the los angeles business journal presents 2012 …the los angeles business journal presents this...

The Los Angeles Business Journal presents

This special advertising supplement did not involve the reportingor editing staff of the Los Angeles Business Journal.

June 18, 2012 Advertising Supplement

CIOs of the Year

2012

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34 AN ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO THE LOS ANGELES BUSINESS JOURNAL JUNE 18, 2012

FOR several years now, we’ve taken the time atthe Los Angeles Business Journal to singleout the cream of the CEO and CFO crops.With special events and sections of ourissues dedicated to these deserving leaders,

we like to think we’re bringing attention to the fabulousstories of individual and team-player achievement in ourbusinesses. And it was one afternoon several moons agowhile we were putting one of these events together thatthe discussion turned to the dramatic way our LosAngeles business landscape has changed over the lastfew years as a result of technology.

And as we, like most, regularly commend the greatCEOs and CFOs for their roles in accepting – even ush-ering in and innovating – new technology – it becameapparent that a celebration of those with their handson the proverbial steering wheels of this technologywere well past receiving their due. The CIOs are theoften unsung heroes of business success – especially inrecent times when integration or implementation oftechnological systems has become a do or die proposi-tion in so many industries.

And so here it is – our first Los Angeles BusinessJournal CIO Awards, where we stop for a moment toapplaud the IT knowhow and technological achieve-ments of the corporate space’s hi-tech men and women– the often unsung architects and enablers of our com-panies’ operational successes.

You can ask virtually any successful CEO or CFO in

Los Angeles and they are likely to agree that it’s near-ly impossible to quantify the value of the CIOs and ITteams they work so closely with. Indeed, it’s the CIO’swho are often charged with providing the operationaltools required to match a CEO’s vision for a company.So for all the great CIOs celebrated by our awards thisyear, we say thank you and congratulations! Your tire-less contributions to the companies you serve andultimately, our business community as a whole, areappreciated.

This year’s list of superb finalists — each an exampleof excellence in the field of corporate technology stew-ardship — made it even more difficult to arrive at thehonorees. We are particularly excited to shine a lighton eight honorees announced in eight categories: “CIO of the Year” representing small, medium sizedand large businesses, “Government CIO of the Year,”“Non-Profit CIO of the Year,” “IT Team of the Year,”“IT Service Partner of the Year,” and our very special“CIO Lifetime Achievement Award.” We applaud eachof the honorees and finalists!!

Best regards,

Matthew A. ToledoPublisher & CEO

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Publisher’s Letter

CIOs OF THE YEAR 2012

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CIO OF THE YEAR(MORE THAN 500 EMPLOYEES)

JEREMY ERLANDSENMRV COMMUNICATIONS

JEREMY Erlandsen has led MRV Communications through an immenseamount of change since being hired as the company’s CIO. His maingoal in being hired as the CIO was to reorganize MRV’s global IT opera-tions from a regional structure into a centrally controlled competencybased model. Erlandsen led his IT team through this daunting task at a

steady pace, enabling the assurance of quality work as well as timeliness in meet-ing deadlines. His ability to take on certain pieces of this project on his own anddelegate other responsibilities to his team members was critical in the project’ssuccessful completion. Faced with the daunting task of restructuring the entire IToperations of a company like MRV, Erlandssen is in tune with the fact that thepeople within his team are critical to the success of the project. Therefore, select-ing the most skilled experienced and talented professionals to carry out the proj-ect are of the same importance. Erlandsen built a team of experienced IT profes-sionals that have an understanding of MRV’s business as well as younger individu-als that are experts in newer cloud technology. He promotes a culture of continu-ing education where these IT professionals can learn from each other every day asthey collaborate on the projects at hand. Erlandsen has always been a proponentof working closely with other lines of business as well. AT MRV, he created anexecutive alignment program with some of the key departments including opera-tions, engineering, finance, accounting and human resources. This program gaveErlandsen and his IT team an understanding of the goals of each department,allowing him to align the new IT infrastructure with the business as a whole.With many years of experience in revitalizing IT departments, Erlandsen hasfound that collaborating with the business is of the upmost importance in com-pleting successful projects.

CIO OF THE YEAR(100-500 EMPLOYEES)

MARK LONG, PhD.ZYNX HEALTH

MARK Long’s commitment to technical excellence is deep and wide-ranging. When he first arrived at Zynx Health, the product devel-opment group was using an out-moded software developmentprocess that continually resulted in cost overruns and reoccurringquality problems. Long insisted that his managers introduce and

