CIO
DEVELOPING THE NEXT GENERATION OF LEADERS
Where leadership, vision and technology converge to transform and advance business.
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JUST THINK IT
MOVING FROM DOING TO ENVISIONING
PARTNERS
2
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Welcome to the ‘new’ CIO Tomorrow
W
where we can bring the area’s IT
thought leaders together,” White said.
elcome to our inaugural CIO Tomorrow event and special publication.
More than a decade ago, a group of
enterprising Central Ohio chief information officers came together and
created an event, then titled The CIO
Symposium.
Later, the event was renamed CIOhio in an effort to attract CIOs from
around the state. Several years after,
the event again was renamed TechTomorrow.
Indeed, CIO Tomorrow is the same
event. And some of the same chief
information officers who first created
this event continue to serve as the
organizers of our new CIO Tomorrow.
I’d like to personally thank Angelo
Mazzocco, chief information officer
of COPCP, Central Ohio Primary Care
Physicians, who came to me some 18
David White
Angelo Mazzocco
CIO, Battelle
CIO, Central Ohio
Primary Care Physicians
months ago to gauge Business First’s
interest in helping to market and produce their event. Mazzocco was the
inaugural chairman of this event in
2002.
Special thanks go to Mazzocco and
David White, chief information officer
at Battelle Memorial Institute, who is
chairman of our CIO Tomorrow event
this year.
“I’m very hopeful that we are beginning to create the premier IT conference for the Central Ohio region,
“We will share some very meaningful
content and offer great opportunities
to network and share intelligence,”
the CIO Tomorrow chairman continued. “I’m excited that we have included other C-level leaders in our conference—it’s not just IT people talking
with other IT people.”
Added Mazzocco: “This is an event
that is put on by CIOs for CIOs, for
the purpose to learn more, network
more, and add value to the technology and information services across
Central Ohio.”
“The core planning team is made up
of CIOs,” Mazzocco said. “We went out
and found some of the most knowledgeable IT leaders to talk about topics of most interest to CIOs.”
Director Nick Fortine, who is our point
person on this event, says CIO Tomorrow is all about preparing the future
IT leaders of Central Ohio to be more
than just technology leaders. “How
do we harness technology to be part
of our overall strategy?” Fortine asks.
“Today’s technology leader is really a
business strategy leader.”
If you are a chief information officer,
chief technology officer, or you plan
on becoming one, put this event on
your calendar. CIO Tomorrow will indeed become a stepping stone for
your IT career. n
Don DePerro
President & Publisher
Columbus Business First Advertising
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Developing the Next Generation of Leaders | CIO-Tomorrow.com
FROM THE CHAIRMAN
CIOs tie innovation to business strategy
T
he world continues to move at alarming pace. Change isn’t just inevitable – it’s constant. And
nowhere is that more evident than the digital space. That’s why we’re so excited about this year’s
conference.
We know just how easy it can be for a company to fall behind. If you aren’t prepared for constant
changes in the industry, the learning curve is steep and difficult to overcome.
CIO-Tomorrow grants you direct access to veteran executives who can share their perspectives, experiences
and insights to help you navigate this new area in leadership development.
As the current CIO at a company that opened its doors in 1929 – when the world was much different – I am
no stranger to the difficulties of moving into the 21st century and embracing all that the digital world has to
offer. There are daily struggles to address – security vs. ease of sharing information, strict guidelines for government clients vs. more relaxed parameters for others, etc. – that require a great deal of agility.
If we don’t have the right leaders in place – leaders who are willing to embrace innovation – we all will have
difficult paths ahead. Ensuring the right education opportunities exist also plays a key role in future successes. I’m proud to work for a company that values STEM education (science, technology, engineering and
math) and is doing its part to help develop future leaders in our field.
Additionally, it is important that we provide opportunities for entry to women and minorities who are underrepresented in the digital workspace because a diverse workspace is a strong workspace.
From arming up-and-coming leaders with new skills to ensure their success in a more complicated digital
world, to finding ways to keep the momentum going, we hope that you leave here today equipped with the
right tools to make sure you are developing the next generation of leaders. n
David White
CIO
Corporate Information
Technology
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5
KEYNOTE INSIGHT
Futurists will rely on intersection of people, process, technology
Thornton A. May
Futurist & Executive Director
IT Leadership Academy
Conference Moderator
I
began my career as an anthropologist
studying tribal behavior in the modern
Japanese corporation. Upon returning to the U.S., I apprenticed with überfuturist Alvin Toffler [Future Shock; Third
Wave; and Power Shift], assisting in creating the national digital strategies for Singapore, Korea and Mexico. We discovered the
ultimate driver of national competitive advantage is the talent pipeline – specifically
an executive cadre who can sense future
technology-created opportunities in time
to capitalize on them and identify threats
early enough to avoid them. Too many
executives still have a value-destroying
“IT is a black box” or “IT is someone else’s
job” mental model. Job #1 for high performance organizations is developing the next
generation of leaders.
