From CIO to CX SVP, Cisco’s Jacqueline Guichelaar takes a road less travelled
“There’s
just
not
enough
money.
There’s
just
not
enough
time.
It’s
just
not
possible”.
Systems
engineers
can
also
become
heavily
invested
in
applications
they’ve
developed,
meaning
that
scuttling
them
often
presents
certain
“cultural
challenges”.
“There’s
just
not
enough
money.
There’s
just
not
enough
time.
It’s
just
not
possible”.
Systems
engineers
can
also
become
heavily
invested
in
applications
they’ve
developed,
meaning
that
scuttling
them
often
presents
certain
“cultural
challenges”.
Guichelaar
stresses
that
being
able
to
“pull
back”
from
such
a
place
requires
“experience,
foresight
and
governance”.
“You
have
to
put
some
frameworks
in
place,
otherwise
you
just
end
up
with
a
flavour
of
everything
and
high
complexity
and
no
one
wants
that.”
She
says
it’s
something
many
CIOs
still
get
wrong,
investing
large
amounts
of
time,
energy
and
money
building
things
they
could
easily
buy
for
vastly
cheaper
and
greater
overall
value.
“I’ve
seen
it
time
and
time
again
in
my
career,
in
financial
services,
in
telecommunications,
even
in
banking”.
Yet
getting
it
right
is
key
to
delivering
better
experiences,
whether
for
customers
or
staff,
Guichelaar
notes,
as
it
all
comes
down
to
“simplicity”.
It’s
one
of
the
many
lessons
she’s
bringing
from
Cisco’s
top
tech
job
to
charting
her
new
course
in
CX
in
Singapore.
One
of
her
customers
there
is
a
large
American
bank
struggling
with
sprawling
legacy
systems
across
its
entire
international
operations.
“It
might
sound
basic
but
it’s
difficult,
and
something
many
companies
around
the
world
are
grappling
with.”
“I
feel
for
the
team,
because
it’s
really
hard
when
you’ve
got
to
figure
out
how
to
refresh.
How
do
you
get
the
investment?
How
do
you
support,
how
do
you
get
the
change
window
time?
How
do
you
get
enough
engineers?”
Technology
needs
to
deliver
value
in
the
form
of
outcomes
When
Guichelaar
and
her
team
went
in
and
met
with
executives
in
the
network
space
they
soon
discovered
–
much
to
the
bank’s
surprise
–
that
it
wasn’t
utilising
much
of
the
value
it
had
actually
bought
from
Cisco.
This
prompted
her
to
send
in
a
“bunch”
of
CX
engineers
to
help
get
everything
back
on
track.
Another
major
bank
Guichelaar
is
working
with
is
transitioning
to
a
hybrid
cloud
environment.
“They’re
wanting
to
move
out
of
their
own
data
centres
because
it’s
too
costly
and
to
figure
out
what
workloads
do
[they
want
to]
put
on
public
cloud
versus
their
own
private
data
centre
versus
SaaS,”
she
says,
adding
that
challenges
like
these
are
where
great
CX
teams
can
really
shine.
Ultimately,
today
perhaps
more
so
than
any
time
before,
the
raison
d’etre
of
all
technology
projects
–
be
they
customer
or
staff
facing
–
has
to
be
delivering
value
in
the
form
of
‘outcomes’.
“I
was
a
customer
of
Cisco
for
decades
so
I
know
also
what
it
feels
to
be
on
the
other
side,”
Guichelaar
says.
“And
one
of
the
things
our
[Cisco]
customers
are
saying
to
us
is
‘we
want
to
see
value
from
the
hardware
we
buy,
we
want
to
know
that
the
software
is
making
an
impact’.
“We
want
to
be
happy
and
we
want
to
have
a
long
term
relationship
with
you”.
With
decades
of
senior
technology
leadership
under
her
belt,
Guichelaar
understands
as
well
as
any
CIO
that
this
is
often
simply
a
pipe
dream,
though,
especially
once
the
realities
of
deploying
large-scale
solutions
set
in.
Yet
with
competition
in
the
tech
sector
as
fierce
as
ever,
and
with
the
cloud
driving
prices
and
margins
down
to
new
lows,
Guichelaar
understands
that
her
new
CX
role
may
end
up
being
as
challenging–
if
not
more
–
than
her
four
years
as
Cisco’s
top
tech
executive.
“Time
will
tell
the
impact
I
will
have
with
customers,
but
does
it
feel
right?”
“It
definitely
feels
like
the
right
move
for
me
and
I’m
glad
I’ve
taken
all
my
tech
background
and
experience
and
am
doing
something
for
our
customers.
And
I
do
like
to
be
with
customers.”
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