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Peter High
05-05-2015
Excerpt from the Article:
Annually, lenders purchase more than 10 billion FICO scores, and about 30 million U.S. consumers accessed their scores on their own. FICO is an $800 million software company founded in 1956 and based in San Jose, Calif. Nearly 98 percent of credit-related decisions are made using FICO, but the company has diversified into providing a broader set of analytics tools. As FICO CIO Tony McGivern tells CIO Insight contributor, Peter High, his responsibilities have expanded from those that are traditional to the CIO to his service responsibilities for the FICO Analytic Cloud offering.
CIO Insight: Tony, 98 percent of credit-related decisions are made using FICO’s backbone, and yet many people probably do not know much about the company. Could you please provide an overview of FICO?
Tony McGivern: FICO, in addition to our well known Scores product, offers analytic software and tools that help organizations make smarter decisions. We’ve been around for nearly 60 years providing our products and services to customers in over 80 countries around the globe.
To read the remainder of the article, please visit CIO Insight
by Peter High, published on Forbes
4-20-2015
Rob Carter is on the short list of the finest CIOs in history anywhere. I have profiled his accomplishments in an interview published roughly one year ago. A few months ago, Carter spoke at the Forbes CIO conference with his CEO, FedEx founder Fred Smith. First, it was readily apparent how much Smith values Carter’s opinion, indicating that no strategic decisions are ever made without Carter involved. I was also particularly struck by Carter’s overview of the IT transformation that he has led. As he said then, and as he describes in greater detail in this interview with him, the systems that were at the core of FedEx’s success in recent years in becoming and maintaining its position as a logistics and data analytics leader would not be the same ones that would sustain its success. In fact, as Carter notes, the longer the organization waited to transform, the more those systems would actually impede its success.
Carter graciously agreed to dive into greater detail in describing the transformation, and what he describes as the “Four Horsemen of Dominant Design.” At the heart of this transformation would be a cloud-first strategy. Carter readily admits that this is a decade-long journey that they are roughly in the middle of, but the results so far have already proven the value of simplifying in the ways described herein.
Peter High: You have mentioned that it dawned on you a couple of years ago that the technology that helped FedEx achieve success was not the technology that would help FedEx maintain that success. What led to that insight?
Rob Carter: I started at this role in 2000, and at that time the number one thing that I wanted to do for the business was to become fast and flexible at creating business value, because the world was changing. The needs of FedEx and the expectations of our customers were changing rapidly. The complexity of the system which we had deployed – which at one time was one of our most powerful assets – was becoming a challenge to agility for our business.
The reality of the modern computing era – and with a company like ours that has deployed technology over the last 40 years – is that this is the advent of the modern computer era. 40 years isn’t a long time. We’ve deployed unbelievably strategic technology over the years, but some of them were things like 800 MHz spectrum coast to coast so we could stand up radio towers and communicate with data to our vehicles. These weren’t voice communication tools; they were data communication tools. They communicated with the first generation of handheld computers.
Well, as much of a breakthrough as that was in allowing information to flow freely back so that customers could have the ability to track their packages, it clearly became a legacy that burdened us as the modern generation of connected mobile devices began to surface. One of the first ways they surfaced was with cell networks that could communicate with industrial handhelds, not just consumer devices. So that is a window into creative and strategic deployment of technology which becomes a burden over time.
When you’ve invested in an aggressive way, as FedEx has, to further the technology brand that our company is well known for, you wind up with a lot of things that market forces find a way of providing a more general solution for; and often one that is more economical, flexible, and frankly works better than those first generations of technology.
To read the full article, please visit Forbes
4-15-2015
Increasingly, a key differentiator among chief information officers is how well they communicate. This is not a historical strength of CIOs, who in the past, traditionally led support organizations who awaited “orders” from their colleagues. Today, IT’s must be supreme networkers, collaborating with their colleagues in IT, their colleagues outside of it, establishing partnerships with vendors that will generate new value for the enterprise, and increasingly engaging customers, who are much more tech savvy today no matter the industry. A proxy for one’s ability to do each of these well is one’s engagement in social media.
Most CIOs have some combination of accounts on Twitter, Linkedin, and Facebook, but these channels are used to varying degrees of success. There are many layers to the value a CIO can derive from better social media engagement, including:
Developing a personal brand and enhancing the brand of the company’s IT department: Social media is a wonderful opportunity to establish one’s voice and personal brand. This is something that was not deeply contemplated in the past, but now is increasingly a foundation that every executive needs to develop. As one establishes a strong personal brand, it should also shine a light on the good work of the IT team as a whole. Therefore, when one leverages social media to talk about IT’s successes, better to use the pronoun “we” than “I”
Networking: This has become a primary way for leaders to connect. If you are not active on social media, chances are you are missing opportunities to collaborate in way small and large with peers. This means that there are insights that could be gained that are not accessible.
