ITD #9 Putting digital strategies in action | 7 Oct 2011

8/3/2019 ITD #9 Putting digital strategies in action | 7 Oct 2011

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ITD #9 Putting Digital Strategies in Action

IT Decisions 7 October 2011 - All Rights Reserved

PuttingdigitalstrategiesinactionITDResearch#9:Oct7,2011


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Introduction

Designingadigitalstrategyisnotastraightforwardtask.

Itisalsoanareathatvarieswidelyfromonecompanyto

thenext,oftenmakingithardtoknowwheretostart.

Inthisreportwesoughttofocusontheonlineinterface

between you and your customers. If you are, for

example, a retailer, thatmight obviously be a website,

but therearemanyotherwaysofinteractingwithyour

customers.

Inthatcase,adigitalstrategywouldnotjustaboutonline

retail as all customers need to interact with you

somehowbeittoprovidefeedbackaboutaproductorserviceorevenaskforhelpwhenthingsgowrong.

It could be that you are involved in specifying web

ecommerce, usability, social media, mobile tools, web

design, information security, code design and

development,ortheintegrationtoyourinternalsystems.

All these areasblend together indifferent ways,which

endsupcreatingagreatvarietyofdigitalstrategies.

Thecorporatewebsiteis,nowadays,anessentialtoolfor

everyorganization,but theway theseother factorsare

integrated into your customer offering can make the

differentbetweenaverypoor,orgreat,service.

With this in mind, this weekwe asked

ourresearchgrouptofocusontheirown

digitalstrategyexperiences.

Thecorporate

websiteis,

nowadays,an

essentialtoolfor

every

organization


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ParticipantFeedbackToexploretheissueofdesigningadigitalstrategyinthisweeksresearchsurveyweaskedfour

questionsthreeofwhichweremultiplechoiceandonedesignedtopromoteanopendiscussion.Wereceivedanswersfrom21executivesfrom18industrysectors:Logistics,media,chemicals,

retail,foodandbeverages,utilities,health,consumerservices,shipbuilding,financialservices,

broadcasting,paperandforestproducts,consumergoods,education,insurance,foodproduction,

automotiveandmanufacturing.

Question1:Doestheinformationthatyoupresentonthewebmakeadirectcontributiontothe

businessbottomline?

Thisisaninterestingblendofanswers,showingsomedisparityofopinionsamongsttheITleaders

inthiscollaborativecycle.Itcannotbedeniedthatagoodhalf(47.6%)ofthemfirmlybelievethat

theinformationtheypublishonthewebisdirectlylinkedtothebottomlineofthecompany.

However,thetotalofthosewhosaiditisonlypartially,ornotlinkedatall,is52.4%showinga

fairlyevensplitbetweenITleadersthatfeelthewebsiteinformationiscriticalandthosewhofeel

thereisaweakerlinkbetweeninformationpresentedonlineandprofit.

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Yes

No

Partially

47.6%

23.8%

28.6%


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Question2:WithhackerstargetingcompanywebsitesanddisasterssuchasSonylosingalltheir

customerdata,securityisamajorissuefortheCIO.Hasyourfocusonwebsecurityincreasedin

thepast3years?

InEnglishyoucanusetheexpressionbettersafethansorrytoimplythatitisbettertotakethe

safe,ratherthanriskyoption.Thisexpressionisnowcommonlychangedtobettersafethan

SonyafterSonylostmillionsofcustomerfilesandhadnoteventakenthetroubletoencryptthe

data.

ItseemsthatourITleadersinBrazilareveryawareoftheincreasedsecurityrisk,with90.5%

sayingthattheirfocusonwebsecurityhasdramaticallyincreasedinthelastthreeyears.Nobody

repliedintheoppositeitwasjustthe9.5%ofrespondentssayingthattheyarenotreally

involvedinsecuritythatpreventeda100%response.

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

Yes

No

Notanareaoffocus

90.5%

0%

9.5%


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Question3:Hastheemergenceofsocialtechnologiesoverthepastfiveyearscreatedgreater

complexityinyourdigitalstrategy?

Asinthelastquestion,notasingleITleaderdisagreedwiththeaimofthequestionto

determineifsocialmediahasincreasedthecomplexityoftheirdigitalstrategy.

