CIO Talk Network

Guest 1: Thomas Trappler

Title: Director of Software Licensing, UCLA; Instructor, Contracting for Cloud Computing Services, UCLA Extension

Guest 2: Thomas Struan

Title: Chief Information Officer (CIO) for Army Aviation Center Federal Credit Union

Guest 3: John Engates

Title: CTO of Rackspace

Cloud’s obvious advantages make it seem like a no-brainer. But what are the “gotchas?” How can CIO’s ensure they get the best contract deals? And how do they mitigate excessive risk? What are the new/changing trends in Cloud Pricing models, contracting, and SLAs? What are the hidden costs and key risks in Cloud contracts, and more importantly, how can CIO’s avoid them and protect their organizations?

Guest 1: June E. Drewry

Title: former Global Chief Information Officer, the Chubb Group of Insurance Companies; Executive Coach

Guest 2: James P. Knight

Title: Global Chief Information Officer, Chubb; Chair, SIM Board of Directors

Guest 3: Dr. Sasi Kumar Pillay

Title: Chief Technology Officer of IT at National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA)

Today’s uncertain times, with so much complexity and change, have been tough on our IT leaders. But these challenges show no signs of easing in the years to come. So how do we prepare the next generation of IT leaders? Will there be enough time, funds, or capacity to properly prepare and train them? What abilities will be expected of them? What are organizations doing to prepare the path this new breed of leader must tread? What external resources, tools, or programs are being developed for this task?

Guest 1: Ross E. Wescott, CISA, CIA, CCP

Title: Chief IT auditor, Portland General Electric Company (PGE)

Guest 2: Walter Weir

Title: CIO, The University of Nebraska

Good intentions aside, IT leaders often end up delivering what they think they know best. Where they have gaps in their experience it’s not unreasonable to invite consultants. The real issue is when executive management or stakeholders attempt to solicit 3rd party opinions about how IT is doing and perhaps call for an audit. When this happens, CIO’s along with their direct reports can become defensive and territorial. Why is that? Why do so few organizations request voluntary external IT audits? Is it a bad idea to occasionally hold a mirror up to the CIO and the IT organization? Why couldn’t this be used as a tool to get better at creating value? Aren’t we still just following old auditing ways that focused on operational efficiency or are we ready to develop newer frameworks that help IT to focus on top line growth with better alignment to the business?

Guest 1: Mike Relich

Title: EVP & CIO at Guess?

Guest 2: Allison Cerra

Title: Chief Marketing Officer at Alcatel-Lucent

As the economy improves, companies are jockeying for competitive positions and investing in top line growth initiatives, but business paradigms have changed. Are the old traditional marketing approaches up to the job of supporting these activities given the new paradigms? How do marketing activities need to change? Where can IT lead the way and support Marketing strategies effectively? How should IT realign itself to accomplish these goals?

Guest 1: Nick Nayak,

Title: Chief Procurement Officer, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and Acquisitions instructor, Strayer University

Guest 2: Michael Clark

Title: USAID Contracting Officer Division Chief

Guest 3: Jerry Horton

Title: CIO US Agency for International Development (AID)

There has always been a lot of debate over how well the government uses the public’s tax dollars to provide security, deliver services, etc. How accountable has the government been in its procurement and contract management practices? Have the procurement and services that were paid for, been worth the dollars spent? What challenges does the government face in improving its procurement and contract practices or improving its accountability on spending? How can IT help make its procurement and contract management more effective while providing more transparency on its spending and the value received?

Guest 1: Claire Bailey

Title: Director of the Arkansas Department of Information Systems (DIS), Arkansas Chief Technology Officer (CTO)

Guest 2: Gwynne Kostin

Title: Director Mobile, Office of Citizen Services & Innovative Technologies, U.S. General Services Administration (GSA)

Enterprises have whole heartedly embraced mobility and are reaping the rewards, even while still working to mitigate the remaining risks. How is government viewing its transition to mobility? What risks and rewards are expected from making government more mobile? What is the roadmap to achieving wide-spread adoption of this successful paradigm while avoiding undue risk?

Guest : Todd Thibbodeaux

Title: President & CEO, CompTIA

Business models, computing paradigms, delivery expectations, customer satisfaction, and profitability are all in flux. The ability of IT talent at all organizational levels to understand business as it stands and how it will morph in the future while maintaining and improving service delivery is no small feat. Can we prepare our IT people proactively or is it going to be a catchup game? Will our efforts to manage the skills gap even be adequate? What are organizations doing or should be doing to manage the IT skills gap and sustain delivery for now and in the future?

Guest : Drue Reeves

Title: VP Distinguished Analyst, Gartner

PaaS (Platform as a Service) promises a faster, more cost-effective model for application development and delivery, because you can build and run applications in the cloud. Is this something we need or is it a solution looking for a problem? What does solution actually buy us? Who is it best for? Are application development groups ready to embrace it?

Guest 1: Linda Argote

Title: The David M. and Barbara A. Kirr Professor of Organizational Behavior and Theory, Carnegie Mellon, Tepper School

Guest 2: Gus Crosetto, Ed.D

Title: Chief Learning Officer, US GAO (Government Accountability Office)

Ongoing improvement in enterprise performance requires learning at the individual, department, and organizational level. Although we traditionally invest in these areas, how well is that investment paying off? Have enterprises been able to track and plan for upcoming learning needs, make that learning happen, preserve it and make it accessible? Have they been able to measure the impact on individuals by groups and departments over the organization as a whole? Has enterprise learning changed over the years? If it is changing, what will it be like in the future?

Guest 1: Jeanne Bliss

Title: Author, President, CustomerBliss

Guest 2: William Swislow

Title: Senior Vice President, Product & Chief Information Officer, Cars.com

The free flow of information has given today’s consumer more choices about purchasing and the power to respond quickly and effectively about what they like or don’t like. Companies have little control over this vast flow of information that affects everything from dealing with what and how much is sold where and for how much, to dealing with customer satisfaction or dis-satisfaction snowballing over social media channels. The clock cannot be turned back on this revolution, so what can companies do to re-take control of information or change their business strategies, and how can IT help?