CIO Straight Talk - Issue 7 - 43

43

Success in IT was once based on a single competence: technology expertise.
Today, success requires three broad competencies.... Only when all three come
together can IT deliver real value to the business.

With this mind-set, a new one

data sources that drive the greatest

Cloud means many things to many

for most IT professionals, we can

value for our business. Our internal

people. For Merck Animal Health, we

leverage the three essential elements

employees have deep technical

focus mainly on the platform-as-a-

of today's IT success story.

knowledge in the platforms and

service type of cloud. PaaS offerings

processes we support, which include

such as Veeva and Salesforce.com

ERP, analytics, commercial, and

enable our team to shift our focus

R&D. Mature platforms, along with

from coding and testing activities to

our deep technical knowledge and

integration and adoption activities,

Having deep technical and data

our understanding of the data that

which we feel drive greater value and

expertise is obviously a critical

drives the business, is a powerful

accelerate time to market.

success factor for any organization.

combination.

Technology and Data
Expertise

But that isn't easy, considering the

External partners are a critical

A platform-centric approach,
leveraging our partners, and utilizing

rapid pace of technology change and

component in our operating model.

the cloud enable our organization to

the complexity of our business model.

We recognize that a lot of innovation

stay current on the most important

If we don't stay current on the latest

happens outside the four walls of

technologies - and focus on

technologies and understand the data

Merck. We rely on our strategic

our business.

structures that drive our business,

partners to help keep us up-to-date

we'll struggle to deliver solutions that

on the latest innovations and share

generate value.

their views on how those innovations

Business Knowledge

can create value for our business.

While there isn't a single playbook for

we focus on three things: platform,

Our partners also help us accelerate

developing business knowledge, I ask

partners, and the cloud.

our learning curve as it relates to the

our team to do three things - develop

At Merck we define a platform as

evaluation, selection, and deployment

strong business partner relationships,

"a set of highly related information

of new technologies. Solutions drawn

get out into the field, and know

and technology capabilities that,

up on a whiteboard rarely translate

our products.

when combined, provide economic

easily to the real world. The positive

value to Merck's business through

and less-than-positive experiences

Health, in 2012, the first thing I did

faster speed to market and reduced

our partners have had deploying new

was meet with as many business

unit costs." Taking a platform-

technologies outside of Merck help

partners as I could, in every business

centric approach in Animal Health

us accelerate time to market and

function, to understand their

IT enables us to focus our resources

develop high-quality solutions inside

challenges and opportunities. With

on a specific set of technologies and

of Merck.

each interaction I learned more about

To be sure that doesn't happen,

When I joined Merck Animal

CIO Straight Talk | 35
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CIO Straight Talk - Issue 7

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CIO Straight Talk - Issue 7