Afull81%ofourITleaderssaidthattheonsetofsocialnetworkingandtheneedforinteractivity

throughsocialmediahasmadetheirstrategymorecomplex.Only19%didnotagree,forthe

reasonthattheyhavenorealfocusonthechangesbroughtonbysocialmedia.

Question4:Pleaseoutlineyourgreatestchallengeinimplementingadigitalstrategyinyour

currentrole

ThemostrelevantresponsesreceivedfromourgroupofITleadersarehighlightbelowbyindustry

vertical.

ConsumergoodsExplainingriskarounddigitalisakeychallenge

Thebiggestchallengesarounddigitalstrategieshavebeenthedifficultyofexplainingtherisk

relatedtoalackofstrategy,aswellasbreakingtheculturalbarriers.

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18

Yes

No

Nofocusonsocial

81%

0%

19%


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LogisticsForB2Borganizations,itismuchhardertodemonstratethevalueofdigitalinitiativesThebiggestchallengeistodemonstratetoseniormanagementtherealvalueofdigitalinitiatives.

Itisverydifficulttoshowmanagersthatusetraditionalmethodsformanyyearsthatweareinan

eraof"dematerialization"ofbusiness,wherereputationandinformationarethemostvaluable

assetsthatacompanyowns.Finally,thelessB2Cthecompany'sbusinessis,themoredifficultitis

toconvinceseniormanagementabouttheimportanceofdigitalinitiativesformaintainingand

growingthebusiness.FinancialservicesPuttinginnovationstogetherandkeeptheshowontheroadisthebiggest

difficultyForeverytechnologicalinnovationwetendtoaddlayersofcomplexityintheareasofsecurity,

management,governanceandsoon.Rememberwhenmobilephoneswereusedonlyfortalking?

ThebiggestchallengeistoputitalltogetherandcontinuetoprovideITserviceswithhigh

availability,integrityandconfidentiality.ShipbuildingInformationsecurityisalwaysaconcernTheissuesaroundinformationsecuritywillalwaysbechallengingandwillrequireextracarewhen

implementingwebprojects.ManufacturingAlignmentofcostandbenefitisacorechallengeThebiggestchallengeistoalignexpectationsaroundsavings,returnsandcosts.Then,basedon

thatalignment,designplansfortheimplementationandtheproject.InsuranceTechnologycomplexityarounddigitaliscreatinghugelossesfororganizationsGiventhevariouschannelsthathavebeencreatedinrecentyears,thedigitalstrategyhas

becomeoneofthemostimportantincomparisontotheothercorporatestrategies.Currently,itisunthinkabletodevelopanycampaignthatdoesnotinclude,orevenisdirected

exclusivelytothedigitalchannel(includingsocialnetworks,emailmarketing,andsoon).Thus,the

securityissueisthemostexpressiveandchallengingpointforIT.Thespecialized[technology]

servicesandproductsdonot"support"thecomplexityandvulnerabilityofprocessesandapplicationsrequiredforthesecampaigns.Inmyview,thetechnologyismovingmuchfasterthantheprocessesandthishasgeneratedhuge

lossesfororganizations.Asanexample,Icanmentioncloud(computing/hosting),whichisnt

evenavailableataservicelevel,orprice,thatiswellstructured.Ithasbecomeincreasingly

importantthatITmanagersdecide,alongwithothercorporatedecision-makers,tooptornotfor

thisorthattechnology,becausetheendmustjustifythemeans.


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ConsumerServicesDatamustbecleaninordertoprogressdigitalstrategiesThemainchallengeisrelatedtodataqualityofthesystemsutilizedbythecompany,which

considerablyincreasestheriskofproblemswhenthisinformationispresentedtocustomers.Itisessentialthatdatacleansingoccursbeforemovingforwardwithwebservices.Inthesamevein,anotherITexecutivefromthesameindustrysectoraddedIbelievethebiggestchallengeisnotinstructure,buttheinformation.Howdoyoudisclose

informationwithoutlettingitbecomeaweapon?ChemicalsThedilemmaistostrikeabalancebetweencorporaterequirementsandthenew

realitiesofthewebThedilemmabetweencentralizationanddecentralizationiseternal.Centralizingguaranteesthe

applicationofstandards,consistencyandsafety.Decentralizingprioritizesagilityandcustomer

proximity.Thechallengeistodistributecontentgeneration,aswellastheanimationandactionofsocial

