Report: CIOs utilizing technology to improve client satisfaction, improve efficiency

Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 07:20:07 am

Today's businesses were plagued by the unpredictable and unstable economy last year, requiring them to rethink their budgets. In fact, a new report by Gartner Research found that the majority of chief information officers around the world expect their IT budgets to remain flat throughout 2012. As a result, these decision-makers are turning to innovative technologies to help them hit their goals.

"In the face of continued economic uncertainty and government austerity, business strategies call for a combination of growth and operational efficiency," said Mark McDonald of Gartner Executive Programs. "As reflected in the 2012 CIO Agenda survey findings, effective leaders see customers as the key factor in both of these strategic components, with the customer experience their focal point in reconciling potentially conflicting goals."

The report found that increasing the size of the business was still the top company goal for the majority of companies. Meanwhile, attracting and keeping new clients, reducing costs and improving internal efficiency were also high priorities. This suggests that even with an unstable economy, many chief information officers have high hopes for their organization.

As a result, more companies are resorting to a number of technologies. These include mobile devices and applications, cloud computing services and collaboration solutions like unified communications to help them achieve these initiatives, Gartner noted. Meanwhile, security and information technology management services will also be used to keep the company on track.

"Applying technology as part of amplifying the enterprise reflects both the changing nature of business strategies, and executive expectations about the role of technology in realizing those strategies," McDonald noted. "Amplifying products, services and operations requires an enterprise to strengthen the customer experience and send clearer market signals."

Mobility is important to many businesses today, especially as bring-your-own-device policies are more widely established. In fact, Gartner found that more than 60 percent of responding organizations said they will be improving their mobile capabilities over the next three years. As a result, there will be an increase in competition for the organization that provides the most customer-oriented mobile initiatives.

"Mobility, social media, information and analytics can be used to re-imagine the customer experience, as well as sales and service channels," McDonald continued. "These technologies do more than automate or administer processes; they are the processes and the sources of value."

However, many businesses are still struggling with their budgets. According to the report, companies in Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region will likely experience the largest increases in their IT spending, growing anywhere from 3 to nearly 13 percent.

In other regions of the world, however, the spending is not so generous. In fact, investments are the lowest among North American and European organizations, dropping 0.6 and 0.7 percent, respectively, the study revealed.

"The 2012 Gartner CIO Agenda survey results show that CIOs believe that the customer experience is the greatest opportunity for IT-enabled innovation," said Dave Aron of Gartner. "As business executives see the potential of technology to transform customer channels and the customer experience, their view of technology has leapfrogged conventional ideas of IT."

As a way of enhancing their customer's experience, many organizations are making improvements to their contact centers. One trend that is emerging in the industry is the use of social media and multi-channel integration through unified communications. By utilizing these services, organizations can reach more customers on their desired platform, making their overall experience more satisfying, according to an IT News Africa report.

In the end, businesses are changing the way they seek out and connect with customers, resulting in, hopefully, greater revenue and the ability to expand.

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