How IT and business work together to put the customer first
The dependency on software in organizations is increasing. As an IT manager, you experience that daily: the business wants to move fast, but your team is overloaded with work. This creates the risk that departments seek their own solutions - from free tools to standalone software licenses - without involving IT. Handy in the short term? Maybe. But in the long term, it's a risk for both IT and your CX strategy. Data becomes fragmented, systems don't integrate, and silos form. While a strong customer experience demands integration and collaboration. In this article, we show how IT can be a driving force behind better customer experience - and what choices are crucial in that.
From customer demand to technology
Effective collaboration starts with a clear starting point: the business translates customer demands into needs and promises. IT then ensures the right technological conditions to fulfill those promises. Think of well-accessible customer data, stable integrations, or a scalable Commerce environment. With the right CRM, Marketing Automation, or Commerce software, you can build a 360-degree view of the customer. But how do you choose the right solution? Several considerations are relevant:
Best of breed or best of suite?
If you opt for best of breed, you combine the best software from different vendors for each domain. This can deliver powerful results but also requires strong integration knowledge, maintenance, and coordination.
If you choose best of suite, you acquire an integrated solution where everything already works together. Perhaps less flexibility, but also less management overhead. SAP Customer Experience falls into this category - and also scores well in surveys as a best of breed solution.
Horizontals or verticals?
Horizontals are broadly applicable solutions, such as a Customer Data Platform or PIM. Verticals focus on specific departments, such as marketing, sales, or service. Think of Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, or Emarsys.
The value of verticals is significant - but only if the foundation is solid. Without good product data, Commerce is worthless. And without reliable customer data, CRM is ineffective.
Cloud or on-premise?
Most new software is cloud-first. This means automatic updates, less management, and a predictable release schedule. But also, less direct control and dependence on the vendor.
Each update requires consultation with the business to determine if you activate new features. And you need to plan capacity to test. Questions about uptime and SLAs are therefore essential.
In-house expertise or outsourcing?
Do you want to build expertise within your own team? Or opt for external specialists? A combination is often ideal: internal ownership, external expertise. For example, Acorel CX DevOps offers a multidisciplinary team that combines support, advice, and continuous development.
Recurring tasks like release management or monitoring are typically outsourced. Not exciting, but essential. And with good support, you prevent the system from stalling - or worse: the customer experience suffering.
Making a difference together
When IT and business make decisions together, you prevent departments from going their own way. You maintain control over your IT landscape and increase the impact on customer experience. Acorel is happy to brainstorm with you - from strategic decisions to operational management. Want to know more? Leave your details and we'll get in touch.
