25 September 2014 blogs Diana Krieger 5 min read
Who is responsible for the technology in a company?
“A Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) is a corporate executive responsible for marketing activities in an organization.” This is a common definition of a CMO. While this definition is still true at a very high level, it fails to capture the shift that many CMOs are making in this digital age. Marketing is only effective it if really connects with the customer and technology is key in making this happen. But traditionally it is the CIO or CTO who is responsible for the technology in a company and not the CMO. What does it mean for the CIO if the CMO starts driving technology based on a need to connect with the customer? The lines become even more blurred in companies with a Chief Digital Officer (CDO) who helps to drive growth by leading a customer-focussed digital transformation. Neither CMOs nor CDOs usually come from a technological background but their focus on the customer and technology can put traditional cost-cutting techie CIOs at a disadvantage around the executive table. Forward-thinking CIOs have fought long and hard to be respected as business executives and earn their place and voice at the table but they are often still viewed as the technology expert who focusses on increasing the efficiency and reducing the cost of a company’s IT.
The advent of this new digital age means that technology spending is changing and now almost 40% is being driven by the business and not by the CIO or CTO. The CMO is leading the way by independently selecting and implementing the technology they need to reach the customer and CDOs are following suit. The role of the CIO seems to be in question but all hope is not lost. CIOs do not have to be reduced to taking technology cues from the CMO or the CDO. They can be a proactive part of the digital transformation team and lead the way to a better understanding of the customers by implementing the technologies that will make this possible. The key is to not sit back and let the other roles take charge but to forge strong relationships with the CMO, CDO, CEO and other stakeholders and communicate with them in a way that they understand and have conversations with them about their own business needs.
Current and future customer needs
Show them that you understand that the needs of the customer comes first above all else and that you have the technology to help make this happen. These needs can be divided into two categories: current customer needs and future customer needs. A positive end user experience is critical to customer retention and to expanding your customer base. One of the most important technologies you can implement is one that monitors the experience of your end user so that your employees can react quickly to solve any issues or disruptions in your business services that occur or act proactively to prevent any from happening. All with the goal of ensuring that the current needs of your customers are met and gaining some insight into their future needs. To achieve this insight and visibility into the health of your customer-facing business-critical services, you need two layers of technology.
The first layer is the Operations Manager component of Microsoft® System Center (SCOM), which monitors the performance and availability of the infrastructure and applications in your datacenters and clouds. The second layer is Live Maps, which sits on top of SCOM and shows you the health of your business-critical services in the form of graphical dashboards and end to end component maps. A quick glance at the Live Maps dashboards and maps is all it takes for you – and any employee of your company – to know the status of your company’s business-critical services from three different perspectives: the end user, the infrastructure, and the applications.
Let Live Maps help you re-assert your place at the table and speak a common language with your fellow C-suite members by allowing your company to keep an eye on the health of your business-critical services at any time of the day and from anywhere. Let us help your company put the needs of your customers first and focus on ensuring a positive end-user experience. Try Live Maps now via an online demo or by requesting a license key and test it online in your own environment.
SNEAK PEEK
Want to know more about Business Service Management and the Cloud? Stay tuned, next week we will have more about tips and insights on what is going on in the IT world, and how Savision can help you transform System Center into a Business Service and Cloud Management solution.
About Diana Krieger
Diana was responsible for defining, implementing and executing the growth acceleration strategy and the day-to-day operations of Savision.
Diana has a strong track record in various industries like fashion, cosmetics and online recruitment; in her last jobs, she was the Managing Director for the Benelux market at Monster Worldwide and led the growth strategy of internet agency TDC Lighthouse Internet before realizing an exit. She has also been involved in many online start-ups.
She graduated at the University of Amsterdam with a degree in Business Economics and is a certified Marketeer (NIMA C).
