the searchcio- midmarket 2013 enterprise it leadership...

The SearchCIO-Midmarket 2013 Enterprise IT Leadership Awards: The Winners

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Cultural Innovation Award winner: Troy Neal

Technological Advancement Award winner: Isaac Sacolick

Business Value Award winner: Neal Kaderabek

Green Information Technology Award winner: Marcus Krawinkler

IT Engagement Award winner: Robert Simora

Customer Experience Award Winner: Pat Smith

The SearchCIO-Midmarket 2013 IT Leadership Awards recognize the contributions and innovations of IT executives within midmarket companies who have made strides in the areas of cultural innovation, technological advancement, business value, green IT, IT engagement and customer experience. These technology professionals not only demonstrate innovative leadership in the IT field, but have made a substantial impact to a business or industry.

Cultural Innovation Award winner: Troy Neal Directory of IT, YES Prep Public Schools Finalist Troy Neal, director of IT at YES Prep Public Schools, was hired to

build a non-profit budget-friendly IT infrastructure from the ground up -- he

ended up doing so not once, but twice.

YES Prep Public Schools, a Texas-bred charter school system, provides free

college preparatory education for 5,400 students in grades 6 through 12. In

August 2008, YES Prep hired its first IT staff to increase communication

between staff, teachers, students and parents, but no more than two weeks

later Hurricane Ike wiped out the little IT infrastructure the staff had

developed. In this Q&A, Neal shares the leadership style that rocketed YES

Prep's IT team towards success after a natural disaster.

Number of years in IT: 7 years

Company: YES Prep Public Schools

Revenue: $54 million (non-profit)

Number of employees in the company: 705

Number of employees in IT: 5

Educational background: High school and military

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http://searchcio.techtarget.com/opinion/CIO-Matters-Leveraging-big-data-for-big-business-value

http://searchcio.techtarget.com/guides/FAQ-The-CIOs-role-in-creating-green-technology-solutions

http://searchcio.techtarget.com/tip/Forrester-Use-mobile-engagement-to-drive-business-process-transformation

http://searchcio.techtarget.com/news/2240149482/VMware-CIO-Bringing-the-consumer-experience-to-the-enterprise

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First job: U.S. Marine Corps

LinkedIn: Troy Neal

Twitter Handle: @jarheadtn

In the movie of your life, who would play your character? Clint Eastwood

If you could have just one superpower, what would it be and

why? Telekinesis, so I could influence government to provide more to

education.

What's your favorite app on your smartphone or tablet device? Mocha

RDP

Where do you fall in the iPhone versus Android debate? iPhone,

because Android has too many versions and less source control

Describe the best technology decision you ever made: Moved

from VMware to HyperV

What's the biggest challenge you face in IT today? BYOD [bring your own

device]

Which role/internal partner do you rely upon the most? Helpdesk,

because they are the customer-facing portion of our team and can have the

most impact on our staff.

What's your prediction for the next big technology? MS Lync dominates

the voice market

What's your favorite non-monetary benefit or perk of your

job? Recognition

What is the biggest problem you see with corporate cultures

today? They do not identify their culture or understand how importantly their

culture affects employee performance.

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What are "rookie mistakes" that you see in up-and-coming IT

leaders? They are afraid to make mistakes.

Describe your leadership style: Lead by example, get your hands dirty and

make mistakes.

Technological Advancement Award winner: Isaac Sacolick CIO & VP of Technology, McGraw-Hill Construction

When it comes to Agile development, Isaac Sacolick, CIO and vice president

of technology at McGraw-Hill Construction (a McGraw-Hill Financial

company),sets the bar high. Sacolick has leveraged best practices in Agile

development with his entrepreneurial and startup background to blend the

best of both environments in the IT space. Sacolick's efforts are spreading

out to the rest of the company, along with what McGraw-Hill Construction's

president calls "Isaac's Agile," driving revenue through new products and

portfolio management. We wanted to get to know the man behind all the

motion. Sacolick gives us a glimpse at his zeitgeist and tidbits about his

personal joie de vivre, and opens up on everything from the "Internet of

Things" to his favorite smartphone business app.

