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Sometimes the retail industry gets a bad rap from the IT community, says Denise Wong, chief information officer (CIO) of Walgreens (Deerfield, IL). IT pros think they won’t find exciting career challenges in retail. But that’s simply not true, Wong declares.
“The retail industry is extremely technology intensive,” she says. “Although it may not look like it, we have a competitive environment with a very low margin of profit. If we can squeeze pennies out of operations, we will, and IT is one of the best tools for doing it. And we rely on IT to provide innovative and efficient services, like automatic refill of prescriptions, to our customers.”
Innovative retail leader
Founded in 1901, Walgreens is the nation’s largest retail pharmacy chain, considered a leader in innovative drugstore retailing. Many modern store and pharmacy features began at Walgreens and went on to become standards in the industry. The chain is especially proud of its computerized pharmacies that are connected nationwide, its point-of-sale scanning, and Intercom Plus, an advanced pharmacy computer and workflow system.
Reinforcing the work
Wong, who has been at Walgreens since 1993, went through a series of promotions before becoming CIO in May 2007. Since women make up the majority of drug store customers, her gender gives her special insight into the needs of female shoppers. That helps her devise IT strategy for the company.
She notes that she inherited a “sound shop” from her predecessor. Now, she wants to reinforce the work, bolstering the chain’s IT with service-oriented architecture to meet changing demand faster. With Web purchases increasing everywhere, she wants to grow the Walgreens.com business. Another goal is to attract more talented IT professionals.
“To be the best and the nimblest is my goal,” Wong says. “Retail is such a competitive environment you have to be always on your toes. You never know where the next competition is coming from. Our business is fighting battles every day, and IT has to be there to support it.”
A big organization
The IT organization has 1,800 employees who provide all the basic communications and systems needs of the company. The architecture and support group provides system infrastructure, like database and system admin, for the entire enterprise. Walgreens also has a healthy IT help center supporting 6,000 stores.
Wong oversees IT security, the applications areas, the website and telecom, which is a satellite and phone system that lets stores connect to the corporate office. “We have a data center that looks like NASA,” Wong says. “It has a strategic map of the entire U.S. with dots to show problems like power outages, hurricanes or tornadoes.”
Part of the arsenal
“The exciting part of working for Walgreens is that IT is recognized as an integral part of the business and the competitive arsenal,” Wong says. “I’m invited to strategic meetings.
“A former CIO is now the CEO. The role we play is very empowering.”
Into IT
Wong grew up in Hong Kong and came to the U.S. to attend the University of Wisconsin, where she got her BSMIS in 1980 and MSMIS in 1982. She’s also a CPA.
Why did she pick U Wisconsin? The snow.
“I never saw snow in my life, but there was plenty of it shown in the college brochures. I thought it would be totally exotic and exciting, and it was. But no one told me it would last six months of the year!” she says with a laugh.
Her parents still live in Hong Kong as does her brother, a hospital administrator. A sister is a nurse in New Zealand. Wong’s husband is from Cambodia, and she has two teenage daughters.
Starting out
After college Wong started as an auditor in the IT consulting practice of Deloitte & Touche. In 1985 she joined Ernst & Young and was given the job of consultant for Walgreens. She also had responsibility for other consultants.
“I was more technically oriented than most and interested in focusing on IT solutions for business problems. Management just seemed to come with the package,” Wong says.
Walgreens, a “team-focused” firm
She moved to Walgreens in 1993 as manager of retail systems development. She liked the firm, which was “highly ethical, open and team-focused.” Her managers were very supportive, especially Jeff Rein, now the CEO.
Wong moved steadily ahead. In 1997 she was promoted to director of store systems, responsible for point-of-sale, scheduling and photofinishing systems. “It was not unlike the SAPs of the world today,” Wong explains. “We had multiple servers in each store, talking to each other.”
She became director of merchandise systems in 2000, working with a different user group and expanding her business knowledge. In 2002 she moved up to divisional VP of supply-chain systems, adding payroll and HR to all the systems she’d previously managed. She oversaw 180 employees and another 180 consultants.
Trepidation and learning
“I had some fear and trepidation with each new responsibility, but I learned,” Wong says. “Each time I learned a new application area, light bulbs went on in my head showing me how to integrate and leverage the systems better.”
Her advice for others is to develop communication, project management and people skills in addition to technical skills. And above all, get to know the business.
“How we manage is guided by business needs, which helps us prioritize and gain respect from the business side. Ultimately, IT reports to business. If you know the business you’ve gone a long way in preparing for management,” Wong says.
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