Among other topics, Vic discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy:
Vic is Chief Information Officer (CIO) for GE’s Global Growth and Operations organization, where he is responsible for leading IT in delivering process excellence, simplification, collaboration, security and compliance in all non-U.S. markets, with particular emphasis on high-growth markets such as China, India, the Middle East and Brazil. Vic is currently based in Hong Kong.
Prior to his current role, Vic served as CIO for GE Corporate and GE’s Advanced Manufacturing and Software Technology Center. Vic has also served as CIO for GE in India and Southeast Asia, where he was responsible for driving the company’s regional strategy in sourcing, IT and the global development centers. He has also held a series of leadership roles in the areas of information management, e-business and corporate security across several GE businesses including GE Aviation, GE Consumer & Industrial and GE Plastics. Prior to joining GE, Vic held IT positions with Keane Inc., Humana Inc., and Colgate Palmolive.
Vic earned his bachelor’s degree in information management and marketing from the University of Louisville and a degree in physics and mathematics from St. John’s University in India. He serves on several Advisory Boards including AT&T Utilities & Field Services, Fairfield University – School of Software Engineering, and works closely with University of Connecticut’s School of Business.
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Among other topics, Bill discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy:
To access the YouTube clip of Bill presenting SingTel’s information communication technology service offering in augmented reality, please click here.
Bill is Executive Vice President of the Business Group at SingTel, Singapore’s largest public-listed company by market capitalization. The Business Group serves SingTel’s domestic and global corporate customers with a full range of Information-Communication Technology (ICT) services.
Bill sits on numerous boards including that of the Workforce Development Agency, he is on the advisory committees of multiple uniiversities, including the Singapore Management University School of Information Systems, and he also has served on a wide array of government committees, including the Economic Review Committee.
Bill was a member of the ICT sub-committee which was part of the Government’s Economic Review Committee (2003), SiTF Councillor (2002/2004), Chairman of SiTF-AAC Internet Data Centre Committee (2001), and executive committee member for Think Tank (1999/2000). Bill received the National Day Public Service Medal Award for his contributions to Singapore’s workforce development in 2007.
Before joining SingTel, Bill was the Managing Director of Cisco Systems’ Advanced Services Group in Asia Pacific. He was responsible for the company’s operations in 13 regional countries.
Bill graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) degree in Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering from Monash University.
Among other topics, Piyush discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy:
Piyush is currently senior vice-president and chief information officer of Great American Insurance Company and vice-president of its parent company, American Financial Group. He is responsible for creating the vision and direction of Great American’s IT strategy in partnership with leaders within Great American’s business operations who, together, consider current and emerging business trends and the potential of the constantly evolving technology that is becoming an integrated part of the business environment.
Prior to his time at Great American, Piyush was CIO of RLI Insurance. Prior to that, Piyush spent time as a consultant at Price Waterhouse in Jamaica, as a banker at ANZ Banking Group in India, and he started his career in IT as a consultant with Citicorp Overseas Software Limited (COSL) also in India.
Singh holds a master’s degree in computer applications from University of Delhi as well as an M.B.A. from Bradley University. He has also attained the Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation and attended the Advanced Executive Education program conducted by AICPCU at the Wharton Business School.
Among other topics, Michael discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy:
Michael Del Priore is the Vice President and Global CIO of Church & Dwight. In this role, Michael is responsible for leading the Information Technology function globally by developing the IT strategy and delivering the capabilities required to achieve the company’s strategic objectives.
Prior to his time at Church & Dwight, Michael was Vice President and Global Head of Commercial Operations IT for Roche Pharma. Michael was hired to build a new global organization to support Pharma commercial activities at Roche including Affiliates, Strategic Marketing, and the Life Cycle Teams. In addition, Michael functioned as the IT Region Head for North America.
Prior to joining Roche, Michael held a series of IT leadership roles in divisions of Philip Morris (Altria) where he provided IT leadership to Corporate functions as well as international and domestic businesses. Michael began his career as a Consultant at Andersen.
Michael holds a BS degree in Management Information Systems from the State University of New York at Albany, and an MBA in Corporate Finance From Pace University.
Among other topics, Ken discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy:
Ken Piddington serves as the Chief Information Officer of Global Partners LP. In this capacity, he is responsible for setting and achieving Global’s Information Technology strategy and providing information technology services across all divisions of the organization. Since joining Global he has worked to transform Global’s Information Technology group into a strategic asset positioned to scale and contribute to the company’s growth strategy. Prior to being named CIO in June 2010, Ken served as the Director of Applications and Software Development for Global. He is a member of the 2010 Boston CIO Executive Summit Governing Body.
