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PHOENIX -- IT organizations that want a bigger role in enabling new business initiatives need to first ensure that they are meeting their traditional efficiency and cost-reduction goals, said users at Computerworld's Premier 100 IT Leaders conference here today.
"It's the price of entry" for being involved in projects where IT has a chance to add value, said John Moon, corporate vice president and CIO at Baxter International Inc., a $9.5 billion maker of medical products based in Deerfield, Ill.
Over the past few years, Baxter has been using IT to innovate and deliver new services and technologies to its customers, Moon said during a presentation at the show. For instance, his IT organization has developed in-house software that enables medical devices such as dialysis equipment to communicate and share information with external clinical information systems and electronic medical records systems.
The integration delivers several benefits. For example, it allows clinicians to monitor patients more closely and it provides more information on supplies and consumables related to the operation of the equipment than was previously available.
"Making our devices smarter and more connected is not traditional IT work," Moon said. But that doesn't mean a traditional focus on trimming expenses and delivering services can be ignored.
For instance, much of the value-add that Baxter's IT organization has delivered over the past two years was achieved even as it reduced its $30 million in operating expenses by 15%, Moon said.

John Moon, corporate vice president and CIO at Baxter International Inc. Image Credit: Asa Mathat

A similar focus on IT cost controls and "people programs" has helped Nordstrom Inc.'s IT organization assume more of a front-end, business-enabler role, said Bill Tucker, divisional vice president of systems delivery with the Seattle-based retailer.
"Three to four years ago, we were back-of-the-house technologists. There were very few invitations to discuss business problems," he said. Since then, almost every aspect of the company's business is enabled by IT, from the way it manages inventory to its so-called Personal Touch services, he said.
A lot of that influence has to do with the IT organization's focus on meeting its cost-containment commitments and on understanding business requirements, he said. As part of the initiative to align with business needs, for instance, Nordstrom's IT organization has embedded staff at several store locations to get a direct understanding of how IT can help add value, he said.
That sort of direct contact also is useful in understanding and heading off user issues before they become major problems,he said.

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