the searchcio- midmarket 2013 enterprise it leadership...
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Page 1 of 22 Sponsored by
The SearchCIO-Midmarket 2013 Enterprise IT Leadership Awards: The Winners
Contents
Cultural Innovation Award winner: Troy Neal
Technological Advancement Award winner: Isaac Sacolick
Business Value Award winner: Neal Kaderabek
Green Information Technology Award winner: Marcus Krawinkler
IT Engagement Award winner: Robert Simora
Customer Experience Award Winner: Pat Smith
The SearchCIO-Midmarket 2013 IT Leadership Awards recognize the contributions and innovations of IT executives within midmarket companies who have made strides in the areas of cultural innovation, technological advancement, business value, green IT, IT engagement and customer experience. These technology professionals not only demonstrate innovative leadership in the IT field, but have made a substantial impact to a business or industry.
Cultural Innovation Award winner: Troy Neal Directory of IT, YES Prep Public Schools Finalist Troy Neal, director of IT at YES Prep Public Schools, was hired to
build a non-profit budget-friendly IT infrastructure from the ground up -- he
ended up doing so not once, but twice.
YES Prep Public Schools, a Texas-bred charter school system, provides free
college preparatory education for 5,400 students in grades 6 through 12. In
August 2008, YES Prep hired its first IT staff to increase communication
between staff, teachers, students and parents, but no more than two weeks
later Hurricane Ike wiped out the little IT infrastructure the staff had
developed. In this Q&A, Neal shares the leadership style that rocketed YES
Prep's IT team towards success after a natural disaster.
Number of years in IT: 7 years
Company: YES Prep Public Schools
Revenue: $54 million (non-profit)
Number of employees in the company: 705
Number of employees in IT: 5
Educational background: High school and military
Page 2 of 22 Sponsored by
The SearchCIO-Midmarket 2013 Enterprise IT Leadership Awards: The Winners
Contents
Cultural Innovation Award winner: Troy Neal
Technological Advancement Award winner: Isaac Sacolick
Business Value Award winner: Neal Kaderabek
Green Information Technology Award winner: Marcus Krawinkler
IT Engagement Award winner: Robert Simora
Customer Experience Award Winner: Pat Smith
First job: U.S. Marine Corps
LinkedIn: Troy Neal
Twitter Handle: @jarheadtn
In the movie of your life, who would play your character? Clint Eastwood
If you could have just one superpower, what would it be and
why? Telekinesis, so I could influence government to provide more to
education.
What's your favorite app on your smartphone or tablet device? Mocha
RDP
Where do you fall in the iPhone versus Android debate? iPhone,
because Android has too many versions and less source control
Describe the best technology decision you ever made: Moved
from VMware to HyperV
What's the biggest challenge you face in IT today? BYOD [bring your own
device]
Which role/internal partner do you rely upon the most? Helpdesk,
because they are the customer-facing portion of our team and can have the
most impact on our staff.
What's your prediction for the next big technology? MS Lync dominates
the voice market
What's your favorite non-monetary benefit or perk of your
job? Recognition
What is the biggest problem you see with corporate cultures
today? They do not identify their culture or understand how importantly their
culture affects employee performance.
Page 3 of 22 Sponsored by
The SearchCIO-Midmarket 2013 Enterprise IT Leadership Awards: The Winners
Contents
Cultural Innovation Award winner: Troy Neal
Technological Advancement Award winner: Isaac Sacolick
Business Value Award winner: Neal Kaderabek
Green Information Technology Award winner: Marcus Krawinkler
IT Engagement Award winner: Robert Simora
Customer Experience Award Winner: Pat Smith
What are "rookie mistakes" that you see in up-and-coming IT
leaders? They are afraid to make mistakes.
Describe your leadership style: Lead by example, get your hands dirty and
make mistakes.
Technological Advancement Award winner: Isaac Sacolick CIO & VP of Technology, McGraw-Hill Construction
When it comes to Agile development, Isaac Sacolick, CIO and vice president
of technology at McGraw-Hill Construction (a McGraw-Hill Financial
company),sets the bar high. Sacolick has leveraged best practices in Agile
development with his entrepreneurial and startup background to blend the
best of both environments in the IT space. Sacolick's efforts are spreading
out to the rest of the company, along with what McGraw-Hill Construction's
president calls "Isaac's Agile," driving revenue through new products and
portfolio management. We wanted to get to know the man behind all the
motion. Sacolick gives us a glimpse at his zeitgeist and tidbits about his
personal joie de vivre, and opens up on everything from the "Internet of
Things" to his favorite smartphone business app.
Read on for more information about Sacolick, an IT Leadership Awards
finalist in the technological advancement, IT engagement and customer
experience categories.
