Partnerschaften mit dem Business schmieden

Die IT-Kultur neu mischen

Riem Sarsam war Redakteurin des CIO-Magazins.
Hartnäckig hält sich die Trennung zwischen den Fachbereichen und der IT. Viele CIOs scheitern, zwischen den Menschen zu vermitteln. Warum die Sprache eine wesentliche Rolle für die erfolgreiche Vermittlung zwischen Technikern und Fachbereichen spielt, diskutierten die IT-Manager von Quest Diagnostic, Medco Health Solutions und YRC Worldwide.
Mary Hall Gregg CIO, Quest Diagnostics: "Increasing the percentage of IT work that is earmarked for new product development is an annual goal in IT and ismeasured on a regular basis."
Mary Hall Gregg CIO, Quest Diagnostics: "Increasing the percentage of IT work that is earmarked for new product development is an annual goal in IT and ismeasured on a regular basis."

While some CEOs recognize the expanding role that the IT organization must play as a partner in creating new value, there are too many companies where the view of IT as a non-strategic service provider or cost center still persists. CIOs at large and small companies struggle to change this perception and break down the internal boundary separating IT from the rest of the business. CIO Executive Council members at Quest Diagnostics, Medco Health Solutions and YRC Worldwide have gone beyond the basics of alignment and banning techno-speak to reshape the IT culture, refocus on the end customer and reallocate funding to drive business.

Shift your spending. At $6.7 billion Quest Diagnostics, CIO Mary Hall Gregg met with her CEO three years ago to set a target for the amount of IT budget that was to be focused on strategic growth rather than keep-the-lights-on maintenance. Today, she and her team are in the process of more than doubling the percentage of budget allocated to business-growth initiatives. One project that has contributed to bottom-line growth was the launch of an online appointment scheduling system for blood testing, which got a positive response from customers. Ultimately, increased patient satisfaction translates into physician and insurance plan satisfaction which increases our bottom-line, shares Gregg. "Continually increasing the percentage of IT work that is earmarked for new product development is an annual goal in IT and is measured on a regular basis", says Gregg.

Medco, the $50 billion health care company, has also increased funding for growth-related initiatives, which increased IT’s business impact. CIO Mark Halloran says: "One of our first steps was to really understand what drives our cost structure and where IT can assist with driving cash to the bottom-line." Halloran found that new product development was a specific area of the business where IT could really make a monetary difference by getting involved at a strategic partner level. On average, 60 percent of IT capital investment is now aligned with new product development, he says.

Vokabular: Schluss mit Denglisch.
Vokabular: Schluss mit Denglisch.

Maintain a small-town feel. With the trend toward mergers and acquisitions, many companies intent on centralizing previously independent IT groups risk harm to the tight business ties the IT units had forged. Michael Rapken, executive VP and CIO at YRC Worldwide, faced exactly that when he took over as CIO shortly after the USF acquisition by Yellow Roadway, which created a combined $10 billion transportation company. "I was now in charge of what used to be three very different IT groups who had strategic ties to their businesses and were now thrown together and asked to act as one", remembers Rapken.

vokabular

Schluss mit Denglisch

Kein anderer Bereich ist so durchsetzt mit englischem Vokabeln wie die IT. Aber sprechen IT-ler wirklich gutes Englisch? Meist fehlen die alltäglichen Gebrauchswörter zwischen dem Fachvokabular. Aus diesem Grund präsentieren wir Ihnen in jedem Heft einen Artikel in Englisch und übersetzen die Wörter, die nicht täglich in der IT gebraucht werden.

Kein anderer Bereich ist so durchsetzt mit englischen Vokabeln wie die IT. Aber sprechen IT-ler wirklich gutes Englisch? Meist fehlen die alltäglichen Gebrauchswörter zwischen dem Fachvokabular. Aus diesem Grund präsentieren wir Ihnen in jedem Heft einen Artikel in Englisch und übersetzen die Wörter, die nicht täglich in der IT gebraucht werden.

persist bestehen bleiben

perception Sichtweise

boundary Grenzlinie, Abgrenzung

beyond jenseits

contribute to beisteuern zu

bottom-line Rein- oder Endgewinn

ultimately letztendlich

earmarked hier: vorgesehen

small-town feel Kleinstadtgefühl (hier: jeder kennt jeden)

intent on entschlossen sein, etwas zu tun

risk harm to the tight hier: riskieren, die eng geschmiedeten business ties the Geschäftsbeziehungen zur IT zu IT Unit had forged schädigen to be in charge of Verantwortung tragen für

replicate nachbilden

close-knit eng zusammenwachsen

to approve bewilligen

to perform hier: ausführen

meaningful hier: sinnvoll

to enhance aufwerten

subject matter Thematik

front-line discussion sinngemäß: wichtige Gespräche

to be empowered ermächtigt werden

to interface koppeln

advancement Beförderung, Vorwärtskommen

enhanced gesteigert

handpicked sorgfältig ausgewählt

PMO Project Management Office

deliverables Ergebnisse

Zur Startseite