December 6, 1999
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Known as a database and data warehouse guru with a flair for solving business problems, Dalzell is leading Amazon.com in its quest to put customers first. That means being able to collect and use a massive amount of information about what customers want and need--and Amazon. com is building a huge data warehouse to do just that. The initiative harkens back to Dalzell's days at Wal-Mart, a company known for its success at getting the right product on the right shelf at the right price, where Dalzell oversaw the retailer's multimillion-dollar data warehouse investment.
Amazon.com's data warehouse could grow to 3 petabytes and will hold a wealth of clickstream and sales data. It will enable the company to analyze customer information, inventory carrying costs, and details on the sale of individual items. According to David Trossman, an analyst at First Union Securities, Amazon.com's ability to be an innovator in almost everything related to the customer experience is what makes it such a success. "A lot has to do with its focus on building its IT systems in a very customer-centric way," he says.
Dalzell's mission to put customers first is reflected in his management style: According to those he's worked with, Dalzell puts his employees first, too. "He works as well with programmers as with business managers," says Kal Raman, chief operating officer at Drugstore.com Inc. and a former colleague of Dalzell's. "He's one of those people who is very, very pleasant and very helpful. And he has no ego, which is a great quality to have in a leader. Amazon has got a winner with Rick Dalzell." --Beth Bacheldor
CUSTOMERS FIRST: Rick Dalzell, Amazon.com
Amazon.com Inc. is arguably the most successful E-commerce business to date, so it's no surprise that the online retailer has someone like Rick Dalzell at its IT helm. With more than a dozen years in information technology, Dalzell was wooed from his previous post, VP of information systems at Wal-Mart Stores Inc., to become CIO of Amazon.com in August 1997.
HIRED GUN: Charles Feld, Delta Air LinesCharles Feld, CIO of Delta Air Lines Inc., has a reputation for being an IT hired gun--a role he cherishes. Feld joined Delta on a contract basis in 1997, at a time when the company's technology strategy was muddled, IS staff morale was low, and the company lacked central IT management. His goals: turn things around, find a CIO to succeed him, then move on to another challenge within two or three years.
Under Feld's leadership, Delta has embarked on numerous IT projects to improve service and efficiency. One is a massive installation of a customer-care system for gate agents that links a thin-client graphical seating chart to an airline-reservation system and data warehouse. Other major accomplishments include launching an enterprise resource planning project; developing Web applications such as rental-car and hotel-reservation links; expanding Web ticketing to include international tickets; and building an intranet for 70,000 employees for extensive training programs, and to give call-center reps access to customer itineraries booked via online computer-reservation systems, airport kiosks, and Delta's Web site.
With his job of focusing Delta's technology efforts nearly complete, Feld will relinquish his role as operating CIO by next summer, but will stay on as a consultant to help Delta form E-commerce ventures. --Bob Violino
SUCCESS STORY: Evelyn Follit, Tandy I have the best job in corporate America," says Evelyn Follit of Tandy Corp./RadioShack. With Follit's success as VP and CIO, she has reason to cheer. Since October 1997, she has successfully implemented strategies that focused on the needs of customers, associates, and strategic business partners, and integrated RadioShack.com with 7,000 physical store locations.
By designing the fulfillment system "from the database out," Follit resolved a major issue facing E-retailers: what to do with returns? Stores nationwide can now accept returns of online orders, minimizing hassles from typically worrisome areas of accounting and shipping departments.
In other areas of her business, Follit oversaw the successful deployment of four PeopleSoft modules, "all completed on time and under budget," she adds. "And Y2K wasn't even an issue."
Follit's next steps will include increasing product selection on RadioShack.com and connecting 2,000 franchise dealers with a virtual private network solution. Says Follit: "We just keep finding new uses for the technology staring us in the face." --Elisabeth Goodridge
VETERAN VIEWPOINT: Dennis Jones, FDXSince his start at FDX Corp., parent company of Federal Express, in 1975, Dennis Jones, CIO and executive VP of information and logistics, has seen major changes in the IT department. "I really understand what all these startup companies are going through," he says. Referring to his early days at FDX, he says, "we were in the same boat--using new technology but not knowing exactly the right way to use it."
He certainly knows now. "Our priorities for the company are really driven from the outside-in," Jones says, explaining the important role customers play in strategy development. "This is one reason why we excel in information services."
