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These CIOs go way beyond IT-business alignment |
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Paul Heller is CIO at Malvern, Pa.-based Vanguard Group Inc. -- at least for now. He could very easily be plucked out of that job and reassigned to lead the company's multibillion-dollar retail mutual funds business. In fact, he's been there, done that, swapping jobs in 2006 with former Vanguard CIO Tim Buckley, who now helms the retail investor group.
Las Vegas-based Zappos.com Inc. is the No. 1 seller of shoes online. In 2009, it racked up sales of more than $1 billion. It stocks some 3 million pairs of shoes, offers free next-day shipping on all purchases and is known for its generous 365-day return policy and top-notch customer service. Behind the scenes, IT is embedded in everything Zappos does, from engineering and continually enhancing the customer's online experience to coordinating the warehouse robot system. Forget IT-business alignment. Vanguard and Zappos.com are two of a small number of companies where business and IT are virtually indistinguishable. Others on an admittedly unscientific short list of pioneers in IT-business convergence are The Progressive Corp., Southwest Airlines Co. and The Procter & Gamble Co. |