Read on for more information about Sacolick, an IT Leadership Awards

finalist in the technological advancement, IT engagement and customer

experience categories.

Number of years in IT: 18

Revenue: McGraw-Hill Financial reports 2012 full-year revenue for the

Commodities and Commercial segment (which includes McGraw-Hill

Construction, Platts, J.D. Power and Aviation Week) at $973 million. It is not

our policy to report revenue for individual business units.

Number of employees in the company: 500 to 1,000


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Educational background: Bachelor of Science degree in electrical

engineering from Binghamton University and Master of Science degree in

electrical engineering from University of Arizona

First job: I ran a BBS (bulletin board system, a modem dial-up information

service) at age 12 and sold computer supplies and access to gaming areas

of the BBS. During high school, I ran the kitchen at a local day camp for 300

4- to 7-year-olds.

LinkedIn: Isaac Sacolick

Twitter handle: @NYIke. I also blog and have several articles published

on Engineering News Record.

What's the best advice you've ever received? I blogged about it last year.

CIOs get asked a lot of questions, and the best advice I received helped me

understand how to go about answering questions from executives. My

colleague advised me to pause and make sure I understood the question

before saying anything. Executives want the question answered before going

into details or supporting information.

In the movie of your life, who would play your character? A young Sean

Connery. I still watch Hunt for Red October (strong leadership), Highlander (a

good mentor) and his Bond films (smart, quick-witted, a man of good taste). It

would be interesting seeing my character played out with a Scottish accent.

If you could have just one superpower, what would it be and why?

Definitely flying, because I love to travel. Breakfast in Paris, hiking the Grand

Canyon during the day, dinner in Singapore would be a fun day. I'd also be

able to visit my global teams easily and use my flying ability to meet and

inspire lots of people.

What's your favorite app on your smartphone or tablet device? I have

many favorite apps that deliver personalized content, but my favorite is Zite.

It does an amazing job prioritizing content based on user activity and

understands my topics of interest derived from my Twitter feed.

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Where do you fall in the iPhone vs. Android debate? I'm glad there is

competition for mobile devices. I remember the PC-Mac, Windows-Unix and

Java-Microsoft debates. In the end, the competition helps drive innovation.

Describe the best technology decision you ever made. One month into

my current position, I recognized that a strategic project for delivering a new

customer-facing product was in trouble. I had to deliver the bad news. Then,

over the next couple of months, I changed the structure of the team, the

development process and the platform being used. Several months after that,

we completed the product and, over the next two years, went on to deliver

two more products on this platform and with this team.

Was there ever a technology that you thought was a gimmick but now

couldn't live without? Cloud technology and the Amazon cloud in particular.

When it was first rolled out, it looked nothing more than self-service hosting,

which has been around for some time. I blogged on this in 2009. Now,

leveraging the elasticity of cloud environments is a cost-effective way to

scale systems on demand and when usage spikes.

What's the biggest challenge you face in IT today? The biggest challenge

is connecting people -- technologists, business sponsors, users and

customers so that they can develop a shared understanding of priorities,

possibilities, potential opportunities to innovate and places where technology

improvements are necessary -- then make smart decisions on what and how

to implement product enhancements and technology improvements one

Agile sprint at a time.

Which role and/or internal partner do you rely upon the most? I rely on

my team. We're charged with building and enhancing our product line and

providing sales with new competitive products. When the team accomplishes

this sprint to sprint, release to release, we develop confidence and credibility

with our partners and customers to do more. After that, my team relies on

strong partnerships with our product owners to help set priorities, partner on

defining requirements and balance short- and longer-term needs.

What's your prediction for the next big technology? The Internet of

Things. Sensors in homes, buildings, cars, roads, people (via wearable

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devices) -- all interconnected and delivering big data that will drive better

experiences, reduce costs and improve environmental conditions.

What's your favorite nonmonetary benefit or perk of your job? I enjoy

speaking at conferences and contributing articles to Engineering News

Record, our magazine and website for the engineering and construction

industry. As a father of three, being able to spend quality time with them is

important, and McGraw-Hill's culture of promoting a work-life balance is a

very important benefit.

