Among other topics, Bob discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy
Robert A. Willett is the chief executive officer of Best Buy International, the strategic business unit of Best Buy Co., Inc., focused on creating opportunities for growth and innovation outside of the United States. He was appointed to this role in February 2006.
Under Willett’s leadership, Best Buy International has implement a global integration and growth strategy to maximize the retailer’s opportunities beyond North America, while continuing to reengineer the supply chain, Mobile phone and information technology functions that support the company’s customer centric transformation. Executives responsible for enterprise-wide efficiency initiatives, information systems, supply chain management, global sourcing, corporate development and Best Buy Mobile report to Willett. He is also a Chairman of the Best Buy Europe/Carphone wharehouse joint venture.
Prior to his current role, Willett served as the executive vice president of operations and chief information officer for Best Buy, and today continues to lead the company’s efforts to improve efficiencies and simplify its customer-centric operating model.
Willett’s experience spans a number of positions in the retail industry over the past several decades. Willett previously was global managing partner for Accenture Consulting retail practice, where he worked with best-in-class retailers throughout the world on strategy reviews, business transformation, procurement and supply chain management, brand positioning, technology transformation and customer segmentation.
Prior to joining Best Buy formally in 2003, Willett served as a special advisor to the Best Buy board of directors on issues relating to operational efficiency and excellence. During his tenure with Accenture, he also served as a partner on the “Process to Profits” initiative that Best Buy undertook in the late 1990s.
Willett launched his retail career in store management at Marks & Spencer a leading British department store chain in 1968, and has held executive positions, including managing director and group chief executive, for other retailers in Europe.
CIO Magazine named Willett to the CIO Hall of Fame in 2008 to honor his significant contributions to the IT discipline, use of technology in business and advancement of the CIO role. He was also recently named to the board of directors for LightHaus Logic, Inc., an innovative provider of video analytics systems based in Canada.
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Mr. Robert Fecteau (USA, Ret.) is Chief Information Officer for BAE Systems Information Solutions Business. In this capacity, Mr. Fecteau reports directly to the President of Information Solutions.
In this position, Mr. Fecteau focuses on the efficiency and effectiveness of enterprise IT operations and solution in support of both internal and customer business processes for BAE Systems Inc. In this regard, Mr. Fecteau ensures that the Information Solutions’ infrastructure is consistent with Federal, DoD, and Intelligence Community architecture frameworks. Embedded in these framework definitions is a focus on data, security, collaboration, and communications. Mr. Fecteau is also concerned with tools and practices that enable performance measurement, portfolio management, and total cost of ownership (TCO) and then translating the resulting intellectual property into business discriminators.
Mr. Fecteau previously served as a Department of the Army civilian, as Chief Information Officer, United States Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM) managing all enterprise information management and information technology programs. In 2001, he won the Department of Defense’s Chief Information Officer Award for Outstanding Achievement in Information Management.
Mr. Fecteau holds a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from Corpus Christi State University and a master’s degree in Information Systems Management from Syracuse University.
Among other topics, Ananda discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy
Ananda Rakhit is the Chief Information Officer at NES Rentals, a leader in the $25 billion equipment rental industry, and #1 in aerial lifts. In that capacity, he focuses on improving operational productivity with wireless applications and building business intelligence tools to support both daily operations and management strategy.
Prior to his time with NES Rentals, Ananda was a Vice President in R&D division of Automatic Data Processing, where he led an internet-based product development organization with global teams.
Prior to that, Ananda was a Vice President and CTO of Cadence Design Systems, where he defined architecture direction for consistent web-enabling of information assets through Portals and Web Services.
Prior to his time with Cadence Design Systems, Ananda began his professional career as a research analyst in the Financial Planning organization at United Airlines working his way up to a position of Director of Information Services Division where his accomplishments included leading development of www.united.com and speech recognition applications, and building a flight planning system which saved United $100 million in fuel costs per year.
Ananda has a Ph.D in Systems Engineering from the University of Arizona in Tucson after receiving his BS in Mining Engineering and MS in Industrial Engineering from the Indian School of Mines.
