Metis Strategy

In this interview, Curt Edge, Chief Information Officer of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Christian Science Publishing Society discusses World Class IT principle one, People, principle two, Infrastructure, principle three, Project Portfolio Management, principle four, IT-Business Partnerships, and principle five, External Partnerships, with Metis Strategy. Some of the topics discussed include: Enabling the rapidly changing publishing world through IT IT governance in a Church Enhancing IT-business empathy and interactions Freeing up bandwidth for strategic focus through commoditizing a cloud infrastructure Eye on the trends: The exciting progress and potential of cloud computing and how the First Church of Christ, Scientist has already reaped tremendous benefit from cloud computing

In this interview, Patrick Thompson, Executive Vice President of Administration and Chief Information Officer of Amedisys, a $1.5 billion dollar healthcare company that provides home health and hospice services, discusses World Class IT principle one, People, principle two, Infrastructure, and principle four, IT-Business Partnerships, with Metis Strategy. Some of the topics discussed include: How broader responsibilities enable elimination of inefficiencies and departmental silos The unique role of a Business Systems Analyst The importance of integrating IT infrastructure during M&A ROI-driven IT investments and partnerships with Finance Eye on the trends: Mobile agility and computing as it pertains to enabling clinicians in the field, and collaboration technologies as it relates to supporting the continual care of Amedisys’ patients

In this interview, Lyn McDermid, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Dominion Resources, a $14 billion electric utility, discusses World Class IT principle one, People, principle two, Infrastructure, and principle four, IT-Business Partnerships, with Metis Strategy. Some of the topics discussed include: How a long tenured CIO can focus on the long-term Using analogous industries for inspiration Overcoming common cultural and communication challenges in IT Enabling the "Smart Grid" through IT Eye on the trends: Enabling the mobile user experience, and building a trusting relationship with customers through more proactive and intuitive customer relationship technology

In this interview, Tom Murphy, the Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer of AmerisourceBergen, an $80 billion pharmaceutical services provider, discusses World Class IT principle one, People, principle three, Project and Portfolio Management, and principle four, IT-Business Partnerships, with Metis Strategy. Some of the topics discussed include: Lessons learned from the world's broads SAP implementation Being ahead of the technology curve to remain relevant High-priority skills to recruit for in IT AmerisourceBergen's near-term priorities Eye on the trends: The relief brought on by “bring your own device” to get IT out of the device game, cloud computing, and how “gamification” can be used to apply gaming concepts into the work environment in order to improve adoption and use of new technology

In this interview, M.S. Krishnan, the Joseph Handleman Professor of Information Systems and Innovation and Professor of Business Information Technology at the Ross School of Business of the University of Michigan, discusses World Class IT principle one, People, and principle four, IT-Business Partnerships, with Metis Strategy. Some of the topics discussed include: Challenges to the average CIO being innovative Fostering innovation through sharpening business acumen Creating a culture of innovation that balances experimentation and governance Recruiting IT professionals with a curiosity for business and technology Dangers of relying on a single group to drive innovation Eye on the trends: Cloud based architecture and systems providing the “democratization of capabilities” for small and medium- sized businesses, and the organization’s ability to understand the talent they have through the lens of the ecosystem in which they operate

In this interview, David Johns, the Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Owens Corning, a world leader in building materials and composite systems and solutions, discusses World Class IT principle two, Infrastructure, principle three, Project and Portfolio Management, principle four, IT-Business Partnerships, and principle five, External Partnerships, with Metis Strategy. Some of the topics discussed include: Leveraging shared services at Owens Corning Global outsourcing for scalability, expertise, and cost control IT's emphasis on driving revenue The "Bring Your Own Device" policy at Owens Corning Innovation from the global IT team and increasingly tech-savvy workforce Eye on the trends: How virtualization and cloud computing enable mobility, drive cost savings, and expedite deployment capabilities; the productivity gains from video; and consumerization of IT and David’s prediction that IT may eventually no longer provide devices to a company’s employees

In this interview, Jim Knight, EVP & Global Chief Information Officer of Chubb & Son, a global property and casualty insurance company, discusses principle three, Project and Portfolio Management, principle four, IT-Business Partnerships, and principle five, External Partnerships, of World Class IT with Metis Strategy. Some of the topics discussed include: Technology in the competitive arms race Collaboration in a Global CIO governance structure The enterprise PMO's ability to facilitate consistent delivery IT's stabilizing value in uncertain economic times The importance of establishing business intimacy Eye on the trends: Three major disruptive technologies- portable devices with enhanced functionality and performance to enable the workforce, big data and the potential for analytics to drive critical business decisions, and cloud computing and its ability to facilitate faster market entry

In this interview, Carl Wilson, Former Chief Information Officer of Marriott International, discusses principle one, People, and principle four, IT-Business Partnerships, of World Class IT with Metis Strategy. Some of the topics discussed include: How to cultivate an environment of success around you in order to progress in one’s career The value of meaningful evaluations and cross-functional learning opportunities How to reach the strategy-setting table as CIO Taking data and information and turning it into knowledge Eye on the trends: Consumerization of IT, the convergence of business and technology processes, the potential of mobility, and the criticality of analytics in the growth of corporations

