John Marcante, managing director and CIO of Vanguard, talks about how business leaders today have to understand IT, no matter what their title.
Watch the video or read the transcript below.
"You have to be able to balance efficiency and innovation. You have to be able to grow great relationships with the business, you have to be a partner. And I think in the past, a long time ago, IT was a service provider. We grew up focusing on bottom line things, we were part of corporate expense. That cannot be anymore. IT is an enabler for the future."
What characterizes IT-enabled business innovation?
"For us, the innovation process begins with what technologies are out there, and what can it enable. And it's really understanding what it can enable, through the eyes of the business leaders that makes sense. And you know, people always say, 'well, how do you balance those two?' And it's less about a balance, it's more about an integration, because everything we do today, every product we roll out, every new service we roll out, every change — big transformational change —that we go through in a business has a lens of technology.
The reality is I can't imagine a business leader today, being part of an executive team, and not being technology savvy. You have to be. You have to understand what technology can do. And that's why I think creating opportunities for IT and business leaders to figure out how to learn each other's disciplines and really understand technology as a business leader, really understand what it can enable. And truly, when business acumen combines with what technology can enable, you come up with innovation. It's that cross discipline, that you create this innovation."
If you had a magic wand, what would your most ideal IT infrastructure be?
"Private cloud, public cloud, hybrid cloud, they all play in the mix at Vanguard for sure, but the reality, if I could, get to a pure utility play, where we just pay for what we use, and you could do it in a highly, highly secure fashion and reliable fashion. As highly secure and reliable as we have today in-house, I think I would choose to do that because I think there's real value in flexibility and scale"
Read John Marcante's article, 'Your entire C-Suite needs to keep up with technology trends.'
John Marcante is Vanguard’s chief information officer and managing director of Vanguard’s Information Technology Division. Vanguard is the world’s largest mutual fund company with more than $2.6 trillion in global assets under management. Marcante oversees all aspects of Vanguard’s worldwide technology agenda to serve clients and manage investments. Mr. Marcante, with more than 26 years of experience in the business and technology fields, joined Vanguard in 1993. After serving in a number of leadership roles throughout the company, he returned to the IT division in 2012 and was named Vanguard’s chief information officer and managing director. Marcante holds a Bachelor's degree from Pennsylvania State University and an M.B.A. from Saint Joseph's University.
