Appointed to leverage my extensive career expertise in envisioning and orchestrating the transformation of large-scale IT functions, I assumed the role of Senior Vice President of Information Technology (CIO). I reported directly to the CEO and held the responsibility of reporting to the Board of Directors on Information Security matters. My leadership spanned a team of five direct reports and more than 85 full-time employees across various sectors in the southeastern United States, along with an offshore contingency team of over 50. Our annual budget exceeded $21 million.
My overarching responsibility commenced with an in-depth assessment of the current state of the enterprise IT infrastructure. Subsequently, I devised a comprehensive roadmap for the IT landscape’s evolution. This transformative journey involved the implementation of a technology ecosystem, rooted in a bottom-up approach guided by the established roadmap. Simultaneously, we cultivated a new IT culture, starting from the upper echelons of leadership and cascading down throughout the organization. This paradigm shift, often referred to as “IT 2.0,” effectively positioned IT as a proactive and accountable partner to the business.
By reshaping the IT delivery model and consistently delivering exceptional results, we championed a higher quality of IT service that, in turn, empowered the business to achieve remarkable outcomes. Our IT team spearheaded and advocated for significant IT-business initiatives while demonstrating the return on investment (ROI) of IT through tangible business profitability metrics.
Within my portfolio of direct report teams, we oversaw a wide spectrum of critical functions, including application development (both onshore and offshore), management of three data centers, supervision of two expansive distribution centers (each spanning 1 million square feet), support for infrastructure, database administration, application support, network engineering and telephony, desktop support, pharmacy support, and security operations. This comprehensive oversight encapsulated our commitment to driving IT excellence and aligning it with the strategic objectives of the organization.