3 reasons CRM financial analysis always fails

Everybody gets that procuring and implementing software isn’t the same as procuring and implementing hardware. I’ve been writing endlessly about how CRM is different from other enterprise software — not technologically, mind you, but in terms of the business drivers and the mechanics of the cost-benefit equation. So why does everyone try to make CRM…

How IT is helping to create a culture of consumerism in healthcare

Can you imagine having the same customer experience with your healthcare provider as you do your favorite retail chain? Jonathan Shoemaker, chief information and improvement officer at Allina Health, can. He and his fellow executives are creating a culture of consumerism at the Twin Cities-based healthcare system.  —————————————————————- When did you begin to transform to…

Farmers Insurance scales training with virtual reality

In the insurance industry, training claims adjusters is a non-stop challenge. These public-facing employees work with clients in stressful situations, and their expertise is essential to giving customers the service they expect while ensuring efficiency for the enterprise. Experience is the best teacher, but re-creating the many scenarios claims adjustors might encounter creates logistical and…

8 secrets of effective change leaders

Digital transformation means big changes throughout the organization, impacting many — if not all — departments, employees and business processes. Thus, IT leaders seeking to helm successful transformations must convince and motivate people across the organization to work, think and/or behave in new ways. But getting people to adopt new paradigms is not easy, as…

CIOs reveal their security philosophies

Security has always been a universal preoccupation, and there are countless examples of societies reforming their own institutions to stave off chaos and oblivion. In the Roman Kingdom, which preceded the Roman Empire by some five centuries, the local royal quaestor (“investigator”) was tasked with investigating murders. At roughly the same time, subprefects in the…

UPS counters Amazon.com challenge with IoT, analytics

Amazon.com regularly launches new points of attack on top shipping providers’ turfs. But there is one area where United Parcel Service insists it maintains a competitive advantage: using internet of things (IoT) to improve fleet and field operations. Perhaps more than any other shipping company, UPS leverages sensor-driven analytics for anything from preventative vehicle maintenance…

10 reasons to ignore computer science degrees

Consider the two words computer and science. The first’s gifts to the world are huge and range from the lifesaving ubiquity of electronic medical records to the opportunity to get in a virtual bar fight at any time of the day on Twitter. The second word, science, represents an intellectual movement that’s delivered great advances…