Mark Settle, World Class IT Principle Two, Infrastructure, eSeminar with Mark Settle, Chief Information Officer of BMC Software

November 29, 2010

This interview is the second in a special series of five eSeminars covering the Five Principles of World Class IT. The five interviews will be broadcast in sequential weeks, and in this conversation on P2-Infrastructure, Mark Settle discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy

  • The emergence of Enterprise Architecture and Vendor Management Offices as major trends in Infrastructure
  • With each of the new opportunities that he has pursued, the steps Mark has taken to get his mind around the challenges that each infrastructure environment has entailed
  • The kinds of organizations that are more or less ripe for outsourcing infrastructure including the factors that CIOs should consider when weighing this option
  • The methods Mark has used to express the needs and activities related to Infrastructure to his business colleagues
  • Mark’s thoughts related to Cloud Computing and Virtualization

Follow this link to download the eSeminar presentation

Next up in the series will be Randy Spratt, CIO of McKesson, discussing Principle Three, Project and Portfolio Management. The broadcast date will be December 6, 2010. Following Randy will be

  • Principle Four, IT-Business Partnerships: John Boushy, former CEO of Ameristar Casinos and CIO of Harrahs Entertainment
  • Principle Five, External Partnerships: Bob Willett, CEO of Al Futtaim Group and former CIO of Best Buy and CEO of Best Buy International

 

Mark Settle’s Biography

Mark is the Chief Information Officer of BMC Software. In addition to running BMC Software’s IT department, Mark is a rare CIO who makes customer calls, as he helps many of the BMC Software’s customers (who in many cases are CIOs) understand how best to leverage BMC’s offering.

Prior to his time with BMC Software, Mark served as the CIO of four Fortune 300 companies: Corporate Express, Arrow Electronics, Visa International and Occidental Petroleum, making him one of the most seasoned CIOs in the United States. Mark has worked in a variety of industries including consumer products, high tech distribution, financial services and oil & gas. During the early stages of his career, he held P&L responsibilities as the Director of a systems integration business unit within Hughes Aircraft Company.

Mark’s formal education is in the Geological Sciences. He received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from MIT and a PhD from Brown University. He is also former Air Force officer and NASA Program Scientist.

About the book

Chosen as third among “The Best IT Business Books of 2009” by CIO Insight

“What’s unique about this book is that it’s not only a must-read for the CIO (and everyone else in an IT department); it’s for anyone associated with the technology industry. If you are a manufacturer, seller, or service provider of technology, you will gain insight into what makes an IT department world class.” – CIO Digest

“The new book World Class IT (Jossey-Bass, 2009), by consultant Peter A. High, provides solid, timeless advice for CIOs trying to manage IT for business success.” – Mitch Betts, Computerworld Book Review

“Technology is all around us. It is so pervasive in our daily lives that we may not even recognize when we interact with it. Despite this fact, many companies have yet to leverage information technology as a strategic weapon.

What then is an information technology executive to do in order to raise the prominence of his or her department? In World Class IT, recognized expert in IT strategy Peter High reveals the essential principles IT executives must follow and the order in which they should follow them whether they are at the helm of a high-performing department or one in need of great improvement.

Principle 1: Recruit, train, and retain World Class IT people
Principle 2: Build and maintain a robust IT infrastructure
Principle 3: Manage projects and portfolios effectively
Principle 4: Ensure partnerships within the IT department and with the business
Principle 5: Develop a collaborative relationship with external partners

The principles and associated subprinciples and metrics introduced in World Class IT have been used by IT and business executives alike at many Global 1000 companies to monitor and improve IT’s performance. Those principles pertain as much to the leaders of IT as they do to those striving to emulate them.”

The World Class IT principles in yellow were the focus of this interview

  • 01 1- People
  • 02 2- Infrastructure
  • 03 3- Project and Portfolio Management
  • 04 4- IT & Business Partnership
  • 05 5- External Partnerships

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