How IT helped shape UL's new business strategy

CIO - Lots of people make New Year's resolutions, using the turning of a calendar page as a spur to change. But for Underwriters Laboratories' CIO Christian Anschuetz, January 1 marked the beginning of a profound transformation -- one that he and his team have helped envision and enable. As the ball dropped in Times Square to mark the start of 2012, UL -- the product testing and certification company that has been ensuring safe products for over a century -- transformed from a non-profit organization to a for-profit company in the U.S., with a focus on delivering new products and services to its global customer base. In this first installment of the IDG Enterprise CIO Interview Series, Anschuetz spoke with IDGE Chief Content Officer John Gallant about IT's role in shaping and supporting this business change and what it means for him and his organization. Anschuetz, who worked for years in the advertising industry, described why embracing consumer technology is critical to 'amplify human ability' and how IT should be measured for its success in driving customer value and revenue. He explained why he holds up Amazon.com as UL's 'metaphorical competitor' and why 'big data' without 'big discretion' will lead to 'big failure'.

Tech Titans Talk: The IDG Enterprise Interview Series

Anschuetz, who's a member of the CIO Executive Council -- IDGE's peer-based global community of leading CIOs ( click here to learn more) -- also talked about why he believes there's never been a better time to be a CIO and offered advice for emerging IT leaders eyeing the CIO office.