The InformationWeek -- Blogs
CIOs Uncensored

Topics:   CIOs Uncensored

  • Email this page E-mail this page
  • Print this page Print this page
  • Bookmark and Share
  • icon

Coca-Cola's CIO Talks Innovation


Posted by Mary Hayes Weier, Mar 11, 2008 11:45 AM

The décor in the executive wing at Coca-Cola's headquarters -- Ming vases, mahogany furniture, plush carpets -- could have been lifted straight out of 1886, the year Coke was born. No question, Coke is a company steeped in tradition. But equally important for Coke is continued innovation, and that's where CIO Jean-Michel Arès and his team are helping out.

I met with Jean-Michel and some of his team members at Coke's Atlanta headquarters last week, to talk about systems and processes that are helping keep innovation alive at Coke. See for yourself what Coke is doing:

To recap from the video, what follows are some of Coke's innovation efforts:

  • Coke's "common innovation framework," a process and an IT platform (based on Clarity project-management software) that gives operating units in 50 countries the ability to search for and reapply brand and marketing concepts around the world. That means the Coke team in Europe, for example, can see what's working in cutting-edge Japan and reapply that concept. Yet that's just one example of many possibilities provided by such visibility -- consider that Coke has a mind-boggling 400 brands of beverages.

  • Its "right execution daily" system that lets commercial teams define a picture of success at stores and publish those results to salespersons' mobile devices in other stores.

  • Templates of best practices that are easily replicated throughout the company, made possible by Coke's use of SAP's relatively new service-oriented architecture technologies.
  • Arès says Coke also is looking at software as a service, joining the growing legion of very big companies who don't consider SaaS just a small-to-midsize business thing. CRM and desktop apps, Arès says, are obvious areas Coke will be looking at.

    All this seems pretty good proof to me that even 100-year-old companies can still innovate. What do you think?

    « Splunk CEO Explains Platform Strategy | Main | Students Successfully Hack RFID Crypto »



    Sign Up Now
    For InformationWeek News Alerts




    This is a public forum. United Business Media and its affiliates are not responsible for and do not control what is posted herein. United Business Media makes no warranties or guarantees concerning any advice dispensed by its staff members or readers.

    Community standards in this comment area do not permit hate language, excessive profanity, or other patently offensive language. Please be aware that all information posted to this comment area becomes the property of United Business Media LLC and may be edited and republished in print or electronic format as outlined in United Business Media's Terms of Service.

    Important Note: This comment area is NOT intended for commercial messages or solicitations of business.




     
    InformationWeek Chief Of The Year:
    Call For Nominations
    Know a dynamic, future-oriented tech chief? We're looking for the most insightful, innovative, forward-thinking business technology leader to honor as our 2008 Chief Of The Year. "Tomorrow's CIO" is the theme of our InformationWeek 500 Conference, and of a recent in-depth InformationWeek Analytics Report based on our extensive survey. The qualities identified with Tomorrow's CIO—equal parts leadership, vision, business savvy, technology expertise--are what we're looking for in our Chief Of The Year.

    Candidates must be CIOs, CTOs, or VP-of-IT level executives. Nominations will be accepted now through Oct. 31, 2008.

    Please send your nominations to: cjmurphy@techweb.com.



    Sign Up For The CIOs Uncensored Newsletter
    Every Thursday, Chris Murphy and his fellow analysts explore the business, strategy, and management issues most important to IT leaders.

    Sign up for our free, weekly newsletter today!

    Newsletter Archives


    Global CIO Video


    1. Actors, Messages and Low Lock Contention for Java
    2. Of Course The Transformers are Multicore with SMT technology
    3. Find John Fast!!


    Join The InformationWeek Group On LinkedIn


                               


    1. Why I'm Dropping Bing For Google
    2. Nokia's N97 Gets Massive Firmware Update Promising Bug Fixes
    3. Video: Talking About Firefox 3.5, Apple's Snow Leopard, The Return Of Steve Jobs, & More
    4. Bing Is Worth A Fling
    5. So Long, And Thanks, Google Earth, For All The Fish


    1. Review: Apple's Speedy iPhone 3GS
    2. Tech Innovation USA: From Resilient Networks To Self-Scheduling Devices
    3. How Government's Driving Cloud Computing Ahead
    4. Government As Early Adopter
    5. InformationWeek Analytics: Data Loss Prevention
    6. Strategic Security: Web Single Sign-On

     

      Ars Technica
    Boing Boing
    Channel 9 Forums
    CRN Blogs
    Dr.Dobb's Portal: Blogs
    Engadget
    Gizmodo
    GrokLaw
      Lifehacker
    Schneier on Security
    Slashdot
    TechCrunch
    Techdirt
    Techmeme
    Valleywag

      DECEMBER 2008
    NOVEMBER 2008
    OCTOBER 2008
    SEPTEMBER 2008
    AUGUST 2008
    JULY 2008
    JUNE 2008
    MAY 2008
      APRIL 2008
    MARCH 2008
    FEBRUARY 2008
    JANUARY 2008
    DECEMBER 2007
    NOVEMBER 2007
    OCTOBER 2007
    SEPTEMBER 2007