Headlines:
SunTrust Sets Staffing Software Upgrade
SunTrust Banks Inc. plans to upgrade its branch-staffing software to improve scheduling for sales calls and other activities.
The Atlanta said it will install the software in the next few weeks and test it the rest of the year. It will be deployed to regional managers after Jan. 1, said Jane J. Barringer, a group vice president at the $172.4 billion-asset SunTrust.
StaffSmart Enterprise 4.0, from Demos Solutions of Norwell, Mass, has better reporting and planning features than the Demos software SunTrust has used for several years, Ms. Barringer said in an interview last week.
Though the software can be used at the branch level for staff scheduling, and even by individual workers for personal scheduling, "we're using it more as a manager's tool," at the regional level, Ms. Barringer said. "If a branch is struggling, part of the diagnostic would be to see how they are scheduling."
Darryl Demos, Demos' founder and chief executive, said his bank customers are focusing increasingly on sales. "Time management is critical, and deployment - where to deploy the sales resources - is the No. 1 burning issue."
More Face-Time Between Discover, IBM
Discover Financial Services Inc. says it has become more intertwined with International Business Machines Corp. since becoming one of the first major customers to sign an outsourcing deal using IBM's so-called on-demand model.
Discover's corporate parent, Morgan Stanley, signed a $575 million contract in March 2004 to use IBM's systems on an as-needed basis. In a recent interview , Diane Offereins, Discover's chief administrative and technology officer, said Morgan Stanley was already outsourcing IT work to IBM, and the new arrangement has transformed the relationship between the two companies.
For example, being able to buy capacity on demand has cut its costs, but Ms. Offereins said that Discover, of Riverwoods, Ill., had to agree to implement certain standardized systems from IBM as they were developed, and to keep them up to date.
IBM, of Armonk, N.Y., had to agree to pay a fine if its hardware fails, though both companies say this has never happened. Another agreement was for executives from both companies to meet every month to discuss the arrangement and perhaps head off problems.
Ms. Offereins said the meetings have "eliminated the 'burning house' kind of things where everybody runs around and says, 'Oh my God, how do we get out of this nightmare?' "
