CIOs and CMOs Getting Everyone on the Same Page

Creating alignment between the IT department and all business units within the enterprise is essential for any organization to ensure it invests in the right technology, while avoiding instances of duplicated applications or continued support of underutilized technologies. With a singular approach to tracking, forecasting and budgeting technology investments, led by IT, the company gains complete visibility into its application usage and spend. In addition, they can achieve cost optimization and foster more strategic operations, while better monitoring the costs of utilization and understanding how the applications they provide the entire organization are used.

Despite the advantages of such an approach, CIOs often encounter instances in which a particular business unit will bypass the IT department and make its technology decisions and investments on its own. Such instances can lead to several negative impacts, such as duplicate applications, investment in underutilized or outdated technology, and the inability to effectively manage or measure the effectiveness of these solutions. Moreover, while the rush among other business units to invest in new technologies may bring short-term gain, by acting independent of IT leadership, the company loses sight of its investments and won’t be able to operate at an optimal level.

While the disconnect between IT and business unit leaders can occur with any company, it is most prevalent with corporate marketing functions. As marketing personnel are increasingly expected to take a greater role in growing the business, they are often given larger budgets to acquire the technology that can help them put their company front and center. Although the hazards of acting independently to implement new solutions are significant and numerous, the practice is one that continues to grow.

According to Salesforce.com’s visionary CEO, Marc Benioff, the CMO will spend more on technology than the CIO by 2017. This staggering prediction highlights the need for organizations to work with CMOs to end this practice. If not, the disparity between the two will only become greater in the future. As a result, the organization will lose control of its spend and its ability to accurately forecast and budget its technology utilization at a time when, more than ever, cost effectiveness serves as the difference between corporate success and failure.

Fortunately, there are number of methods to help break down the silos separating Marketing’s technology investments from the rest of the organizations. Consider the following best practices for creating alignment between the CMO and CIO:

• Collaborate to develop a customer-focused strategy – Too often, discrepancies arise because IT is not tuned into Marketing’s technology needs and strategies. For greatest results, the CMO and CIO must come together to define the plan of action and determine how they can develop a joint customer-focused strategy for technology implementation.
• Ensure priorities and goals are understood by both parties – The key to alignment is for the CMO and CIO to align priorities for their teams and ensure they know the project scope, cost and metrics involved in the implementation of all technology solutions.
• Invest in a robust ITFBM solution – Such a solution will provide IT with the visibility needed to demonstrate the value of existing technologies used by Marketing, while accurately predicting future technology demand and spending. Moreover, an ITFBM solution will help IT deliver a technology services catalog that will resonate with the CMO, show how they can help Marketing acquire the needed technology and drive home the need to collaborate continually.

The underlying reason for Marketing’s larger role in many organizations and its increasing IT spend is to enhance the top-line growth of the company. However, the impact of lost control and visibility of spending can minimize any perceived benefits of the CMO acting alone to acquire new technologies – and will ultimately have a negative effect on the corporate bottom line. Emphasizing the benefits of building greater alignment between the two functions, from leadership on down, and utilizing the tools and practices that can facilitate this partnership will help the company ensure optimal investment and usage of the best technologies and lead to continued success.

To learn more about how the right ITFBM solution can help strengthen the relationship between the CMO and CIO, click here to download our latest white paper: https://uplandsoftware.com/comsci/resources/white-paper/cmos-and-cios-breaking-down-the-barriers-to-achieve-transparency/