Business Value Award winner: Neal Kaderabek CIO, Hallmark Service Corp.

Finalist Neal Kaderabek, formerly CIO at Hallmark Services Corporation and

currently vice president of IT at Perkin Insurance, was integral to Hallmark's

continual efforts to enhance, and in some cases completely replace, core

functions and systems as it braces for changes stemming from U.S. health

reform. During a nearly year-long effort, Hallmark defined the scope of its

activities, developed customer-driven design requirements and identified

dependencies to help the organization meet deadlines defined under

U.S. health reform. Kaderabek expected this preparation would allow

Hallmark to at least double its membership between Oct. 1, 2013, and March

1, 2014 -- the period all uninsured U.S. citizens will be able to enroll and

acquire health insurance under the health reform laws. In addition, these

efforts wouldincorporate efficiencies that ultimately reduce operating

expenses, Kaderabek said.

Kaderabek defines himself as a "turnaround CIO" who delivers quick wins for

his organization while meeting business demands and overcoming its

numerous health reform obstacles. Learn more about Kaderabek in this

Q&A, where he further discusses the challenges faced by the retail

healthcare market under U.S. health reform, and how Hallmark is managing

tools, people and processes to adapt to these challenges.


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Company: Hallmark Services Corporation, a subsidiary of Health Care

Service Corporation (HCSC). HCSC is the amalgamation of BCBS-IL, BCBS-

TX, BCBS-NM and BCBS-OK.

Revenue: $1.4 billion annually

Number of employees in the company: 1,050

Number of employees in IT: 150 FTEs, 200 contracted

Educational background: Bachelor of science degree in business

administration

First job: First job: Caddie at a golf course. First IT job: Programmer on IBM

SYS38 for manufacturing company. Shockingly, the first system they put me

in charge of was payroll!

LinkedIn: Neal Kaderabek

What's the best advice you've ever received? Partners complain; it's their

job. Learn to be ready for the good news and the bad news. Don't be

defensive; just listen and respond to legitimate criticism and note the rest.

Vocal partners will typically complain more than compliment; do not get

overwhelmed by the negative comments.

In the movie of your life, who would play your character? George

Clooney, because of his role in Michael Clayton as a law firm's "fixer" to

remedy difficult situations. The most success and pleasure I've had in my

career is as a "fixer" and "turnaround" leader." I am a risk taker that is first

and foremost an agent of change. I have deep experience in IT and have the

ability to come into a chaotic situation, ascertain what the business needs

most, recharge a beaten-down staff and start piling up wins -- quickly.

If you could have just one superpower, what would it be and why? Time

traveler. I would like to travel to the future to see the outcome of what my IT

teams did, or the outcomes of my decisions … and then go back in time to

see if any changes can be made to improve the future results.

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What's your favorite app on your smartphone or tablet device? Todo for

iPad. It is a work planner that I use to keep on top of all my projects and

plans.

Where do you fall in the iPhone versus Android debate? I steer clear of

this debate. When I am asked for advice, I usually offer the following: If you

are looking for an easy-to-use phone with many polished apps that you do

not mind paying a little extra for, then the iPhone is probably for you. If you

use Google services primarily, you will probably want to steer toward

an Android-powered phone.

Describe the best technology decision you ever made: The most recent

decision that comes to mind is contracting with LionBridge last year to

validate that our core business system could scale to +2X of throughput. I did

so in anticipation that key business leaders would be concerned with

scalability when they determined the increased volume of transactions that

ObamaCare would deliver to the company. Needless to say, the concern of

scalability was presented to me a month after the assessment was

completed. However, I was able to quickly ease the business anxiety with the

positive results of the scalability testing.


couldn't live without? VMWare

What's the biggest challenge you face in IT today?

ObamaCare is dominating my IT climate. Three important dates are looming

that will turn the retail health industry upside down:

October 2013. At this point, health insurance exchanges are supposed to go

live, letting residents browse through the approved options and sign up for

retail health plans. As envisioned, shopping for health insurance should be

as easy as shopping for plane tickets or rental cars online. Of course, buying

health insurance is a lot more difficult than purchasing a plane ticket on

Expedia. I have the proposed health insurance selection application on my

desk -- it is 25 pages! Hence, we are planning for three times the usual traffic

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on our phone system and Web channels beginning as soon as summer

2013.

