‘Closing the gaps between businesses and technology’ – Interview with Wissam Youssef

Wissam Youssef, CEO of CME, discussed digital transformation, business continuity, the gap between firms, and the company’s USPs in an exclusive conversation with TECHx. Let’s have a look at the great conversation:

TECHx: In today’s market, when firms are increasingly implementing digital transformation, how do you see business continuity being redefined?

Wissam: With firms from every industry executing digital transformation strategies, business continuity is being redefined in several ways simultaneously. Because digital capabilities are being implemented across the entire scope of a company’s processes, how they operate is fundamentally changing, as well as how they deliver value to those they serve. For example, as processes become more and more digitalized, automation is handling tasks traditionally undertaken by employees manually. This means human error instances are removed from the equation, specific tasks are completed quickly and accurately, and personnel can concentrate their efforts on other areas that are more important. Furthermore, process automation is empowering service continuity with consumers being able to complete transactions digitally 24/7, while organization infrastructure security and scalability have been boosted by migrating services to the cloud.

Companies achieve much higher availability by taking advantage of the enormous scale of the cloud. After all, it is extremely easy and more cost effective to deploy workloads to redundant hardware resources, or to take advantage of managed services highly available by design. In addition to this, cloud vendors offer their services in multiple regions across cities, countries, and continents. This makes it easy for companies to implement robust business continuity mechanisms by deploying their workloads into multiple regions, as well as mitigate the risks of disrupting their business operations due to natural or nationwide disasters.

Online collaboration tools and platforms are also playing a big role in digital transformation and business continuity. Staff can communicate with internal teams and external parties seamlessly from any location, breaking the boundaries of physical interaction and enabling the enterprise to build proper digital asset management policies to minimize disruption, drive heightened people engagement, and achieve set targets through remote accessibility. Together, these few examples represent a new era of business continuity for firms, actions that are positioning them for long-term sustainability and success.

TECHx: Could you please provide additional information about your INGO Health solution to our readers? How is it assisting businesses in providing their employees with a healthy lifestyle?

Wissam: Business continuity is not only about infrastructure and tools. It’s also about people. INGO health, the brainchild of CME, is a health engagement platform that precisely delivers human capital sustainability. Besides improving the physical and mental well-being of staff, this new generation of corporate wellness programs drives higher social engagement and fosters a collective sense of purpose, while measuring the program’s financial and social impact.

INGO health is a comprehensive health engagement solution that comprises a mobile app, a marketplace, a highly accurate smart water bottle, an administration and business intelligence portal, and a 24/7 customer support service.  In addition to tracking training, steps, calories, and sleep, the app monitors water consumption, a key metric that regular apps are unable to accurately measure, thanks to a uniquely designed Smart Water Bottle that precisely captures water intake. The motivational aspect is amplified by integrating multiple gamification layers, points earning and tangible rewards, with personalized daily and weekly goals in a highly interactive and human-centric experience. The platform enables the organization to build new capabilities in data-driven care management, as well as unveil prevention-centric insights that can help both organizations and end-users mitigate any potential health risks.

INGO Health was recently recognized at INSURETEK Middle East 2021, where the solution won an award for the years’ best IoT-based project. Since its introduction, a multitude of companies have begun offering INGO Health as part of their corporate wellness programs, with insurers and healthcare payers following suit through their medical or life insurance plans.

TECHx: How does CME help organizations bridge the gap between business and technology in this ever-changing business landscape?

Wissam: CME helps organizations bridge technology divides as the business landscape continues to evolve through a comprehensive, technology-led disruptive approach. We provide premium, end-to-end, tailor-made solutions that drive digital transformation strategies forward, ensuring clients have the software capabilities and the hardware they require to innovate, scale, transform their business and operating model, and grow their brand. More specifically, we provide three types of services – custom software development, smart hardware engineering, and professional services that expand clients’ tech talents pool with our advanced technological capabilities and vertical-specific domain expertise. Guided by our vision to oversee and deliver successful transformations, we have helped clients from various industries become and remain leaders around the world, and this is something we will continue to do for many years to come.

TECHx: What is your company’s most distinguishing feature that sets it apart from its competitors?

Wissam: From a CME perspective, we believe our multidisciplinary capabilities and vertical-specific expertise position us as a steadfast market disruptor in the geographies where we operate. IoT, artificial intelligence (AI), data management, process automation, hardware engineering and professional services are among the areas where we specialize, and we use our knowledge, resources, and expertise to deliver successful outcomes in a multitude of sectors, such as insurance, utilities, education, food, consumer goods, healthcare, and retail, to name a few.

Our advanced technological capabilities cover both software development and hardware engineering and manufacturing, which equips our clients with the ability to implement end-to-end bespoke solutions that accelerate their innovation timeframes, and with new and robust competitive capabilities. At the same time, our solutions are supported with deep vertical business expertise and are designed in line with the most effective human-centric approach.

At CME, our proven track record for maintaining long-term customer relationships is another aspect that ensures we stand out. By continuously creating goal-oriented projects with our partners, we maintain our connections with clients of all kinds, from startups through to Fortune 500 companies. The credibility of this track record in terms of customers, innovative solutions, and successful projects has helped build our strong and trustworthy reputation. Our people are also at the heart of our success, who are multidisciplinary, creative thinkers, lifelong learners, problem solvers, and above all, obsessed to deliver – individually and collectively.