Virtual IT in the Cloud By Mike Pellegrino, who is the former CIO at Sun Products, CIO at Frontier Communications, VP of IT at FujiFilm Holdings America and now a strategic IT consultant and President of Progressive Technology. What is the Cloud? The common definitions include services which are generally divided into three categories: Infrastructure-asa-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Software-as-a- Service (SaaS). But the term Cloud encompasses a whole lot more from a myriad of companies who sell Cloud services and solutions that may be slightly different interpretations of the terms. Also, some Cloud services might be described as public, private or enterprise. Again, descriptions and perspectives vary. All of these are good interpretations of what the Cloud is and for many situations they make good sense. Many companies have already taken the IT Cloud Service plunge and benefitted from it or learned valuable lessons from the experience. The Cloud continues to grow dramatically and it is evolving into what I see as Virtual IT in the Cloud for businesses. What I mean is that for much of what typical IT departments do today can be performed quite well in the Cloud better, cheaper and faster! The Cloud enables economies of scale and aspects of performance, reliability and elasticity that many companies cannot afford to do themselves or don t have the time and resources to build, especially if they are behind in their technology landscapes. There might not be enough runway to effectively catch up to where they need to be. The Cloud can help dramatically reduce the time to implement in such cases. So, what does Virtual IT in the Cloud mean? In my view it combines the common Cloud services into virtual IT functions that can be used as extensions of traditional IT organizations or services that are tightly integrated and seamless to the businesses they support. This is especially true as companies transition to or add Cloud services to their existing enterprise technology architecture where some of their technology is mixed between on premise internally supported, outsourced and/or in the Cloud. A simple example is something like the ecosystem of service offerings around SalesForce.com. There are hundreds of tools and services that seamlessly integrate data and specific functions without the need to build a heavily customized solutions. Nowadays it s easy to spin up servers in the Cloud or buy software as a service solutions but integration and overall management are still the keys to success. As the Virtual IT Cloud continues to evolve the integration will become more seamless and easier to manage. Here s the concept if my company and the companies I do business with are using the same software/service our interaction in the form of standard transactions should be handled seamlessly and without the need for complex customized Peter Duflo Managing Partner Strategic Ventures (MRINetwork) Single Source IT Recruiting Permanent & Contractors 860.643.4434 pduflo@strategicventures.com http://www.linkedin.com/in/peterduflo www.strategicventures.com Every month I ask a thought leader from our Ambassador Group to contribute an article explaining new information technologies such as Cloud Applications, Infrastructure, Managed Services, Business Intelligence, Analytics, Big Data, Security, Mobility and Healthcare services. Additionally, I have included our All-Star Roster which includes profiles on exceptional IT leaders who are considering their next career move. Let me know if your company could benefit from their proven leadership, on a permanent or contract basis, or if you would like to discuss your strategic IT objectives. Peter About Strategic Ventures The Strategic Ventures team of MRINetwork delivers single source IT recruiting services to companies using Cloud applications, infrastructure, business intelligence, analytics, big data, e-commerce, security, mobility and healthcare solutions. We recruit leading CIO s, CTO s, VP s, Directors, project managers and technical resources into both permanent and contract positions. To provide our client s rapid access to the highest quality IT talent, our recruiting team has developed a national network of All-Star candidates and also leverages the visibility of MRINetwork s 2,500 recruiters located in 40 countries.
transactions that are usually handled via third party services (like EDI). Companies should look for Cloud providers that are offering complete solutions that map the organizations functions and offer higher levels of integration within their customer base so that broader adoption of Cloud services can benefit the company to do business easier and faster. Our roster of satisfied clients includes multinational corporations, mid-cap and emerging companies. Opportunities also abound for Cloud technology companies to take advantage of the growing need for Cloud services and look beyond basic services to provide more value-add that solves the integration and management of different Cloud services into more complete solutions for businesses. I think the industry is still in the beginning stages of this movement and there is a long way to go which creates tremendous opportunities for Cloud technology companies and the businesses that use those services. ALL-STAR ROSTER Here are examples of All-Stars who are open to being recruited to a new team or contract assignments: Consulting and Managed Services, CEO or COO - This Big 4 experienced, aggressive IT industry leading executive has built a P&L s valued at over $1Billion at one of the world s largest professional services firms. His experience spans executive levels within large public, private equity backed and small private firms. He has over 25 years of progressive roles in exceeding Revenue, Operating Income and Customer Satisfaction targets with deep experience in successfully delivering business strategy, large scale ERP, custom application development, managed services and a variety of transformative Cloud engagements. With a hands-on leadership style, and a deep background in business development, this executive has: Established a new market, Big 4 consulting team that increased revenues by over 700% within a year Transformed a low performing staff augmentation based organization to a firm s number one producer for consulting revenue and operating income % within two years Consistently led all other peers in the Americas in performing double digit market growth for his current employer in both revenue and operating income during each of his last two years as a Managing Partner
