CIO Joe Topinka talks about how to deliver more business value through vendor partnerships and why he chose Renodis to manage Communications Infrastructure at Red Wing Shoe Company.

“Hi, I’m Joe Topinka, CIO and VP Multichannel Commerce for Red Wing Shoe Company. As a CIO I’ve spent a career trying to deliver value and bridge the chasm between business stakeholders and IT Leaders. One of the ways I’ve done that over the years is by getting IT leaders to focus less on the layer of IT that I call the dial tone, that’s the layer that has things like telephone and mobile devices. Instead focus on the middle layer or the top layer which is the business services layer or the external customer layer. When you do that you really deliver a lot more value. One of the best ways I’ve learned how to do that is through vendor partnerships. In Renodis we found just such a partner. They’ve delivered 27 percent more bottom line value in terms of managing our telecom, our mobile devices and those types of things. What I really liked about Renodis is that they were the only ones who innovated this turnkey solution and the results were off the charts. Not only has that value been delivered, but we’re getting phenomenal feedback from our internal employees. It’s great to have a rock solid technology layer, but you don’t need to do that yourself anymore. Renodis can deliver the kind of value and trust that you need so you can take your eye off those things and focus on things that really matter to your business. I couldn’t endorse Renodis more strongly. They’ve been one of the top partners I’ve enjoyed working with throughout my 20+ year career as a CIO and I look forward to a very long and prosperous relationship with them now and in the future.”