Number of years in IT: 18
Revenue: McGraw-Hill Financial reports 2012 full-year revenue for the
Commodities and Commercial segment (which includes McGraw-Hill
Construction, Platts, J.D. Power and Aviation Week) at $973 million. It is not
our policy to report revenue for individual business units.
Number of employees in the company: 500 to 1,000
Number of employees in IT: 30
Page 4 of 22 Sponsored by
The SearchCIO-Midmarket 2013 Enterprise IT Leadership Awards: The Winners
Contents
Cultural Innovation Award winner: Troy Neal
Technological Advancement Award winner: Isaac Sacolick
Business Value Award winner: Neal Kaderabek
Green Information Technology Award winner: Marcus Krawinkler
IT Engagement Award winner: Robert Simora
Customer Experience Award Winner: Pat Smith
Educational background: Bachelor of Science degree in electrical
engineering from Binghamton University and Master of Science degree in
electrical engineering from University of Arizona
First job: I ran a BBS (bulletin board system, a modem dial-up information
service) at age 12 and sold computer supplies and access to gaming areas
of the BBS. During high school, I ran the kitchen at a local day camp for 300
4- to 7-year-olds.
LinkedIn: Isaac Sacolick
Twitter handle: @NYIke. I also blog and have several articles published
on Engineering News Record.
What's the best advice you've ever received? I blogged about it last year.
CIOs get asked a lot of questions, and the best advice I received helped me
understand how to go about answering questions from executives. My
colleague advised me to pause and make sure I understood the question
before saying anything. Executives want the question answered before going
into details or supporting information.
In the movie of your life, who would play your character? A young Sean
Connery. I still watch Hunt for Red October (strong leadership), Highlander (a
good mentor) and his Bond films (smart, quick-witted, a man of good taste). It
would be interesting seeing my character played out with a Scottish accent.
If you could have just one superpower, what would it be and why?
Definitely flying, because I love to travel. Breakfast in Paris, hiking the Grand
Canyon during the day, dinner in Singapore would be a fun day. I'd also be
able to visit my global teams easily and use my flying ability to meet and
inspire lots of people.
What's your favorite app on your smartphone or tablet device? I have
many favorite apps that deliver personalized content, but my favorite is Zite.
It does an amazing job prioritizing content based on user activity and
understands my topics of interest derived from my Twitter feed.
Page 5 of 22 Sponsored by
The SearchCIO-Midmarket 2013 Enterprise IT Leadership Awards: The Winners
Contents
Cultural Innovation Award winner: Troy Neal
Technological Advancement Award winner: Isaac Sacolick
Business Value Award winner: Neal Kaderabek
Green Information Technology Award winner: Marcus Krawinkler
IT Engagement Award winner: Robert Simora
Customer Experience Award Winner: Pat Smith
Where do you fall in the iPhone vs. Android debate? I'm glad there is
competition for mobile devices. I remember the PC-Mac, Windows-Unix and
Java-Microsoft debates. In the end, the competition helps drive innovation.
Describe the best technology decision you ever made. One month into
my current position, I recognized that a strategic project for delivering a new
customer-facing product was in trouble. I had to deliver the bad news. Then,
over the next couple of months, I changed the structure of the team, the
development process and the platform being used. Several months after that,
we completed the product and, over the next two years, went on to deliver
two more products on this platform and with this team.
Was there ever a technology that you thought was a gimmick but now
couldn't live without? Cloud technology and the Amazon cloud in particular.
When it was first rolled out, it looked nothing more than self-service hosting,
which has been around for some time. I blogged on this in 2009. Now,
leveraging the elasticity of cloud environments is a cost-effective way to
scale systems on demand and when usage spikes.
What's the biggest challenge you face in IT today? The biggest challenge
is connecting people -- technologists, business sponsors, users and
customers so that they can develop a shared understanding of priorities,
possibilities, potential opportunities to innovate and places where technology
improvements are necessary -- then make smart decisions on what and how
to implement product enhancements and technology improvements one
Agile sprint at a time.
Which role and/or internal partner do you rely upon the most? I rely on
my team. We're charged with building and enhancing our product line and
providing sales with new competitive products. When the team accomplishes
this sprint to sprint, release to release, we develop confidence and credibility
with our partners and customers to do more. After that, my team relies on
strong partnerships with our product owners to help set priorities, partner on
defining requirements and balance short- and longer-term needs.
What's your prediction for the next big technology? The Internet of
Things. Sensors in homes, buildings, cars, roads, people (via wearable
Page 6 of 22 Sponsored by
The SearchCIO-Midmarket 2013 Enterprise IT Leadership Awards: The Winners
Contents
Cultural Innovation Award winner: Troy Neal
Technological Advancement Award winner: Isaac Sacolick
Business Value Award winner: Neal Kaderabek
Green Information Technology Award winner: Marcus Krawinkler
IT Engagement Award winner: Robert Simora
Customer Experience Award Winner: Pat Smith
devices) -- all interconnected and delivering big data that will drive better
experiences, reduce costs and improve environmental conditions.
