Benefits of ERP integration: Connecting powerhouse frontend to core processes
Integrating operational backend data with frontend customer experiences helps companies deliver stellar results that drive bottom line growth + customer loyalty.
Even with the best architectural plans, building a new home is full of on-the-spot decisions, juggling dozens of suppliers, and unexpected challenges. Without experience, you risk delays or, worse, compromising the quality of your dream house.
It’s no wonder that an estimated 80% to 90% of new home builds hire a general contractor (GC). This is the pro who ensures everything runs smoothly, on time, and on budget, all while maintaining top-notch quality.
Now, imagine customer experience (CX) as your dream house. Who will be the general contractor when it’s time to renovate or rebuild it from the ground up? Here are five reasons your CIO is the perfect person for the job.
1. Build a strong foundation
Every house needs a solid foundation, and so does the customer experience your company provides. To keep e-commerce running top-notch 24/7, sales and support teams efficient, and marketing always on point without compromising customer privacy, your CX must be rock solid.
Think of your CIO as the general contractor ensuring this solid base. They help select platforms that ensure security, reliability, and compatibility with existing tech. If you’re an LoB executives eyeing the flashy front-end features, don’t worry — those come later.
2. Integrate all utilities
Data powers a great customer experience, just like electricity and water keep a home running. The CIO connects all the data — from front-end customer interactions to back-end operations — so that it flows seamlessly and is available for all teams.
Picture your CIO as the general contractor making sure the plumbing, wiring, and HVAC are in perfect order. They connect all your data sources to give you a unified customer view, real-time inventory updates, and continuous feedback loops to ensure that the right products are being designed, developed, and made available to customers.
Plus, don’t forget that data is fuel for AI success. It’s critical to power your AI use cases with holistic organizational data — and the CIO knows how to make it happen.
3. Manage the timeline + budget
Every home build has a budget and timeline, and the general contractor ensures that costs don’t spiral while quality stays high. The CIO plays a similar role in tech, ensuring a company gets the most bang for its buck with high-quality, reliable systems.
Like a GC who chooses the best materials and sub-contractors, the CIO helps select cost-effective tech solutions that fit an organization’s long-term goals. They steer you towards solutions that work with your existing tech stack. They know that natively connected systems lead to faster time to value, eliminate the need to use costly middleware or custom development, and enable continuous innovation
4. Design for scalability
Just as someone might build a house with plans for future expansions, the CIO makes sure a tech blueprint is scalable — ready to add new channels, brands, or geographies as the organization grows.
As you rebuild or renovate your CX house, the CIO anticipates future needs, ensuring your tech infrastructure can handle new customer demands and market changes without a complete overhaul.
Using AI in customer experience for better, more personalized engagement
AI offers companies the opportunity to easily personalize experiences for customers and unlock the potential of employees to be more creative and productive.
5. Empower the designers
Once the foundation and structure of your CX house are set, it’s time to personalize. The CIO provides guidance toward composable platforms, so you have a set of flexible, interchangeable tech components that let teams quickly adapt the customer experience.
Think of your CIO as the GC suggesting modular elements — from customizable fixtures to adaptable layouts — that let you personalize the space. The CIO understands the importance of a proven ecosystem of valuable extensions that seamlessly work with your foundational CX platform.
This approach empowers an organization to refine CX with new features, personalized content, and unique innovative services, without starting from scratch.
The final build
When all is said and done, the CIO puts your CX on a rock-solid foundation. It’s secure, reliable, and seamlessly connected to data across the organization, enabling personalized engagement at every touchpoint.
And it’s not just any home — it’s a dynamic, adaptable one that grows with the business and lets you add on the latest innovations to stay ahead of the competition.