04-06-2015
Bill Schlough has been the CIO of the San Francisco Giants since 1999. As an IT executive operating in the Bay area, it is no surprise that the Giants are among the most innovative and tech-savvy teams in baseball. The depth of the use of that technology by the front-office, the players and fans is remarkable, however. As Schlough tells CIO Insight contributor, Peter High, a culture of innovation begins with the Giants’ mission statement, and it imbues everything the team does.
CIO Insight: Congratulations on a third World Series championship for your Giants this decade. What role would you say technology played in the Giants’ success?
Bill Schlough: Well, I’d have to admit that I might be a little bit biased on this topic. But the reality is that innovation has been a fundamental driver, if not the fundamental driver, for our success on and off the field for as long as I’ve been with this franchise. The San Francisco Giants are dedicated to enriching our community through innovation and excellence on and off the field. That’s our mission statement. And technology enables much of this innovation: dynamic ticket pricing, our @Cafe social media hub, free Wi-Fi, contactless payments and Apple Pay, and pitch/hit/player tracking are just a few of the examples. Each and every member of my technology team played a role in ushering in the Golden Age for this franchise, and they each have a ring (or three) to recognize their contributions.
CIO Insight: How do you create a culture that embraces innovation?
Schlough: Well, it helps when it’s one of the most significant words in your organizational mission statement, and a core value for not only your IT division, but the entire company. When you have a budget meeting with the CEO and CFO, and 90% of the meeting is focused on how we can leverage technology to grow the top line as opposed to reducing expenses. When your CEO publicly recognizes the efforts of anyone in the organization, regardless of the department or role, who thinks creatively about how to grow the business. I certainly can’t take credit for creating the Giants’ innovation-friendly culture–that belongs to my boss, Larry Baer. But I certainly look to perpetuate this culture by reinforcing innovation as a core value and recognizing/rewarding innovation whenever I see it, anywhere in our business.
03-12-2015
Excerpt from the Article: The State University of New York (SUNY) of Agriculture and Technology at Cobleskill, also known as SUNY Cobleskill, has an emphasis on technology degrees, as the name suggests. Not so surprising, the CIO of SUNY Cobleskill, James Dutcher, not only manages the school’s technology, but he also is involved in thinking about using information to enhance the experience of professors and students alike. In this interview with CIO Insight contributor, Peter High, Dutcher describes his vision as a university CIO, the future of education technology and the topics he likes to cover in his much-read blog.
CIO Insight: Please describe your role at SUNY College of Agriculture and Technology Cobleskill.
James Dutcher: I am the CIO here in SUNY at the Cobleskill campus where my team’s responsibility is both providing and facilitating all IT/business services regardless if these originate on or off campus. Starting with the “T” in IT, this means providing and maintaining the infrastructure of the campus data center, wired/wireless network, phones, computers, tablets, printers, 3D printers, wearable tech and so on. On the “I” (information) side of “IT,” we provide services and support for our portfolio of applications around local and remotely provided services in our Student Information, Course Management, Website(s), Portal, HR, Financials, Email/Collaboration, Storage, systems, and more. Of course, there is also strategy, governance, budget, personnel, vendor, policy & security, and project management details that are important to pay attention to.
CIO Insight: What are your priorities for the foreseeable future?
James Dutcher: The priorities can be summed up in two ways: “being the change” and “leading the change” for my organization. In today’s world the reality is that no organization can achieve success without IT. This means that there is a strong, inseparable union of the organization, IT and our collective strategy, goals and objectives. So my role as CIO and my IT team will continue to emerge and be the digital guides & the co-thought leaders/contributors for the university, partnering across divisions and providing key strategic leadership to drive transformation needed and able achieve the university’s vision, goals and objectives. My obligations have been, and will continue to be, managing highly available IT and its effective/efficient use. More importantly will be managing rapid change as IT is very quickly evolving, impacting the organization, and involving massive cultural changes in the way we think about what we do, how we teach, learn and conduct research, and how we will help our students achieve success. Balancing the ever-present push and pull from early adopters and keeping the maintenance of mission-critical services upon which thousands rely is critically important. As CIO, this also means keeping ITS department staff actively, forward leaning & learning as it is imperative for the ITS dept. to continue to assist communicating, leading, and transforming the university in areas of teaching, learning, and research as these models shift in our continuing flattening world. Key to leading and managing in our flattened world is working across the organization in advancing the strategic vision of the institution by identifying technology implications and opportunities.
03-09-2015
Dr. Jan Lee currently serves as the CEO of the Delaware Health Information Network (DHIN), the nation’s first statewide clinical health information exchange. She works with key leaders in the statewide health care community to aggregate clinical data from hospitals, laboratories, radiology centers, ambulatory practices and health plans into a longitudinal health record. Additionally, Dr. Lee is a board certified Family Practice physician with a Master of Medical Management degree and a wealth of leadership experience.
CIO Insight: Describe the Delaware Health Information Network.
