Image Credit: Mr. Blue MauMau
You would think that being a CIO at a rental car company would be a pretty straight forward job. I mean, if you understand the importance of information technology and can keep track of the employees and the cars then you are pretty much on top of your job. However, the way that we use cars is getting ready to undergo some significant changes with the arrival of Uber and ride sharing services. How is the CIO of Enterprise Holdings going to help the company to evolve to meet a changing world?
The World Is Changing
One of the things that we need to understand about the job of having the CIO job at Enterprise Holdings is that it’s really like having multiple jobs. Enterprise Holdings is a company that has purchased multiple rental car companies: Enterprise Rent-A-Car and National Car Rental. The world in which this CIO is operating has multiple web sites that allow customers to compare prices from different rental car companies in order to find out who is currently offering the lowest prices. What this means is that the person in the CIO position is going to have to find ways for the company to offer different offerings and services with each of their brands. A key point is that much of the customer interaction that they have with the brand happens away from the airport.
What all of this means is that if a customer rents a car from Enterprise Holdings and it breaks down, then the CIO needs to have implemented IT systems that will allow the customer to be provided with a replacement vehicle. How the company’s staff interact with customer will also be important. The CIO needs to be able to implement systems that can measure a worker’s level of customer-service. Results from these systems are what will be used to determine who gets promoted within the company. Likewise, with an eye towards the future the Enterprise Holdings CIO has to make investments in emerging transportation technology such as firms that make driver-assistance systems.
One of the keys to the company’s future success will be the CIO’s ability to improve the process of how a customer rents a car. As a step in the right direction, the CIO has already created what is being called the LaunchPad tablet. This is a tool that Enterprise Holding workers can use in order to be able to step away from the computer that is located at the sign-in counter. The goal is to make renting a car frictionless, seamless, and, of course, quick. Workers can take their LaunchPad tablet with them and meet the customer in the field if needed. If the customer’s car has broken down or needs repair, the LaunchPad can be used to get the help that the customer needs.
What Tomorrow Will Look Like For Enterprise Holdings
One of the goals of the Enterprise Holdings CIO is to look for ways that the rental car counter can be made to go away. A key part of the current rental process occurs when a customer brings a car back and returns it. A worker is required to get into the car and start it in order to determine the car’s mileage and how full its fuel tank is. The Enterprise Holdings CIO envisions a future where when the customer returns a car, the car automatically communicates this to a worker who is standing there and allows the customer to get on their way that much quicker.
How people get cars to use temporarily is part of a changing landscape. The Enterprise Holdings CIO needs to understand this and has to be willing to make changes to deal with the new world in which the company is going to have to operate. The CIO should be able to use the size and the scale of Enterprise Holdings in order to create customized modes and models of transportation to meet the needs of many different types of customers. Currently the new crop of ride sharing services only allow customers to use the cars for a short period of time and so Enterprise Holdings does not see these services as being competition.
The Enterprise Holdings CIO needs to understand that the company may look completely different in the future. The company has to evolve as quickly as customer preferences change. In the future, Enterprise Holdings could transform itself into a company that manages autonomous vehicles. The company’s many locations could be used to park, wash, and service these vehicles. Changes like this could create a new business model for the company and the CIO is going to have to determine how best to support it. The key is to remember the Enterprise Holdings is in the business of moving people in a convenient and effortless way.
What All Of This Means For You
When it comes to CIO jobs, being the CIO of a major rental car firm seems like it would be pretty steady work. As long as the cars were available to be rented, then everyone would believe that you were doing your job. However, it turns out that over at Enterprise Holdings their CIO knows that the real challenge is going to lie in the future and steps are already being taken to transform the company to get ready for what’s sure to come.
Enterprise Holdings is really two separate car companies. The CIO needs to understand that if the company wants to compete on more than price, they need to be able to have different offerings and services. The CIO needs to use IT to help customers whose cars have broken down. The CIO also has to allow the company to measure levels of customer service so that they know who to promote. The creation of the LaunchPad service will allow Enterprise Holdings employees to move out from behind the check in counter to help customers. The company is working to use car automation to make the car return process faster and more efficient. Enterprise Holdings is going to have to evolve to match their customer’s changing car rental needs. In the future, Enterprise Holdings may evolve into a company that takes care of autonomous vehicles. The key is allowing their customers to move around easily and with little effort.
The Enterprise Holdings CIO is in the middle of a number of significant changes. How the company operates, and indeed what services the company provides, is undergoing significant change. The CIO is going to have to be able to predict the future and find ways to steer the company so that they can continue to both grow and evolve even as their market undergoes a total transformation. The future is going to have needs for rental car services, the Enterprise Holdings CIO just needs to be able to predict what those services are and make sure that the company can deliver them.
– Dr. Jim Anderson
Blue Elephant Consulting –
Your Source For Real World IT Department Leadership Skills™
Question For You: Do you think that Enterprise Holdings should start to offer autonomous vehicles to rent?
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