What's your favorite nonmonetary benefit or perk of your job? I enjoy
speaking at conferences and contributing articles to Engineering News
Record, our magazine and website for the engineering and construction
industry. As a father of three, being able to spend quality time with them is
important, and McGraw-Hill's culture of promoting a work-life balance is a
very important benefit.
Business Value Award winner: Neal Kaderabek CIO, Hallmark Service Corp.
Finalist Neal Kaderabek, formerly CIO at Hallmark Services Corporation and
currently vice president of IT at Perkin Insurance, was integral to Hallmark's
continual efforts to enhance, and in some cases completely replace, core
functions and systems as it braces for changes stemming from U.S. health
reform. During a nearly year-long effort, Hallmark defined the scope of its
activities, developed customer-driven design requirements and identified
dependencies to help the organization meet deadlines defined under
U.S. health reform. Kaderabek expected this preparation would allow
Hallmark to at least double its membership between Oct. 1, 2013, and March
1, 2014 -- the period all uninsured U.S. citizens will be able to enroll and
acquire health insurance under the health reform laws. In addition, these
efforts wouldincorporate efficiencies that ultimately reduce operating
expenses, Kaderabek said.
Kaderabek defines himself as a "turnaround CIO" who delivers quick wins for
his organization while meeting business demands and overcoming its
numerous health reform obstacles. Learn more about Kaderabek in this
Q&A, where he further discusses the challenges faced by the retail
healthcare market under U.S. health reform, and how Hallmark is managing
tools, people and processes to adapt to these challenges.
Number of years in IT: 28 years
Page 7 of 22 Sponsored by
The SearchCIO-Midmarket 2013 Enterprise IT Leadership Awards: The Winners
Contents
Cultural Innovation Award winner: Troy Neal
Technological Advancement Award winner: Isaac Sacolick
Business Value Award winner: Neal Kaderabek
Green Information Technology Award winner: Marcus Krawinkler
IT Engagement Award winner: Robert Simora
Customer Experience Award Winner: Pat Smith
Company: Hallmark Services Corporation, a subsidiary of Health Care
Service Corporation (HCSC). HCSC is the amalgamation of BCBS-IL, BCBS-
TX, BCBS-NM and BCBS-OK.
Revenue: $1.4 billion annually
Number of employees in the company: 1,050
Number of employees in IT: 150 FTEs, 200 contracted
Educational background: Bachelor of science degree in business
administration
First job: First job: Caddie at a golf course. First IT job: Programmer on IBM
SYS38 for manufacturing company. Shockingly, the first system they put me
in charge of was payroll!
LinkedIn: Neal Kaderabek
What's the best advice you've ever received? Partners complain; it's their
job. Learn to be ready for the good news and the bad news. Don't be
defensive; just listen and respond to legitimate criticism and note the rest.
Vocal partners will typically complain more than compliment; do not get
overwhelmed by the negative comments.
In the movie of your life, who would play your character? George
Clooney, because of his role in Michael Clayton as a law firm's "fixer" to
remedy difficult situations. The most success and pleasure I've had in my
career is as a "fixer" and "turnaround" leader." I am a risk taker that is first
and foremost an agent of change. I have deep experience in IT and have the
ability to come into a chaotic situation, ascertain what the business needs
most, recharge a beaten-down staff and start piling up wins -- quickly.
If you could have just one superpower, what would it be and why? Time
traveler. I would like to travel to the future to see the outcome of what my IT
teams did, or the outcomes of my decisions … and then go back in time to
see if any changes can be made to improve the future results.
Page 8 of 22 Sponsored by
The SearchCIO-Midmarket 2013 Enterprise IT Leadership Awards: The Winners
Contents
Cultural Innovation Award winner: Troy Neal
Technological Advancement Award winner: Isaac Sacolick
Business Value Award winner: Neal Kaderabek
Green Information Technology Award winner: Marcus Krawinkler
IT Engagement Award winner: Robert Simora
Customer Experience Award Winner: Pat Smith
What's your favorite app on your smartphone or tablet device? Todo for
iPad. It is a work planner that I use to keep on top of all my projects and
plans.
Where do you fall in the iPhone versus Android debate? I steer clear of
this debate. When I am asked for advice, I usually offer the following: If you
are looking for an easy-to-use phone with many polished apps that you do
not mind paying a little extra for, then the iPhone is probably for you. If you
use Google services primarily, you will probably want to steer toward
an Android-powered phone.
