When it comes to balancing Century's desire to grow with the challenge of containing costs, McCullen takes a two-pronged approach. The first is to have a clearly defined strategy for where the company wants to go, and the second is to ensure that IT is ready to execute.
To do that, McCarren must simultaneously fill two classic CIO roles. A basic IT director focused on managing IT infrastructure and a strategic CIO focused on understanding business needs.
“It is critical for today's enterprises that CIOs have the true ability to understand what the business does and what it sells to customers; It helps us strategically in terms of what we need,” he says. That's what I'll tackle next. ”
On the fundamentals, McAllen takes a partnership approach, working with technology partners as needed to build new capabilities first on a small scale before committing to the significant funding and time required to implement them. Build proof-of-concept projects to demonstrate functionality and determine suitability. He aims to grow by incorporating technology into Century's IT engine.
Build for one, scale for everyone
Annie Baymiller, executive vice president and CIO at Owens Corning, also believes strongly in having a strong connection to business strategy as a means of supporting business growth. To that end, one of Baymiller's direct reports, Owen, is also on the corporate team, where he stays on top of Corning's growth strategy and makes sure IT is aligned with that strategy.
To stay ahead of any problems that come with growing a business, Baymiller's approach is to be agile and build for enterprise use one department at a time.
“We are working hard to build the technology and capabilities for businesses that can capture the opportunities and value of the most immediate future. [capability] Then scale up to other businesses [units] When the time is right,” she says. “It’s something that’s built for one person and scales to everyone, and it’s very useful because it doesn’t come at any additional cost.”
This strategy is based on the fact that even though every company is becoming more digital every day, not all 19,000 employees need the same technical capabilities at the same time, she says. Masu. For this strategy to be successful, she says, you need to be clear about who needs the platform first and then build “an enterprise like her platform” that can eventually be deployed anywhere if needed. added.
Even when supporting business growth, Beimiller says cost remains a key consideration, especially as IT departments deploy more technology. Because of this, Baymiller “needs to be clear about the value being created, so for every dollar we invest, we get at least that much more,” she says.
Business growth sometimes comes in the form of acquisitions, and this has been the case for Owen Corning in recent years. So a top priority for Baymiller's team is to understand the new company's security posture and ensure that anything that needs to be fixed is completed before the integration effort is complete, she said. say. “It's the rigor and dedication to the strategy. We review it with the executive committee and the board and make no compromises on it.” The same goes for any new technology the company adds. “We work relentlessly on our security posture and have the right eyes at the right time,” she says.
Another aspect of Baymiller's technology strategy is to have a strong core of tools rather than, say, multiple instances of an ERP system. This also reduces cost complexity. This means IT can “take advantage of cost advantages on the platform, extend it to other users within the company, and lock those platforms into other enterprise platforms.”
She said Owens Corning IT is committed to “starting small with new deliverables so we can add business value,” echoing McMullen's words. If IT takes too long to gather, design, test, and build all the requirements, the business requirements may have changed by then.
“This helps make sure you're not over-investing or gold-plating something,” Baymiller says. “There are so many things to invest in that it becomes difficult to track metrics for value.”
To better support business growth, Baymiller advises IT leaders to connect with business unit leaders and become part of their teams.
“Relationship building and candor are really important,” she says. “Having a clear security strategy and communicating it to management and the board, if applicable, is critical.” Easier decision-making by being able to reference investments and link them to business strategy She says it will be.
Beimiller added that wherever possible, “we try to leverage our capabilities into the enterprise and find ways to standardize where they don't create a competitive advantage.” Finally, she says: “Be agile in creating competitive advantages so your business can scale when needed.”
Keep growing pains in check with a solid IT strategy and culture
CoinFlip’s rapid growth curve in 2023 is keeping global CIO and CISO Sebastian Gybels and his IT team busy.
To support the cryptocurrency ATM provider's expansion into seven international markets with more than 4,500 ATMs, Gybels and his team deployed an international IT infrastructure with built-in security, Responsibilities include everything from implementing automation tools to expedite onboarding efforts. digital platform.
In response, CoinFlip IT is “actively exploring ways to automate our solutions, optimize our current resources, and continue to ensure the security of our customers and employees,” said Gybels, adding that , with employees in Europe and Australia, his IT department added: The team also “ensures that the team's operations comply with national and international regulations, while facilitating innovation by streamlining processes, fostering global collaboration, and quickly adapting to business demands.” I guarantee it.”
This requires “listening to the pulse of the organization and removing friction wherever possible” and keeping an eye on costs while ensuring IT is doing its due diligence to protect users. need to shine.
“To control costs as we grow rapidly, we have prioritized centralizing applications and systems across key departments,” says Gybels. “It helps eliminate redundant solutions, optimize current contracts and reduce overall expenses.”
Since beginning operations, “CoinFlip has worked with us to identify vendors that could be strategic partners to grow with our business,” Gybels adds.
Like Baymiller, Gybels says IT leaders need greater visibility, greater agility, and greater scalability to address security threats in high-growth environments. “A simplified security stack reduces the need for expertise to manage multiple disparate solutions,” he says Gybels. “Additionally, we now have a clearer view of our security controls and are able to respond more quickly.”
And, as McCarren points out, having the right staffing mix is key, Zibbels says. “You are only as strong as the people around you.”
For Gybels, supporting business growth, especially with security concerns in mind, requires embedding IT and security stakeholders within organizational initiatives and groups.
“For example, in our European expansion, our data privacy manager played a key role in collaborating cross-functionally with our legal and business teams to develop protocols for deployment in different countries. ” he says. “This culture of collaboration not only improves understanding of business processes and aligns business needs with his IT/security expectations, but also increases risk awareness across the organization.”
Ziebels added that in the fast-paced and dynamic world of cryptocurrencies and startups, speed and responsiveness are critical to success. “Having a responsive IT and security team that can quickly identify and resolve issues will minimize downtime and ensure smooth business operations.”
