Truly empowered teams
Currently, too many businesses remain
dependent on software vendors for even
small-scale, simple changes. Not only does
this work tend to be chargeable, it is also often
pushed to the bottom of a software vendor’s
workload pile; consequently, taking far longer
than necessary to be delivered. Such delays
hinder agility and provide an ineffective model
for the future of business transformation.
Instead, CIOs must be given greater internal
control of their chosen software, enabling
them to innovate and configure at a pace
that matches their needs. This allows top IT
professionals to empower their own teams
to implement customisation and process
enhancements – whether to quickly react
to a changing environment or as part of
forward-looking change programmes.
Only then can the company personalise and
tailor their offering and evolve as customer
expectations change – ensuring they can
www.intelligentcio.com
“
THE NEXT 12
MONTHS WILL
BE A TRYING BUT
EXCITING TIME
FOR CIOS BOTH
IN THE UK AND
GLOBALLY.
stay ahead of the competition which may be
innovating at a far slower pace. Importantly,
this doesn’t mean that software suppliers
should leave partner organisations without
any support; but simply reduce their
dependence and empower them to make
changes in-house.
Integration headaches
Delivering a positive experience across all
customer touchpoints, while getting contact
resolution right first time, can be tough. It
relies on a deep understanding of customer
needs and desires; the data for which should
be drawn from a range of touchpoints.
Seamless integration of customer-facing
technologies such as CRM and billing
platforms is therefore crucial in order to gain
the 360-degree view of the customer that is
so vital to delivering great service. However,
even cloud-based solutions – renowned for
their speed, ease-of-deployment and use –
still fall short in this regard, often requiring
significant skill, experience and investment
to integrate properly.
A key challenge for businesses is that they
must often choose between more lengthy,
complex integration processes – which
provide a more well-rounded view of the
customer – and simpler integrations, which
INTELLIGENTCIO
47