Connecting Cloud Migration and Customer Centricity

Cloud-Based Tax Technology automation

More companies and organisational functions are becoming cloud centric. In addition, more organisations and functions also have grown much more customer centric in recent years. In fact, many of us now use that marketing concept to help us better manage the steadily expanding expectations of our customers, regardless of whether those stakeholders are internal (colleagues) or external (clients). It turns out that these two trends overlap in practical ways that can help strengthen cloud migration decision-making and execution.

As a longtime coach, I often use customer centricity as a helpful organising principle to lay out a career advancement plan. As we chart our career progressions, it’s helpful to identify who our customers and stakeholders are so that we can understand their changing needs and how we can satisfy—or better yet, exceed—their expectations. Getting a read on our stakeholders’ expectations requires active listening and developing an understanding of their business challenges (so we can help them address those hurdles). A customer-centric approach to career planning also involves treating yourself as your own customer; doing so helps you think clearly about your past, present and future while understanding the best options available to achieve your career objectives.

In my previous work as a CIO, I applied similar strategies and tactics when developing a technology playbook for my organisation. I sought to understand the changing expectations and challenges of my internal and external customers by carefully listening to them. I continually learned about new IT models, approaches and tools to determine which ones would be most likely to address the organisation’s top challenges while supporting the achievement of strategic objectives.

As we select actions to take—whether these steps are focused on career growth or an investment in new technology—it is also important to avoid picking the most comprehensive activity and to avoid forcing the issue. Those two “don’ts” represent guiding principles of effective career planning and sound technology planning, especially when cloud technology is involved. Cloud technologies, including those that support tax management processes, offer cost efficiencies (via reduced IT costs), deliver ease-of-implementation benefits (quicker go-live compared to other options) and require less maintenance. Those benefits can generate more satisfied customers all around.

Blog Author

Robin Allen, Vertex

Robin Allen

Senior Director, Program Management - Commercial Software

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Robin is Senior Director at Vertex, holding both leadership and management roles in the Commercial Software and Technology organisation, responsible for supporting and enabling projects and product programs. Previously, she was the Director of Cloud Program Management at Vertex. She is an accomplished information technology executive with over 20 years of experience. Before joining Vertex, Robin was a virtual Chief Information Officer at Contigex, where she provided oversight of people, processes, and technologies within the company’s IT organisation to ensure they delivered outcomes that supported the goals of the business. Robin has a BBA with a concentration in Management Information Systems and a minor in Psychology from Iona College, as well as an MBA from Villanova’s Executive MBA program.

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Digital world map demonstrating global cloud tax tax.