William Hanna, vice president of technical services at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), went out looking for a way to add capacity to a backup network and found what he wanted in Software Defined Networking (SDN) tools from Alcatel-Lucent. Network World Editor in Chief John Dix sat down with Hanna to learn about the process and experience.
Q&A: David Martin and Kathy Quinn
Edward W. Marx focuses on technology's power to transform the healthcare industry. As senior vice president and CIO at Texas Health Resources in Arlington, Marx has led numerous IT-enabled transformative initiatives aimed at improving patient health. Those projects include using social media to connect with the local community and implementing BI tools to deliver advanced clinical care.
Michael Keithley has more than two decades of experience as a CIO. However, the IT veteran says he's seeing more change now than ever before. CIO.com's Tom Kaneshige sat down with Keithley to talk about the challenges he and his colleagues face, the need to speak the same language as the business side and the reality of what lies ahead for CIOs who refuse to change their approach.
You say you want more from your IT outsourcing service provider, yet you fall back on the same old negotiating tactics. To find out how to develop a more collaborative relationship with service providers, CIO.com talked Kate Vitasek, who wrote the book on the subject.
Insurance companies are under intense pressure these days. They're expected to deliver better care at lower costs. They're required to meet the mandates of the new federal healthcare law. And they're expected to continue supporting corporate initiatives. As vice president and CIO in the commercial business unit of health benefits provider WellPoint, Darren Ghanayem says he's keenly aware that technology is key to his company's ability to meet all those demands. "Everything we do from a business perspective has IT down at the core," says Ghanayem, who oversees an IT organization with 2,235 employees and an annual budget of $600 million. Here, he shares his views on what it takes to deliver IT in today's environment.
NFL CIO Michelle McKenna-Doyle talks about plans to encourage NFL teams to deploy Wi-Fi and analytics engines in their stadiums. The goal is to improve the in-stadium experience, to allow fans the ability to use their mobile devices to consume more football content and share the experience.
When Tammy Bilitzky became CIO at New York-based Data Conversion Laboratory last March, it was her first time in a CIO role, and it was DCL's first time filling that post. Bilitzky, who had worked in senior-level technology jobs at other companies, says the move offered her a lot of new opportunities. "What's really great about that is you don't fall into old habits. You're really coming in fresh, objective and able to make the right assessments for the company," she says. "It's an opportunity you don't get in many firms." Here she shares more of her views on IT management.
CIO.com talked to Som Mittal, departing president of India's National Association of Software and Services Companies, about immigration policy and protectionist politics in the U.S., political and economic instability at home, and what the future holds for the Indian IT services industry.
As executive vice president and CIO at Guess Inc., Michael Relich oversaw the retailer's global IT strategy and a worldwide IT staff of more than 100 people. His nine-year tenure in the position earned him a spot as one of four finalists for the MIT Sloan CIO Symposium's CIO Leadership Award for 2013. Relich's work also earned him a nod from Guess CEO and co-founder Paul Marciano, who in August named him the company's new COO. In announcing Relich's appointment, Marciano cited his strong operational skills, strategic vision and leadership in retail technology.
Kimberly Stevenson, a corporate vice president and CIO at Intel, has spent her professional career immersed in technology, working for some of the world's most recognized technology companies. Not surprisingly, she's a vocal champion for IT and how it will transform business and society. "I love to see all this disruption coming in all different industries, and it's all coming from IT," says Stevenson, one of four finalists for the 2013 MIT Sloan CIO Leadership Award. She shares her ideas on running an IT department, the power of technology and the importance of technologists.
In her 33-year career with $18 billion Southern Co., IT veteran and first-time author Becky Blalock held positions in accounting, finance, corporate communications, external affairs and IT, where she rose to the rank of senior vice president and CIO before retiring in 2011. Regardless of the department, she continually encountered young women starved for career tips who sought mentors to share lessons learned and real-life how-to information. That experience, combined with the fact that she always wanted to write a book and "couldn't just go from being CIO to doing nothing," led her to pen Dare: Straight Talk on Confidence, Courage, and Career for Women in Charge, which was published last month.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has been collecting data for nearly a century. But Dat Tran, the VA's deputy assistant secretary for data governance and analysis, says it's not enough to just collect data. He says the VA needs to transform its data into information that gives decision-makers insights into veterans' needs. Tran is leading the effort to do that, to establish strong data governance and apply predictive analytics so the department can better serve the country's veterans. It's a monumental task, but Tran says it's essential so the government can help its veterans in the most effective, efficient manner possible. Here he discusses the challenges of big data at the VA and elsewhere.
When Ajay Waghray stepped into the job of CIO at the newly created Verizon Enterprise Solutions in January 2012, he encountered an array of systems that couldn't talk to each other or work together. Recognizing the disparate collection as a barrier to growth, Waghray focused his IT team on consolidating and updating the infrastructure and eliminating redundant systems to create the streamlined backbone that he wanted. His other duties include leading the global IT strategy and initiatives at Verizon Enterprise Solutions, which focuses on serving business and government agencies. Here he talks about some of his most recent work.
Every year, the MIT Sloan CIO Symposium names four finalists to its CIO Leadership Award. This year's list includes Cynthia Nustad, senior vice president and CIO at Health Management Systems, which provides government-funded, commercial and private entities with cost-containment services for their healthcare payments. Like all good leaders, Nustad credits her team for the recognition. "I have a true sense of team, and I love when accolades go out to my group," she says. But Nustad also brings to the job her talent, insights and strategies -- gained from 17 years of IT experience. Here, she shares some of her ideas on what works in IT.
Apple's first rule about enterprise features: 'You don't talk about enterprise features.' While you may not hear it from Cupertino, BYOD features abound in iOS 7 and, according to AirWatch's Blake Brannon, they are 'as innovative as we've seen from Apple.'
Riverbed Technology is best known for its WAN optimization tools, but the company has branched out over the years through multiple acquisitions. Network World Editor in Chief John Dix caught up with Eric Wolford, president of the company's Products Group, to see how the company is trying to help customers squeeze more efficiency out of their IT resources.
For ARI CEO Carl Ortell, real-time information delivery is key to strong relationships with customers and employees.
This CIO wants IT employees who are dedicated to the company's mission of using IT to fight healthcare fraud and waste.
The West Virginia Health Information Network was created by the state of West Virginia and charged with building a secure electronic health information system so providers could access and exchange patient data. The goal is to improve the quality of patient information and thereby enable providers to more quickly offer better care at lower costs. Among those leading the effort is Kathy Moore, CIO of the network. Moore is now working with hospitals and other healthcare providers in the state to get them connected to the exchange. "The exchange is now up and live, and we're focused on rollout and bringing on as many as possible," says Moore, a former deputy CTO for the state of West Virginia. Here she shares her thoughts on leading this huge IT project.
