Study the notes on KRP Media in order to demonstrate that you have done your research and to focus questions on business specifics. Keep in mind that sometimes there will be more than one good answer, you want to select the best answer.
As the scenario unfolds, listen to what the CIO has to say and select the best question from the list shown. Keep in mind the role play you viewed in the e-learning.
The meeting today is with <b>Luke Streiber </b>, CIO for KRP Media Group in Boulder, Colorado, The Network Operations Manager, John Grecko, setup this meeting and has arranged //15 minutes// for you to meet the CIO.
The goal of your meeting today is to establish credibility with the CIO by asking business relevant questions. If successful, you will gain permission to conduct further discovery and a further meeting.
Because you only have 15 minutes in this meeting, be sure to make the most of your time. Good luck!
[[Review your notes about KRP Media.|Information]]
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<p> Hi. I'm Luke Strieber, the CIO. What can I do for you today?
//Select a response below.//</p>
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[[Thanks for your time today, Luke. I know you’ve been to some of our EBC demonstrations before, but I asked John to setup 15 minutes with you to review what I’m hearing from the team about your business initiatives. Does that sound ok? |06]]
[[I’m with Cisco. Thanks for your time today, Luke. We’ve met before at one of our EBC demonstrations for Unified Communications. Since I know you’re looking at adding more new media to your websites, I wanted to start out by asking you what kind of challenges this presents? |08]]
[[Great to meet you Luke and thanks for your time today. I’m with Cisco and as we’ve been reviewing your business initiatives, some questions have come up. Could you share with me your top of mind business issues? |53]]<videotext class='videotext'>
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<p> Yes, that sounds good to me. </p>
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<p> If you read our last annual report, you’d know that we are in the process of making the transition from a print-only based business model to a model that leverages the Internet and other forms of media. This is a huge initiative for our business and presents many challenges for the IT organization. </p>
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<p> Traffic to a news-driven website depends on current events. As you might imagine, during large media events, we may have huge fluctuations in traffic. During the Olympics, for example, our traffic shot up by 60% to over 500,000 hits a day. </p>
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[[Continue.|34]]//Select a follow-up question. //
[[It looks like in this tough financial space today that you have a goal of increasing growth through acquisitions. Is that still correct?|10]]
[[We’ve seen many companies in the media industry facing challenging times lately. How is the recent downturn affecting your business?|11]]
[[In this tough financial space, companies such as yours are looking to reduce costs and operational expenses. Could you tell me about your plans to make IT more efficient?|12]]//Select a response.//
[[Thanks for that info. I know we have limited time here, so I wanted to use the remaining time to review what I’m hearing from the team about your business initiatives. Does that sound ok?|06]]
[[Thanks for the information. I’m sure managing peak traffic demands is a challenge to your organization. Are you looking to add rich media to you news website?|35]]
[[Thanks for the information. I’m sure managing peak traffic demands is a challenge to your organization. What technologies are you putting in place to manage these fluctuations in web traffic?|36]]<videotext class='videotext'>
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<p> Yes, managing peak traffic is one of my biggest priorities that I don’t want to sideline. In response to your question, though, video capabilities continue to grow on our websites. We introduced a streaming video program that allows viewers to decide for themselves when to watch their favorite programs and have seen requests almost double since the introduction. </p>
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<p> I’m not really interested in discussing technology at this point, but I can give you some idea of how we’re looking to cope with increased traffic. We are putting together a plan to build an infrastructure that will scale and allow us to allocate resources such as bandwidth to our websites as needed. We are also considering outsourcing our streaming video capabilities. </p>
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<p>Let me stop you here. Remember that the CIO has a very limited amount of time. You are pursuing a path without having established the goal and agenda of this meeting. Be sure to establish the goal and agenda of the meeting early on and make sure you stick to that agenda to respect the CIO’s time. I’m going to take you back to the start of the meeting for another try. </p>
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<p>Yes, we are still looking to grow the business through timely and strategic acquisitions. We have invested heavily over the last 3 years in a new business model that leverages our print media strengths in a diverse media environment. Recently, we acquired Western Radio and, though the integration has proved challenging, early results have exceeded our expectations and it is clear that radio will become a robust pillar of our business. Though times are tough, our financial position has us thinking about further expansion. </p>
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<p> It’s true that times are tough, but we are finally beginning to see the payoff from our restructuring program. We have invested heavily over the last 3 years in a new business model that leverages our print media strengths in an online environment. We believe our strengths in traditional media position us well in a new media environment. And through the acquisition of Western Radio, we believe radio will become another robust pillar of our business. </p>
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<p> Of course as an IT organization we are always looking to reduce costs and operational expenses. As our organization has grown we have built a solid governance model that scales as we grow. Our focus is on standards that meet organizational needs. </p>