Jan Lee: The metaphors we use to describe our core services are “the post office” and “the public library.” We deliver clinical results and reports to providers on behalf of the hospitals, labs, and imaging centers who contract with us to provide that service (our “post office” function). In the process, we archive a copy of that data for future query and retrieval through our provider portal (our “public library” function) by other health care professionals with a need to know. Participation in these core services, either as a “data sender” or an end user or both is nearly universal across the health care community of Delaware.
CIO Insight: As the oldest and longest running statewide health information network, how have you fostered relationships among entities who might otherwise view themselves as competitors?
Lee: Visionary leaders of Delaware’s largest health systems agreed from the beginning that the welfare of patients is best served if all the relevant clinical data is available at every stage in the continuum of care. Time and experience revealed that they each continued to thrive in the environment of data sharing, and we have now reached the point where the few stragglers are coming to us saying they are losing business to competitors who HAVE chosen to share their data through DHIN.
CIO Insight: In 2005, the eHealth initiative developed a framework for assessing and tracking health information exchange development. Seven stages of development were defined. Could you describe those?
Lee: My abbreviated description of the seven stages is as follows:
Stage 1 – Starting (need recognition)
Stage 2 – Organizing (defining goals, funding sources, governance, policies)
Stage 3 – Planning (tactics, business plan, securing funding)
Stage 4 – Piloting
Stage 5 – Operating (fully operational, data actually being used by HIE participants)
Stage 6 – Sustaining (fully operational with a sustainable business model)
Stage 7 – Innovating (expansion of value-added services)
We are happy to report that we are solidly in stage 7.
CIO Insight: How do you impact patient outcomes?
Lee: We save the practices time (and time is money) in searching for missing information. They are less likely to give up the search if it is easy and quick to get all the information they need in one spot. We have seen a 21% reduction over four years in the rate of ordering a specific set of high cost imaging studies and a 64% reduction in the rate of ordering high cost lab studies. This means reduced radiation exposure and out-of-pocket costs for the patient…
02-23-2015
Laureate International Universities is a leader in international higher education, with an enrollment in excess of 950,000 students, in 80 institutions and across 29 countries. The company states as its mission to seek to make high quality, higher education accessible and believes when students succeed, countries prosper and societies benefit. Karl Salnoske joined Laureate nearly a year ago, and was new to the industry. He had been a CIO at pharma leader Schering-Plough and at integration services provider GXS, but an industry that is both dynamic, and at the heart of so much positive change presented an interesting new challenge for this IT veteran. In this interview, he describes his path to Laureate, the role technology plays in the company and the road ahead.
CIO Insight: Karl, you have been a CEO, a consultant, a CIO and a COO, among other responsibilities across your career. You had worked in a variety of industries, but education was not among them. What attracted you to Laureate?
Karl Salnoske: Although I’ve not worked in the education field before, in many ways coming to Laureate felt like a natural progression. I’ve always been attracted to opportunities to have impact at scale, and am motivated by being part of a company driven by a strong sense of purpose. Laureate offered both of these.
We currently have 70,000 employees in 29 countries, serving almost one million students. The opportunity to lead the implementation of a new IT delivery model that caters to both the current need and future growth was an opportunity I didn’t want to miss.
While Laureate is a thriving international company with an ambitious agenda, at its core is a commitment to making higher education accessible and impactful in communities and countries where it is needed most. I was attracted to the mission, and was immediately impressed by the people I met.
This was one of those rare moments when you see opportunity, talent and purpose converge, and I knew I wanted to be a part of it.
02-02-2015
Richie Etwaru is a man in a hurry. He took on his first CIO role in his late 20s. He would hold that same title at the divisional level at Barclay’s bank in his early 30s. In 2007, he began a successful tenure at UBS, rising first to the role of Chief Technology Officer of UBS Wealth Management Americas and later as Chief Innovation Officer of UBS Wealth Management.
He has since moved to Cegedim RM, which is a data, technology and services company delivering a portfolio of innovation to the life sciences industry, specifically pharmaceutical manufacturers. He is currently the Chief Digital Officer of that organization. As he has continued his speedy career ascent, he has also founded an online media organization (BRAINFOOD TV) and started a health data analytics organization (The Human API), all while pursuing a doctorate and writing a book.
In this interview, Etwaru discusses his career, what drives him and his thoughts on the path from CIO to CDO, among other topics.
CIO Insight: Richie, you grew up in IT departments, rising to become a CIO and CTO of multiple organizations. You then became more innovation-centric. How did this turn come about?
Richie Etwaru: I would love to say I was always innovative. That is absolutely not the case. I may have always had an innovative gene but I did not start to innovate purposefully until I studied the design of businesses. Businesses come down to capturing value between supply, demand generation and demand fulfillment. Once I understood how value is created and captured, repeatedly and sustainably I started to find ‘problems’ to solve. Innovation coupled with corollary problems is purposeful innovation because you may have an innovative gene for tinkering. I was tinkering for a while until I became ‘problem aware,’ leading to ‘purposeful innovation.’
To read the remainder of the article, please visit CIO Insight.
