wk5diss/talk

wk5video_transcript.docx

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VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

In IT, an up-front cost can have lasting value, explains Robert Fort. IT and business alignment focus

on the big picture.

SOURCE

2004-2010, 50 Lessons Ltd.

CATEGORY

Business and Economics

SUB-CATEGORY

Finance

SPEAKER

Robert Fort

SPEAKER TITLE

Chief Information Officer, VP of

Information Technology

ORGANIZATION

Virgin Entertainment Group

TAGS

Arts & Entertainment

At Virgin we've not focused on the cost of IT so much, but on the value IT can bring. That's

one of the things I've been most proud of. Our digital listening stations that affect the

customer experience have helped drive sales. Our data warehouse has helped drive sales.

While you think that might be a pretty much behind-the-scenes, backroom operation or

system, it's helping our sales associates to understand the customer behavior that's in the

store that particular day much better, and it helps them to maximize sales.

I've always taken my IT department and tried to focus it most on the top line--driving the

sales and so forth. Inherent in everything we do, though, is to try to control costs. Certainly

we don't want to be spending a dollar that we don't need to spend. When I look at what's

going on with the economy, it's not been presented to us as major a challenge as always,

because we have a lot of our costs in line. Certainly when the total company starts taking a

hit, we have to start looking at issues and things that we can resolve.

That's where business and IT alignment come back to play. I don't think that an IT

department can take out its own costs without having worked with the business and

understood the business. Can it forgo these particular services and applications that we

might have to cut out? Or is the business going to make some cuts in this particular area

that might help save us some IT costs? That IT business alignment question goes both

ways.