How do CIOs and IT executives build a team that slays the competition with fresh ideas and new approaches to old problems? The Enterprisers Project asked top IT executives to share some of the tip top items they look for when they are talking to prospective candidates and the key hires they plan to make in 2015. Here's what they said:
1. RISK TAKERS
Tom Soderstrom, IT CTO, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
"Who am I looking to hire in 2015? Thematically, we are looking for risk-takers, people who can be self-starters. In particular we want the rapid prototyping mindset, which means people who can just jump in and try something, and then iterate to perfection. Of course we want the smartest and the best and the brightest — that goes without saying — but we are able to attract a lot of the smartest people at JPL because we’re creating an environment where they can use the latest technology. That drives a lot of people’s decisions of where they go. Money is a factor, but it’s also about working in an environment with tools and people that they like and appreciate. Specifically:
- We’re looking for data scientist skill sets.
- We’re looking for mobile developers.
- We’re looking for UNIX/Linux people.
- We’re looking for people who understand and are comfortable working in the cloud.
- And of course we are looking for developers of various types.
It’s really the decade of the developer, except what a developer does is changing. It isn’t just somebody who can sling C/C++ or Java code, but also someone who has the ability to string different tool sets together and create something that provides rapid insight."
2. BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE
Curt Carver, Vice Chancellor and Chief Information Officer for the Board of Regents, University System of Georgia
"Given the business environment today, we’re hiring in business intelligence, specifically in report writing, and in security. I have searches in both areas actively underway right now, but I find the BI role particularly interesting.
As time goes on we are increasingly dependent on predictive analytics and descriptive analytics. Our old approaches to doing this are no longer valid. We’ve got to revolutionize how we’re going to approach business intelligence as it applies to higher education. So we’re investing to modernize that entire process, expanding scope and becoming increasingly agile. This idea that all reports need to be translated by IT is foolish. We’ve got to build self-service. We’ve got to build dashboards that are tailored to individual users and allow a greater ability to do ad hoc queries safely. And all that requires a different approach to how we’re looking at data.
In the last five to 10 years it has been acceptable to do descriptive analytics. That’s not what my users need anymore. Take enrollment. They want to know what are the enrollment trends between now and 2030 and what can we do to influence that. What impact does that have? Instead of looking backward, they’re trying to look forward, then make appropriate policy decisions now that shape that future."
3. SECURITY & PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS
Cynthia Stoddard, CIO, NetApp
"My organization continually evaluates the different skills we need to help build and strengthen our NetApp IT team. By combining rigorous workforce planning and talent management processes we decide which roles should be in-house and which roles should be sourced through our partners to meet our business objectives. Today, we have two top-priorities.
1. Security. From the critical skills aspect, we are focusing on security. Specifically, we’ve been building out our skills to bring the higher level of security analytics to our business.
2. Predictive Analytics. The second area that we’re focused on is what we call our next-generation business analytics. It’s a combination of big data and analytics for the organization, so we can move more fully from being descriptive to predictive."
4. SECURITY, IT ARCHITECTS, NETWORK ENGINEERS, AND MORE
Jay Ferro, CIO, American Cancer Society
"IT professionals are a very competitive market right now, especially when you have half your staff in Atlanta, where the IT unemployment rate is probably under 1 percent. But the American Cancer Society is also spread out in hundreds of locations across the country. We make a virtue of this fact, since we can go where the talent is.
At the top of our wish list is security talent, which is probably the same for many others. Business intelligence and data analytics are a close second and third, and are also tough hires today. Finally, IT architect positions are very tough and competitive, as are network engineers. Those would be the five hires I’d like to make most."
5. PROCESS-ORIENTED STAFFER WHO KNOWS IT
"A very good process-oriented staffer who knows IT. This isn’t a Business Analyst that can translate business processes into requirements for developers to go build. This is someone who understands process and change management so they can help assess weaknesses in the IT function, measure true indicators, and build effective IT processes.
Customers measure IT projects by one formula: Did IT deliver what I needed by the time I needed it? Understanding how to translate that into the factors that will ensure a positive outcome and aligning the IT staff and processes to achieving that goal is like gold."
6. TECHNICAL SKILLS, BUSINESS ACUMEN AND LEADERSHIP
John Marcante, CIO and Managing Director of Vanguard's Information Technology Division, Vanguard
"We continue to focus on hiring individuals who have the intersection of three important competencies: technical skills, business acumen, and leadership. We look for college and specialized hires that demonstrate these traits and cultivate their skills further through training and leadership development programs. We also seek candidates who are driven by a noble mission."
7. PROJECT MANAGERS & BUSINESS ANALYSTS
Jen Skrabak, Director, PMO and Technology Enablement, UnitedHealth Group
"When I look at my hiring strategy for 2015, what’s really critical for me are project managers and business analysts. These are two very distinct and separate skill sets. Some people can do both really well. But to me, project managers — and I have a particular passion around project management myself — are not just the checklist people. They can actually help articulate the entire vision to the team, and then help break down the work in such a way that we all remain focused on the overall goal while not requiring everyone to know all of the pieces of it. Especially on large programs with potentially hundreds of people involved, you can lose sight of the vision and then how your work fits into that and what should you be doing day to day. So I think project managers are really critical in giving that day-to-day direction.
As for business analysts, these are colleagues who have an understanding of the business domain and can go beyond just gathering requirements. I don’t think requirements are 'gathered.' You don’t just walk out and pick them up along the side of the road. It’s a unique and rare skill set to be able to solicit requirements, negotiate them, extract raw information, then analyze it and then come up with a presentation of information in a manner that actually makes sense to people and – most importantly – can be turned into real solutions.
8. CUSTOMER ADVOCACY AND MOBILE DEVELOPMENT EXPERTS
Tim Elkins, CIO, PrimeLending
"PrimeLending is rolling out a huge initiative this year to allow customers to apply for a home loan using their mobile phone. That said, a few priority hires rise to the top:
- A Customer Advocacy Specialist: This may not be the precise title for this person, but they must be able to help us to craft superior user experiences using technology.
- Mobile Development Experts: That has been a huge push over the past year and we continue to hire here.
- Business-Technology Specialists: Again, not an exact title, but we need people who can easily navigate the line between business and technology so that I can embed them in departments. Why? Because the future of what a Technology department looks like is much more business-focused than a lot of them are today. We’ve had a few loan officers step up to take on this role and they give us invaluable input on how to improve our customer-facing systems."
