To offer an effective customer experience today, it seems like brands need to move at the speed of light. And considering the growing presence and real-time importance of instantaneous mobile, digital, and cloud-based customer engagement technologies, there is not a lot of exaggeration to that statement.
The Cloud is becoming an essential part of many customer engagement initiatives by offering flexible ways to meet and even anticipate consumer expectations. This ability to strategically connect and engage customers has prompted IBM to launch Bluemix Garage, which promises to help entrepreneurs create the next generation of customer engagement apps and platforms by using IBM Cloud technologies.
“The Bluemix Garage provides businesses with the skills, approach, and tools to build the applications they need to go to market,” Rachel Reinitz, Distinguished Engineer, Co-Founder and CTO of IBM Bluemix Garage, told Loyalty360. “Bluemix Garage empowers businesses to build the right application for their customers. Rather than simply building an application based on business needs, Bluemix Garage starts by defining the user’s need, and then helps businesses build applications that improve their customer experience.”
Armed with the understanding that many cloud-based services are transforming the nature of business, IBM’s Bluemix Garage also aims to facilitate, expedite, and advance this process for enterprises of all sizes.
After seeing success with two previous locations in San Francisco and London, IBM has just announced the opening of a third Bluemix Garage in Toronto. This will be the tech company’s first Canadian location.
“Bluemix Garages help enterprises harness the spirit and pace of startups while pouring back into the local community with mentorship and skills development on the latest cloud technologies,” said Steve Robinson, IBM General Manager of Cloud Platform Services. “Today’s rapid app development cycles require developers to use new tools and methodologies from across the ecosystem to quickly turn new ideas into enterprise-class cloud applications at consumer scale and innovate at the speed of cloud.”
Toronto Bluemix Garage will be housed at the DMZ at Ryerson University, which is recognized as a world-leading incubator for entrepreneurs. IBM believes that the culture of innovation that surrounds this dynamic environment will nurture a sense of community and collaboration that will accelerate development.
This belief is held for good reason too. Since its inception in 2010, the DMZ has already fast-tracked 209 startups that have raised more than $110 million collectively.
Finding new ways to generate customer engagement success is becoming an increasingly difficult task. Therefore, many marketers are turning to these innovative startups to find original solutions for modern challenges.
And it’s possible that the marketplace just might see the next customer engagement game-changer emerge from the environment that the new DMZ Bluemix Garage will foster.
“We are pleased to welcome the first and only Canadian Bluemix Garage into the DMZ,” said Abdullah Snobar, Executive Director of the DMZ at Ryerson University. “This new partnership will provide IBM with an opportunity to work with some of our country's top tech talent to explore new ideas and methodologies. Our entrepreneurs will also greatly benefit from access to IBM's expertise and vast business network.”