Ken Finnerty, vice president of Information Services for UPS, talks to us about the IT culture within UPS and how he encourages his employees to take risks.
Watch the video or read the transcript below.
The Enterprisers Project (TEP): Describe your role in your enterprise.
Finnerty: I am responsible for all of what we would call the customer-facing technologies at UPS. So for example, our shipping systems, tracking systems — you know, those are the systems that basically inform consumers and shippers alike where packages are within our network, while they are in transit and on their way to delivery.
TEP: Describe the culture in your IT enterprise.
Finnerty: I describe it as a culture of collaboration. It's one where we move people around a great deal. And so when you move around, when you have other experiences, not only do you learn other technologies, you learn other parts of the business, it really completes the package. It makes you realize how hard other groups are working within the company to achieve the business strategy. And it helps... you know, they always say, "If you can walk a mile in someone else's shoes, that you really appreciate them." And I really think that is what it comes down to, especially in today's world. I think collaboration is really key to businesses succeeding.
TEP: How do you encourage risk-taking within IT?
Finnerty: I think one of the things that's enabled companies, whether it's UPS or other companies, to take more risks is the newer development methodologies, things like agile and the cloud. So we have an internal cloud so that infrastructure can be self-provisioned by developers without an approval process. And I hasten to call it a playground, but it certainly is a platform for some risk-taking, some ideation, some formulation of good ideas that might further a business case. Everyone has got incentive to try to refine the story in a way that creates something useful.
Ken Finnerty is vice president of Information Services at UPS.