Late 2013. The Supreme Court recently opened the door to a second high-

court challenge to ObamaCare. In this case, the challenge involves the

employer mandate: Companies with 50 or more employees will have to

provide health coverage or pay a $2,000 fine for every worker past number

30. If the law holds (and we expect it will), then our analysis predicts that our

retail health plan membership will grow by 300,000 former group insured

members (from the states of Illinois, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas).

January 1, 2014. The major parts of the ObamaCare law take effect,

including the individual mandate and the employer mandate, and the ban on

insurers excluding people based on pre-existing medical conditions. Under

the individual mandate, everyone will be required to have health insurance,

with federal subsidies for everyone earning up to 400 percent of the federal

poverty level (currently $11,170 for individuals, $23,050 for a family of four).

Our analysis predicts our membership will grow by one million members on

January 1, 2014 --jumping from 1.4 million retail members to 2.4 million retail

members.

Obviously, Hallmark's IT needs to be proactive to such a dramatic pending

membership increase. We've taken steps to best prepare and position IT for

this large membership growth and regulatory complexity.

The first step is to have horsepower to meet the challenge. The volume and

complexity of the expected IT work exceeded the human resource capacity

of Hallmark's IT organization. Therefore, I recommended to Hallmark/HCSC

executive leadership the amalgamation of Hallmark IT and HCSC IT as

appropriate and necessary. Bottom line, the recommendation expanded the

IT workforce capacity for retail health insurance from 300 IT professionals to

3,000 IT professionals. The recommendation was approved and the

transition is underway. My support of the recommendation has not waivered,

regardless of the potential implications the amalgamation has on my CIO

career. Another example of my mantra: Do the right things and do things

right!

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The second step is to have an IT Roadmap that guides IT activities and

decisions to meet the demands of ObamaCare (as defined by our business

colleagues). IT work that cannot be traced directly to imperatives of the IT

Roadmap are not funded and considered distractions to meeting

ObamaCare's aggressive timelines.

The third step in meeting the ObamaCare challenge is to have an active

PMO providing project management and program governance. In addition,

an intimate and engaged leadership team from across the organization has

been put in place to resolve issues impeding the projects that constitute the

ObamaCare program. Key issues that are blocking the progress on projects

are discussed twice a week. Participants debate the issues and offer

resolutions. If issues cannot be resolved within the leadership committee, the

key stakeholders meet offline to formulate alternatives for the committee to

consider at a subsequent leadership meeting.

Which role and/or internal partner do you rely upon the most? Keeping

in touch with my fellow business peers as my internal partners is critical.

Satisfying the needs of internal partners is fairly straightforward. Simply

stated, I need to know what they want and expect. Simply executed, the best

way to know is to ask, then deliver in a timely way at price/value that is

justified. I have found ways to keep in touch through a broad spectrum of

approaches: face-to-face, surveys, steering committees, informal lunches

and dinners, etc.

What's your prediction for the next big technology? Medical

instrumentation (portable for doctor and patient use) will be available as

applications and attachments to mobile devices. With ObamaCare putting

scrutiny on cost of medical care, a virtual rather than physical approach to

diagnosis and health monitoring will be a key factor in driving down health

care costs.

What's your favorite nonmonetary benefit or perk of your job? Deep

down, I am a teacher. With that said, a perk in my job is watching young IT

professionals learn and grow from their experiences and my coaching. I feel

like a proud parent and teacher when an IT professional states they have

reached (or are on track to reach) their professional and career goals.

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today? Too often, corporate managers do not allow for employee autonomy.

