Executives know that investing in technology is central to their ability to win, serve, and retain customers. Three quarters of global business leaders identified improving customer experience over the next 12 months as a high or critical priority, according to a recent Forrester survey. However, less than half of technology management leaders believe their own department accelerates business success, compared with 80% of customer service professionals and 75% of sales leaders.

The IT department as we know it is in crisis mode and must adapt. When crafting strategies to be customer obsessed, business execs use their intimate knowledge of customer attitudes, intentions, and overall journeys to define customer-centric business models and move away from those that focus on specific channels and products. Unlike traditional IT investments made by the CIO, investments in business technology (BT) deliver impact by focusing on a customer’s experiences throughout the entire life cycle.

In new research, Forrester maintains that firms must continue to excel at IT — while accelerating their BT agenda to align four key corporate priorities: enterprise marketing, sales and fulfillment, customer service, and product innovation. To do so, the CEO and the leadership team must understand the increasingly strategic role that technology plays in delivering business success and keep customers — B2B and B2C — at the center of technology decisions.

The report introduces you to the BT technologies that Forrester will focus its research on as it maps a course for customer success. Learn more here.