In this interview, June Drewry, Former Global Chief Information Officer of Chubb Insurance and Aon Corporation, discusses principle one, People, principle three, Project and Portfolio Management, and principle four, IT-Business Partnerships, of World Class IT with Metis Strategy. Some of the topics discussed include: First steps when becoming a global CIO The need for careful decisions on standardization and centralization with a dilligent exceptions process The value of focusing more on streamlining architecture, reuse, data sharing, and portfolio management The usefulness of an Office of the CIO Pushing leaders to operate at a level higher than one's position Eye on the trends: Ubiquitous access to data, consumerization of IT and the empowerment and pressure from executives outside of IT that is creates, the balance of leveraging cloud computing and maintain a secure environment, and the emerging ability to turn big data into information

In this interview, Bruce Leidal, Chief Information Officer of Carestream Health, a worldwide provider of dental and medical imaging systems and healthcare IT solutions, discusses principle two, Infrastructure, and principle four, IT-Business Partnerships, of World Class IT with Metis Strategy. Some of the topics discussed include: Reducing IT spend as a portion of revenue to an aggressive target Rationalizing expenditures as value creating or sustaining Using "relationship managers" as liaisons between IT and business partners Constant internal analysis of business relationships and IT operations to ensure excellence Enabling all "smart devices" through its IT infrastructure and policies Eye on the trends: supporting any “smart device” in the workplace and the consumerization of IT, the power of cloud computing solutions integration, the focus on leveraging analytics through the cloud, and leveraging social media to bolster sales and marketing efforts

In this interview, Ken Venner, Executive Vice President, Corporate Services and Chief Information Officer of Broadcom, a designer and developer of semiconductors for wired and wireless communications, discusses principle four, IT-Business Partnerships, of World Class IT with Metis Strategy. Some of the topics discussed include: Making IT “like air”- there and ready to use in plenty, without the need to think about it The challenge and blessing of working with such a large percentage of technically savvy stakeholders Ken’s “walk-crawl-run” approach to collaboratively prototyping solutions to demonstrate value Being “stractical”: maintain the balance between strategic and tactical Broadcom’s acquisitive nature and how IT enables successful transactions Eye on the trends: Consumerization of IT relevance for CIOs, video for content delivery and collaboration, IT professionals getting out of the infrastructure business, and how IT security is under-emphasized

In this interview, Norm Fjeldheim, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Qualcomm discusses principle one, People, principle two, Infrastructure, and principle four, IT-Business Partnerships, of World Class IT with Metis Strategy. Some of the topics discussed include: How the CIO role and IT fit into a very technical company Qualcomm IT's priorities Norm's long-term strategic mindset that is enable by a long tenure Not outsourcing IT and still capturing equal efficiencies Hiring and training for a balanced business-IT skill set Eye on the trends: Software as a Service (SaaS) and its ability to change the cost structure and operations of IT; the influence of the Consumerization of IT and the reality of intuitive user experience outweighing the value of increased functionality; and Cloud Computing and how through diligent management Qualcomm has been able to reach equal internal cost efficiencies to third party providers such as Amazon

In this special series part 2 interview, Charlie Feld, Founder and CEO of The Feld Group, an IT leadership development firm, discusses principle one, People, and principle four, IT-Business Partnerships, of World Class IT with Metis Strategy. Some of the topics discussed include: His book, Blind Spot IT, and his framework for IT-lead business transformation: Why, What, How, and Who? Change management within IT and the broader scope of a business The imperative of the CIO to proactively advocate for IT's value contribution Eye on the trends: The ability to create a "fabric of integration" that allows IT departments to react to an event and integrate in motion and in memory, without the contingency of ripping out and replacing legacy systems

In this interview, Charlie Feld, Founder and CEO of The Feld Group, an IT leadership development firm, discusses principle one, People, and principle four, IT-Business Partnerships, of World Class IT with Metis Strategy. Some of the topics discussed include: His career path as a CIO Hall of Famer The "blind spot" that many executives have for IT The history and transformation of IT and the CIO role Customer-focused IT The skill sets for the future IT leader Eye on the trends: The evolution of the CIO into a strategic business leader

In this interview, Dennis Self, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Electronic Arts discusses principle one, People, principle two, Infrastructure, and principle four, IT-Business Partnerships, of World Class IT with Metis Strategy. Some of the topics discussed include: The evolution of the role of IT at Electronic Arts The digital disruption happening in the media and entertainment industry Mobile gaming, social gaming, and the management of gamer communities Risk management and the importance of security within EA How the tech savviness of employees throughout EA affects IT The importance of advanced analytics How the proximity to Silicon Valley influences IT Eye on the trends: Cloud computing, SaaS, virtualization offerings, advanced analytics, collaboration technologies, security and risk management technologies, mobile technologies, the consumerization of IT