Describe the best technology decision you ever made: The most recent
decision that comes to mind is contracting with LionBridge last year to
validate that our core business system could scale to +2X of throughput. I did
so in anticipation that key business leaders would be concerned with
scalability when they determined the increased volume of transactions that
ObamaCare would deliver to the company. Needless to say, the concern of
scalability was presented to me a month after the assessment was
completed. However, I was able to quickly ease the business anxiety with the
positive results of the scalability testing.
Was there ever a technology that you thought was a gimmick but now
couldn't live without? VMWare
What's the biggest challenge you face in IT today?
ObamaCare is dominating my IT climate. Three important dates are looming
that will turn the retail health industry upside down:
October 2013. At this point, health insurance exchanges are supposed to go
live, letting residents browse through the approved options and sign up for
retail health plans. As envisioned, shopping for health insurance should be
as easy as shopping for plane tickets or rental cars online. Of course, buying
health insurance is a lot more difficult than purchasing a plane ticket on
Expedia. I have the proposed health insurance selection application on my
desk -- it is 25 pages! Hence, we are planning for three times the usual traffic
Page 9 of 22 Sponsored by
The SearchCIO-Midmarket 2013 Enterprise IT Leadership Awards: The Winners
Contents
Cultural Innovation Award winner: Troy Neal
Technological Advancement Award winner: Isaac Sacolick
Business Value Award winner: Neal Kaderabek
Green Information Technology Award winner: Marcus Krawinkler
IT Engagement Award winner: Robert Simora
Customer Experience Award Winner: Pat Smith
on our phone system and Web channels beginning as soon as summer
2013.
Late 2013. The Supreme Court recently opened the door to a second high-
court challenge to ObamaCare. In this case, the challenge involves the
employer mandate: Companies with 50 or more employees will have to
provide health coverage or pay a $2,000 fine for every worker past number
30. If the law holds (and we expect it will), then our analysis predicts that our
retail health plan membership will grow by 300,000 former group insured
members (from the states of Illinois, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas).
January 1, 2014. The major parts of the ObamaCare law take effect,
including the individual mandate and the employer mandate, and the ban on
insurers excluding people based on pre-existing medical conditions. Under
the individual mandate, everyone will be required to have health insurance,
with federal subsidies for everyone earning up to 400 percent of the federal
poverty level (currently $11,170 for individuals, $23,050 for a family of four).
Our analysis predicts our membership will grow by one million members on
January 1, 2014 --jumping from 1.4 million retail members to 2.4 million retail
members.
Obviously, Hallmark's IT needs to be proactive to such a dramatic pending
membership increase. We've taken steps to best prepare and position IT for
this large membership growth and regulatory complexity.
The first step is to have horsepower to meet the challenge. The volume and
complexity of the expected IT work exceeded the human resource capacity
of Hallmark's IT organization. Therefore, I recommended to Hallmark/HCSC
executive leadership the amalgamation of Hallmark IT and HCSC IT as
appropriate and necessary. Bottom line, the recommendation expanded the
IT workforce capacity for retail health insurance from 300 IT professionals to
3,000 IT professionals. The recommendation was approved and the
transition is underway. My support of the recommendation has not waivered,
regardless of the potential implications the amalgamation has on my CIO
career. Another example of my mantra: Do the right things and do things
right!
Page 10 of 22 Sponsored by
The SearchCIO-Midmarket 2013 Enterprise IT Leadership Awards: The Winners
Contents
Cultural Innovation Award winner: Troy Neal
Technological Advancement Award winner: Isaac Sacolick
Business Value Award winner: Neal Kaderabek
Green Information Technology Award winner: Marcus Krawinkler
IT Engagement Award winner: Robert Simora
Customer Experience Award Winner: Pat Smith
The second step is to have an IT Roadmap that guides IT activities and
decisions to meet the demands of ObamaCare (as defined by our business
colleagues). IT work that cannot be traced directly to imperatives of the IT
Roadmap are not funded and considered distractions to meeting
ObamaCare's aggressive timelines.
The third step in meeting the ObamaCare challenge is to have an active
PMO providing project management and program governance. In addition,
an intimate and engaged leadership team from across the organization has
been put in place to resolve issues impeding the projects that constitute the
ObamaCare program. Key issues that are blocking the progress on projects
are discussed twice a week. Participants debate the issues and offer
resolutions. If issues cannot be resolved within the leadership committee, the
key stakeholders meet offline to formulate alternatives for the committee to
consider at a subsequent leadership meeting.
Which role and/or internal partner do you rely upon the most? Keeping
in touch with my fellow business peers as my internal partners is critical.
