Partnerschaften mit dem Business schmieden
Die IT-Kultur neu mischen
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.
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.
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