Employees need more what and why, and less how. I try to be crystal clear

on what and when, and more open on how. I tell my team what and when

and for how long, and let them figure out the how. IT professionals are more

motivated when they can determine the how for themselves, thereby forging

a strong, empowered and energized IT staff.


leaders? A rookie mistake is not creating a positive climate. The rookies

need to share information about the larger business landscape. By doing so,

the IT professionals will be cognizant that the IT work they are performing is

not a goal unto itself. Rather, IT professionals generally want to be involved

in something larger than themselves. In addition, the rookie IT leaders need

to create an environment that fosters personal development and personal

autonomy. We need IT professionals that want to be masters of their

profession and not stifled by micromanagement.

Describe your leadership style: Over the past five-plus years, my broad

range of CIO skills have provided me the opportunity to make a real impact

because I was not just "running IT" for Hallmark. I was optimizing core

business processes (i.e., applications, fulfillment, enrollment, document

management), as well as optimizing and building systems. More and more, I

became a change agent through innovation because I had the perspective of

Hallmark's end-to-end core business processes. As a result, Hallmark's

overall performance and capabilities marched forward steadily and

successfully with each year.

Lastly, innovation is not the outcome of the efforts of one person. That is why

I have valued creating and maintaining a climate of innovation and

experimentation in Hallmark's IT organization. When "how to do" something

is too rigidly specified, motivation and creativity decrease. "How things are

done" should be as open as possible. Studies show that people work harder

and are more efficient when they have a sense of choice and ownership. I

advocate quick, short-cycle experiments by the IT staff. Many experiments

will fail, so I communicate a learning attitude towards mistakes and failures.

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Green Information Technology Award winner: Marcus Krawinkler Manager of IT Systems & Operations, The David and Lucile Packard

Foundation

Marcus Krawinkler, manager of IT systems and operations for The David and

Lucile Packard Foundation, located in Los Altos, Calif., is a finalist for the

Green IT Award. Krawinkler created and advocated for a plan to keep the

foundation's IT infrastructure on-site at its new headquarters, designed to be

a net-zero energy and Leadership in Energy and Environmental

Design (LEED) platinum-certified building.

Initially, foundation executives and design team members supported moving

the IT infrastructure to the cloud as a way to cut down on on-site energy use,

but moving processes off-site doesn't necessarily equate to a reduction in

energy consumption. Considering, Krawinkler challenged -- and eventually

changed -- their thinking with a plan for the foundation, which distributes

grants to support education, health and environmental sustainability projects,

to meet energy use goals while keeping IT systems at the facility.

With the server infrastructure already virtualized, Krawinkler set about

upgrading the switches and routers equipment, installing a more-efficient

storage area network, and transitioning from a private branch exchange

phone system to a Voice over Internet Protocol system. As a result of these

efforts, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation opened its truly net-zero

energy facility in June 2012.

Get to know Krawinkler in our Q&A below.

Number of years in IT: 17

Revenue: None. Our endowment is currently around $5.8 billion.

Number of employees in the company: 115-plus temps and contractors.


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Educational background: Attended California Polytechnic State University

in San Luis Obispo, Calif., majoring in mechanical engineering, [then] moved

into the IT space.

First job: CAD [computer-assisted design] work and some office IT support

for Failure Analysis Associates (now known as Exponent).

What's the best advice you've ever received? Don't ignore your gut.

In the movie of your life, who would play your character? Depends on

who is directing!

If you could have just one superpower, what would it be and why? The

power of suggestion. Explaining the complexities of system integration can

be tough.

What's your favorite app on your smartphone or tablet device? For

work, probably iTeleport. Nothing beats the ability to connect to a full desktop

to get work done in a pinch. For fun, I hate to say it, but I probably play Angry

Birds games more than anything else.

Where do you fall in the iPhone vs. Android debate? They both have their

merits -- depends on the user. Personally, now that jailbreaking iOS devices

is technically illegal, I'll be losing access to some of my favorite productivity

tools, so I'll be leaning toward Android.

Describe the best technology decision you ever made. Virtualizing our

server infrastructure. The flexibility and quick turnaround it provides is critical

to running an efficient shop.

Was there ever a technology you thought was a gimmick but now

couldn't live without? If not, which current technology is a gimmick or

overly hyped? Virtualization: Ten to 15 years ago, servers could barely

handle one instance of an [operating system] with a database. Now, I can't

imagine spinning up a new server every time we go into a development

cycle.