Satisfying the needs of internal partners is fairly straightforward. Simply
stated, I need to know what they want and expect. Simply executed, the best
way to know is to ask, then deliver in a timely way at price/value that is
justified. I have found ways to keep in touch through a broad spectrum of
approaches: face-to-face, surveys, steering committees, informal lunches
and dinners, etc.
What's your prediction for the next big technology? Medical
instrumentation (portable for doctor and patient use) will be available as
applications and attachments to mobile devices. With ObamaCare putting
scrutiny on cost of medical care, a virtual rather than physical approach to
diagnosis and health monitoring will be a key factor in driving down health
care costs.
What's your favorite nonmonetary benefit or perk of your job? Deep
down, I am a teacher. With that said, a perk in my job is watching young IT
professionals learn and grow from their experiences and my coaching. I feel
like a proud parent and teacher when an IT professional states they have
reached (or are on track to reach) their professional and career goals.
Page 11 of 22 Sponsored by
The SearchCIO-Midmarket 2013 Enterprise IT Leadership Awards: The Winners
Contents
Cultural Innovation Award winner: Troy Neal
Technological Advancement Award winner: Isaac Sacolick
Business Value Award winner: Neal Kaderabek
Green Information Technology Award winner: Marcus Krawinkler
IT Engagement Award winner: Robert Simora
Customer Experience Award Winner: Pat Smith
What is the biggest problem you see with corporate cultures
today? Too often, corporate managers do not allow for employee autonomy.
Employees need more what and why, and less how. I try to be crystal clear
on what and when, and more open on how. I tell my team what and when
and for how long, and let them figure out the how. IT professionals are more
motivated when they can determine the how for themselves, thereby forging
a strong, empowered and energized IT staff.
What are "rookie mistakes" that you see in up-and-coming IT
leaders? A rookie mistake is not creating a positive climate. The rookies
need to share information about the larger business landscape. By doing so,
the IT professionals will be cognizant that the IT work they are performing is
not a goal unto itself. Rather, IT professionals generally want to be involved
in something larger than themselves. In addition, the rookie IT leaders need
to create an environment that fosters personal development and personal
autonomy. We need IT professionals that want to be masters of their
profession and not stifled by micromanagement.
Describe your leadership style: Over the past five-plus years, my broad
range of CIO skills have provided me the opportunity to make a real impact
because I was not just "running IT" for Hallmark. I was optimizing core
business processes (i.e., applications, fulfillment, enrollment, document
management), as well as optimizing and building systems. More and more, I
became a change agent through innovation because I had the perspective of
Hallmark's end-to-end core business processes. As a result, Hallmark's
overall performance and capabilities marched forward steadily and
successfully with each year.
Lastly, innovation is not the outcome of the efforts of one person. That is why
I have valued creating and maintaining a climate of innovation and
experimentation in Hallmark's IT organization. When "how to do" something
is too rigidly specified, motivation and creativity decrease. "How things are
done" should be as open as possible. Studies show that people work harder
and are more efficient when they have a sense of choice and ownership. I
advocate quick, short-cycle experiments by the IT staff. Many experiments
will fail, so I communicate a learning attitude towards mistakes and failures.
Page 12 of 22 Sponsored by
The SearchCIO-Midmarket 2013 Enterprise IT Leadership Awards: The Winners
Contents
Cultural Innovation Award winner: Troy Neal
Technological Advancement Award winner: Isaac Sacolick
Business Value Award winner: Neal Kaderabek
Green Information Technology Award winner: Marcus Krawinkler
IT Engagement Award winner: Robert Simora
Customer Experience Award Winner: Pat Smith
Green Information Technology Award winner: Marcus Krawinkler Manager of IT Systems & Operations, The David and Lucile Packard
Foundation
Marcus Krawinkler, manager of IT systems and operations for The David and
Lucile Packard Foundation, located in Los Altos, Calif., is a finalist for the
Green IT Award. Krawinkler created and advocated for a plan to keep the
foundation's IT infrastructure on-site at its new headquarters, designed to be
a net-zero energy and Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design (LEED) platinum-certified building.
Initially, foundation executives and design team members supported moving
the IT infrastructure to the cloud as a way to cut down on on-site energy use,
but moving processes off-site doesn't necessarily equate to a reduction in
energy consumption. Considering, Krawinkler challenged -- and eventually
changed -- their thinking with a plan for the foundation, which distributes
grants to support education, health and environmental sustainability projects,
to meet energy use goals while keeping IT systems at the facility.
With the server infrastructure already virtualized, Krawinkler set about
upgrading the switches and routers equipment, installing a more-efficient
storage area network, and transitioning from a private branch exchange
phone system to a Voice over Internet Protocol system. As a result of these
efforts, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation opened its truly net-zero
energy facility in June 2012.
Get to know Krawinkler in our Q&A below.