Among other topics, Carl discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy
Carl is the Founder and Principal Consultant at Ascention Consulting that specializes in providing fast, expert assistance to IT leaders. He is capable of providing unique perspectives and solutions based on his diverse IT experience in software and services, as a customer, vendor, director and investor.
He is presently an independent Director and Chairman of Casenet, Inc. Casenet is an early stage company providing health care management software and implementation services. He served as Executive Chairman over seeing all aspects of the company during a transition in CEOs. He played a key role in acquiring the company’s largest customer with revenue of $16M+. Casenet has completed three rounds of financing with the primary investors being Sigma Partners and HLM Venture Partners.
Before Casenet, Carl was Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. He was responsible for all aspects of information of technology with a combined operating and capital budget of $250M. Support was provided to 3 million members, 3,500 employees with annual revenue of $12.5B. During his tenure dramatic improvements were made and numerous recognitions for technology excellence were received. His leadership was key in the establishment of the Massachusetts eHealth Collaborative, a coalition to implement electronic medical records throughout the state.
Prior to joining Blue Cross in 2000, Carl was a Partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers L.L.P. He was responsible for a regional IT consulting P&L serving all market segments. In the first year under his leadership revenue and profitability soared, and he was awarded the most improved practice in the firm. Increases of 30% annually were realized in subsequent years.
Carl began his career in information technology with Aetna, Inc. in 1978. Focused on software development in support of the health line of business, he was fast tracked from programmer to management. He later became Vice President and CIO of specialty products. He led the IT due diligence of all potential acquisitions, and made 50+ sales presentations to the Fortune 1000.
Carl received a Bachelor of Science in business administration from Western New England College. He has been involved in various local community activities, business and technology educational programs, such as the Society for Information Management Executives, The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, and the Massachusetts Health Data Consortium.
He was recognized by the City of Boston for his leadership in establishing Project Refresh which provides corporate donations of used computers to schools.
Bob is the Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Automatic Data Processing Employer Services.
Bob joined ADP in September 2002 and is responsible for the development of all Payroll, HR, Benefits and Time & Labor Management products for the $5B Employer Services Division. He leads a department of 1200+ IT associates with an annual budget of $125M. At ADP he has significantly improved the reliability of the company’s Internet product suite reducing downtime by 92% over a two year period. He has also introduced the use of a Service Orientated Architecture to enable integration across the many disparate Human Resource applications that are sold by the company.
In 2006, Bob led ADP to a ranking of number two in the Information Week 500 list of Top Innovators in Business Technology.
Prior to his time at ADP, Bob spent twelve years at United Airlines where he worked with business units to develop an overall strategy and project plan on how new technologies should be used in the future airport environment. While at United he pioneered the use of Parallel Processing technology in areas of yield management and crew scheduling.
Bob holds both a Master of Science and Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial and System Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Among other topics, Tim discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy
Tim recently resigned from his position as Executive Vice President of Shared Services & Chief Information Officer of Hilton Hotels Corporation. In 2000, with the Hilton acquisition of Promus, Tim became Hilton’s Senior Vice President & CIO, promoted to EVP in 2007 with increased responsibilities over the company’s sales & reservations division. In 2008, Tim’s responsibilities were expanded to include commercial revenue. In addition to his role overseeing technology and distribution this would now include the management of the Hilton Honors program and Hotel Performance, with his new title Executive Vice President of Shared Services & CIO.
Tim became Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Promus Hotels in 1995, followed by EVP & CIO with the business expansion due to the merger between Promus and Doubletree in 1998.
In the 1980s, Tim held a variety of positions with Holiday Inn which became Promus Companies and Promus Hotel Corporation.
Tim holds a BBA from Delta State University, where he was also an All American baseball player (outfield), and he has an MBA from the University of Memphis.
Among other topics, Rob discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy
Rob Tabb joined Ecolab as Vice President and Chief Information Officer in 2003. In this role he is responsible for Corporate IT strategy as well as functional responsibility for IT globally. Ecolab, with $6 billion in revenues, is the global leader in cleaning, sanitizing, food safety and infection control products and services.