networksontheweb,whileretainingacertainformality.Itisnoteasy!Asalways,technology

helps,butgovernancecomesfirst.Thatis,theharderitistodefinewhodoeswhat,the

responsibilitiesofeachteammemberandwhoisinvolved.Then,youlookatthetools.BroadcastingFindingtherightpartnersisacrucialaspectofimplementingdigitalstrategiesThemainchallengesaregettingtoknowthehabitsofitscustomers,findingpartnersabletohelp

youcreatethestrategy,findingmanpowerorcapablepartnerstoexecutetheplanatan

appropriatecostfortheinitiative.EducationItisimportantformarketleaderstobealsoleadinginthewebspaceMaintainingastrongpresenceinsocialnetworksisachallenge,giventhatcompetitorshavealso

beenincreasinglyactiveinthatspace.Forleadersinspecificmarkets,itisveryimportanttobe

leadingalsointermsofwebpresence.MediaInformationsecurityisthemostcriticalaspectofdigitalinitiativesUndoubtedly,thebiggestchallengeissecurity.Fromensuringreliabilityandconfidentialityof

internaldatatoensuringmobilitytoexecutivesaccessingcorporateinformationremotely,along

withallaspectsofsecurityinthecorporateITenvironment.


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FoodProductionITneedstobeflexibletodealwithnewneedsbroughtbydigitalstrategiesOncesafetyaspectsandusagepolicieswereimplemented,managementapproacheswere

broughtinlinewithcorporatecommunications,whichdemonstratedtheneedforITtobeableto

addresscustomizationissues.AutomotiveBalancingglobalandlocalneedsifthebiggestdifficultyOurchallengeistobeabletocreateasalesdigitaltoolforglobaluse,withoutlosingthelocal

characteristics.ConsumerGoodsKnowinghowtotakefulladvantageofthewebinacorporatewayisthekeychallengeKnowinghowbesttoexploitsocialnetworkinginacorporateway-whichisaimedatbusinesses-

isachallenge.Webpresenceisfundamentalandthebasicsarebeingdone,butdefiningwhatis

thebestwaytoexplorethisnewchannelissomethingthatisnotyetwellestablished.


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Conclusion&ExecutiveSummaryTheITleadersthathavetakenpartinthisweekscollaborativecyclebelievethatplanningagood

digitalstrategyisessentialforsuccess.Outofthevariouschannelssupportedbytechnologythat

have been created in recent years, the digital strategy has become the front office formany

companies.

Oneofourrespondentssummarizedthisnewstateofaffairs,bysayingthatitisnowunthinkable

tocontactcustomersinawaythatdoesnotincludesomeformofdigitalconnectivity,whether

thatisviasocialmediaoramoretraditionalmailinglist.

Afewrecurringthemescameupfrequentlyintheresponses:

Security.ManyofourITleadersmentionedsecurityasoneofthekeyissuestheyneedtofocusonasacomponentoftheirdigitalstrategymistakesgainthepublicdomainfaster

thanevertoday,asSonyhasfound.

Socialmedia. Thesetools cannolongerbeavoidedandthishasmovedfarbeyond justnetworkingalone,embracinguser-generatedcontentanda completedialoguebetween

theorganizationanditscustomers.

Costjustification.Thebudgetisaperennialprobleminthesedomorewithlesstimes,oftencausingcompromiseastheidealsecurityorstrategyjustcannotbeachievedata

reasonableprice,orforthekindofmoneytheorganizationisreadytospend.

Withregardtothecomplexityofclientrelationshipstoday,youjustneedtolookatyourphone.

There was a time when a phone was designed for making phone calls, now the average

smartphoneisawebbrowser,GPS-enabledmap,andmessagingdevicebeforeitisaphone.

WhatisoftenscaryformanyITexecutivesisthatallthisadditionalcomplexityhasbeencreated

overaremarkablyshortperiodoftime.Socialnetworkingtoolshaveonlybeenwithusforhalfa

decadeandthisiswhathasreallyledtothewidespreadconsumerizationofIT.

Itisonlyrecentlythattheneedto formulatestrategiesaroundconsumerizationpresenteditself

as a priority. The first IT Decisions Research Network report dealt with the issues around

consumerizationandfoundthat36%ofCIOsinBrazilareintheprocessofcreatingapolicyforthe

governanceofconsumerhardwareandsoftwareuseand23%donthaveoneatall.


