This is an amazing time to be a CIO. The integration between technology and a company's revenue stream is becoming so seamless that every company is (or will be) a technology company; and this provides enormous career opportunities for CIOs. Keep your focus on supporting the business through efficient internal processes and systems, and you will live a gratifying CIO life. But expand your focus to customer-facing product development, and you will set yourself up for a wealth of new roles.
To understand how to make that happen, I spoke with four CIOs who successfully launched revenue-generating products and leveraged that experience to carve out a more multifaceted role for themselves within their respective organizations. They share their lessons below.
Partner with the business. In 2006, the marketing department at VistaPrint, a $US150 million company that provides customized printed products to small business, identified the need to offer customers the ability to design logos online. "Our software engineers created a way to algorithmically map the elements of a good logo," says Wendy Cebula, then CIO of VistaPrint. "We worked with marketing and developed a logo design tool that blew away the competition, and we integrated it as a new service on our site."
The logo design tool successfully enhanced revenue in three ways: VistaPrint customers tend to order more print products while using it, thus growing existing revenue; customers design logos for free but pay for reuse rights, a new revenue stream for the company; and businesses in search of logo design now visit VistaPrint, allowing the company to tap a new customer segment.
The tool was successful from a career perspective as well: Cebula was promoted to COO nine months later.
Read up on the latest ideas and technologies from companies that sell hardware, software and services. Zones provide focussed content from CIO and leading technology partners.- White PaperJoin industry expert Bob Spurzem and Chuck Arconi of Fox Hollow to discover how to reduce Exchange total storage and keep it at a manageable level. Learn how Exchange storage growth can be contained without sacrificing security and accessibility.
- White PaperYour organisation may well have devised and implemented an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) some time ago in order to guard against the risks of inappropriate use of computer systems by your workers, but are you confident that your AUP remains 'fit for purpose'? Read on to discover how you can enhance the effectiveness of your AUP.
- White PaperLearn to tie virtualized computing to virtualized storage, to offer a dynamic set of capabilities within the data centre and create improved performance and system reliability. Discover how best to utilize EMC Celerra in a VMware ESX environment.
Discover how SOA can create smarter outcomes for your business.
Attend and learn:
- How SOA is helping leading companies to become more agile
- Where you should be applying SOA processes in your company
- The top SOA implementation mistakes to avoid
Click here for more information.
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CIO Live Podcast #79: Brent D Taylor, author of The Outsider's Edge: The Making of Self-Made Billionaires Part II 05 October, 2007 06:00:00
For his new book, The Outsider's Edge: The Making of Self-Made Billionaires, social researcher Brent D Taylor spent four years of intensive research investigating the psychological make-up and backgrounds of some of the world's richest men and women, including IT luminaries Bill Gates, Larry Ellison and Steve Jobs. Taylor discovered that, despite working in different industries and coming from different upbringings, they all have one thing in common -- they are all outsiders. - +
CIO Live Podcast #78: Brent D Taylor, author of The Outsider's Edge: The Making of Self-Made Billionaires 28 September, 2007 17:34:25
For his new book, The Outsider's Edge: The Making of Self-Made Billionaires, social researcher Brent D Taylor spent four years of intensive research investigating the psychological make-up and backgrounds of some of the world's richest men and women, including IT luminaries Bill Gates, Larry Ellison and Steve Jobs. Taylor discovered that, despite working in different industries and coming from different upbringings, they all have one thing in common -- they are all outsiders. - +
CIO Live Podcast #77: Panasonic Speeds Up Trans-Pacific File Transfers, Part III 21 September, 2007 07:00:00
Part three in our three-part special report from CIO's sister publication Network World in the US, as Paul Desmond reports from the Network World IT Roadmap Conference in Santa Clara, California. With development teams in the US and Japan, Panasonic needed a more efficient way to move very large files between the two locations. Iben Rodriguez, IT consultant for Panasonic Research and Development, explains how a storage-area network and virtual server technology helped speed up WAN performance. - +
CIO Live Podcast #76: Panasonic Speeds Up Trans-Pacific File Transfers, Part II 14 September, 2007 07:00:00
Part two in our three-part special report from CIO's sister publication Network World in the US, as Paul Desmond reports from the Network World IT Roadmap Conference in Santa Clara, California. With development teams in the US and Japan, Panasonic needed a more efficient way to move very large files between the two locations. Iben Rodriguez, IT consultant for Panasonic Research and Development, explains how a storage-area network and virtual server technology helped speed up WAN performance. - +
CIO Live Podcast #75: Panasonic Speeds Up Trans-Pacific File Transfers, Part I 07 September, 2007 07:00:05
Part one in our three-part special report from CIO's sister publication Network World in the US, as Paul Desmond reports from the Network World IT Roadmap Conference in Santa Clara, California. With development teams in the US and Japan, Panasonic needed a more efficient way to move very large files between the two locations. Iben Rodriguez, IT consultant for Panasonic Research and Development, explains how a storage-area network and virtual server technology helped speed up WAN performance.
