IT Needs a Seat at the Table: 1-800-Flowers.com CIO
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By Contributing Editor, Roger Green
With this episode of the BizTech Review I'm delighted to introduce a new series - the CIO Workshop. I will present conversations with CIOs who are "in the trenches" so they can share their experiences, lessons learned, and other golden nuggets as only real practitioners can. I'll feature these interviews as opportunities to speak with industry-leading CIOs arise.
My first guest in the CIO Workshop is Steve Bozzo, CIO and Senior VP of 1800flowers.com. They are the largest retailer of flowers in the world -- and one of the earliest pioneers on the web. 1800flowers.com established their first web presence in 1994 -- the paleolithic days of web commerce. Over the years they have consistently continued to grow and to innovate -- to the point where they are now a shining example of an extremely successful web-centric business, approaching a billion dollars in annual revenue and growing at a rapid rate.
In our conversation, Steve tells us how IT has become a central and critical piece of the company's overall business strategy. He describes how IT has aligned itself with the business and how ROI (always a key objective) is defined and measured. Steve also discusses how business process is woven through IT's approach to projects, and how he insures the success of each project.
Steve also relates how IT has enabled not only higher ROI, but rapid and profitable integration of acquisitions and new products -- greatly reducing the time to market. He describes the projects currently underway, as well as how he sees IT in the future at 1800flowers.com.
1800flowers.com is an inspiring web-success story and Steve Bozzo does a great job of articulating how this company has used technology, tightly integrated with visionary business strategy to become a genuine 21st century business leader. I'm sure you'll enjoy this inspiring and informative conversation.
BIO: Roger Green—Seasoned Practitioner, Tech Visionary and Trusted Advisor in Business Strategy, Information Technology and New Media.
Roger a former CIO, CTO and COO, started podcasting in 2005 with “The Cullinane & Green Report”—the first podcast focusing on the intersection of business development and technology. Roger splits his time between San Diego and Philadelphia, enjoys photography and hiking, and holds a couple of patents in data warehousing. Although continuously connected to technology Roger claims he could log-off anytime he wants.
