IKON and IBM Show: Innovation Counts

He cites new findings in IBM's 2006 global survey of CEOs:

What's a key to breaking through that difficulty at driving change?

Well, take the case of solution provider IKON. In last week's CRN TV (which you can view here, by clicking Show 57), we heard from IKON Senior Vice President Michael Kohlsdorf, who explained his success in at least one case involving a Fortune 20 client.

IKON executives told their counterparts at the top-tier company that, for $185,000, IKON could run a top-to-bottom assessment and consultation of the global company's workflow and document production - looking to come up with big savings. Five weeks after the assessment began, Kohlsdorf said, the solution provider identified $120 million in savings for the customer over a five-year period - after the customer bought the recommended hardware, software and services from IKON.

The solution provider used innovation - in business and workflow consulting - to help a big customer identify mega savings in its operations.

Show a CEO how he can save $120 million by changing workflow and operations, and, chances are, that CEO will seek to drive innovation.

This doesn't seem to be pie in the sky, either. According to Wladawsky-Berger:

With stories like IKON's, it's not difficult to understand.