In most enterprises, the chief information officer has long enjoyed distinction as the key driver of technology adoption and innovation. But that's changing as business groups throughout the corporation implement new technologies -- often without the CIO's approval.
The chief marketing officer has taken the lead in many organizations in the adoption of social media to understand consumer behavior and deliver new products ahead of the competition. CMOs have also been known to commission mobile apps from their marketing agencies to drive customer engagement. This is often done without the knowledge or support of the CIO.
Eventually, the management of these apps and the data they generate ends up on the CIO's desk, so it's probably a good idea for the marketing gurus to bring the CIO in on the project at the beginning, rather than the 11th hour. Collaboration across business functions is the best approach to a social strategy, according to industry experts such as Jeff Pundyk, founder of the marketing consulting firm Rebound Media.
Heads of human resources departments also are making innovative use of social networks to meet recruitment demands. Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter are fertile territory for tracking top talent and networking across professional circles. Such activities require HR to adhere to company privacy rules and government regulations. Savvy HR professionals will loop in with the CIO and legal departments to ensure their activities meet established guidelines about how personal data is handled and what can be accessed via third-party networks.
Big-data is red hot in the retail, biotech, pharma, and defense industries, to name but a few. These organizations realize that they're sitting on a vast treasure trove of information, which, if mined, can lead to new ways of understanding their businesses, their customers, and future outcomes. The IT department remains the keeper of the warehouses used to manage this data, but the line-of-business heads are defining the business processes and gleaning new insights that will lead to business innovation.
However, big-data is too big and too complex for any single department to own. That's why it's essential for the CIO and business unit heads to be in lockstep when it comes to how big-data is implemented, managed, and utilized.
So the CIO doesn't possess all the cool toys anymore. But CIOs remain relevant. They are the data experts. They're used to gathering information, deciphering patterns, and culling opportunities. Even though CIOs have to share some of their technology responsibilities with others, they still have a unique perspective to offer and expertise to share with their business counterparts.
According to McKinsey & Co., C-level execs like the CIO must possess equal measures of strategy expertise and execution ability. They must also have a good understanding of the core nature of the business and its key departments.
And it's imperative that they remain part of any and all innovation initiatives at their companies.
— Karyl Scott is a technology journalist based in San Diego, where she covers the intersection of mobile and social media, big-data, analytics, and business innovation.
So, how can CIOs stay current and active? Most innovation in social environments isn't coming from the real nerdy, tech departments... so its first tried out by marketeers, etc, not necesarily tech people.
Young people and many, many others are addicted to texting. It's the preferred form of communication for the young who perceive it as more immediate. But once these hipsters join the workforce, they'll need to adapt to email. But email is likely to evolve and morph into a richer, multimedia, multichannel form of communication.
Now for my daily message about the texting obsessed:
I was driving down the street near my home the other day and a construction crew was resurfacing the road. There were lots of men in orange vests and losts of heavy equipment holding up traffic. A man...I'll say he was in his 20s, was texting on his phone, i.e. looking down, not ahead, had ear buds on....so he wasn't listening to what was going on around him, just wantered into the street, oblivious to all of the chaos and potential bodily mayhem.
Karyl, I wonder if those young people don't use email because email is obsolete, or because the young people aren't in the workplace. Email has capabilities that IM and social media do not.
Social business isn't about Facebook. As you note, Facebook isn't suitable for most business purposes (unless you're in the cat-photography business). Social business is about using collaboration tools suited for business, like Jive and Salesforce Chatter, to help people work together.
I think two things are happening simultaneously: we'll continue to see more communities of interest spring up around different business activities, as Kim Davis reports on Catchfire and PE Lexus; and we will see social/collaboration features integrated in some core activities that all employees within a company engage in. These are early days for the social enterprise and "we ain't seen nothin' yet".
I agree Karyl. We are seeing plenty of examples of social media use in the B2B space, but of course not necessarily through Facebook pages or "likes." Take this example of a social platform supporting M&As.
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Social media are a world unto themselves, especially when it comes to politics. Nowhere was that more evident than in the vice presidential debate last night in Danville, Ken. While the traditional media spent an inordinate amount of time discussing who won and who lost, social media yielded some interesting insights about voter interests and passions. I'd call it a triumph of substance over style and new media over traditional media. It serves as a case study for any enterprise examining the power of social networking.
Social media seem to be the currency of the 2012 US presidential election. While they may not be a perfect indicator of political sentiment, they add to the tools prognosticators use to predict the direction and ultimate outcome of the presidential campaign.
The Gilt Groupe, a luxury online retailer, recently undertook a series of technical exercises using social media and analytics in an effort to understand its customers. And the results fell short of expectations.
The medical instruments manufacturer looks to metrics to quantify its social business engagement, according to Mary Maida, Medtronic lead information solutions manager. Internet Evolution editor in chief Mitch Wagner interviewed Maida at the E2 Innovate conference.
A recent release of the popular TweetDeck app for Twitter power-users gives new life to software that had previously taken a wrong turn. Here's a quick walk-through of the new TweetDeck, to show you why it should be at the top of your Twitter toolkit.
Edmunds separates customers into segments based on the info it collects on its site and from partners, and uses that to push out custom content, said Brian Baron, director of business analytics for Edmunds.com, at Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
The automotive website uses propensity modeling to target ads and customer registration forms, said Brian Baron, director of business analytics for Edmunds.com, at Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
The automotive website uses propensity modeling of customer behavior to convert more site visitors into leads, says Brian Baron, director of business analytics, in an interview at the Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
Showing results is the best way to win over social business doubters, according to Mary Maida, Medtronic lead information solutions manager. Internet Evolution's Mitch Wagner interviewed Maida at the E2 Innovate conference.
Companies need to take advantage of new technologies to simplify interfaces, improve capabilities, and enhance back-office processes. But they can't upgrade their Websites too often.
Project management and marketing don't generally work well together, but now the cloud delivers PM software that is more compatible with marketing's creative and spontaneous nature.
New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority is conducting a pilot test of digital kiosks to guide subway users to where they want to go more efficiently and at lower cost.
The whole Amazon.reader debate is a double-stupid. It's stupid to think that there's any e-book buyer who doesn't know Amazon's URL, and it was stupider to let ICANN launch the whole free-form TLD initiative to start with.
While NFC's original goal was to enhance mobile commerce applications, it is finding its way into a number of other uses, which is creating both opportunity as well as challenges for IT departments.
Enterprises would like to move to cloud computing but are hesitant because they are concerned about providers’ ability to secure company data. Here are some tips that help to ensure that if breaches occur, the business is not left holding the bag.
Edmunds separates customers into segments based on the info it collects on its site and from partners, and uses that to push out custom content, said Brian Baron, director of business analytics for Edmunds.com, at Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
The automotive website uses propensity modeling to target ads and customer registration forms, said Brian Baron, director of business analytics for Edmunds.com, at Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
Subsidized handsets, rather than locked handsets, should be the focus of regulators. We're not getting good deals, not fostering innovation, and weakening our power as buyers.
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