Number of years in IT: 17
Revenue: None. Our endowment is currently around $5.8 billion.
Number of employees in the company: 115-plus temps and contractors.
Number of employees in IT: 7
Page 13 of 22 Sponsored by
The SearchCIO-Midmarket 2013 Enterprise IT Leadership Awards: The Winners
Contents
Cultural Innovation Award winner: Troy Neal
Technological Advancement Award winner: Isaac Sacolick
Business Value Award winner: Neal Kaderabek
Green Information Technology Award winner: Marcus Krawinkler
IT Engagement Award winner: Robert Simora
Customer Experience Award Winner: Pat Smith
Educational background: Attended California Polytechnic State University
in San Luis Obispo, Calif., majoring in mechanical engineering, [then] moved
into the IT space.
First job: CAD [computer-assisted design] work and some office IT support
for Failure Analysis Associates (now known as Exponent).
What's the best advice you've ever received? Don't ignore your gut.
In the movie of your life, who would play your character? Depends on
who is directing!
If you could have just one superpower, what would it be and why? The
power of suggestion. Explaining the complexities of system integration can
be tough.
What's your favorite app on your smartphone or tablet device? For
work, probably iTeleport. Nothing beats the ability to connect to a full desktop
to get work done in a pinch. For fun, I hate to say it, but I probably play Angry
Birds games more than anything else.
Where do you fall in the iPhone vs. Android debate? They both have their
merits -- depends on the user. Personally, now that jailbreaking iOS devices
is technically illegal, I'll be losing access to some of my favorite productivity
tools, so I'll be leaning toward Android.
Describe the best technology decision you ever made. Virtualizing our
server infrastructure. The flexibility and quick turnaround it provides is critical
to running an efficient shop.
Was there ever a technology you thought was a gimmick but now
couldn't live without? If not, which current technology is a gimmick or
overly hyped? Virtualization: Ten to 15 years ago, servers could barely
handle one instance of an [operating system] with a database. Now, I can't
imagine spinning up a new server every time we go into a development
cycle.
Page 14 of 22 Sponsored by
The SearchCIO-Midmarket 2013 Enterprise IT Leadership Awards: The Winners
Contents
Cultural Innovation Award winner: Troy Neal
Technological Advancement Award winner: Isaac Sacolick
Business Value Award winner: Neal Kaderabek
Green Information Technology Award winner: Marcus Krawinkler
IT Engagement Award winner: Robert Simora
Customer Experience Award Winner: Pat Smith
What's the biggest challenge you face in IT today? Content management!
Getting cross-organization agreement on information architecture, content
types and document taxonomy is never an easy task. In the world of Google
Docs and the like, fending off requests for tools built around low/no security
and convenience -- which have minimal integration capabilities, no workflow,
no administrative or record management capabilities -- is frustrating. Did I
mention my superpower would be the power of suggestion?
Which role and/or internal partner do you rely upon the most? Probably
our technical support staff. They do a great job keeping users happy.
What's your prediction for the next big technology? I've heard of this
new thing called a cellphone. It's a telephone you can use almost anywhere
and it fits in your pocket! Really, though, we need better batteries. Laptops
aren't going anywhere, and they need to last as long as [mobile] phones and
tablets.
What's your favorite non-monetary benefit or perk of your job? Besides
working in a very nice, new building with great catering, it's knowing I work
for an organization that strives to improve and preserve the world we live in.
What is the biggest problem you see with corporate cultures
today? Jumping on the bandwagon! Media and advertising push hokum
technologies and services, which tout lower costs, but these quick wins have
hidden costs in quality and productivity, which quickly make them end up
costing more.
What are "rookie mistakes" you see in up-and-coming IT
leaders? Taking on too many projects; don't spread yourself too thin.
Describe your leadership style: Nerd alert: Think Dr. Who meets House.
I have a participative leadership style. Teamwork is critical to a successful
project of any size, so I often take a role in facilitating teams to decisions and
projects to completion. As a subject-matter expert, sometimes I have
to balance consensus with efficiency. But most importantly, work has to be
Page 15 of 22 Sponsored by
The SearchCIO-Midmarket 2013 Enterprise IT Leadership Awards: The Winners
Contents
Cultural Innovation Award winner: Troy Neal
Technological Advancement Award winner: Isaac Sacolick
Business Value Award winner: Neal Kaderabek
Green Information Technology Award winner: Marcus Krawinkler
IT Engagement Award winner: Robert Simora
Customer Experience Award Winner: Pat Smith
fun or it's just not healthy. Sometimes it's hard to do, but I try to make time
for those opportunities.
IT Engagement Award winner: Robert Simora CIO, Railinc Corp.
