot be accessed or linked to cloud services
  • 46% stated disconnected data is impacting their ability to engage, support and meet the needs of customers, with 76% of respondents having at least some data trapped in this way
  • 56% feel that organizationally siloed data not only builds barriers between departments but, more importantly, undermines the objectives to serve customers
  • 72% feel that their organization is missing out on opportunities as a result of disconnected data

The underlying reason for this problem is the lack of uniform development standards between the thousands of technologies and the systems that businesses use today.

While we might not realize it, nothing (not even electricity or water) can ever become pervasive without standards. I care about this because, throughout my career, I’ve seen how creating standards has changed industries. First, I saw it with the standardization of the internet (Internet Engineering Task Force and Request for Comments) and then video.  The approach that worked was centered on developing protocols using the notion of “rough consensus and running code” where standards could be developed in a pragmatic way. By avoiding an ivory tower approach, technologies like these became ubiquitous and could provide the value we’ve come to know today.

A similar philosophy is behind the Cloud Information Model (CIM), which was announced today, and brings together the Linux Foundation Joint Development Foundation (JDF) with Amazon Web Services, Genesys and Salesforce. The CIM provides common standards and source code to make it easier for companies to connect data across multiple cloud platforms and disparate systems. Under the JDF defined Open Data Model, the CIM enables full interoperability and data exchange between the partners’ applications and platforms. Any company can join and contribute to the CIM – including vendors and customers.

The Interoperability Opportunity in Customer Experience

Today, nearly every business faces the same challenge — how to connect data between different technology vendors and systems while also staying on the right side of a growing list of related regulatory requirements. Nowhere is this more important than in our industry — where connected, fluid and fully contextual interactions are the difference between great experiences and those that cause churn.

Before the CIM, businesses using the Genesys Cloud and Genesys AI could already seamlessly interact with their customers across all channels. But now, with the combined power of engagement data from Genesys and data from CIM-compliant sources, businesses can gain an even more complete perspective of their customers and employees in real time.

CIM puts new levels of personalization within reach. Businesses can more easily and cost-effectively connect every step of their customers’ journeys — whether that involves a CRM solution, point-of-sale system, contact center platform or all of the above. In addition, developers and admins will no longer need to spend months and a significant budget to create custom code and manage complex integrations. This frees up time to deliver more rapid innovations.

At Genesys, we know that providing personalization at scale takes more than our technology alone; it requires a broad ecosystem of partners and customers. That’s why becoming one of the founding members of the CIM was a must for our company. It’s a game changer for businesses from all sectors and sizes, everywhere. And, more importantly, consumers will benefit from smarter service that makes them feel cared for and unique.

To learn more, visit www.cloudinformationmodel.org.