I am often quoted as saying, “All organizations are on a digital journey – most have
no map, no guide and bad shoes.” A fellow
futurist has a simple and yet surprisingly
accurate predictive model of how a given
individual will react to any technology. It
all comes down to the birthdate of the technology.
The number one driver of the “State of the
World by 2015” will be the content of people’s
heads – the beliefs, desires and ideas that
executives have about technology.
If the technology was completed after you
were 35 you view it as “completely pointless, and it tends to make you angry.
The CIO of Tomorrow – actually the CIO of
Today – has a major role to play in developing the next generation of business leaders.
ficer. The boffins at various subscription
research firms seem intent on burying
CIOs. We are bombarded with statistics
like “54 percent of line-of-business executives agree with the statement that
non-IT departments view the IT group as
an obstacle to their mission” [CIO Magazine] and “Thirty-eight percent of total IT
spend is outside of IT already – heading
to 50 percent by 2017”. These statistics
are worthless. This obsession with “who
spends the money” has to stop. The real
issue becomes, “Did the money spent create supra-normal value?”
Executives now running most organizations
are in that third category.
Much has been written about the impending demise of the Chief Information Of-
One of our keynotes when CIO at Chico’s
was the only executive left standing after
If the technology was invented before you
were born, you don’t even think of it as
“technology”, you think of it as “just there.”
If the technology was invented before you
were middle aged you view it as very exciting –something to be engaged actively
with.
When asked what will determine the “State
of the World by 2025”, most futurists would
not answer powerful computers, breakthroughs in medicine, or even 100percent
renewable energy. The number one driver
of the “State of the World by 2015” will be
the content of people’s heads – the beliefs,
desires and ideas that executives have
about technology.
a private equity purge of the executive
suite. The IT organization was viewed as
“the value base”. The private equity chief
explained, “My dad always said to me,
‘You’ve got to dig it, grow it, or build it; everything else is just fluff.’” IT is not fluff.
Another critical question to ask is not what
line of business executives think of IT but
the quality of thought on the part of the
business executives regarding how to
make money/create competitive advantage with IT.
A broad systemic issue exists here. Most
boards of directors today do not include
executives who have a proven track record
of managing disruptive technologies to
create competitive advantage.
The challenge of managing the intersection of people, process and technology is
not a new one. There is a lack of best practices. Attending the “CIO Tomorrow” conference is a great way to explore the new
way. I hope to see you there. n
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6
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KEYNOTE INSIGHT
Listening to customers is important as ever
A
s the world becomes more digital
and more social, today’s consumers live in the land of now – tweeting, pinning, posting and streaming
in between texting and status updating. At
no other time in history have customers had
such an ability and opportunity to aim their
voices at companies, and even leaders.
As leaders, we must tap into this territory, listen to what these customers are saying and
act decisively. We must instill this movement of change in our employees as well as
give them the tools to execute. That is what
Gary King
EVP and CIO
T-Mobile has been doing for the past two
years. And, it seems to be working.
Two years ago, we faced a number of challenges in an industry dominated by a duo-
poly. The wireless industry rules were holding us back. What do you do if the big guys
won’t let you play? You create your own
rules.
Un-carrier is our response. We are tearing
down the rules of wireless and challenging
the norms all for the benefit of our customers. These industry moves, as well as IT
changes we’ve made, have come out of a
focus on the customer. This focus drives
T-Mobile leaders and employees to listen,
develop and execute.
T-Mobile is dragging the wireless industry
kicking and screaming into the future. Our
reward? Customers telling us we are doing
something right. They recognize we are
changing the industry for the better and are
choosing T-Mobile in unprecedented numbers.
The key is to have the common sense to
listen to customers. Then, empower employees to turn that conversation into executable deliverables that make customers’
lives easier, simpler and better. n
Belief, momentum critical for future IT leaders
A
primary lesson for the next generation of IT leaders is that real
success comes from not only developing a viable agenda, but also
getting people behind that agenda with
sustainable momentum. While that may
seem obvious to some, this is not an easy
task. There is often much to learn about
how that momentum gets established and
how it can be assured in the face of technological change, business uncertainties
and expanding global influences.
The question that intrigues me, and which
Dr. Don Marinelli
Academic Director
Entertainment Technology
Management Program
Columbia University School
of Continuing Education
will propel my comments at the “CIO Tomorrow” conference is, “What can we as IT
leaders really learn from our inventions?”
