Once upon a time, uptime was the only parameter used to measure IT success. Performance stability is still essential, but it doesn’t give you customer loyalty. IT is expected to work. Downtime in the check-out counters is still a disaster that catches everybody’s attention, but changing buying behavior and dwindling customer loyalty set new requirements. Customer demands for large assortment, competitive prices and accessibility anytime and anywhere also change the organization dynamics when it comes to tech usage.

Everybody within the company buys IT

The role of the CIO is breaking up and IT is no longer limited to servers, security and user support. Most people are now in possession of technology, consumers expect intelligent solutions and employees buy technology on their own. The task of ensuring day-to-day maintenance along with development projects and forward-looking usage of technology can be a balancing act.

A tight schedule often results in a vicious circle, where great ideas are shot full of holes because it becomes too complex to implement into the existing infrastructure. There is a risk that the rest of the organization get the experience that the IT department only makes everyday tasks difficult and innovation impossible. The IT department, on the other hand, experience that they just maintain, fix and clean up the mess after the rest of the company.

The technological front-runner must enter into dialog

Imagine the ideal scenario. Your technological platform gives you a lot of flexibility that let you scale both capacity and functionality. Daily maintenance is running smoothly and the technological front-runners enter into dialog with the rest of the organization to present new ideas. You discuss and develop solutions, that strengthen your business and meet the customers’ expectations for a flexible and efficient shopping experience based on their terms.

In this scenario technology is no longer exclusively controlled by the IT department, but is a joint area of development. Collaboration across the organization strengthen the competitiveness of your company.

Become a front-runner

Are you inspired to look deeper into the dynamics of a retail chain and how the organization works with technology? Download our e-book “The CIO's guide to succes in a changing market”.

The e-book dives into the challenges that arise daily when demands are high and patience is low. Also, find examples of technological leadership and recommendations of how you can sharpen your own focus.