Cloud Managed Services, SVP of Sales - This sales executive currently leads a sales team which sells enterprise managed services, cloud and outsourcing opportunities in companies of $500mm to $5B in revenues. His team is responsible for the sales process from Opportunity Qualification thru Close and has developed many Global 2000 marquee clients. This Sales VP just closed one of the largest deals in company history and is on track to significantly overachieve his 2014 team quota. As a player / coach this executive leads Strategic Deal management, Sales coordination, Solution Development and Sales Support for large complex deals encompassing various managed services offerings including - OS Management, Monitoring Services, Remote Managed IT Services, Full Infrastructure Management, Backup and Recovery, Technical Operations Center Support and Application Management for both SAP and Oracle. During this IT cloud sales leader's 20-year career he has managed P&L s between $150mm - $250mm at several industry leading companies including IBM. Mgmt Consulting & Advisory Executive, COO /SVP of Sales - This accomplished Oracle Cloud consulting leader has superb execution skills and a healthy balance of innovation and common sense. Proven track record in the following areas: change agent, client relations, sales, team building, performance improvement, delivering results and creating a collaborative culture across organizations. He has a track record of success driving revenues at the Big 4, Oracle, SI Firms and even startups. This leader drives innovation with over 25 years of finance, business, consulting, systems integration, and advisory experience. This rare combination of strategic thinking and the ability to operationalize these strategies has led to impressive financial results such as: Built and grew $100 to $400M consulting practices focused on Commercial and Financial Services markets Developed a GTM Program that produced 8 new accounts with contract value in excess of $150M Built vertical solutions for O&G, Utilities, Manufacturing and Financial Services Verticals leading to several $20 to $50M engagements Fixed several high profile clients minimizing margin erosion ($12M) and potential contract termination
Built strong partner, channels and industry programs producing $50M of new revenue Health IT Cloud Services, CEO / COO /GM - This software and services executive is recognized for his repeated success in innovating, building, commercializing and delivering market-leading web and mobile software solutions that enable large healthcare systems to effectively engage with patient populations to improve wellness, care delivery and reduce costs. This leader has successfully scaled and managed P&Ls from startup to over $50M in revenue and earned a reputation as a 'lead from the front' leader with a passion for operational excellence and nurturing top talent. This 'utility player' brings deep domain expertise in patient portals, clinical portals, mobility, analytics, workflow automation and enterprise content management solutions and a breadth of experience across all company functions. This All-Star executive has accomplished the following: In the GM role he executed successful business turnaround expanding EBITDA 25% CAGR over 4 years while achieving double digit top line revenue growth and self-funding new BPO and cloud solution offering. As VP, Product Management built, commercialized and evolved flagship clinical portal from ideation to deployment in 1,000 hospitals worldwide. As VP of Professional Services established and led consulting practices of 300+ consultants to implement ERP solutions to Fortune 500 clients to generate > $100M annual revenue. Cloud Software Services, CEO / COO - This accomplished Cloud services leader, change agent, and entrepreneur has a track record of success driving revenues at the Big-4, SAP, Oracle and even startups. This leader s startup mentality drives innovation with over 25 years of finance, business, consulting, systems integration, and high tech industry experience. This rare combination of strategic thinking and ability to operationalize these strategies has led to impressive financial results such as: Developed a VC based investment model to achieve $1B non-linear revenue Managed Oracle North American and Canadian Commercial Consulting Business Unit; directly responsible for $425 million in revenue Booked $500 million in Oracle new business
Developed strategy to gain 30 net new engagements in one quarter Managed $1 billion SAP consulting practice focused on commercial, financial, and public services vertical markets Cloud Software Services, CEO/COO - This software company executive has successfully grown and sold three emerging financial services software (Saas) companies to public companies in transactions ranging from $8MM to almost $40MM. These sophisticated equities post-trade analytics and revenue management software applications are used by many of the largest 20 global financial services asset managers. This successful CEO is very well rounded in software application sales, delivery and development. He is an innovative software architect with many years of experience in the design of complex financial services systems and was the creator of a sophisticated post-trade software analytics application which he subsequently sold to Citigroup. Cloud Infrastructure Services, CEO/COO/CIO - This executive has extensive leadership experience helping private equity firms such as; American Capital, General Atlantic, George Soros Commodity Investment Fund and Osprey International Opportunities Fund maximize the equity of their portfolio companies in Agribusiness / Food, Oil & Gas and Internet technology services. This enhanced value was achieved through improvements in their information technology, operations, logistics, and organizational effectiveness. This leader has a demonstrated ability to manage complex projects and operational situations, overcome distressed and under-performing organizations, and managing diverse customers and strategic suppliers using a blend of people, process, and technology solutions. He is a thought leader who is frequently ask to speak on evolving IT organizational models, applying next generation technologies to drive business performance, leveraging technology suppliers and generating business value through technology strategies. He believes these technology approaches can be taken to any number of portfolio companies to gain competitive edge and he has conservatively achieve 15% to 40% reductions in annual IT expenditures at all the operating companies he has helped prepare for liquidity events. Contact Us Now We welcome the opportunity to discuss these high performance All-Stars and our executive search services. If this information was forwarded to you, let us know if you would like to be included in the distribution of this Scouting Report. Feel free to contact me at - pduflo@strategicventures.com or submit our online request form for more information. If you would no longer like to receive e-mails, simply reply to this with UNSUBSCRIBE in subject line.