This investigation focuses on how the
arduous creation of software, code, operating systems, data management, and
overall system and server architecture,
can then inform, guide, enlighten, and potentially rewire, the “hardware” that is us.
What is it that IT leaders can learn from the
fruits of their labor; namely, the creation
and sustenance of solidly built, reliable,
and innovative software systems? What
we will discover is that there is an incredible amount of humanity in these systems,
a replication of both the machine that is
our corporeal self, as well as the aesthetic
and spiritual aspects to human existence.
And, in the same way that software is con-
stantly evolving, improving, and achieving
greater clarity and efficiency, so, too, must
IT leaders be evolving in their understanding of their responsibility and obligation to
the companies they serve and to greater
humanity. n
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7
KEYNOTE INSIGHT
PHOTO courtesy of: San Francisco Giants
Redeﬁne
your peak
performances
Bill Schlough
SVP & CIO
San Francisco Giants
W
inning in business, like in sports,
requires peak performance.
Performance that is superior to
the competition, on a sustained
basis. What is the secret to sustaining peak
performance? Day after day, year after year?
Is it even possible to sustain peak performance—or is that an oxymoron?
Yesterday’s peak performance is tomorrow’s
status quo. Sustainable competitive advantage is just as hard to find in sports as it is
in business. The secret is finding ways to
redefine peak performances through a sustained commitment to innovation. There is
always another mountain to climb.
The San Francisco Giants have spent the
past decade redefining peak performances.
If we’re not questioning and reinventing
every aspect of our business on a regular
basis, we are doomed to fail.
Three World Series titles in five years. MVPcaliber contributions from every player on
the field, finding unique and different ways
to win. A 347-game regular season sellout
streak. The first sports facility to become a
Wi-Fi hotspot and the first to deliver video
replays to fans’ mobile devices. The first
team to embrace and create an online secondary market for their tickets. The first
Social Media Café. One of the first baseball
franchises to pilot pitch tracking, hit tracking and player tracking technologies. The
first sports organization to commit 100 percent to dynamic ticket pricing of every seat
in the ballpark.
These achievements are a reflection of our
organizational mission: “The San Francisco
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Giants are dedicated to enriching our community through innovation and excellence,
on and off the field.” Innovation is clearly at
the core of our DNA. Being satisfied with the
way things have been done in the past (aka
complacency) is not culturally acceptable
at the Giants. If we’re not questioning and
reinventing every aspect of our business on
a regular basis, we are doomed to fail.
Today’s peak performance is tomorrow’s
status quo. Perhaps you can win once on
the basis of good fortune or good timing.
Maybe twice if you’re really lucky. But to do
it three times in five years? That requires a
sustained commitment to innovation. n
8
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Advertising Supplement to Columbus Business First | 04.24.15
What a CEO looks for in tomorrow’s IT leaders
Tying innovation and technology to business strategy
by Molly Culbertson
Reporter | CIO-Tomorrow
“Executives want IT leaders who can translate technology into business strategies,”
said David White, CIO of Battelle Memorial
Institute. “What can you do to help the business make more money? How can you tie IT
systems to revenue growth?”
In its annual CIO survey last year, global
consulting firm Deloitte reported that a significant majority of CIOs say that responding to new business needs and driving digital strategy are their top priorities for the
next 12 to 18 months. Deloitte compared
today’s IT leaders to venture capitalists:
Venture capitalists “operate in a high-stakes
environment where extraordinary value creation and inevitable loses can coexist inside
a portfolio of calculated investments. So do
CIOs.”
The Deloitte report also said that more and
more, CIOs are seeing themselves as part
of the executive team: Half of the CIOs that
Deloitte surveyed rate themselves “strong
and effective” partners with their executive
teams—a 10 percent increase over the previous year.
“Battelle is working to develop savvy and
well-rounded future CIOs by putting IT folks
into leadership cohorts.”
David White | CIO, Battelle
Branndon Kelley, CIO at American Municipal Power, Inc. (AMP), a nonprofit power
and services provider for member municipal electric systems, said, “A CEO expects
his or her IT leader to bring new ideas to the
table. It’s all about wrapping IT around the
strategy of the organization.”
Kelley said he learned early in his career that
“I could deliver value by first understanding
how I could help my peers do their jobs better. A CIO has to be diverse. You have to be
able to understand and discuss finance as
easily as technology. You have to be able to
talk about value and business strategy…you
can’t be just the IT guy who fixes computers.”