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What's the biggest challenge you face in IT today? Content management!

Getting cross-organization agreement on information architecture, content

types and document taxonomy is never an easy task. In the world of Google

Docs and the like, fending off requests for tools built around low/no security

and convenience -- which have minimal integration capabilities, no workflow,

no administrative or record management capabilities -- is frustrating. Did I

mention my superpower would be the power of suggestion?

Which role and/or internal partner do you rely upon the most? Probably

our technical support staff. They do a great job keeping users happy.

What's your prediction for the next big technology? I've heard of this

new thing called a cellphone. It's a telephone you can use almost anywhere

and it fits in your pocket! Really, though, we need better batteries. Laptops

aren't going anywhere, and they need to last as long as [mobile] phones and

tablets.

What's your favorite non-monetary benefit or perk of your job? Besides

working in a very nice, new building with great catering, it's knowing I work

for an organization that strives to improve and preserve the world we live in.


today? Jumping on the bandwagon! Media and advertising push hokum

technologies and services, which tout lower costs, but these quick wins have

hidden costs in quality and productivity, which quickly make them end up

costing more.

What are "rookie mistakes" you see in up-and-coming IT

leaders? Taking on too many projects; don't spread yourself too thin.

Describe your leadership style: Nerd alert: Think Dr. Who meets House.

I have a participative leadership style. Teamwork is critical to a successful

project of any size, so I often take a role in facilitating teams to decisions and

projects to completion. As a subject-matter expert, sometimes I have

to balance consensus with efficiency. But most importantly, work has to be

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fun or it's just not healthy. Sometimes it's hard to do, but I try to make time

for those opportunities.

IT Engagement Award winner: Robert Simora CIO, Railinc Corp.

CIO Robert Simora has transformed IT and realized significant cost savings

for Railinc by introducing a new vendor management process, infrastructure

improvement program and the use of open sourcetechnology. Simora's

vendor-management process alone has returned $8.5 million to Railinc since

January, with almost half coming from a new data center contract. Simora led

the RFO (request for offer), negotiating a contract that will improve financial

transparency, IT service levels and vendor accountability.

Simora is recognized as a finalist in the SearchCIO-Midmarket 2013 IT

Leadership Awards for more than just his vendor-management program. This

finalist's exceptional leadership is driving entrepreneurship and collaboration

deep into the company while fostering a playful culture of innovation. Learn

more about Simora's plan for success in this Q&A.

Official job title: CIO


Company: Railinc

Revenue: $55 million



Educational background: MBA, Kenan-Flagler Business School, University

of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2010–2011); BS, information management

systems and finance, Fordham University (1990–1994)

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First job: My parents ran a pharmacy when I was a kid. My job was dusting

shelves and helping my parents with anything and everything that needed to

be done to keep the store clean. Their entrepreneurial spirit taught me early

what a good work ethic meant.

LinkedIn: Robert Simora

Twitter Handle: @rsimora

What's the best advice you've ever received? We should listen twice as

much as we speak.

In the movie of your life, who would play your character? My friends all

say I look like Kevin James, so I would indulge them and let him play my

character.

If you could have just one superpower, what would it be and

why? That's easy --absolutely, no question -- flying. It would be a great

timesaver, and I would no longer have to pay for gas and sit in traffic. Plus, it

would just be cool.

What's your favorite app on your smartphone or tablet device? It's

almost old school at this point: I'd be lost without the email app on

my iPhone. By far the most-used app I have, and it keeps me productive

wherever I am. Texting is a close second.

Where do you fall in the iPhone versus Android debate? I've owned both

and to me there is no comparison to how well Apple does its user

interfaces and creates a seamless overall experience across apps and

devices.

Describe the best technology decision you ever made: My best decision

was probably my first -- purchasing a Commodore 64. It's what got me

interested in computers at an early age.


couldn't live without? I wasn't too interested in the Nest, which is a learning

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thermostat with an iPod like interface. I got one as a gift and it's an amazing

piece of technology that lets you control your thermostat remotely, and it

learns over a period of time your preferences. It paid for itself the first trip I

went on and forgot to set the thermostat before we left, and I could do it from

the car!