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Ontheissueofdevelopingdigitalstrategiesfortheirorganizations,theITleaderstakingpartin

thisweeksstudytoldusthat:

Itiscrucialtogoglobal,butactlocal.Animportantissueraisedisaroundhowtoensurethesamelevelofserviceandsecurityallovertheworld,butalsoallowingfortheflexibility

neededbylocalteams.

TheconsumerizationofIThasledtomanyadditionaldemandsfromconsumers,whilealsocreatingtheproblemofmakinginternalsystemsmorecomplex.

Thequestionofcentralizeddataandsystemscomparedtoafederatedtechnicalsystemwith cloud-basedtools itmakessense togomore central, but for yearswehave been

delegatingsystemsandpowertoindividualusers.

Data quality is also amajorproblem: inmany organizations it ishard toprogresswithfurtheropeningofthesystemstoconsumersbecausethedataontheinsideisstillsopoor.

Through all these issues, it remained clear that a coherent digital strategy is now essential,

whetherthatmeansessentialformakingmoney,surviving,orjusttoprotectyourinformation.

Valueinorganizationsisnowheldindata,notinobjects.Acompanydoesnotgreatlyincreasein

valuebyowningmorecarsoroffices,butowninghighqualityinformationonyourcustomerscandramaticallyincreasevalue.

Old-schoolexecutivesmaynotbelievethisyet,butparadigmsareshifting.Lookat thebusiness-

networkingsiteLinkedInforagoodexample.Itisjustdataonpeopleandtheircareers.Nowthe

siteisabouttoradicallyshakeuptheentirerecruitmentindustrywithnobodyknowingwhat

theirheadofficelookslike,butcertainlyhavingagreatrespectfortheinformationtheyhave.

ThemainchallengeforthemodernCIOistomanageexpectationsofusersrelatedtohowadigital

strategy can be implemented. Great things can be achieved with free tools, but if a quick fix

causesalossofcustomerdatathenimmensedamagecanbecausedtothecompany.

ThisisthedigitalchallengeaheadforeachandeveryCIOinourresearchgroupandbeyond.


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ITDecisionsResearchITDecisionsproducesareportlikethiseveryFriday,basedonwhatCIOstoldusthatsameweek.

Itisfastandrelevantknowledgefromyourpeers,itisonlyavailabletotheCIOsintheresearch

network,anditisfree.Whatisthecatch?Youpaybyparticipating.Everyweek,wewillsendyoufoursimplequestions

thatwilltakenomorethanfiveminutestoanswer.

Themoreparticipants,thebetterthequalityoftheresearch.Sopleasedoinviteyourcolleagues

tojoin!

Do you want to direct the research and define the topics alongside our board of founder

members?WealsoofferPlatinummembershipsthatallowyoutosteertheprocess,aswellas

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IfyourecommendaPlatinummembertothenetwork,wewilldonateR$500tothefundinyour

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oftheyear.Pleasecontactusformoredetails.


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IT D i i 7 O t b 2011 All Ri ht R d

AboutITDecisionsITDecisionsisthepremiersourceofinsightintothetechnologyandhigh-techserviceindustryin

Brazil.ThecompanycreatesEnglish-languagenews andinsightforaCIOaudiencewithregular

features and analysis that cannot be found elsewhere. We focus on decision-makers and

influencers thebuy-side.Reproducingthesalespitchoradvertsof suppliersisnotourthing;

wefocusonthosebuyingthesystems.ITDecisionswasfoundedin2011byMarkHillaryandAngelicaMari,twoofthemostrespected

businessandtechnologywritersinEurope-withacollectionofbest-sellingbooksandindustry

awardsbetweenthem.

TheITDecisionsresearchnetworkisaninvitation-onlygroupofCIOsinBrazilwhoworktogether

toproduceanewresearchreporteveryweek.

TakeamomenttoconnectwiththeITDecisionsmanagementonLinkedInandtakealookatsome

oftheirbooks,othermedia,blogs,andpublications:

MarkHillary,ChiefExecutiveOfficer

http://j.mp/markhillary

AngelicaMari,PublishingDirector

http://j.mp/angelicamari

PhotoCredits:

ChavalBrasil http://www.flickr.com/photos/chavals/3045853162/DougWhellerhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/doug88888/4555453710/

ITD #9 Putting digital strategies in action | 7 Oct 2011

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