Making the Shift from Technologist to Business Enabler: Interview with: Jason Millett, Global Head of Technology, eCommerce & Transformation, Billabong International

1. Interview with: Jason Millett, Global
Head of Technology, eCommerce
& Transformation, Billabong
International
There is a need for a mindset shift
in Chief Informational Officers
(CIOs), says Jason Millett, Global Head
o f Techno lo gy , eC o mmer ce &
Transformation, Billabong International.
“CIOs need to think more like Chief
Innovation Officers, and support
business performance, leadership and
transformation,” he adds.
A speaker at the marcus evans
Australian CIO Summit 2013, in the
Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia,
29 - 31 July, Millett highlights the areas
that CIOs need to focus on to make
their organisations more competitive
and successful.
What mindset shift is required in
the Information Technology (IT)
function? Why?
IT must move away from an order taker
to a business partner, and become an
i n t e g r a l e n a b l e r o f b u s i n e s s
performance and outcomes. IT has
traditionally sat back and waited for the
business to say what it needs to do. For
technology to be relevant today, CIOs
need to think more like Chief Innovation
Officers and constantly push the
boundaries of how their art can support
the business. They are more than
technologists. They need to be talking
about customer delight, revenue uplift
and margin management; not just the
traditional measures, such as cost.
How can they make this shift?
It is a fairly simple path. They have to
be more business savvy, understand
every lever, driver and nuance of the
business they are supporting. They tend
to lapse into thinking it is all about the
technology, but it has to be more about
the outcome and how technology can
enable it. CIOs cannot contribute at the
top of their game if they do not
understand the key financial, customer
and business drivers of their
organisation.
How should they design the IT
roadmap for their business?
This is about understanding the
business strategy and plan, and getting
in early with business partners. What
capabilities need to be made available
and when? What are the parameters
and constraints from a financial or
operational perspective? They need to
discuss these to create a roadmap that
will make the organisation more
competitive and successful.
What new technologies or trends
should CIOs consider?
It is their responsibility to look at what
is new and important, but they must do
that through a business lens. It has to
be a trend that is enabling a better
customer outcome, a lower unit cost,
making the business simpler or driving
value to the top line, and as a result to
the bottom line.
Everyone is looking at mobility, big data
and cloud services today. There is
nothing special about these technologies
unless CIOs adapt them and create an
advantage for their business. How can
they be applied to create a disruption
which then drives business benefit? I
am focusing on mobility, agile point of
sales systems, technologies for
operational staff to better engage
customers, utility computing to drive
down the overhead component of the
business operating cost, and data
analytics and unstructured data buckets
to help drive customer insights.
Any final words of advice?
If CIOs also invested in educating their
business partners, they would become
the source of innovation. This is not
about good ideas coming out of IT, but
about presenting a series of
enablements that would allow the
business to go to the next level. That is
how they would become true leaders.
IT must
move away
from an
order taker
to a
business
partner
Making the Shift from
Technologist to Business Enabler

2. The Information Technology
Network - marcus evans
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About the Australian CIO Summit 2013
This unique forum will take place at the RACV Royal Pines Resort, Gold Coast,
Queensland, 29 - 31 July 2013. Offering much more than any conference, exhibition
or trade show, this exclusive meeting will bring together esteemed industry thought
leaders and solution providers to a highly focused and interactive networking event.
The Summit features presentations on IT process optimisation as well as insights on
how to pinpoint high-value innovations, prove value to stakeholders and turn
knowledge into profits.
www.australianciosummit.com
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