As an example of adding value, he said, when
AMP plans new power plants, Kelley brings
predictive analytics to the table, to help determine such things as the likelihood of future outages. “The executive team can see
how critical technology is to the business.”
Be strategic about building relationships,
too, Kelley said. “Understand what other
leaders contribute to the business, and how
their operations work. In the old model,
the IT leader might have announced, ‘This
is what we’re going to do [with technology] and this is how it’s going to work.’ That
model simply doesn’t work any more.”
Kelley recommends making a point of “living a day in the life of the people you work
with. What are your peers’ pain points? How
can you help them get to solutions?”
Battelle’s CIO White agrees. “It’s critical
that you understand what your clients internally are doing. You may have a technology solution that works technically, but
doesn’t work at all functionally.” Battelle is
working to develop savvy and well-rounded future CIOs by putting IT folks into leadership cohorts, White said. “Our future
leaders are learning diversity in thought as
they learn how different areas of Battelle
work.”
Industry leaders and analysts agree that
the time is right for CIOs to fully engage
with their CEOs and the rest of the executive team. When the technology research
firm Gartner, Inc. released the findings of
its global CIO survey late last year, it noted that “CIOs are being presented with
a unique opportunity to become digital
leaders.” Gartner VP Dave Aron said, “Being a powerful digital leader and influencer takes time, and CIOs need to spend time
being digital leaders. The survey data…
tells us that, all things being equal, the
CIOs with higher performance as IT leaders spend significantly less time running
the IT shop and delegate some business
unit leader engagement. This gives them
an extra 5 percent ‘time bonus,’ or a day
per month, to engage the board, senior
leadership, and external customers.”
AMP’s Kelley said, “I think that in 10 years,
the CEO will look at the IT leader, and understand all the things that a strategic CIO
brings to the table. I think then that CIOs
will be seen as logical heirs to the top leadership positions in corporations.” n
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Earning a seat at the executive table
Marketing yourself internally is key to gaining a seat at the executive table, say several Central Ohio CIOs
by Molly Culbertson
T
Reporter | CIO-Tomorrow
oday’s successful CIOs have moved
their IT divisions from being the
custodians of core IT systems to
becoming partners in the strategic
growth of their companies.
“The executive team must see their CIO as
an effective partner,” said Sally Miller, CIO at
Exel. “You want them to know that you’re a
strong and key contributor to the business.
That means several things: You’re competent in your role, you’re on top of the constantly changing world of IT, and you can
educate the executive team on what technologies can do for the business.”
Kris Merz, CIO at The Limited, agreed. “Technology used to be in the background of most
businesses, a costly expense center. But
technologies today can help any business
to be successful. It’s really important that, as
an IT leader, you can make your voice heard,
so that you can bring those new technologies to the business.”
Key to maintaining relevance, Merz said, is
“your ability to change. Things change all
“Get out and engage with your peers in the
business. Understand what your trusted vendors
are bringing to you. What are the solutions you
can bring to the business? ”
Kris Merz | CIO, The Limited
the time, both in your business and in technology. Being a leader means really understanding the business and what’s new in IT.
Get out and engage with your peers in the
business. Understand what your trusted
vendors are bringing to you. What are the
solutions you can bring to the business?”
Merz said that she reports directly to the
CEO at The Limited, but recognizes that
many CIOs do not. “When you’re really a
key partner, though, you’re reporting to the
CEO,” she said. “If you’re not, if you’re reporting to the CFO, for example, it’s your job to
convince the CFO that you need a spot at
the table. This isn’t a personal power thing:
It’s about making sure that you’re able to do
your job and bring solutions. You’ll be able
to deliver better ideas and better solutions if
you hear things first hand.”
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Ron Frissora, CIO and part of the executive
steering committee at M/I Homes, said he
is constantly presenting new technologies
to vet and approve. By keeping technology
top of mind with the executive committee,
he said, he can help keep IT relevant. “It’s
also really helpful to find business partners
internally that you can work with and help
provide solutions for. They’ll help sell the
power of IT for you.”
John Kish, CIO at Safe Auto Insurance
Company, concurred. “If you start by solving a business problem, you’re probably
not going to go wrong.” To ensure that his
IT organization was solving problems effectively, he said, “I organized application
development teams who work directly
with business developers in a highly collaborative way.”
When he first joined Safe Auto a couple
of years ago, Kish said, “the backlog of IT
projects was prioritized by who spoke the
loudest about the projects they wanted.”
Now, he said, his IT team prioritizes by focusing on growth projects. “I take a central
role in measuring IT projects by looking at
opportunity costs: What opportunities will
we not be able to take advantage of if we
don’t take on a growth project?”
Kish has also made the relevance of IT
more evident through accessible data.
