Who's the customer? Rebuttal to "Whom Do We Serve? « The Effective CIO"

Anyone who's ever worked with me as CIO or in some of my other IT leadership roles has heard my position on this- many times. "There are no customers inside the company. The customers are "out there"!

Chuck's post is quite thoughtful and has some very useful points to include in your operating style. The point that the customer for IT is the business is mistaken. In fact, one of the things that consistently gets CIO's shown the door is a failure to be focused on the customer, on driving revenue. That doesn't mean you aren't focused as well on suppliers, employees and other stakeholders but it's all in the context of a partnership with the business.

As an aside for those who've asked about the new role I've taken on with BTM Corporation, I am going to be even more focused on working with CxO's, including the CIO, to help take this business/IT partnership to a new level- to move from aligning the business and technology to converging business and technology. We move from "Information Technology" to "Business Technology". That's a topic for another post.

I completely agree with Chuck's point that customers and revenue are not solely the CIO's role and responsibility. Instead the CIO works in tandem with the business to focus every effort squarely on the customer. The failure to do so is a prime reason why CIO's struggle for the mythical "seat at the table". In fact, in many cases a CIO vacancy (i.e. "left to explore other opportunities") is the result of a lack of vision and drive to help create and retain customers.

In my mind, even projects to fix the plumbing are there to better serve customers and should be expressed that way. If you can't define a project in business impact, then you aren't ready to ask for the resources to accomplish it.

Whom Do We Serve? « The Effective CIO: ""

(Via .)

The tipping point: iPhone users turn against AT&T | Wireless News - Betanews

More to my previous post about AT&T Wireless. It's as if they are hoping the rising level of "vocal" frustration will just die down. "If we don't acknowledge problems there aren't any." Fascinating to watch.

Is this going to end up as a Harvard Business Review case study on how not to manage negative publicity? And I have to wonder where the CIO is inside AT&T? Not a negative comment at all but just wondering how this is playing out. Is this a place where the savvy CIO should be collecting data, working with the CMO to effectively sense and respond?

As a customer I hope this prompts AT&T to finally react and begin to fix the problems. As a consultant, I can't help but wonder who's providing advice.

The tipping point: iPhone users turn against AT&T | Wireless News - Betanews: "Betanews

The tipping point: iPhone users turn against AT&T
By Tim Conneally | Published July 21, 2009, 3:24 PM
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The iPhone crowd has turned into an anti-AT&T mob. Spend 30 seconds on Twitter or perform even the most basic search for iPhone and AT&T information and you're sure to run into some serious rancor from disgusted iPhone users across the country. While the exclusive partnership between Cupertino and the Dallas teleco has never been perfect, user hostility has lately been at a fevered pitch.
In February of this year, prominent blogger Om Malik announced he was 'breaking up' with his iPhone. 'I love my iPhone -- but AT&T's network has failed me. Apparently I'm not alone. If you follow me on Twitter, then you know how often I complain about it; my complaints always result in me receiving sim"

(Via .)

The iPhone's Visual Voicemail Is Broken For Many, How Is It For You? [At&t]

I've griped as much as anyone about AT&T's service. I switched from Verizon with full knowledge of AT&T's spotty coverage, having used the 30 day trial period on the iPhone to get a feel for things. Yes, in the past 6 months it has gotten worse. But I bought into it and I still use my iPhone 3GS to do much more than I ever did with my Blackberries and Treo and WM phones.

What surprises me is the persistent way that AT&T seems to completely disregard the negative PR generated due to network problems. It's as if they're either a) oblivious or b) just don't care. Either way if I was a shareholder I'd be very concerned. No business can operate with this degree of arrogance and/or disregard for customer opinion. Without customer loyalty, you have no business over time.

The iPhone's Visual Voicemail Is Broken For Many, How Is It For You? [At&t]: "

If you own an iPhone, you've probably noticed lately that voicemails randomly show up a few days after they should have. The Visual Voicemail system is basically broken for people, and it's AT&T's fault. Why aren't they acknowledging it?

At this point, the problem is more than just a few scattered instances. Literally every single person I know that has an iPhone has complained about this problem. They'll just be sitting there and suddenly four voicemails will appear on their phone, some from as long as two weeks ago. It works for some people (commenters, some of us at Giz), but it's basically hosed for many others.

This has been happening for weeks now, yet AT&T has yet to acknowledge the problem. How is this happening? How can a major advertised feature of a carrier's flagship phone be completely broken and nothing be being done about it?

For many AT&T customers, this has got them at the end of their ropes. We've put up with terrible coverage, spotty 3G speeds and delayed rollout of super-basic features like MMS and tethering, but when we're missing potentially important messages, it begins getting downright unacceptable. We rely on voicemail to let us know when a family member or coworker or friend has left us a message, and whoever has left that message assumes we got it. Having it flat-out not work puts relationships and reputations on the line.

Apple has created a product that is, by most standards, amazing. Yet having it trapped on AT&T is ruining the experience for millions of people. Either AT&T needs to get its shit together, and fast, or Apple needs to get this phone on a more reliable carrier. Otherwise, people are going to start switching phones. Because no matter how awesome the iPhone is, it's just not worth it when it's not working.

(Via Gizmodo.)