CIO Robert Simora has transformed IT and realized significant cost savings
for Railinc by introducing a new vendor management process, infrastructure
improvement program and the use of open sourcetechnology. Simora's
vendor-management process alone has returned $8.5 million to Railinc since
January, with almost half coming from a new data center contract. Simora led
the RFO (request for offer), negotiating a contract that will improve financial
transparency, IT service levels and vendor accountability.
Simora is recognized as a finalist in the SearchCIO-Midmarket 2013 IT
Leadership Awards for more than just his vendor-management program. This
finalist's exceptional leadership is driving entrepreneurship and collaboration
deep into the company while fostering a playful culture of innovation. Learn
more about Simora's plan for success in this Q&A.
Official job title: CIO
Number of years in IT: 19 years
Company: Railinc
Revenue: $55 million
Number of employees in the company: 284
Number of employees in IT: 172
Educational background: MBA, Kenan-Flagler Business School, University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2010–2011); BS, information management
systems and finance, Fordham University (1990–1994)
Page 16 of 22 Sponsored by
The SearchCIO-Midmarket 2013 Enterprise IT Leadership Awards: The Winners
Contents
Cultural Innovation Award winner: Troy Neal
Technological Advancement Award winner: Isaac Sacolick
Business Value Award winner: Neal Kaderabek
Green Information Technology Award winner: Marcus Krawinkler
IT Engagement Award winner: Robert Simora
Customer Experience Award Winner: Pat Smith
First job: My parents ran a pharmacy when I was a kid. My job was dusting
shelves and helping my parents with anything and everything that needed to
be done to keep the store clean. Their entrepreneurial spirit taught me early
what a good work ethic meant.
LinkedIn: Robert Simora
Twitter Handle: @rsimora
What's the best advice you've ever received? We should listen twice as
much as we speak.
In the movie of your life, who would play your character? My friends all
say I look like Kevin James, so I would indulge them and let him play my
character.
If you could have just one superpower, what would it be and
why? That's easy --absolutely, no question -- flying. It would be a great
timesaver, and I would no longer have to pay for gas and sit in traffic. Plus, it
would just be cool.
What's your favorite app on your smartphone or tablet device? It's
almost old school at this point: I'd be lost without the email app on
my iPhone. By far the most-used app I have, and it keeps me productive
wherever I am. Texting is a close second.
Where do you fall in the iPhone versus Android debate? I've owned both
and to me there is no comparison to how well Apple does its user
interfaces and creates a seamless overall experience across apps and
devices.
Describe the best technology decision you ever made: My best decision
was probably my first -- purchasing a Commodore 64. It's what got me
interested in computers at an early age.
Was there ever a technology that you thought was a gimmick but now
couldn't live without? I wasn't too interested in the Nest, which is a learning
Page 17 of 22 Sponsored by
The SearchCIO-Midmarket 2013 Enterprise IT Leadership Awards: The Winners
Contents
Cultural Innovation Award winner: Troy Neal
Technological Advancement Award winner: Isaac Sacolick
Business Value Award winner: Neal Kaderabek
Green Information Technology Award winner: Marcus Krawinkler
IT Engagement Award winner: Robert Simora
Customer Experience Award Winner: Pat Smith
thermostat with an iPod like interface. I got one as a gift and it's an amazing
piece of technology that lets you control your thermostat remotely, and it
learns over a period of time your preferences. It paid for itself the first trip I
went on and forgot to set the thermostat before we left, and I could do it from
the car!
What's the biggest challenge you face in IT today? The explosion of
mobile devices and BYOD in general has challenged a lot of IT policies. I'm
all in favor of the movement, but it's tough to stay ahead of it.
Which role/internal partner do you rely upon the most? I have a great
relationship with all of my internal partners, but I spend the most time with the
head of our business units. If IT isn't aligned with the business, then we are
just wasting money and not working efficiently.
What's your prediction for the next big technology? Some of the
components are there already, but perfecting the self-healing data center will
be huge. No one can afford any downtime to their customers.
What's your favorite nonmonetary benefit or perk of your job? I love
watching my employees develop and grow in their positions, but the real
payoff comes when they solve problems before they become a problem for
customers, and I don't have to get involved.
What is the biggest problem you see with corporate cultures
today? Some companies haven't let or encouraged their cultures to change
or embrace the new way employees work and innovate. This is stifling
creativity and opportunities to innovate. If we can break the grip of what
we've known and embrace a little more of the unknown in this regard, I think
it will deliver a positive return ten-fold.
What are "rookie mistakes" that you see in up-and-coming IT
leaders? Not escalating an issue soon enough. By the time many issues are
reported it's very difficult to mitigate the impact and/or get the initiative back
on schedule. We don't need heroes -- when in doubt, escalate.