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Rogue SSL certificate exploit puts VeriSign on the spot 07 January, 2009 11:04:00
Wishes "white hat" researchers had notified VeriSign before public demo.Following the success of researchers last week in creating a false SSL certificate based on VeriSign's RapidSSL brand, the company is scrambling to explain how it happened, how it's preventing it from reoccurring, and whether its other SSL certificate-generation services are at risk. - +
With Gaza conflict, cyberattacks come too 05 January, 2009 08:03:00
Pro-Palestinian hackers have defaced thousands of sites following attacks in Gaza.The conflict raging in Gaza between Israel and Palestine has spilled over to the Internet. - +
5 ways to secure your Blackberry 18 December, 2008 12:58:00
What do Tom Cruise and the McCain campaign have in common? They have both been bitten by the loss of a Blackberry. Mobile expert Dan Hoffman gives advice on how to keep your cherished mobile device safe, even if it's out of your handsWhat do Tom Cruise and the McCain campaign have in common? They have both been bitten by the loss of a Blackberry. Mobile expert Dan Hoffman gives advice on how to keep your cherished mobile device safe, even if it's out of your hands. - +
Wireless VPNs: Protecting the wireless wanderer 18 December, 2008 11:04:00
Employees sipping café Java over their wireless laptops may think a VPN makes them safe and secure. With careful configuration, there's some chance they're rightEmployees sipping café Java over their wireless laptops may think a VPN makes them safe and secure. With careful configuration, there's some chance they're right. - +
Cyber Crime: The 2009 Mega Threat 17 December, 2008 12:09:00
What threats to a company's sensitive and confidential data are getting worse, staying the same or actually becoming more manageable?What threats to a company's sensitive and confidential data are getting worse, staying the same or actually becoming more manageable?
Anyware Introduce Two Powerful PCI TV Tuner Cards with S5 Power Up and Windows Media Center Remote 07 January, 2009 17:30:00
Fortinet Cures Mobile Phone “Curse of Silence/CurseSMS” Attack 07 January, 2009 16:30:00
SEAGATE SHIPS DESKTOP HARD DRIVE WITH WORLD’S HIGHEST AREAL DENSITY – 500GB PER DISK 06 January, 2009 15:34:00
New FileMaker Pro 10 Ships With Sleek New Interface and Breakthrough Reporting and Automating Features 06 January, 2009 12:21:00
Lexar extends KODAK offering with Secure Digital High-Capacity, High-Speed Memory Card 06 January, 2009 09:36:00
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The state of Middleware
Middleware delivers unprecedented visibility and control over your business by making timely information available to decision makers. Organisations are using Middleware to leverage their existing IT investments, while optimizing their IT and business operations, securing their infrastructure and driving compliance. Read on to discover how Middleware can help you increase your businesses profitability.