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[[Continue.|39]]//Select a follow-up question. //
[[I did see that you recently acquired Western Radio Group, how is that integration progressing?|14]]
[[In the media vertical, we have seen other customers struggling to survive the transition to the Internet. What strategies do you see as key to helping you through this transition?|44]]
[[It sounds like your organization is moving towards a “cloud computing” model. Have you considered data center consolidation? This solution pays for itself in approximately a year by reducing costs and operational expenses.|19]] //Select a follow-up question.//
[[It looks like in this tough financial space today that you have a goal of increasing growth through acquisitions. Is that still correct?|10]]
[[Could you give me some specifics on how you are reducing costs in IT?|40]]
[[One way Cisco could help you reduce costs is through consolidation of your data centers. If we could demonstrate sizable cost savings, would this be a direction you would consider?|41]]
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<p> I don’t want to get too deep into the technology. That said, we are looking at ways in which we can centralize IT functionality yet at the same time provide increased services to the business units. Typically, our business units want to act quickly on the latest technology yet they don’t understand the challenges associated. </p>
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<p>We would need to investigate further. While cost savings are important to us, we also need to be sure we are meeting the needs of our business units. Let me put you in touch with our Director of IT Architecture. </p>
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<p> Let me stop you here. Though cost reduction is important and may be central to some CIOs, KRP’s CIO is primarily a business strategist. This type of CIO spends more time developing business strategy, introducing innovation within IT, understanding market trends, and identifying opportunities for competitive differentiation through IT.
As you try the questioning portion of this meeting again, keep in mind the goals of a business strategist. </p>
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<p> Let me stop you for a second. Though you eventually want to get to a solution, this first meeting with the CIO is typically not the time or the place. Notice how you were sent down in the organization when you started talking solutions. Cost savings are important to this CIO, but more important to him is the impact his organization could have on the business.
As you try the questioning portion of this meeting again, keep in mind the business relevance to his organization. </p>
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<p> The acquisition is progressing nicely. We now have a market share of 28% of listeners in the key advertising segment of 18 - 44 year olds. One of the struggles still is fully integrating their IT organization. As you may have guessed, before we acquired them, they had their own separate applications, data, and infrastructure. We may be acquiring additional media groups in the future and I see this as an ongoing challenge. </p>
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<p>As you may have seen, we are in year three of the first stage of our plan to move to the new media environment. While the transition is not without challenges, we believe that newspaper companies are best positioned to lead the charge into new media because of our experience in news. I’d suggest listening to our last quarterly conference call for an overview of our organizational initiatives. </p>
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<p> I am not sure we are there just yet. I would have to say we’re much more interested in shaping our organization to meet the needs of our growing business rather than moving to any specific architecture. Before any move such as this, we would need to understand the pros and cons of the approach, the benefit to the business, and complete a full cost-benefit analysis. </p>
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[[Continue.|16]]//Select a follow-up question. //
[[From listening to your last quarterly call, I understand KRP is shifting to a new media revenue model. How is this impacting your organization?|15]]
[[What priorities have you set for the networking group for the upcoming year?|17]]
[[Do you face any challenges around connecting your data centers across your organization?|18]]<videotext class='videotext'>
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<p>We are experiencing increased traffic to our news websites. One of the challenges we face is managing peak traffic demand during significant news events like the Olympics. Some of the increased demand is also due to new streaming video and audio capabilities that we have added to leverage content from our TV and radio stations. We are also developing a new personal financial website to drive customers back for daily finance news related to their own portfolios.</p>
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<p> Reducing costs and increasing operational efficiencies is the biggest goal for our network group. Ensuring optimum availability for our internal business services and applications is the second biggest goal for this group. </p>
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<p> Right now different business units and groups are often responsible for the needs of their particular group. This may not be the most efficient way to organize our data centers, but it seems to meet the needs of our organization. </p>
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[[Continue.|24]]//Select a follow-up question. //
[[Managing peak traffic demand is a challenge for many of our customers. What are some of the strategies you have considered to meet this challenge?|23]]
[[We have several solutions that could help you meet increased traffic needs to your websites. Would you be interested in hearing more about these?|23]]
[[I have heard about your plans to introduce a personal finance site for users. How is that project going?|22]]
//Select a follow-up question. //
[[What are your reliability and security requirements for your network operations?|29]]
[[Groups within your business are delivering the news in many different formats - radio, print, online, etc. How do these groups communicate and work together?|25]]
