I tripped over a strong piece from Gartner supporting the movement that internal departments in larger companies are waving their white flags and calling a truce. These once heavily drawn battle lines are beginning to blur now that the two disciplines realise that they’re fighting for the same thing: customer centricity. In fact, according to the study “Big Data’s Biggest Role: Aligning the CMO and CIO” by SAS and the CMO Council, 80% of marketers and 88% of IT executives cite joining forces to achieve customer centricity as a main priority. And what’s their secret weapon to achieving this customer-centric union? Big Data. According to the study, 40% of marketers and 51% of IT heads say Big Data is “critical” to delivering customer-centric programs.
However, establishing a customer-centric mind-set can be an uphill battle. According to the study, 33% of marketers and 31% of technologists believe that customer-centric cultural attributes have only been partially implemented within their corporations. What’s more, 52% of marketers and 45% of IT executives list functional silos as a top hindrance to customer-centric endeavors because silos stall customer data development and profile development.
In Dialogues own experience, the CMO’s are now key decision makers in the IT specification for all CRM and data platforms. Marketing has raised its perception at the board room table and it has taken a technology play to get us there. Who would have thought it!
Michael Killeen
Chairman
