• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer, July 22, 2014

An Accenture Interactive online study of about 1,100 CMO and CIO professionals set out to track how the two functions continue to come together and address companies' digital needs. The two groups remain at odds in several basic issues such as how to integrate digital marketing solutions.

Some 43% of CIOs complain marketing requirements and priorities change too often for them to keep up, and 25% of CIOs believe that CMOs lack the vision to anticipate new digital channels.

Findings also suggest the need to unify marketing and IT initiatives around the customer experience to create a truly digital business. Rethink the operating model to integrate customer-focused skills throughout the company.

Speed and the need to address requirements appear to take priority for CMOs, but not CIOs. Some 40% of CMOs believe their company's IT team doesn't understand the urgency of integrating new data sources into campaigns to address market conditions, and 43% of CMOs said the technology development process is too slow.

In the electronics manufacturing industry, the contract manufacturer building the products for companies like Apple, Google, and Microsoft often shares space within the brand's facility to oversee the production of physical goods. Glen Hartman, global managing director of digital transformation for Accenture Interactive, said, "traditionally companies outsource and go around IT, but now we recommend that companies embed skills in-house."

It's not a model used today in the advertising industry, but Hartman believes it will catch on. The challenge is to get beyond the idea of outsourcing functions or skills per campaign, "one offs," but rather whatever campaign happens to run at the time.