IBM Australia Client Charter
IBM Australia Our values drive your success At IBM we have three values which form part of the DNA of our company. These are: Dedication to every client s success Innovation that matters for our company and the world Trust and personal responsibility in all relationships. Our values guide each and every interaction we have with you our client. To help you understand what our values mean to your success, we have developed the IBM Australia Client Charter. The Charter is relevant for our corporate and government clients and is also available on our Internet site at ibm.com/au/charter
IBM Australia Client Charter Dedication to every client s success 1. Our people partner with you to make your success their priority. For clients who have a direct relationship with IBM, your Client Executive is your single point of contact. This person has industry expertise, is committed to listening to you and helping to find solutions to your needs. Your Client Executive is your first port of call to help you address any questions, concerns or changing business needs. For clients who are serviced by our extensive business partner network, we ensure that our business partners are selected for their complementary offerings and capabilities. Our business partners participate in IBM s worldwide PartnerWorld Program, where they are trained and certified in our products and services.
2. We complement your organisation s resources with highly trained industry, business and technical specialists and our business partner network. As a Registered Training Organisation providing IT educational services to organisations throughout Australia, we have the resources to train our own people in their specialist areas, so you have a skilled team working on your account. In addition, because we recognise that the best solution for your organisation won t always require IBM products, we work with selected, certified business partners. As well as specialist products, our partners offer a wide range of experience in niche markets, particularly with small and medium sized enterprises. We also cultivate deep industry expertise and have an employee base of industry experts to help our clients meet the challenges faced by the industries in which IBM s technology is applied. To this end, we not only actively recruit from specific industry segments, we give executives career paths that keep them focused on their industry. As a result, we have broad industry insight and experience in 17 industry segments.
3. You can access us online at ibm.com/au or speak to an IBM person, rather than a voice activated system, any time of the day or night through our communications centre 132 426. Your Client Executive is readily available to answer your questions. If you cannot contact your Client Executive or other IBM contact, our communications centre is constantly manned, so you will have a person on the other end of the phone if you call after hours. They may not always be able to resolve your issues on the spot, but they will be able to make sure the right person is advised as quickly as possible. If you prefer a web relationship, you can access IBM around the clock via the Internet at ibm.com/au, enabling you to learn, shop and obtain support. 4. We constantly monitor client satisfaction levels and have strong processes to help us respond quickly to address your concerns. Our client satisfaction processes include: An internal high-level Client Action Council, chaired by the CEO, which meets monthly and reviews progress against all client satisfaction measures A Set/Met process where we meet with our clients to SET expectations and put action plans in place so they are MET A complaints handling process Regular independent client satisfaction surveys, and A company-wide focus on making IBM easier to do business with.
Our surveys measure many factors including your satisfaction with our: Ability to meet your business needs and objectives Delivery Value Quality of services Knowledge of your industry Skills. We use feedback from the surveys to help us identify client wants, needs and key areas for our improvement. We also use the surveys to sustain our client focus by linking results to the way we remunerate everyone in the company.
IBM Australia Client Charter Innovation that matters for our company and the world 5. We make significant investment in research and innovation to bring the latest technology to our clients. Globally, IBM spends more on research and generates more patents than any other IT company. We resource a wide range of scientific disciplines, award-winning researchers and global technical labs giving you early access to innovations that help create competitive advantage. We also work with the medical and academic communities on global health issues. For example, IBM collaborates with the Mayo Clinic, which uses our Blue Gene supercomputer to advance its work in molecular modelling for disease research. Also, our global Life Sciences Institute of Innovation program puts our resources into academic institutions that are making outstanding contributions to life sciences research.
