Shane Riddle CIO , National Heart Foundation of Australia

difference ? What are they looking for when they come to us ?” This involved deep analysis , understanding what the business did , and examining its customer base until those 52 different definitions were formulated . “ When creating a single view of the customer , it ’ s important to understand the context of the customer for internal users ,” says Riddle , “ because when we create something and then introduce it , we need to represent what they see as their customer . That is important .”

The third stage – at which point Riddle had to gain approval at board level to move past – was “ very much getting down into the weeds .” This involved examining business processes to find a product that would deliver on all the needs that had been uncovered so far . “ A lot of that informed the business case and our request for proposal ( RFP ) for various vendors ,” he explains . “ We had a closed selection where we identified key vendors across the industry that we felt would be able to deliver , or had insight to deliver , what we were trying to create .” Of 15 nominated vendors , 10 put forward a proposal which were narrowed down to a final three that were then challenged to create prototypes . This lengthy process outlines Riddle ’ s approach to vendors . “ I ’ m fairly tough in trying to negotiate something that works for us ,” he says , qualifying : “ I understand the business they ’ re in as well , so it has to be fair . I think when you ’ re truthful with your business partners , and you say ‘ we want this , but this is what we can afford or are capable of at this point in time , but we want to bring you on the journey and we can see the growth aspect ,’ partners buy into that and it ’ s mutually beneficial .” To complete this undertaking , the National Heart Foundation needed the support of key partners to the business

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