- Keeping the lights on and increasing efficiency used to be at the top of every CIO’s agenda.
- Revenue generation is becoming increasingly important for the business, and consequently for IT. Often, the business will externally procure high-value technology services bypassing the internal IT department.
- IT departments that aren’t proactive and ignore the revenue mandate will become marginalized.
Our Advice
Critical Insight
- You, the CIO, can now choose the immediate future of internal IT. The success of IT and your role within the organization depends on you.
- The CIO can be forward looking and become the Chief Enterprise Integration Officer. This role will be a business executive with valuable technology insight who will drive the IT-enabled revenue generation program; focus on improving marketing, sales, and service using social, mobile, and analytics; and work closely with executives from marketing, sales, and service.
- Alternatively, the CIO can be complacent and become Chief Support Officer, whose IT department will become an order-taking, back-office support function for the business. The CSO will provide information and communications technology support services to the organization, manage and integrate the many IT vendors that business counterparts will be partnering with, and develop and maintain disaster recovery and business continuity planning.
- Revenue generation relies on the effectiveness of – and the synergy across – marketing, sales, and service. Internal IT is well positioned to improve this synergy because:
- IT has an enterprise-wide, cross-silo perspective.
- IT can effectively build, acquire, implement, and support these solutions using its technical expertise.
- Internal IT can capitalize on its long-term collaboration and relationship with the business since external IT providers lack close proximity to the business.
Impact and Result
- The CIO needs to start the conversation with business executives to create an IT-enabled revenue generation strategy and roadmap, using social, mobile, and analytics to improve business capabilities within and across marketing, sales, and service.
- Establish a Revenue Generation Steering Committee (CIO, executives from marketing, sales, and service) to direct and monitor revenue-generation initiatives.
- Ensure that IT is ready to support revenue-focused initiatives utilizing social, mobile, and analytics.
- Measure the business impact of the IT-enabled revenue generation program and communicate contribution to increased revenue.
- Alternatively, dust off your resume and start preparing for your not-so-distant job search.
Workshop: Lead a Digital Transformation to Advance Revenue Generation
Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.
Module 1: Create a plan to kick-start a digital revenue generation program
The Purpose
Create a plan to kick-start a digital revenue generation program. Define the approach and prepare meeting agendas for the CIO to meet with the marketing, sales, and customer service executives to discuss how the business and IT can collaborate to improve revenue generation.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Improved awareness of necessary IT capabilities for digital revenue generation and their readiness status
- Optimized strategy plan to engage business stakeholders
- Improved business-IT synergy in the areas of marketing, sales, and customer service
Activities
Outputs
Verify your IT organization is ready to work on revenue generation.
- Refined scope and approach, next steps
Engage your stakeholders.
- Stakeholder analysis map
Drive business-IT collaboration at all levels of your organization.
- Stakeholder social style map
Establish revenue generation steering and working committees.
- Stakeholder management template
- High-level IT readiness report
- Executive meeting agendas
- Revenue Generation Steering Committee Charter
- Revenue Generation Working Committee Charter
Module 2: Develop a digital revenue generation strategy
The Purpose
Develop a digital revenue generation strategy. Assess current state. Define digital revenue generation initiatives spanning marketing, sales, and customer service domains. Prioritize the initiatives and assign ownership.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Greater insight into any in-flight revenue generation initiatives
- Optimized strategies of how IT can increase revenue in marketing, sales, and customer service areas
Activities
Outputs
Introduce digital revenue generation strategy.
- IT-enabled marketing strategy (marketing capability map, initiative description template, initiative enablers template, initiative implementation plan template)
Identify current in-flight marketing initiatives.
- IT-enabled sales strategy (sales capability map, initiative description template, initiative enablers template, initiative implementation plan template)
Compose IT-enabled marketing strategy.
- IT-enabled service strategy (service capability map, initiative description template, initiative enablers template, initiative implementation plan template)
Compose IT-enabled sales strategy.
Compose IT-enabled customer service strategy.
Module 3: Strengthen the capabilities required to execute revenue-focused initiatives
The Purpose
Perform gap analysis and plan to strengthen capabilities required to execute revenue-focused initiatives, e.g. analytics, business continuity management, data management, privacy management, security management.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Optimized plan to increase IT capability readiness
Activities
Outputs
Check IT readiness within twelve key IT capabilities.
- IT readiness report
Identify and prioritize gaps.
- IT capability improvement plan template
Design steps to close the gaps.
- IT capability improvement roadmap
Module 4: Develop a digital revenue generation roadmap and communication plan
The Purpose
Create a communication plan and plan to communicate the program’s contribution to increased revenue generation. Create a roadmap.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Refined digital revenue generation strategy
- Improved plan to communicate the revenue generation strategy to relevant stakeholders
- Optimized roadmap to roll-out digital revenue generation initiatives
Activities
Outputs
Review and prioritize marketing, sales, and service initiatives.
- Digital revenue generation initiative roadmap
Create digital revenue generation roadmap.
- Communication plan
Create communication plan.