In Australia, our Centre for Advanced Studies invests over $40 million in national research each year, creating research links between IBM, Australian universities, Australian Governments and the network of IBM Research Laboratories around the world. In addition, the Centre operates the IBM Australia PhD Program which provides Australian-based researchers with access to IBM s worldwide research resources, helping to support Australia to remain at the forefront of information, communication and technology innovation. 6. We manufacture products that are efficient in their use of energy, protective of the environment, and able to be reused, recycled or disposed of safely. As a global company IBM is committed to environmental leadership in all our business activities from our operations to the design of our products and the use of our technology. We have had a corporate policy on environmental affairs since 1971. We expect every employee and every contractor on IBM premises to follow this policy and to report any environmental, health, or safety concern to IBM management, who are required to take prompt action. Every year, we monitor, control and report our local environmental impact. Recent notable improvements were: Reducing water consumption at our large West Pennant Hills site by one third Reducing paper consumption over a three year period by 5,631,800 sheets of paper, and Decreasing the quantity of waste being sent to landfill by 44%. IBM Australia s Environment and Well Being Report is available at ibm.com/ibm/au/environment/ Our global Environment Policy is available at ibm.com/ibm/au/environment/policy/
IBM Australia Client Charter Trust and personal responsibility in all relationships 7. Our employees subscribe to a strict code of ethical conduct. On joining IBM, all new employees must sign our Business Conduct Guidelines which detail our high standards of ethical conduct. This commitment is renewed each year by each employee. Our Business Conduct Guidelines are also emphasised in our two-day orientation program for new employees and are actively promoted from the top down. If unethical behaviour is identified, it is treated seriously through formal counselling which may result in dismissal. Details of our Business Conduct Guildelines are available at ibm.com/investor/corpgovernance/cgbcg.phtml
8. We respect your personal details and abide by privacy laws to protect your information. We protect your privacy through a wide range of policies and practices that not only implement the Australian National Privacy Principles but also fulfil our obligations under State and Federal privacy legislation. A summary of IBM s global privacy policy is available at ibm.com/privacy/us/ A full version of IBM s global privacy policy is available at ibm.com/privacy/details/us/ We post a notice on our web site for 30 days whenever we change this policy and we respect your wishes if you do not want your information used for marketing purposes. 9. Our employees who manage your data are trained in security principles and manage your IT infrastructure according to strict governance and security requirements. When managing your infrastructure we will consult with you to identify your requirements and then implement security governance and compliance models that are specific to your requirements. While every client has different security needs, we require all our people to abide by the following general security principles: We manage equipment and information to minimise the likelihood of theft, damage, disruption of service and loss of data, in accordance with your contractual agreement We ensure your data is kept separate from that of IBM and other clients, and We only grant authority for access on the basis of business need and owner approval.
10. We honour the warranty commitments we make for our products and services. Our obligations regarding machine warranties and licensing are provided in the IBM Statement of Limited Warranty or the IBM agreement under which your machine was acquired. We also sell some products that are Logoed Products, which carry the IBM logo under license from IBM but which are not manufactured, warranted, or supported by us. Such Logoed Products are clearly identified. Further warranty information is available at ibm.com/servers/support/machine_warranties/ 11. We assign a resolution owner to your complaint and aim to contact you within one business day of registering your complaint. This person will work with your Client Executive and be your advocate within the company as we work towards a resolution. The resolution owner works with you to understand your issues and agree the conditions of satisfaction for resolving your complaint. Where IBM determines that the situation is critical we have international expertise at our disposal. We monitor the way we handle complaints through a postcomplaint satisfaction survey. We aim to complete surveys for 80% of the clients who have made a complaint. We ensure continuous improvement by analysing the survey data and implementing programs to improve our performance. To make a complaint, contact your IBM representative or call 132 426 and ask for Client Care. You could also send an email by visiting our client satisfaction Internet site at ibm.com/ibm/au/cs/
12. We use our expertise and technology to support community programs. Since the commencement of our operations in Australia in 1932, IBM and our employees have supported the community in the areas we believe we can make the biggest difference. Nationally, we are one of the leading corporate contributors to not-for-profit organisations and educational institutions. We have always sought to help people use information technology to improve the quality of life for themselves and others. Consequently, our contributions target areas where we can leverage our expertise in technology. They focus on: Improving Kindergarten to Year 12 education and job training particularly in disadvantaged communities Supporting people with disabilities Addressing the digital divide, and Assisting IBM employees to volunteer their time to contribute to the communities in which they live. We have a strong ethos of employee volunteer activity. In 2004, IBM Australia employees volunteered over 30,000 hours of their time working with their local communities. Over 11% of our current workforce, and 70 of our retirees are registered as volunteers as part of our On Demand Communities initiative. Projects include: Mentoring school and university students Assisting teachers with their IT requirements and training Assisting the long-term unemployed in finding employment Helping not-for-profit organisations with their IT planning, and Restoring the gardens of the elderly. Details of our current work in the community are available at ibm.com/ibm/au/community/
Important Privacy Information: If you would like to request access to or correction of your details or if you prefer you or your organisation not to receive further information on IBM products, please advise us on 13 24 26. 2005 Copyright IBM Australia Limited. ABN 79 000 024 733. All Rights reserved. IBM, the IBM logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Other company, product and service names may be trademarks or service marks of others. References in this publication to IBM products and services do not imply that IBM intends to make them available in all countries in which IBM operates.these services are provided by IBM Australia Limited.