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 01 April 2005
Information systems: the importance of knowing the customer
Pedro Prieto, Information System Manager - Sonibética Sonepar Ibérica
Pedro Prieto is Information System Manager for Sonibética, the company set up in January 2002 by Sonepar Ibérica to provide IT services to the group. Pedro shares his thoughts on the pivotal role of information systems in today’s business world.
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Information systems
Information systems, IT, business knowledge—whatever people call it, our mission is to enable business knowledge and management.
A proactive attitude
To accomplish this mission, we need to combine technical expertise with knowledge about the company’s business. This enables us to communicate better with different work units and facilitates mutual information transfer and understanding. In this type of relationship, the IS expert cannot be just a passive listener. On the contrary, we have to be proactive in initiating and promoting changes. This way, we can understand and even exceed the company’s expectations. While either party can get the process rolling, communications during the project have to be two-way. Hence the importance of knowledge and understanding of the customer’s business.
Standing in the user’s shoes
This attitude is vital to any project. We can only deliver the right solution if we are able to see the problem from the standpoint of the end user. The most effective way to ensure that the customer is satisfied would be to see how the users interact with the tools that Sonibética develops. We can judge the degree of success or failure by the level of frustration that the user shows when sitting in front of the computer screen.
Service, not servitude
Sonibética’s services should neither be confused with nor transformed into servitude. The outcome is not the same for the customer who says “this is what I want and this is how I want it,” as for the customer who says “I need to be able to do X. How can you help me?” This is not a question of form only. It is a matter of efficiency and optimization.
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