“We’ve created a data analytics team, and
the team has made current data available
to anyone who needs it when they need it.
We’re also making sure that the folks who
need the data understand how to read it.”
By helping their executive teams understand the tremendous value of technology
and how it can help drive business strategies, these IT leaders have changed the
perception of IT within their businesses.
No longer viewed as simply running costly
service divisions, they’ve gained a seat at
the table, and have become partners with
their executive teams. n
10
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Advertising Supplement to Columbus Business First | 04.24.15
Just Think It: moving from doing to envisioning
To get the most from technology’s potential, area CIOs say, IT leaders need to focus on more unstructured and
creative thinking. Those that can’t are at risk of losing their value within their company structure.
by Molly Culbertson
Reporter | CIO-Tomorrow
“Traditionally, IT organizations have done
just what the business requires,” said Denise Zabawski, CIO at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. “But today, companies are
recognizing that technology has the potential to drive business strategy.”
The primary IT function used to be providing back office support, she noted, with
IT focusing on systems implementation,
repairs, and updates. “Of course there is
always a critical service aspect to what IT
does, but in organizations where IT has
been successful at gaining a seat at the executive table, that service aspect is paired
with thinking and expertise that help move
the business forward.”
Gaining a seat at the table is often easier
said than done, she said. “The executive
team has to be able to see technology as a
supporter of the strategic plan, rather than
just a service.”
The industry a particular IT team is in also
has a lot of impact on how executives view
technology, she said. “In healthcare, there
are so many changes happening so quickly,
industry leaders recognize that technology is the key to keeping up with and even
keeping ahead of changes.”
The impact of big data has helped business leaders understand the power of IT,
Zabawski said. At Nationwide Children’s
Hospital, for example, the largest pediatric accountable care organization (ACO) in
the country, “we have to have data to do
accountable care well. And IT has to provide the data.” (ACOs bring healthcare providers from various organizations to help
ensure that Medicare patients get highquality care: the goal is to improve health
outcomes and reduce costs.)
“The executive team has to be able to see
technology as a supporter of the strategic plan,
rather than just a service.”
Denise Zabawski | CIO, Nationwide Children’s Hospital
As IT’s strategic role in the business grows,
it’s important “to work smarter, not harder,”
she said. In this way, IT can give a company
a great advantage. For example, because IT
works with every division, “you get to see
the particular pain points of nearly every
department. And sometimes you can come
up with one software solution for pain
points in multiple departments: That’s strategic, smart, and saves money.”
Exploiting new technologies can create
competitive advantages for the company.
Ben Stormer, who co-directs Fuse, Cardinal
Health’s year-old innovation center, said,
“Today, you absolutely have to be digital to
be relevant. The traditional IT model was all
about saving dollars. But there just aren’t
many products in existence that don’t have
digital components. Investments and developments in new technologies can provide new business opportunities.”
With Fuse, Cardinal Health has created a
space for IT to focus on new technologies.
Fuse was developed specifically as an innovation space, because Cardinal’s leadership was not satisfied with the speed at
which it was developing new technologies
in its traditional corporate setting. (The ser-
vice function of IT still resides at Cardinal’s
headquarters.)
At Fuse, which is situated away from Cardinal’s corporate campus, a large open
workspace is filled with teams of six or so
innovators, working together to test various technology solutions. “Our systems
are lean and agile, so that we can bring
successful products from ideas to market
ready more quickly,” Stormer said.
For Zabawski and Stormer, and their respective organizations, moving their IT
departments from service organizations to
envisioning organizations has represented
transformational change, and also requires
the ability of their organizations to continually adapt to a continually changing environment. The transformation has brought
about tremendous advantages: the ability
to create, evaluate, and pursue new business opportunities in an ongoing and strategic way. n
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INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE
Future technology must meet ever-increasing expectations
Bruce Barnes
President, Bold Vision
A
Chinese philosopher once said, “If
you do not change direction, you
may end up where you are heading”.
Considering the two absolute certainties
now looming on the horizon, all industries
would be wise to re-examine the paths
they are currently on.
The first certainty is that the upcoming
generation of workers and consumers will
be more “digitized” and technology dependent than any other time in history.
The resulting second is that in order to
survive this environmental transformation all enterprises must find viable ways
to meaningfully respond to this growing
wave of increased expectations, both internally and externally – and that clock is
ticking loudly.
We are now at a pivotal moment where
things will undeniably be different from
here on out. Going forward, all future
leaders must be fully dialed in to the new
ways in which true value will be measured,
the new tools and methods through which
that value can be delivered, and the level
of “new knowing” that will now be required in a world where ignorance (i.e.,
“the lack of knowing”) will no longer be
tolerated.
