After working in the information technology field for decades, I’ve observed that there are two types of CIOs: those who focus primarily on technology, and those who zero in on business transformation. At one time, we may have been forgiven for not being masters of both; but the modern CIO no longer has that luxury.
Most organizations face numerous challenges in executing high levels of revenue achievement; due – in part – to technology that doesn’t live up to the hype. Any technology being added to a business must integrate seamlessly into it. And the revenue CIO must deliver solutions that continuously align operating models with strategic priorities, using technology to minimize inefficiencies, enable cross-functional collaboration, and accelerate decision-making. This evolution requires tools that empower CIOs to take a direct role in driving predictable revenue outcomes.
The era of revenue orchestration
Every organization has several functional teams involved in generating revenue and they rely on purpose built applications to support their teams. With the explosion of functionally siloed SaaS business applications and messaging channels, the volume and variety of data representing revenue signals can become overwhelming to manage and analyze. The challenge for technology leaders lies in appropriately combining these revenue signals and extracting insights in a scalable, repeatable way.
While the revenue process is key to every business, historically it’s also been reliant on decades-old revenue technology – or revtech – such as: spreadsheets, business intelligence (BI) tools, and CRMs. It’s estimated that the average company experiences nearly 15% of its revenue loss due to breakdowns in processes. And as enterprises scale quickly, old tech stacks no longer serve their purpose.
Today’s businesses demand a unified, enterprise-grade revenue orchestration platform, one that can support every revenue process and be used by every revenue team member. A revenue orchestration platform gives businesses the power to run their revenue strategy and execution by supporting an ecosystem of application partners and system integrators, as well as providing infrastructure for leveraging the entire revenue stack. The CIO plays a crucial role in not only deploying this platform, but ensuring its scalability, security, and adoption across the organization.
AI Execution at every step
It’s estimated that more than half of any company’s employees are part of revenue-critical functions, which is why they need a single platform for collaboration that also addresses the challenges of execution. Every stage of the revenue process holds the potential for AI augmentation, to work smarter and drive better outcomes. With artificial intelligence as the foundation, revenue orchestration platforms address the key needs of enterprise revenue teams by delivering actionable revenue insights and revenue predictability — in a scalable and extensible platform that supports unique and complex business needs.
Data, AI, workflows, and platforms are incredibly complex, and they need a single owner. With the right tools and processes in place, the revenue CIO is ready to help their teams operate to their fullest potential and meet their revenue targets..
To learn more, read: The Revenue Data Revolution: Why CIOs Hold the Key to Predictable Growth