The United States Postal Service has changed significantly since the advent of Internet e-commerce, and those technological changes have been at times both disruptive and also profitable for the government agency. TheCUBE hosts John Furrier and Dave Vellante sat down with the postal service’s CIO Jim Cochrane to talk about some of those advancements in postal technology and some of the challenges such a large organization faces.

The hosts began by asking Cochrane what disruptive forces in the shipping industry have arisen lately. He mentioned that the crowd-sourcing of delivery and carrier companies is a big challenge. Also, the USPS is a large paper-based company. Therefore, digital technology in general is a disruption.

On the other hand, the explosion of e-commerce as a retail shopping tool of choice for many consumers has been a significant win for the postal service. While some predicted e-commerce would kill the postal service, the organization has instead increased revenue and transitioned from delivering more mail than packages to now delivering more packages than mail.

The USPS manages over 300,000 connected mobile devices that send tracking data to post offices and to customers in real time. This data, over 1 billion tracking events per day, ensures that the postal service is able to reach 151 million doors in a timely fashion and within the time frame customers have come to expect.

Efficiency & understanding

Tracking is a customer requirement, he explained, but the data the organization gathers from that tracking can help make it more efficient. They can now better understand how customers buy and choose products, which has created partnerships for the postal service with major retail companies.

When asked about the evolving role of CIOs, Cochrane pointed out that he did not come from an IT background but rather a marketing and operations one. A CIO in modern times needs that background knowledge along with the technological knowledge. “So, it’s not just making sure you have robust systems and they’re working. You need to know how you’re using those systems to create business value and customer value,” he said.

You can watch the full interview with Jim Cochrane, CIO and Executive Vice President of USPS right here.