Yes…I do think that most enterprises
recognize the emergence of this growing
change and uncertainty. Yet, I also think
that many businesses are still struggling
to cope with these disruptive and competitive effects. Simply wishing it all away,
or instead trying to rationalize why the recharting of legacy directions is somehow
not needed, will likely add yet one more
certainty……that you and your enterprise
will end up as laggards or losers.
The one clear reality that we all now face
here is that this is a true “leadership moment”. No more excuses, no more denials.
If our expanded opportunities are to be
fully realized in the midst of this fast-learning/fast-applying world, we need leaders
who can help us not only see the implications of where we are now, but also articulate viable visions of where we instead
could be, as well as help us quickly and
willingly navigate to those new end points
by making use of all of the resources at our
disposal. That includes talent.
Businesses that are ready to effectively
engage our next generation workforce in
achieving those new end points will have
a head start in overcoming legacy barriers
sooner rather than later.
The “CIO Tomorrow” conference is a meaningful way to help next generation leaders
start to think forward, past the mental barriers of what we do now, and instead focus
on the possibilities that could exist, as well
as how to get there. n
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Speeding the innovation lifecycle
Today’s CIO must be an agent of innovation: defining, developing, and testing processes for rapid technology solutions
by Molly Culbertson
Reporter | CIO-Tomorrow
“In today’s economy, and in an era of profound technological advancement, companies have to be willing to disrupt themselves, or they’ll be disrupted by forces
outside the company,” said Ben Blanquera,
a senior executive at Pillar Technology
Group in Columbus. “In order to exist and
thrive into the future, companies need to be
able to change, and change more quickly
than they ever did before. They must be
able to innovate, and innovate fast.”
Technologies are advancing so rapidly, he
said, “most industry leaders will soon be
fighting for survival. Challengers will come
from everywhere: from all sorts of start-ups
and from other industries.
“I don’t think they have to change 10 times
faster; I think companies need to change
and innovate 100 times faster than they currently do.”
The good news? “Disruption equals reinvention: A company that can disrupt itself
is more focused and energetic than before.”
“A CIO has to be diverse. You have to be able
to understand and discuss finance as easily as
technology, value and business strategy.”
Branndon Kelley | CIO, American Municpial Power, Inc.
Blanquera cited Amazon as a company that
has successfully reinvented itself repeatedly. “Amazon began as an online Barnes &
Noble,” he said. “Today, it’s the easiest place
in the world to find just about anything you
want, and have it delivered to your door.”
Large, publicly-held companies often find
that such reinvention is very difficult. “Once
you scale, the level of inertia grows. But
when a company’s leadership knows it
needs to innovate more quickly, the company can change,” Blanquera said.
Innovation—the transformation of ideas
into successful products and services—is
all about meeting customer needs, Blanquera said. “The goal is to identify customer
needs, identify the right ideas to meet those
WHAT’S NEXT FOR IT LEADERS?
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“The challenge facing CIOs and their teams is how the IT organization
can play a more strategic role, especially as many of the tactical tasks
they focus on today continue to diminish in importance.”
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needs, then test them quickly—and inexpensively.”
According to PricewaterhouseCoopers
(PwC), today’s strategic CIOs can help speed
the innovation lifecycle by developing and
instituting an end-to-end process for innovation. (PwC calls this the “idea-to-cash
process.”) As a key member of the executive
team, the CIO can help drive the creation
and management of the innovation process, and put together and implement the
technology through which the business executes the innovation process.
Forge, the Pillar Technology Group’s innovation center in downtown Columbus, was
created to help Pillar speed its innovation
lifecycle, and to help its large Fortune 500
clients do so, as well, Blanquera said. Forge
is a large, open, collaborative workspace.
“It’s an ecosystem where all employees are
learning all the time. We hire the best people, and together we come up with ideas,
create solutions, test them, refine them.”
Forge has become an attractive place for
some of Pillar’s clients to send their best innovators to work, too, Blanquera said.
“Once there’s an idea that might address a
customer’s problem, creative people need
to collaborate to evaluate it, refine it, combine it with other ideas, throw it out, whatever,” said Tim Heller, co-director of Cardinal Health’s Fuse, which has a vibe similar
to Forge. “We evaluate an idea based on
potential value, market trends, and how
it works with our existing efforts. Ideas are
vetted through our teams; together, we prioritize them.” An idea might be put on hold,
retested, or merged with other ideas.
“The question really is, ‘How do you enable innovation?’” Heller said. “How do you
inspire passion and engagement, and get
people excited about moving the ideas in
their brains to the tangible?”
