Print

  Email

Tweet

Service Should Be A Key Focus For CIOs

31st January 2012 - Author: Deborah Bates

Chief Information Officers (CIOs) must have a focus on service if they are to speak their brand's "language" properly.

That's according to Nathan Williams, a writer for CIO.co.uk. Although CEOs are likely well-versed in the IT requirements of their brand, such as the network management or processes required, they aren't always sure of their role within the brand's overall promotion.

Some are also lacking in confidence when it comes to their own ability to sell the brand.

However there is a way around this, Williams said. He explained that often, CIOs focus on the actual systems holding a business together. Often, all they hear about these systems are the technical details; receiving documentation that has little-to-no personal meaning.

This is something that CIOs must work to change, the writer advised: "The humanity this lacks is critical to understanding how people want to interact with your organisation as a brand, and therefore the services that are required to meet and pre-empt those customer needs.

"Service is the key word here," Williams continued. "We can think of service in two simple ways: how we service our customers and the services we provide to do that."

He went on to encourage CIOs to understand the experience customers have when interacting with the brand; recognising the part it plays in their lives and how it helps to make their work a little easier. Williams concluded by urging CIOs to take his advice; stating that they are a "fundamental" part of branding and have the power to clarify IT's part in a brand to their own teams.

In fact, he wasn't the only person to praise the role of CIOs in a company recently, as IT reporter Nick Heather claimed on Silicon.com that anyone who says the role of the CIO is dying out is "unimaginative".