Royal Caribbean Cruises CIO Bill Martin explains how the business sees IT, and a suggestion for making the relationship better.
Watch the video or read the transcript below.
The Enterprisers Project (TEP): What do you wish the rest of your enterprise understood about your IT team?
Martin: I don't think there is a general appreciation for the breadth of technology that we are supporting: literally, hundreds of application systems, both shoreside and shipboard and all of the tech infrastructure that goes with that. They are really only interested in the projects that they have going right now. Keep in mind the breadth of what your IT organization has got going, because it's a lot.
TEP: What do you wish your IT team knew better about the enterprise as a whole?
Martin: The speed at which you have to be able to adapt in the marketplace. If your competitor does something, you have a very limited window to react to it. And I think our IT team appreciates it, but I don't think they fully appreciate it. We have a separate IT building where most of the IT people are. There are some people at the port, but most are people in a separate area. Because they are in a separate area, we don't get the constant interaction with the corporate heads, if you will. I think if we were closer, we might be able to marry that a little bit better, in both directions.
Bill Martin is the recently retired Chief Information Officer for Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd. He was responsible for information technology covering both the shoreside business systems as well as the innovative guest systems onboard the ships. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. includes Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, Azamara Club Cruises, Pullmantur (Spain), and Croisieres De France cruise brands. The company operates 41 modern vessels worldwide with a guest capacity of more than 98,500.