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13
INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE
Heller and Cardinal’s leadership clearly
believe that an important part of enabling
innovation is to provide an environment
where smart people talk with each other
and create together. “Here, ideas are shared
among others constantly. The ideas are vetted every day—and the best ones are ultimately turned into healthcare innovations.”
Fuse implements lean management techniques, too, focusing on continuous improvement, efficiencies, and quality. “We’re
very product-centric,” Heller said. That is,
teams work on products, not projects. “Innovation starts with a problem, and we
know that innovation can come from anywhere. You certainly don’t have to be an ‘innovator’ to innovate.”
When a team has an idea that they believe
might result in a business solution, Heller
said, there is an expedited 48-hour approval
process for funding. “Once a team provides
specific information about the product it
wants to work on, we’ll get a quick answer
as to whether it will be funded.” When funded, the team goes to work on the product,
taking it through a rapid innovation cycle.
“Generally, it takes about three months to
prove out an idea,” Heller said.
“We invited our customer advisory group
to visit us here at Fuse, and hosted a sort
of ‘Shark Tank’ like event. The group threw
out some challenges, gave us some problems to try to fix. They went away; we went
to work. When we brought the same group
back here eight weeks later, they were
floored with what we delivered.”
Fuse has been in existence just under a
year. To date, its innovators have created
eight startups, including mobile devices,
cloud-based software, and medicine dispensers that help manage inventory and
reduce waste.
At both Pillar’s Forge and Cardinal’s Fuse,
the focus is on creativity. (At Fuse, each employee gets some “spark” time each week,
spending about 5% of work time on whatever is most important to them.)
The environment and team structure encourages experimentation, where teams
work out lots of different concepts and are
allowed to fail fast, without penalty. “You
have to experiment to innovate,” Heller
said. “Some experiments are going to fail.
That just leads to more learning.”
This work environment has enabled much
quicker idea-to-market innovations. It’s also
enabled Cardinal and Pillar to attract some
of the best and brightest technology talent
from around the country.
“Our goal is to give our customers the technology solutions they want,” Heller said.
“Our folks have been finding ways to bring
innovative solutions to market much faster
than we could in a more traditional corporate setting.” n
14
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INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE
What makes a great CIO today?
Pamela Springer
Founding Partner
SpringerNav LLC
L
ike everything else around us, the
role of a CIO has changed. The rate
and pace of change is accelerating
and so are expectations.
I’ve witnessed and participated in successful organizations shifting from a commandand-control environment to one where
employee empowerment and engagement
is the new way of doing things – a change
of thinking… how things really need to be
to have associates that are motivated and
aligned with the vision.
The company that values having a motivating environment for associates is moving in
the right direction. Even more critical for
a great company is aligning individuals to
what truly drives their satisfaction. This will
attract and retain great people. It’ll keep all
associates aligned with the vision as working for something greater than themselves
and is much more rewarding than working
We all realize that technology is not the
end point, but a means to it.
on our own art of perfecting our craft where
the perfection becomes an end in itself.
I’ve also witnessed a dramatic shift in both
the small and large company IT departments as they’ve transitioned from being
an executor of projects, to having a place at
the table in defining strategy, whether that
be participating in a product road map discussion or overall direction of the company.
We all realize that technology is not the end
point, but a means to it. The headline here
is that technology can be a key competitive
advantage to an organization. The challenge is how you can maximize it to drive
results. The CIO needs to be thinking about
this everyday.
One of the ways to unlocking this advantage is having the right people, combined
with putting them in a position to make a
difference.
Pamela Rucker, chair of the CIO Executive
Council’s Executive Women in IT recently
stated that a company really needs to
know its employees. “The pace of change
in technology means that you always have
some segment of your staff that wants to
learn the hottest new tools, and you need
to keep them out front so that they stay engaged. On the other hand, you have other
leaders that tire of always having to learn a
new technology and really want to focus on
the business aspect of technology deliver.
It’s important for you to know how to manage both types of people and have the right
blend of staff members to keep you technologically savvy and business-focused,”
says Rucker.
The successful CIO makes sure he/she is
engaged and is an active participant on
the executive team. An engaged technology leader enables an active dialogue and
debate to happen amongst the executives
– having a clear seat at the table. After the
debate, it’s equally important for all executives to leave as a unified team - core
to keeping a company’s culture in tact.
This is especially critical as each executive
connects with their respective teams and
provides deeper context to decisions and
direction.
Early on in a company’s life cycle, the CIO
most likely needs to be able to do hands
on development, may be helping define
the product, be intimately involved in
code releases, and in hiring. However, as a
company grows it’s critical that this leader
be able to understand how the workflow
changes.
