Today’s IT departments have the power to deliver amazing insights
Just one in three IT leaders believes his team plays a role in generating new revenue, according to a global survey of chief information officers. Four in ten say that they don’t play any role in developing new products and services.
This isn’t surprising. At too many companies, IT departments are seen as costly service providers. But this image doesn’t make sense. Today’s IT departments have the power to deliver insights to every single department within every type of organization — and thus help all their colleagues do their jobs more effectively.
To make this obvious, IT staffers should start treating colleagues in other departments as if they’re external customers.
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Putting a new face on IT
Good IT departments comprise well-qualified problem solvers. When the internet slows down, they should be your go-to fixers.
But those problem solvers are capable of so much more. They can help fellow employees understand and utilize big data — and thus boost the effectiveness and independence of their colleagues.
Consider some examples:
- In 2018, OCBC Bank began using data analytics to improve the efficiency of its digital marketing campaigns. Since applying consumer data to website click-throughs, the company was able to optimize web content and boost search conversions for its products by 25 percent.
- Spark, a New Zealand-based telecommunications firm, used big data analysis to determine which web designs were most popular with customers. Its analysis increased customer engagement by more than 80 percent.
All this was possible because IT staffers put data in the hands of front-end employees.
Friends help each other
IT can provide data insights to help sales departments track metrics, like call deflection and completion rates. Marketers might use analytics to learn about how often consumers click through certain emails and banner ads.
There’s no reason such information shouldn’t be collected — and shared widely within an organization. The more democratic data governance is, the more useful various analytics will be.
IT departments can even design simple programs for their colleagues. Forecasting tools can help number crunchers determine budgets and customer journey trackers can help marketing teams determine effective sales strategies. At Adobe, we developed Adobe Sensei to help our customers apply the power of machine learning and artificial intelligence to identify risks and opportunities buried deep within their data — and then act on it. IT pros should also consider how they can integrate AI into their internal programs.
At most companies, IT has an image problem. By putting data to work for others, that can easily be fixed.
Date: March 27, 2019
Source: CIO