CIO Straight Talk - Issue 7 - 67

67

well with both vendors and the

never use the 3G or 4G. With the

broader IT organization. It was a

exception of our sales force, most of

challenging position that often placed

our tablet users employing the iPad

the Effectiveness and Efficiency lead

to monitor a plant or do analytics in

in the middle of the long-standing

a meeting don't need that capability.

"business-as-usual-why-would-we-

That idea saved us a half a million

change?" crowd and the emerging

dollars a year.

"we-have-to-get-better-or-else" pack.
While we socialized our desire

Simple as it sounds, the idea wasn't
the most straightforward one to

to gather ideas for improvement

implement. Our carrier didn't want

from everyone in the IT team,

to sell us non-3G or -4G iPads. So

we accumulated a large list of

we had to renegotiate our contract

suggestions. Our leadership team

with them, stipulating that we would

grouped them into three categories:

purchase iPads for our sales force

those with a high likelihood of

from them but could buy iPads for

success, those that needed more

any other purpose from any retailer

research - and those that weren't

we wanted, including Apple.

worth pursuing.
We then began prioritizing those

Some of the ideas have come
from the business, like the decision

proposals based on their probable

to standardize on an enterprise

value. One idea that we immediately

platform for business analytics. But

tested was a tool that was able to

the vast majority of ideas have come

take a production snapshot of an

from IT.

environment so that an exact copy

The biggest challenges remain

could be spun-up in a new virtual

making this initiative a priority amid

environment within a couple of

the increasing IT demands of the

hours, thus eliminating the need to

business and getting the people who

maintain a development environment

generate the ideas to make enough

for that system. Ideas like this

time to see their innovations through.

promised significant savings and

There's no question everyone already

the elimination of the complexity of

has a lot on their plate. But if you

managing servers only used when

put your idea out there and it has

there were new projects.

legs, you have to be willing to own

A Culture of Improvement,
One Stakeholder at a Time

it. I want our employees to have the
experience of not only coming up
with a great idea, but getting it done.
If the person honestly doesn't have

Another quick pay-off involved

the expertise to take over, we'll work

rethinking the capabilities of the

with them to find someone who does.

iPads we were purchasing. Standard-

But the best ideas come from those

issue iPads automatically have 3G or

who know their areas inside and out.

4G connectivity. But the person who

It's always easier to get some

runs our mobility platform pointed

attention around these initiatives

out that the vast majority of users

when we're coming up on our year-

There's no question
everyone already has
a lot on their plate. But
if you put your idea out
there and it has legs,
you have to be willing
to own it. I want our
employees to have the
experience of not only
coming up with a
great idea, but getting
it done.
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 7

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