Role definition also evolves and gets more
specialized. Initially, the CIO is all things
tech. It does change over time to focus
on internal information systems, including the business infrastructure. The Chief
Technology Officer (CTO) role will likely
evolve later through this specialization and
can be seen as the person on point for research and development and possibly new
product plans.
Ultimately, the great CIO/CTO will be able
to attract and retain the right team, be
part of a dynamic executive team and be
able to shift gears in understanding where
technology needs to lead the discussion
to help evolve the strategy and deliver on
best in class implementations that drive
value and help delight customers. n
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04.24.15 | Advertising Supplement to Columbus Business First
15
$10,000 in scholarships awarded
C
IO-Tomorrow is designed for CIOs
from across the country, and is the
premier annual conference for CIO’s,
Business Executives and IT Leaders.
The one-day conference was held April
23 at The Hyatt Regency.
In 2015, CIO-Tomorrow in cooperation with Student Scholarship Partner
Fibertech, will continue its tradition of
honoring today’s students and tomorrow’s future leaders who excel in the
fields of computer science and IT fields
through scholarship opportunities.
Applications were completed by undergraduate students who are a resident of Ohio, majoring in Information
Systems, Computer Science, or other
Technology-related fields, is at least a
sophomore and has at least one year
of study remaining, beyond the current
academic year.
The 2015 CIO-Tomorrow Program
Scholarship Committee reviewed all
applications and awarded one $5,000,
one $3,000 and one $2,000 scholarship
based on academic success, involvement in extracurricular activities, and
leadership. Two letters of recommendation were required.
The scholarship winners were notified
April 10 and will be awarded the scholarship at the beginning of the next
quarter/semester. The winners were
recognized at the 2015 CIO-Tomorrow
event.
CO N G R AT U L AT I O N S
$5,000 Scholarship
$3,000 Scholarship
$2,000 Scholarship
Hannah
Cedargren
Xu Weng
Sam Lewis
They attended the CIO-Tomorrow oneday event as the sponsors guests. n
Thank you panelists, attendees and sponsors
CXO Panel - What CEO’s Are Looking For In Future IT Leaders
Moderator:
Thornton May - Futurist, Educator and Author
“Just Think It” – The Motto of the IT Organization of the Future
Moderator:
John Hrusovsky - VP - Navigator Management Partners LLC
Panelists:
David Evans - EVP & CFO - Battelle
Bill McDonough - SVP & CMO - M/I Homes
Pamela Springer - Founding Partner - SpringerNav
Hugh Cathey - Principal - Columbus-Partners / CRO - HealthSpot, Inc
Panelists:
Gary R. Cavin - Director & CIO - City of Columbus, Department of Technology
Tim Hibner - VP of Consulting Services - Quick Solutions/ Fusion Alliance
Gregory S. Jackson - Managing Client Partner - Advocate Consulting
Ben Stormer - VP, Commercial Technologies, Pharmaceutical Segment - Fuse by Cardinal Health
Denise Zabawski - VP & CIO - Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Information Services
Panel Leader:
Branndon Kelley - VP, IT & CIO - American Municipal Power, Inc.
Marketing Yourself and Maintaining Personal Relevance
Moderator:
Ron Frissora - VP & CIO - M/I Homes
Panelists:
Joe Gottron - SVP, CIO Pharmaceutical Segment - Cardinal Health
John S. Kish - SVP & CIO - SafeAuto Insurance Company
Kris Merz - CIO - The Limited
Sally Miller - CIO, North America - Exel
Mike Rosello - SVP & CIO - Alliance Data Retail Services
Breakout Leader:
Angelo Mazzocco - CIO - Central Ohio Primary Care
Premium sponsors:
Breakout Leader:
Moez Chaabouni - Deputy Director, Technology - City of Columbus
Innovation Lifecycle
Moderator:
Michael Bills - Executive In Residence, Executive Director
The Ohio State University - Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Panelists:
Tim Heller - VP of Engineering, Fuse - Cardinal Health
Matt Scantland - Co-Founder - CoverMyMeds
Ned Schwartz - Partner - Drive Capital
James Walz - Mobile Strategy / Services - Alliance Data
Breakout Leaders:
Ben Blanquera - VP Growth Hacker - Pillar Technology
Bart Murphy - SVP & CTO - York Risk Services Group
ToMorroW’S
AnSWErS.
At Battelle, we believe in preparing all young people for tomorrow’s careers by giving
them a strong foundation in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
Together with public and private partners, we’re bringing quality STEM education to
millions of students across the U.S. Want more bright minds engaged in the future?
Think Battelle first.
800.201.2011 ú [email protected] ú www.battelle.org