[[I understand from discussions I’ve had with the networking group that communication between your internal groups is critical as you seek to leverage content. We offer a solution that enables different groups to collaborate on content. Would this be something your business would be interested in?|28]]
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<p>The personal finance site is a big priority for our business. It is one of the ways in which we hope to increase repeat traffic to our sites. One of the challenges our design team has faced is that they would like to pull in data from numerous sources - some within our business and some that are external. </p>
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<p>We are working with a consultant who is helping us develop a strategy for managing peak traffic. I will put you in touch with them. </p>
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<p> Reliability is of course a key issue at KRP. Any downtime impacts our revenue directly so we have very stringent requirements to help us keep these sites up 24x7. Downtime could mean we miss a major scoop. We use probes to monitor and constantly test our web server traffic. If there is a problem, an SMS alert is instantly sent to our IT staff. I have another meeting at the hour. Enjoyed our talk, but we need to wrap up. </p>
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<p>Each of our different media organizations and often groups within these organizations runs as an independent entity. Though we collaborate in many ways, we are also competing with each other. Much of the information in these groups remains within silos. I see one of our challenges as figuring out ways in which these groups can share information more efficiently and cost effectively. </p>
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<p>We do face a challenge in collaborating between groups. However, I’d have to know more about the benefits of your collaboration solutions and what they address before considering any new solutions. I have another meeting at the hour. Before we finish up, is there anything else I can answer for you? </p>
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[[Continue.|26]]//Select a close.//
[[This meeting has been great, Luke. I truly appreciate your time. We would like to take some of your thoughts back to our team and discuss ways we might be able to help. Would you be open to an additional follow up meeting 2 weeks from now?|49]]
[[I’ve got a couple of ideas for you around acquiring and onboarding acquisitions like Western Radio and leveraging technology to help you adapt to a new media environment that we’d like to investigate with your organization. Would you be open to sponsoring additional discovery and a 30-minute follow-up meeting where we could make specific recommendations based on your business needs?|30]]
[[It’s clear your organization is undergoing some significant change both in adapting to a new media environment and through acquisitions. We have a data center solution that would allow you to make resources available to your organization as they are needed. If we could demonstrate an ROI for this solution, would this be something you would be interested in?|31]]<videotext class='videotext'>
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<p> I think a follow-up meeting would be much more productive with the networking group. They spend more time dealing with day-to-day operations. It has been great to talk with you and I'll arrange for a meeting. </p>
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<p>I think a follow-up meeting would be beneficial. I will also invite our VP of Operations. I have another meeting in a couple of minutes, but it was great meeting you and I’m looking forward to what you have to present. </p>
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<p>It’s still not clear to me if changing our data center architecture is the right way to go. We will need to do some more research on this subject. I have another meeting in a couple of minutes, but it was great meeting you today and hearing about what Cisco has to offer. </p>
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<p>Good job! You have passed the business relevance first meeting with the CIO simulation. In your first meeting with your customer, set an agenda, ask business relevant questions, and close with a request for an additional meeting as appropriate.</p>
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<p>You still have some work to do to prepare for a first meeting with the CIO. Try again and remember to focus your business relevant questions on the customer situation and take into account the CIO profile. </p>
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<img width="630" height="438" src="images/CIO_Title.png" alt = "Welcome to the CIO Business Relevance Simulation">
This simulation will help you practice your first meeting with a CIO. Your goal in this simulation is to ask the most business relevant questions to establish credibility with the CIO and gain a follow-up meeting
[[Continue. |01Introduction]]
[[Start|Header]]
[[Notes|Information]]
[[Stats|Stats]]!KRP Media
Here is some information that you pulled about KRP Media Group from recent headlines and their annual report.
!!Statistics
* Owns 16 daily newspapers, 10 magazine titles, 22 online websites including one of the biggest news websites in the U.S.
* Recently acquired 18 radio stations as part of the acquisition of Western Radio
* Print advertising breakdown: 64% newspapers, 14% magazines, 22% online
* In target markets, has a market share of 28% of listeners between the ages of 18 and 44
!!Company Goals
* Continue 5-year plan to shift from newspapers to new media revenue model
* Grow the business through timely integration of new acquisitions
* Increase operating cash flow
!!CIO Goals
* Manage large fluctuations in Web traffic generated by a rolling news agenda. “Every lost hit is lost revenue.”
* Ensure high profile websites deliver maximum revenue opportunities and a satisfying customer experience
* Deliver new applications for internal business services to increase productivity and leverage news content across functional units
* Continue to integrate IT in recently acquired companies
<<return>>!Stats
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<<return>><img src="images/Cisco_Logo_no_TM_Core_Blue_Duotone_Gradient-RGB_43px.png">Version 1.0.8