Rob has 30 years of experience in the systems technology arena. He has a BS degree from Washington and Lee University and an MBA from Tulane University. He is a CPA, a CMA, and is APICS certified. Rob currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Minnesota High Tech Association.
Over a period of 12 years, Rob held CIO positions for Ryder System, CNF Transportation and Nike Inc.
Prior to this, he spent eight years at Dun & Bradstreet Software (DBS) where he held senior management positions in marketing, business development, and general management. Rob began his career in consulting at Andersen Consulting, now known as Accenture.
Among other topics, Nirup discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy
Most recently, Nirup was the Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at The Northern Trust Company. During every year of Nirup’s tenure there, Northern Trust was listed in the top 100 in the Information Week 500 ranking of the Top Innovators in Business Technology, including a placement at number 12 in the most recent ranking released in September 2008. Northern Trust was also consistently ranked among ComputerWorld’s 100 Best Places to Work in IT during Nirup’s time with the bank.
From 1990-2005, Nirup held various positions in the Information Services Division at United Airlines, and for the last three years with the airline, he was Vice President and Chief Information Officer. He has been lauded as one of the key leaders who led the company out of Chapter 11.
Nirup has also worked as a special advisor to Cognizant Technology.
Previously, Nirup has held board positions at multiple companies in his country of origin, India.
Nirup has a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from the State University of New York.
In this interview, Richard Nolan discusses two of the principles of World Class IT with Metis Strategy. Some of the topics discussed include
Richard (Dick) Nolan serves as the Philip M. Condit endowed Chair in Business Administration at the University of Washington’s School of Business, where he is evolving a set of workable management principles for the information economy. Prior to joining the UW faculty, Dr. Nolan was the William Barclay Harding Professor of Management of Technology at Harvard Business School.
Nolan’s previous experience includes several roles within Boeing’s commercial airplanes and defense operations as an applied mathematician and financial systems manager, before becoming a systems analyst for the Department of Defense.
A founder and chairman of consulting firm Nolan, Norton & Co. (acquired by KPMG), he contributed a great deal to the thinking on the role of IT (Information Technology) in transforming organizations and markets.
His 1995 Harvard Business School press book Creative Destruction: A Six-Stage Process for Transforming the Organization (with David C. Croson) heralded many of the organizational issues of the Internet age and sold over 15,000 copies in six languages.
Nolan earned his B.A. from the University of Washington in Production and Operations Research in 1962, and his M.B.A and Ph.D. in Operations Research in 1963 and 1966, respectively.
Among other topics, Sheleen discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy
Sheleen Quish is the Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Ameristar Casinos. In that capacity, she leads the organization’s information technology functions at the Las Vegas corporate office and at the Company’s properties.
Prior to her time at Ameristar, Sheleen was CIO-At-Large with her firm Box 9 Consulting, working with a number of companies on IT challenges including business process re-engineering, IT department transformation and project review and rescue.
Prior to her time at Box 9, Sheleen was Vice President and Global CIO for US Can Company, where she was responsible for the global infrastructure, three data centers and a wide array of applications to support the $750 million company in 24 locations in six countries.
Sheleen also served as Senior Vice President, Insurance Operations and Information Technology with Unitrin, Inc.’s Life & Health Division, where she consolidated the platforms, systems applications and business operations across three companies in the life and health division; EVP Corporate Planning and Information Services with The Signature Group, an affinity marketing company, where she led major business systems integrations and strategic initiatives; and Senior Vice President and Partner of Bricker & Associates consulting firm. In addition, she was Executive Vice President at Southeastern Mutual Insurance Company. Among other responsibilities, she managed the integration of operations of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield organizations of Kentucky and Indiana.
Quish holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the College of New Rochelle (New York). She is an Emeritus member of the editorial board of CIO Magazine, and has been a prolific writer and speaker in a variety of industry forums. She has also been a Fellow of the Cutter Business Technology Council, and Senior Consultant with Cutter’s Sourcing & Vendor Relationships and Business-IT Strategies practices.
