What I found most interesting at the Convergence conference is the emphasis on people. And the acknowledgement that technology is there to empower people. There’s been, as many of you know, this rub between the “business” and “IT” and their differing agendas. A couple of examples of customer’s at the Microsoft Convergence Conference showed today clearly that there are companies that have overcome the rub between these two differing parts of a business.
When we were in the analyst and press meeting I asked, “Do you see the rub between IT and the business still in the clients you work with?” They answered very honestly. They told us in clients that “get it” that IT and the business do partner. And often the CIO is the Chief Digital Officer or is truly tapped into the business. And what I loved the results that you see when that happens.
An example of that was how AccuWeather used the business intelligence to know where trains could avoided tornadoes & Eddie Vedder avoided a lightning strike based on AccuWeather intelligence. This example showed how it’s possible to really make the leap of the digital disruption. Another example was Wash Laundry with 900 employees & 70,000 locations. They are improving their ability to collaborate. Both used Microsoft products.
They also said that they still see some companies not “getting it.” And these companies I worry about. The digital disruption isn’t that you have a Facebook page or a mobile app. It’s that you have truly changed the way you see your business, how you have constructed your business model and found budget to transform the customer and employee experience to be the best they can be. This take organizational change and strong leadership.
Which camp does your company fall into?
@drnatalie
VP and Principal Analyst, Constellation Research Covering Marketing, Sales and Service to Create great Customer Experiences