What's the biggest challenge you face in IT today? The explosion of

mobile devices and BYOD in general has challenged a lot of IT policies. I'm

all in favor of the movement, but it's tough to stay ahead of it.

Which role/internal partner do you rely upon the most? I have a great

relationship with all of my internal partners, but I spend the most time with the

head of our business units. If IT isn't aligned with the business, then we are

just wasting money and not working efficiently.

What's your prediction for the next big technology? Some of the

components are there already, but perfecting the self-healing data center will

be huge. No one can afford any downtime to their customers.

What's your favorite nonmonetary benefit or perk of your job? I love

watching my employees develop and grow in their positions, but the real

payoff comes when they solve problems before they become a problem for

customers, and I don't have to get involved.


today? Some companies haven't let or encouraged their cultures to change

or embrace the new way employees work and innovate. This is stifling

creativity and opportunities to innovate. If we can break the grip of what

we've known and embrace a little more of the unknown in this regard, I think

it will deliver a positive return ten-fold.


leaders? Not escalating an issue soon enough. By the time many issues are

reported it's very difficult to mitigate the impact and/or get the initiative back

on schedule. We don't need heroes -- when in doubt, escalate.

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Describe your leadership style: Hire good people around you and manage

by objectives. Spend the most time with your top performers, communicate

often on expectations and provide continuous feedback. This approach has

worked for me time and again.

Customer Experience Award winner: Pat Smith Vice President & CIO, Our Kids of Miami-Dade/Monroe Inc.

Data privacy is a critical issue for CIOs -- breaches exact a cost, in reputation

and revenue. For finalist Patricia Smith protecting personally identifiable

information is a calling. The CIO at Our Kids of Miami-Dade Monroe Inc., a

not-for-profit serving abused, abandoned and neglected children, Smith

safeguards personal and sensitive information as if lives depended upon it --

because they do. To help these at-risk children, Our Kids needs to work with

-- and share sensitive personal data with -- hundreds of organizations, from

psychiatric service providers to shelters to schools. The agency also needs

to provide a safe way for its case workers to remotely access case files.

Smith and her IT team have played a vital role in helping Our Kids fulfill its

mission, implementing a sophisticated set of technologies to secure the

agency's network and provide the right level of access to the right person.

These security measures have led to an increase in the utilization of the Our

Kids network by 30% -- an improvement that goes right to the agency's

bottom line: saving kids' lives. Get to know the lighter side of Smith in this IT

Leader Q & A.

Number of years in IT: 25+

Company: Our Kids of Miami-Dade and Monroe Inc.

Revenue: $1 million



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Educational background: MLS in library and information science, University

of Maryland; bachelor of arts in economics, University of Missouri

First job: Consultant

LinkedIn: Pat Smith

Twitter Handle: @patsyk9909

What's the best advice you've ever received? Let go of certainty. The

opposite isn't uncertainty. It's openness, curiosity and a willingness to

embrace change.

In the movie of your life, who would play your character? Meryl Streep

If you could have just one superpower, what would it be and why? The

ability to help someone, to relieve their misery, give them a hand when they

are down or resolve a bureaucratic problem with the click of my fingers!

What's your favorite app on your smartphone or tablet

device? Flipboard -- it enables me to catch up quickly.

Where do you fall in the iPhone versus Android debate? iPhone

Describe the best technology decision you ever made: Stop trying to

know everything.

Is there technology you view as a gimmick or overly-hyped? Cloud has

a role to play but is over-hyped.

What's the biggest challenge you face in IT today? Security

Which role/internal partner do you rely upon the most? My CEO

What's your prediction for the next big technology? Location-assisted

services on mobile devices. We've only scratched the surface.

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What's your favorite nonmonetary benefit or perk of your

job? Satisfaction at making a difference in children's lives.


today? The goal to make money supersedes making the right decision.


leaders? Controlling too much; unwilling to delegate and collaborate.

Describe your leadership style: Dynamic, consensus builder, collaborator

and change agent. I am always challenging my staff, peers and colleagues to

try hard, to do more, to change the status quo and to do good things.

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