Retail may be all about the customer, but serving the customer often means serving the business, too.

Among the InformationWeek 500 retail respondents, the definition of serving the business has focused this year on efficiency, with 67% saying they expect their companies will innovate by making processes more efficient. Part of that efficiency will come from empowering employees with the right information. Eighty-six percent of retail companies say they're improving data integration between systems or departments.

For Brad Friedman, VP and CIO of Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse, serving the customer and the business converges in issues that every IT retailer faces, such complying with Payment Card Industry data secu- rity requirements and providing the business intelligence systems employees need.

"Information is power, and being able to provide the toolsets for users to control their ability to get at this information in an easily accessible and available manner" is key, says Friedman. He and his team are instituting more structured development and project management practices, including the implementation of a portfolio management system.

The prospect of mining valuable information and the fear of losing sensitive customer data may be among the reasons that 63% of retailers overall and 82% of specialty retailers say they expect their 2007 IT spending to exceed spending in 2006.

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