In January 2015 we laid down a challenge to our z Systems clients and partners worldwide - wow us with a new mobile app idea that leverages the power of the mainframe to bring real value to your business.
We were overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of the contestants, and the variety of the entries, with submissions coming in from across the globe. Their app prototypes really do demonstrate the art of the possible when you unleash the power of z Systems and mobile.
The results are now in... a big thank you to everyone who entered, and a massive congratulations to our winners - meet them below!
Our client winners covered everything from banking, to rail infrastructure to healthcare, with an amazing array of innovative solutions...
1st Place: Michele Dankowski and team - Aetna, US
Michele's app, Nurses in Motion, gives nurses making home visits the tools they need to manage patients' medication in a traceable, process driven way, maximising patient safety and quality of care, leveraging IBM Business Process Manager & CICS Web Services.
Joint 2nd Place: Tomasz Cieplak - Deutsche Bahn, Germany
Tomasz's app uses CICS Web Services to make railway maintenance smarter, doing away with the need for specialised hardware and using image recognition to automate data capture.
Joint 2nd Place: Kaan Araf - Akbank, Turkey
Kaan's iBeacon app enables you to withdraw cash from an ATM using just your phone - no bank card required. His work with CICS and DB2 on z/OS takes banking on the move to a whole new level!
3rd Place: Onder Ozcan & Gurcan Yavuz - Garanti Bank, Turkey
Onder & Gurcan's Currency Rates App leverages push notifications and the lightweight MQTT protocol along with IBM MessageSight and CICS to make checking exchange rates faster and easier... while actually reducing network traffic!
Our partner winners built apps in areas as diverse as policing, construction and systems management, bringing a broad spectrum of intriguing new ideas to the table...
1st Place: Branko Slivaric - Beta Tau Beta, Croatia
Branko's ePolice app helps the police force to do their job from their phones, with less paperwork and faster response to emergency situations. A tool to truly make policing smarter, making great use of the IBM MobileFirst Platform and CICS Web Services.
2nd Place: Steve Groom - Vissensa, UK
Steve's EyeSurvey app made use of the MobileFirst Platform and WebSphere Application Server on Linux for z Systems to enable planners and surveyors to capture a 3D map of a building site with their phone, and experience it again back at the office using a virtual reality headset.
3rd Place: Ganesh Mahadevan - Tata Consultancy Services, India
Ganesh's Mainframe on Mobile app uses Rapid Apps on IBM Bluemix alongside REST and CICS to make life easier for system programmers, allowing them to monitor and manage mainframe systems resources anywhere, anytime.
The full contest rules can be viewed at ibm.biz/mmarules.