Page 18 of 22 Sponsored by
The SearchCIO-Midmarket 2013 Enterprise IT Leadership Awards: The Winners
Contents
Cultural Innovation Award winner: Troy Neal
Technological Advancement Award winner: Isaac Sacolick
Business Value Award winner: Neal Kaderabek
Green Information Technology Award winner: Marcus Krawinkler
IT Engagement Award winner: Robert Simora
Customer Experience Award Winner: Pat Smith
Describe your leadership style: Hire good people around you and manage
by objectives. Spend the most time with your top performers, communicate
often on expectations and provide continuous feedback. This approach has
worked for me time and again.
Customer Experience Award winner: Pat Smith Vice President & CIO, Our Kids of Miami-Dade/Monroe Inc.
Data privacy is a critical issue for CIOs -- breaches exact a cost, in reputation
and revenue. For finalist Patricia Smith protecting personally identifiable
information is a calling. The CIO at Our Kids of Miami-Dade Monroe Inc., a
not-for-profit serving abused, abandoned and neglected children, Smith
safeguards personal and sensitive information as if lives depended upon it --
because they do. To help these at-risk children, Our Kids needs to work with
-- and share sensitive personal data with -- hundreds of organizations, from
psychiatric service providers to shelters to schools. The agency also needs
to provide a safe way for its case workers to remotely access case files.
Smith and her IT team have played a vital role in helping Our Kids fulfill its
mission, implementing a sophisticated set of technologies to secure the
agency's network and provide the right level of access to the right person.
These security measures have led to an increase in the utilization of the Our
Kids network by 30% -- an improvement that goes right to the agency's
bottom line: saving kids' lives. Get to know the lighter side of Smith in this IT
Leader Q & A.
Number of years in IT: 25+
Company: Our Kids of Miami-Dade and Monroe Inc.
Revenue: $1 million
Number of employees in the company: 125
Number of employees in IT: 13
Page 19 of 22 Sponsored by
The SearchCIO-Midmarket 2013 Enterprise IT Leadership Awards: The Winners
Contents
Cultural Innovation Award winner: Troy Neal
Technological Advancement Award winner: Isaac Sacolick
Business Value Award winner: Neal Kaderabek
Green Information Technology Award winner: Marcus Krawinkler
IT Engagement Award winner: Robert Simora
Customer Experience Award Winner: Pat Smith
Educational background: MLS in library and information science, University
of Maryland; bachelor of arts in economics, University of Missouri
First job: Consultant
LinkedIn: Pat Smith
Twitter Handle: @patsyk9909
What's the best advice you've ever received? Let go of certainty. The
opposite isn't uncertainty. It's openness, curiosity and a willingness to
embrace change.
In the movie of your life, who would play your character? Meryl Streep
If you could have just one superpower, what would it be and why? The
ability to help someone, to relieve their misery, give them a hand when they
are down or resolve a bureaucratic problem with the click of my fingers!
What's your favorite app on your smartphone or tablet
device? Flipboard -- it enables me to catch up quickly.
Where do you fall in the iPhone versus Android debate? iPhone
Describe the best technology decision you ever made: Stop trying to
know everything.
Is there technology you view as a gimmick or overly-hyped? Cloud has
a role to play but is over-hyped.
What's the biggest challenge you face in IT today? Security
Which role/internal partner do you rely upon the most? My CEO
What's your prediction for the next big technology? Location-assisted
services on mobile devices. We've only scratched the surface.
Page 20 of 22 Sponsored by
The SearchCIO-Midmarket 2013 Enterprise IT Leadership Awards: The Winners
Contents
Cultural Innovation Award winner: Troy Neal
Technological Advancement Award winner: Isaac Sacolick
Business Value Award winner: Neal Kaderabek
Green Information Technology Award winner: Marcus Krawinkler
IT Engagement Award winner: Robert Simora
Customer Experience Award Winner: Pat Smith
What's your favorite nonmonetary benefit or perk of your
job? Satisfaction at making a difference in children's lives.
What is the biggest problem you see with corporate cultures
today? The goal to make money supersedes making the right decision.
What are "rookie mistakes" that you see in up-and-coming IT
leaders? Controlling too much; unwilling to delegate and collaborate.
Describe your leadership style: Dynamic, consensus builder, collaborator
and change agent. I am always challenging my staff, peers and colleagues to
try hard, to do more, to change the status quo and to do good things.
Page 21 of 22 Sponsored by
The SearchCIO-Midmarket 2013 Enterprise IT Leadership Awards: The Winners
Contents
Cultural Innovation Award winner: Troy Neal
Technological Advancement Award winner: Isaac Sacolick
Business Value Award winner: Neal Kaderabek
Green Information Technology Award winner: Marcus Krawinkler
IT Engagement Award winner: Robert Simora
Customer Experience Award Winner: Pat Smith
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