Customer service is now based almost entirely on the Web, and Jones plans to make the company 100% browser based in three to five years. FDX's new holistic approach to supply-chain management focuses on integrating every aspect of the chain through IT, from supplier to user, and is the result of changing customer demand. Says Jones: "We want to ensure our portfolio of capabilities is best-in-class, whether it's package tracking, call centers, or system interfaces." --Elisabeth Goodridge
E-BUSINESS CHALLENGER: John Keast, Pacific Gas & ElectricWith the deregulation of the utility industry in California, John Keast, CIO and VP of Pacific Gas & Electric Corp., had to come up with new ways to attract and retain customers. His solution: "Step up our E-business activity."
Keast created an automated system to exchange customer accounts, billing, and usage information. By collecting data and presenting it on PG&E's Web site, the company can help customers track their energy usage. The account information can flag any abnormalities, for instance, and suggest specific ways to conserve energy.
Keast also introduced business-to-business online energy trading, which he says "is like a trading exchange on Wall Street." Trading with other energy companies is crucial to the future of the industry, he says. "Rapid deployment is critical to fill customer demand."
Keast faced cultural and organizational challenges resulting from the new strategies, but they didn't take him by surprise. Says Keast: "There's much more to the issue of technology changes than the technology itself." --Elisabeth Goodridge
LEADING THE ONLINE CHARGE: Dawn Lepore, Charles SchwabDawn Lepore joined Charles Schwab & Co. in 1993 as a manager of its information center. She has since become its CIO--and led the IT initiatives that have helped to mold the brick-and-mortar firm into one of the leading online brokerages.
Lepore spearheaded the company's efforts to revamp its technology while leveraging the strength of its core business. For example, the company's eSchwab Web site supports online trades, but it also lets customers call an account representative, visit a branch, sign up for an account, or pick up a check in person. When Schwab experienced several online outages earlier this year, Lepore initiated a redesign of the company's Web site, reorganizing content and moving accounting functions, such as cash debits and credits, from batch to real-time processing.
Lepore, who has a degree in music, is working on rewriting most of Schwab's back-end software programs, including those that support account balances and trading. Lepore is also continuing work on developing systems that will reconcile securities trades in real time over the Web any time of day. --Jennifer Mateyaschuk
ATTENTION TO PEOPLE: George McKinnon, NationwideLike many companies doing business in 1999, Nationwide Insurance Enterprise in Columbus, Ohio, had a Y2K problem. Its solution was to tap George McKinnon as its CIO. McKinnon immediately cancelled the company's costly and lengthy enterprise remediation effort. He replaced it with "what we call WOW projects," he says, using Y2K-ready technology to replace the old. That enabled Nationwide to complete its Y2K project in an unheard-of six months.
"Reinventing the entire systems environment was complicated, but our group of quality employees had a fantastic focus," says McKinnon, whose attention to people has helped Nationwide maintain one of the highest IT personnel retention rates. Key components of his strategy include mentor programs and system strategy blueprints, a way for IT employees to keep track of the big picture. McKinnon has also introduced Web services as part of his company's customer-service efforts that have sharply reduced the need for customers to call help desks. --Elisabeth Goodridge
DATA MINER: Bill Seltzer, Office DepotData architecture is the bedrock of any IT initiative, says Bill Seltzer, CIO and executive VP of Office Depot Inc.: "You have to get it right for a business to be successful." Sales information from every channel--catalog, Internet, store, and business accounts--is sent to a central Office Depot data warehouse, which the company mines to effectively assess future demand. Thanks in part to that technology, the supplier of office products earned $8.9 billion in sales last year.
A growing piece of that pie is coming from E-commerce. Linked to warehouse and store inventory systems, Home Depot's E-commerce sales are expected to reach $500 million this year. Key E-commerce initiatives include a real-time point-of-sale system and a realignment of Office Depot's distribution system. --Elisabeth Goodridge
FAST MOVER: Bill Wallace, WingspanBank.comThis is why they call it Internet time. When BankOne Corp. decided it wanted to launch one of the first virtual banks in the United States, it had to be done fast. So the nation's fifth-largest bank turned to Bill Wallace, technology manager of its FirstUSA credit-card division, who had five years of marketing and technology experience on the Web. Wallace put together the site architecture for WingspanBank.com in about five months, using input from more than 30 vendors.
Online banking is expected to soar in the next five years, and WingspanBank has created a user-friendly Web experience designed to draw in customers new to online banking. WingspanBank offers customers higher deposit interest rates and lower loan rates than most brick-and-mortar banks, with virtual convenience.
Neither Wallace, who is executive VP and CIO, nor the bank is slowing down after such an exciting first year: "It's been great for the first volley," he said in October. "But we have a lot of work ahead to add the functionality that will continue to make Internet banking meaningful to the consumer."--Marguerite Reardon and Elisabeth Goodridge
Return to main story, "Chief Of The Year: Dave Bent."
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