The sphere of IT infrastructure is changing rapidly and one of the most important spheres where innovations are urgently needed is system integration. This is particularly the case where the handling of customer messages is concerned, where efficiency in the handling of the processes is very important.
Renuka Vinayak Kulkarni is one of the professionals who have worked hard to create this change and has played a major role in incorporating the Exstream technology in Mainframe, Linux and Cloud platforms and its influence in transforming the way enterprises manage communication. She learnt about Exstream’s implementation on the Mainframe domain while being on a development project. Her experience level with Mainframe technology increased while she was also learning tools such as JCL, COBOL and how to deploy and manage code through version control.
The professional has contributed to the academic field with several research papers. Through her work, “Data Security in Communications for the Healthcare Domain”, she highlighted how Customer Communication Management (CCM) software ensures secure, personalized, and efficient multichannel communication delivery across various industries, with a focus on security protocols in healthcare. In another paper, “Building Highly Customized Communications by Using Dynamic Data Access Methodologies in Communication Management Tools”, Kulkarni discussed that CCM tools enable efficient, scalable, and personalized communication by integrating with enterprise systems like ERP and CRM and using external data to build dynamic templates across industries such as healthcare, banking, and utilities.
At a leading banking organisation, she was responsible for training of new members of the team on how best to integrate Exstream and Mainframe systems that enhanced the efficiency of the team. Using her knowledge in Linux and Exstream integration, she established communication for different business units. She also applied her extensive knowledge of Mainframe and Linux to address communication set-ups of a utility company with regards to bills, letters and postcards.
The Integrated Customer Communication Management (ICCM) project was an important project that she undertook. It involved the physical transfer of a data centre from Salinas, USA to Hong Kong. In this project, she implemented not only more complex features of the Exstream system but also worked on the migration of the system from one Mainframe data centre to another data centre. This included creating a message queue system through which different system components can communicate without being synchronous.
With this migration, Kulkarni cut down on cost and enhanced the communication process flow. She made a single-point source for templates and content to achieve real-time or batch document generation and straight-through processing, which improved efficiency and minimized time to market.
From these initiatives, the ICCM project has benefited greatly in terms of cost since there was no need for customers to use different systems for communication. Standardized work also decreased the time it took to make changes to the system, and it decreased the total cost of communication with the customers for her work. However, during this project, the challenge was adapting to new systems and conventions during the data centre migration, which involved changes to job schedulers, versioning systems, and other critical systems.
As IT infrastructure evolves, integrating Exstream across Mainframe, Linux, and Cloud platforms is crucial for improving communication efficiency, as is also suggested by Renuka Vinayak Kulkarni. Thought leaders like her emphasise on cloud migration for the future of communication management in this technology.
Lastly, cloud migration, using services like AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud, reduces reliance on costly physical infrastructure while offering scalable, flexible solutions. This seamless integration will continue to drive operational efficiency and enhance customer experience in the future.
