• Customer Case
  • Business before tech: Fat Face's CIO shares her recipe for success

Business before tech: Fat Face's CIO shares her recipe for success

Technology is a tool, and not the solution itself. There is much more to consider first. So, before technology success comes business need, as you'll discover with HSO customer, FatFace.

Can you remember what it was like before the internet, and websites? Imagine your business today but without them. Can you even picture it? That was the reality for Zona Smith, Director of IT at FatFace, when she joined the company over 20 years ago. FatFace, and the retail landscape, have since undergone a radical transformation, and technology has been at the heart of this evolution.

WATCH THE VIDEO

“Take the time to understand every facet and function of the business before you even think about technology.”

In this fast-paced world, it's easy to get caught up in the latest tech trends. However, Zona emphasises the importance of prioritising a deep understanding of your business before diving into any technological implementation.

Technology is the tool, not the solution

Understand the goals of your people, how they work, what their business drivers are, and the business processes that structure their day-to-day work – do all this before you go and research about the technology.

Technology change moving at pace, but data remains the focus

There’s a lot of focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other advanced technology, yet Zona believes that to continue delivering great customer service, future change will revolve around shaping data to provide the insight needed to direct business changes. Insights that can be gleaned with good, clean, and consistent data.

I’m excited about what the future holds in data-related technology and in terms of sweating the data and using it to make the right choices.

Zona Smith Director of IT, Fat Face

The importance of choosing the right Microsoft partner

When on any transformation journey, Zona believes it’s critical to choose the right Microsoft partner:

“At the end of the day, you’re going to be working with your chosen partner for years. And so there’ll need to be a good cultural fit because they will spend a lot of time in your organisation.”

Key also is the partners ability to understand the nuances of an organisations industry because they will need to speak the same language. As Zona iterates, technology is the easy part – as the chosen partner you’re expected to know what you’re doing; “so you want a partner who will really get under the skin of your business.”

Focus on understanding your business first, leverage data effectively, and find the perfect partner to help unlock your full potential.

The Value of the Right Microsoft Partner

An exclusive video series where industry experts and HSO customers detail their technology journey and offer insight and advice to help guide other organisations to success.

Learn more

What sets HSO apart

HSO is a Business Transformation Partner with deep industry expertise and global reach. HSO leverages the full power of the Microsoft Cloud to transform how people work and engage customers, ultimately accelerating the impact of cloud transformation and improving overall business performance. Large enough to serve, small enough to care.

Learn more about HSO

Consistent Global Delivery Capabilities

HSO offers global delivery capabilities alongside 24/7 managed services to expedite business transformations for multinational corporations. Our unified global delivery methodology and template approach ensure consistent implementations worldwide, enabling cost-effective solutions with predictable outcomes.

100% Microsoft Focus

HSO is a full service Microsoft Partner, having achieved all six Microsoft Cloud Partner Program Solution Designations, with each designation being anchored on the Microsoft Cloud: Business Applications, Data & AI (Azure), Digital App & Innovation (Azure), Infrastructure (Azure), Modern Work, and Security.

HSO Academy

HSO Academy is an integral part of the HSO culture for the further development, continuous improvement and certification of HSO employees. We invest in our people with ongoing training programs, delivering the most impact on your business.

HSO Offerings

HSO develops solutions for our customers that leverage the latest cloud and AI technologies from Microsoft. Our industry-focused products address the vertical and horizontal needs of the markets we operate in, accelerating our customers' digital transformation and enabling them to become digital leaders in their industry.

READ MORE

HSO Customer stories in Retail

Get in touch

Want to learn more about how HSO can support your organisation? Please contact us. HSO Microsoft experts are ready to help.

By using this form you agree to the storage and processing of the data you provide, as indicated in our privacy policy. You can unsubscribe from sent messages at any time. Please review our privacy policy for more information on how to unsubscribe, our privacy practices and how we are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy.