The Enterprisers Project thanks all of the CIOs, CTOs, and IT executives who have participated in our interviews in 2014. There is no better way to understand what IT executives are experiencing than to hear it straight from the experts. We've had an outstanding response to the interviews. Thank you to all of our community members, and we look forward to another enlightening year ahead.
Here is a list the interviews you read the most in 2014.
1. Major Overhaul: How the FCC CIO plans to modernize 207 legacy IT systems
When Dr. David A. Bray took the reins as the new CIO of the Federal Communications Commission last year, he spent some time listening and learning the history of the agency to find out more about the “health of the IT infrastructure” he had inherited. He learned the agency was saddled with 207 different legacy systems. That’s about one system for every eight employees in the 1,750-person agency. In this interview, Bray shares his plan for updating those systems, including how he’s going to keep up morale during a difficult and risky transition. He also discusses how he’s going to ensure there’s a role for everyone once all the upgrades are complete. Read more about his approach.
2. Gene Kim: What high-performing IT organizations do differently
Author and DevOps enthusiast Gene Kim is passionate about studying what makes successful IT organizations tick. Through his research, Kim has identified what makes high-performing IT organizations so successful, and he’s been sharing his learnings through his books, numerous speaking engagements, and articles. We recently asked him to share some of his findings with The Enterprisers Project. Here’s what we learned.
Major General Nick Justice has been singled out for his accomplishments working in various facets of technology during his nearly 43-year Army career. His many accolades include the Federal Computer Weekly’s Federal 100 Award in 2004 and 2008 and the 2008 Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association Award of Excellence in Information Technology. These days Major General Justice is consulting with commercial businesses, sharing his extensive IT knowledge. In this interview, we ask him to share his insights on the challenges facing CIOs in government and commercial industries. Read the full interview here.
4. Vanguard CIO: IT must enable and accelerate new products and services
John Marcante oversees all aspects of Vanguard's worldwide technology agenda to serve clients and manage investments and w
as named to his current position in 2012. In this interview, John gives four examples of how technology at Vanguard is viewed as a key enabler. He also includes his IT Value Flywheel which was adapted from Jim Collins. Read the full interview here.
5. Engaging, retaining and co-creating IT
NetApp senior vice president and CIO Cynthia Stoddard wants her staff to feel they can grow in their careers, have a voice in the overall strategy of the organization and be able to contribute to what IT is going to be in the future. She makes a point to make sure her whole organization understands the vision of her department and believes that these are the keys to retaining IT talent. Read the full interview here.
6. How do CIOs deal with agile and DevOps?
In this interview with Aaron Stibel, Executive Vice President ofTechnology for Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp, Aaron answers questions about how his team is handling the shift from waterfall software development to agile, he also discusses ways to measure the other impacts of DevOps. Read the full interview here.
7. Why too much talent is wasted by managers not daring to lose control
Building strong software teams is critical for CIOs and CTOs, says Mendix CTO, Johan den Haan. But how do managers create trust within teams and launch them into high-performance mode? In this interview, den Haan shares the approach he takes to empower his teams to do their best work at PaaS provider Mendix. Read the full interview here.
8. How to overcome the culture of "no" with Curt Carver
These days many IT-driven organizations are working hard to overcome their “no police” reputation. Business-minded IT leaders in particular know that saying no all the time won’t earn them a seat at the table. Yet saying yes to every request isn’t necessarily the right answer. In this interview we ask Curt Carver, the Vice Chancellor and CIO for the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, how he’s helping his IT department strike the right balance between yes and no. Read the full interview here.
9. How Massage Envy CIO uses outsourcing to enable innovation
Dan Miller is the former CIO of Massage Envy Spa, with more than 900 franchise locations. He says that by outsourcing maintenance and infrastructure, Massage Envy was able to free up IT for projects that matter to customers. In this interview, he explains how this move changed his operation and affected his relationship with the rest of the C-Suite. Read the full interview here.
10. How CIOs must prepare for the office of the future: Q&A with Ari Bose
Minda Zetlin interviews Ari Bose, Chief Information Officer of Brocade, about how CIOs must prepare for the office of the future. He explains what he thinks the biggest challenges facing IT will be in the future and how offices will be different than what we are used to today. In addition, he explains how supporting this future will require specific skills and how IT leaders will have to adapt to the new realities. Read the full interview here.
