What are the advantages of Credit Suisses new supplier manag

What are the advantages of Credit Suisse’s new supplier management/evaluation system?

Please write in your own words, and atlest 2 paragraphs

Solution

Historically, the IT industry has been mostly a reactive unit. Enterprise IT departments were essentially order-takers that were quick to adopt the latest programs. Stephen Hilton, managing director and CIO of technology infrastructure for Credit Suisse, will have none of that. Known for his stick-to-itiveness and indifference to flavor-of-the-week technology, Hilton has shown leadership in building a unified culture and developed a reputation for his steady pace of improvement.

As most Industry leaders know, since 2007 capital markets revenues have decreased rapidly, resulting in budget cuts across the board. At the same time, most financial institutions had built up significant fixed costs during the prior decade when revenues were high and budgets were bloated. \"People were surprised that IT was not as variable as they thought it would be,\" says Hilton, whose firm has a market capitalization of $42 billion and $1.3 trillion in assets under management.

At Credit Suisse, only 30% to 40% of IT cost was allocated to staffing, reports Hilton. \"A lot of the budget covers other IT assets, obligations, liabilities and licensing costs we built up over the years that just are not variable in a short period of time.\" The only way you can really drive the cost base down is through business process reengineering, he says, and that\'s exactly what his team has been working toward.

\"It was quite a learning process for people to understand that. And if I\'m honest, that realization, a very good realization, has actually changed the business attitude,\" Hilton says. \"They\'re having different conversations with us now.\" Business leaders are aware that asking for \"please do it quickly and just get it in\"-style requests aren\'t acceptable anymore. \"They have to be more patient and more strategic in their decisions.\"

Challenge Silliness

While the old way of approaching technology may have been fitting given the short lifespan of IT and massive innovation cycles, things began to change in the mid-2000s. For Credit Suisse the focus shifted to optimizing the company\'s massive, complex infrastructure and improving end user productivity. As CIO of technology infrastructure, Hilton prepared to make tough decisions to meet company goals.

\"My view is that at the scale we now run at, process efficiency is key. I am a technologist, but my master\'s degree is in mechanical engineering and making manufacturing decisions. So I learned back in the late \'80s about industrialized processes and how to optimize factories. Those skill sets are what I\'ve applied in the last five years.\" He adds, \"I very much encourage my teams to be challenging partners. I\'ve spent five years really empowering them, saying, \'Look, you\'re the experts. Challenge inefficiencies whenever you see them.\'\"