Ken successfully led the development and implementation of an internally developed Energy Trading and Risk Management System in 2009. Code named “Peloton”, this project was a key company initiative which provided the organization with a leading-edge technology solution but also implemented process and operational changes positioning the company for future growth. Ken’s responsibilities for the project included chief architect, project manager and change agent.
Prior to joining Global, Ken was a partner at Lyland Associates, Inc. where he managed the technology division of the company’s energy practice. In this role he served as a technology advisor and led custom development and application implementation projects for its Fortune 500 clients.
Previously Ken had spent 12 years working in the energy consulting and software industry. At Triple Point Technologies he held various positions including Director of Product Development for the company’s flagship product Tempest XL. He has served as a Director for Opportune in their energy practice and as a Senior Technology Consultant for MRE Consulting. Ken has spent his career focused on the energy industry where he has worked with almost 50 clients domestically and internationally.
Ken has spent the past 15 years successfully working in information technology and the energy industry although majoring in Health and PE as a former college football and baseball player at Graceland College. He resides in Massachusetts with family.
This interview is the fifth in a special series of five eSeminars covering the Five Principles of World Class IT. The five interviews have been broadcast in sequential weeks, and in this conversation on principle five –External Partnerships, Bob Willett discusses the following ideas:
Follow this link to download the eSeminar presentation
This is the final interview in this series covering the five principles of World Class IT. We hope you have enjoyed the deeper dive into each principle.
Robert A. Willett is the chief executive officer of Al Futtaim Group, a conglomerate operating from the United Arab Emirates that operates eight divisions comprising automotive, electronics, insurance, services, real estate, retail, industries and overseas.
Prior to his current position, Willett was the chief executive officer of Best Buy International, the strategic business unit of Best Buy Co., Inc., focused on creating opportunities for growth and innovation outside of the United States. He was appointed to this role in February 2006.
Under Willett’s leadership, Best Buy International has implement a global integration and growth strategy to maximize the retailer’s opportunities beyond North America, while continuing to reengineer the supply chain, Mobile phone and information technology functions that support the company’s customer centric transformation. Executives responsible for enterprise-wide efficiency initiatives, information systems, supply chain management, global sourcing, corporate development and Best Buy Mobile report to Willett. He is also a Chairman of the Best Buy Europe/Carphone wharehouse joint venture.
Prior to his current role, Willett served as the executive vice president of operations and chief information officer for Best Buy, and today continues to lead the company’s efforts to improve efficiencies and simplify its customer-centric operating model.
Willett’s experience spans a number of positions in the retail industry over the past several decades. Willett previously was global managing partner for Accenture Consulting retail practice, where he worked with best-in-class retailers throughout the world on strategy reviews, business transformation, procurement and supply chain management, brand positioning, technology transformation and customer segmentation.
Prior to joining Best Buy formally in 2003, Willett served as a special advisor to the Best Buy board of directors on issues relating to operational efficiency and excellence. During his tenure with Accenture, he also served as a partner on the “Process to Profits” initiative that Best Buy undertook in the late 1990s.
Willett launched his retail career in store management at Marks & Spencer a leading British department store chain in 1968, and has held executive positions, including managing director and group chief executive, for other retailers in Europe.
CIO Magazine named Willett to the CIO Hall of Fame in 2008 to honor his significant contributions to the IT discipline, use of technology in business and advancement of the CIO role. He was also recently named to the board of directors for LightHaus Logic, Inc., an innovative provider of video analytics systems based in Canada.
Chosen as third among “The Best IT Business Books of 2009” by CIO Insight
“What’s unique about this book is that it’s not only a must-read for the CIO (and everyone else in an IT department); it’s for anyone associated with the technology industry. If you are a manufacturer, seller, or service provider of technology, you will gain insight into what makes an IT department world class.” – CIO Digest
“The new book World Class IT (Jossey-Bass, 2009), by consultant Peter A. High, provides solid, timeless advice for CIOs trying to manage IT for business success.” – Mitch Betts, Computerworld Book Review
“Technology is all around us. It is so pervasive in our daily lives that we may not even recognize when we interact with it. Despite this fact, many companies have yet to leverage information technology as a strategic weapon.
