Roundtable membership meeting @ Towson University

Mid-Atlantic CIO Forum Meeting Announcement

 Topic:  “The Future of the CIO/ IT Talent Needs forToday’s Businesses & Technologies”

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Towson University

Please join CIO members of the Forum at the December 20, 2012 roundtable! The meeting is divided into two parts. First, an in-depth look at the evolving role of the CIO will take place. Martha Heller, a highly acclaimed speaker, contributor to CIO magazine and president of Heller Search, an IT executive recruiting firm, will present “Breaking the CIO Paradox”. Her book, The CIO Paradox: Battling the Contradictions of IT Leadership, was just published and a copy will be presented to every roundtable attendee.

 "Regardless of industry, most major companies are becoming technology companies. The successful management of information has become so critical to a company’s goals, that in many ways, now is the age of the CIO. Yet IT executives are besieged by a host of contradictions: bad technology can bring a company to its knees, but corporate boards rarely employ CIOs; CIOs must keep costs down at the very same time that they drive innovation. CIOs are focused on the future, while they are tethered by technology decisions made in the past. These contradictions form what Martha Heller calls The CIO Paradox, a set of conflicting forces that are deeply embedded in governance, staffing, executive expectations, and even corporate culture.

Based on in-depth interviews with a wide array of successful CIOs, more than 12 years working closely with the CIO community, Martha’s presentation offers guidance to CIOs on how to attack, reverse, or neutralize the paradoxical elements of the CIO role, and level the playing field for IT’s success. Q&A with the roundtable will follow her presentation." (Heller, 2012)

Next, Matt Aiello, a Partner in Heidrick & Struggles’ Washington, DC office who specializes in the recruitment of senior-level technology and services executives, will speak. With over ten years of executive search experience, Matt has led a multitude of chief information/technology officer searches (plus direct reports including applications, infrastructure, architecture and divisional/regional/business information officers) across industries to include technology software/services, hardware/distribution, consumer/media, financial services, retail, automotive, manufacturing, mining, higher education and non profit. Matt will conclude the first part of this meeting with a presentation/discussion on national market observations in CIO/CTO executive searches, trends in the Baltimore/Washington marketplace, and the implications of both for job seekers and CIOs looking to hire talent.

In the second part of the meeting, the focus is IT talent needs from many perspectives including changing needs, staff recruitment, and staff retention. Dan Roberts, President and CIO of Ouellette & Associates Consulting, Inc. and author of “Unleashing the Power of IT”, will moderate a dynamic panel discussion with the meeting attendees and the speakers.  It will be very interactive and be participant driven; he will facilitate a lively “fireside chat” between the CIOS attending and the panelists. The discussion will focus on how to remain viable in a rapidly changing, highly competitive business environment where CIOs are having “to proactively transform IT organizations and cultures. To accomplish this, they need to develop an IT workforce that has the new mindset, skill set, and tool set necessary for success…” (Roberts, “Unleashing the Power of IT”,2011)”.

This is a unique and rare opportunity for CIOs to share knowledge and discuss critical topics in a CIO friendly, confidential environment. The roundtable meeting is restricted to CIO members and guest CIOs. All participants will have signed a non-disclosure agreement. In a roundtable meeting, only CIO members and invited IT executive guests are present; no vendor members, TU staff or professors participate.

Liz Young
Executive-in-Residence
Mid-Atlantic CIO Forum
Towson University
(cell) 410-790-9362
(work) 410-704-6228
lyoung@towson.edu

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