What then is an information technology executive to do in order to raise the prominence of his or her department? In World Class IT, recognized expert in IT strategy Peter High reveals the essential principles IT executives must follow and the order in which they should follow them whether they are at the helm of a high-performing department or one in need of great improvement.
Principle 1: Recruit, train, and retain World Class IT people Principle 2: Build and maintain a robust IT infrastructure Principle 3: Manage projects and portfolios effectively Principle 4: Ensure partnerships within the IT department and with the business Principle 5: Develop a collaborative relationship with external partners
The principles and associated subprinciples and metrics introduced in World Class IT have been used by IT and business executives alike at many Global 1000 companies to monitor and improve IT’s performance. Those principles pertain as much to the leaders of IT as they do to those striving to emulate them.”
Among other topics, Rob discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy
Rob is the Chief Information Officer of Hilton Worldwide, a leading global hospitality company with more than 3,500 hotels in 81 countries. In that role, Rob has global responsibility for technology systems strategy, information security, technology infrastructure, and enterprise planning and architecture.
Prior to his time at Hilton, Rob was the CIO of Equifax. He also held a variety of leadership positions at General Electric, including as Managing Director of GE Vendor Financial Services Canada, as well as having the CIO role at GE Commercial Finance, GE Global Consumer Finance, and GE Energy Savings. Rob also spent time as a management consultant at Andersen Consulting and at EDS.
Rob has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Western Ontario, and an MBA from ESCP.
Among other topics, Ramón discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy
Ramón is the Vice President of Information Services and Chief Information Officer of Kimberly-Clark. Ramón is responsible for leading Kimberly-Clark’s enterprise-wide information systems initiatives to support the company’s future growth and to maximize the return on its information technology investments.
Prior to joining Kimberly-Clark, Ramón served as chief information officer for Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. He previously served as chief information officer and vice president of information technology for Honeywell International Automation and Control Solutions group. Ramón began his business career at Northrop Grumman Corporation. Over the course of 25 years, he assumed increasing responsibility for information services and data management, leading to his being named chief information officer for its electronic systems sensors sector.
Ramón is a member of the Information Technology and Operations Management (ITOM) Advisory Board for the SMU-Cox School of Business, and in 2009, he was elected by the Texas State Senate to serve as a director for the Department of Information Resources for the state.
Ramón holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from the University of La Verne in California.
Among other topics, Karl discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy
Karl is the Executive Vice President, Service Delivery, & Chief Information Officer of GXS, a global B2B e-commerce integration solutions provider. Karl is a seasoned IT and operational executive with a strong combination of information technology, operations, general management, and business consulting experience. Before joining GXS, Karl was the CIO at Schering-Plough, a global pharmaceutical company, where he managed a staff of over 1700 and the company’s global IT infrastructure. At Schering-Plough, he was responsible for driving change across the organization through a series of strategic business initiatives enabled by IT.
Prior to Schering-Plough, Karl was President and CEO of a start-up software company (Adaptive Trade). He also served as Vice President in IBM’s Global Services division where he was responsible for e-business services, including the B2B and EDI services. At IBM, Karl co-led the team that developed the Ariba/i2 relationship to jointly enable electronic marketplaces. As a General Manager in IBM’s Software Group, Mr. Salnoske developed and launched IBM’s e-commerce software suite, WebSphere Commerce.
Before joining IBM, Karl was a consultant at McKinsey & Company, Director of Network Management Products at Telenet, and a Manager of Systems Development at Exxon Office Systems. Karl received a bachelor of science in electrical engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute.
Among other topics, Jorg discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy
Jorg is the chief information officer of SunPower Corporation, a vertically integrated solar products and services company that designs, manufactures and markets high-performance solar electric power technologies. Jorg leads global information technology (IT), shared services (SSO) which includes customer care, and Downstream Software Services (DSS) organizations. He drives the company’s strategic business process transformation initiatives and software innovation for business and customer platforms.
Prior to joining SunPower, Jorg was an executive partner at Accenture, a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. During his 20-year tenure, Jorg was responsible for Accenture’s global business relationships with HP and led the Clean Tech and Sustainability Practice for Accenture’s Communications and High Technology Division. He was instrumental in driving large scale change programs for prominent high-tech companies such as Apple, Autodesk, Cadence, Hitachi Data Systems, Intuit, Sun Microsystems, and Toshiba.
Jorg has a bachelor’s of science degree in electrical engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles.