operationalize modern, sound software engineering practices (such as unit testing,test-driven development, and continuous integration). Long also introduced a cul-ture of continuous learning (of new platforms, languages, techniques), and investedheavily in hiring and retaining top-notch talent. Along the way, he created a cultureof collaboration and employee empowerment by encouraging strategic and concep-tual thinking. He engages his employees in brainstorming sessions in which he playsdevil’s advocate; this leads everyone to think more critically not just in their conver-sations with Long, but in their interactions with colleagues within Technology andthe rest of the company. Long believes that the best way to foster innovation is tocreate an environment where all ideas are welcome. He continually invites all staffto provide him with suggestions, input, feedback, etc. on any and all topics rangingfrom technology choices to process improvements. He is always open to new ideas,and in addition, brings a rigorous process to test, validate and prove each idea on itsown merits. Long has encouraged his team to generate and make hypotheses explic-it, building artifacts to test the hypotheses, and learning from those tests. By intro-ducing this methodology, and fostering its adoption, Long has given his IT teamtools which not only allow them to be innovative, but require them to be individu-ally accountable for identifying the areas of greatest uncertainty on which an ideahinges, and finding quick, inexpensive ways to test and refine those.

CIOs OF THE YEAR

2012 Honorees

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CIO OF THE YEAR(FEWER THAN 100 EMPLOYEES)

ADRIAN NEWBYCROWNPEAK TECHNOLOGY

ADRIAN Newby is responsible for delivering the global infrastructure forthe leading software as a service in web content management (WCM).This is an enterprise line-of-business application with over 12,000 cor-porate seats and over 3,500 live web sites under management. In short,Newby and his team of 8 have created the world’s first high-availability

global WCM service. The system Newby has developed is robust enough to supportthe websites for customers such as Nissan, MetLife, Lilly, Deloitte and Skype. The sys-tem is secure enough to have passed the most strenuous reviews from the Fortune1000. And the system is managed in a way that delivers against a high-availabilitySLA, but still saves the customer over 70% of the cost of alternative systems. Newby’sleadership is clearly demonstrated by the efficiency and innovative methods to deliveran enterprise software system. Newby spends about 50% of his time internally andabout 50% customer-facing. So his first job is to deliver a robust, secure, high-availabil-ity system globally. His second job is to communicate to the internal and externalconstituents about how his team does things, why they do those things and why thethings they do matter to the customer. In addition to supporting the creation anddelivery of CrownPeak’s software products, Newby and his team have created a seriesof value-added services like site archiving, advanced security management and applica-tion-specific monitoring services that are easy add-ons and upsell opportunities for thecustomer base. He was able to conceive and develop these capabilities due to his inter-action with the customers and then bring the requirements back to his team to facili-tate. Everybody in the company understands and appreciates the vital role he playsand what he’s doing to drive business success for CrownPeak and its customers.

CIO OF THE YEAR(GOVERNMENT/PUBLIC SECTOR)

DOUG ALBRECHTPORT OF LONG BEACH

DOUG Albrecht is responsible for providing information technologyleadership that enables the Port of Long Beach to be the world-classorganization that it is. His division helps the Port achieve its strate-gic goals by improving business processes and implementing busi-ness-critical systems that make the organization more effective. He is

also responsible for providing technology expertise and ensuring that the Port’stechnology users receive the highest customer service through continuous serviceimprovement. Albrecht demonstrates a strong leadership focus by developing thekey technology initiatives for more effective management of Port operations, put-ting together courses of action for the successful implementation of these initia-tives, and then communicating them to the Port team. He cultivates this skillthrough his team by surrounding himself with highly skilled, motivated IT peoplewho seek the active cooperation and collaboration between team members. In his19 years with the Port, Albrecht has introduced computer automation to many inthe Harbor Department. He is currently implementing the Port’s first-everInformation Management Business Plan, a five-year program of projects to upgradethe Port’s processes, systems and technology infrastructure. Albrecht communi-cates his technology plans to various constituents and teams so that employeesgrow a genuine understanding of how the Port’s technology contributes to theorganization’s success. He presents how the technology translates to tangiblereturns-on-investment according to the constituents’ interests. For example, if pre-senting a certain technology initiative to the finance department, Albrecht will dis-cuss how the technology will specifically impact the accounting and record-keep-ing processes that are the main concerns for the department, and what else thedepartment can expect. He also clearly communicates what is needed from teammembers to ensure successful adoption of the technology, and follows through onany assigned action items or responsibilities to teams or departments so that tech-nology programs are the most that they can be from start to finish.

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CIO OF THE YEAR(NONPROFIT SECTOR)

ERIN GRIFFINSAG-AFTRA

ERIN Griffin is the Chief Information Officer for the Screen Actors Guildwhere she serves on the strategic management team as well as overseeingthe Guild’s technology-related operations – and a wide-ranging operation itis – with 20 offices, 400 employees (200 of whom are based in the LosAngeles office), and representing more than a million actors, announcers,

broadcasters journalists, dancers, DJs, news writers, news editors, program hosts, pup-peteers, recording artists, singers, stunt performers, voiceover artists and other media pro-fessionals. Known as a consummate IT executive, Griffin takes a long-term strategic view,and manages people effectively in order to build systems to deliver on the strategy.Griffin helped successfully merge the Screen Actors Guild with AFTRA. The merger closedon March 31 of this year and the joining of the two groups meant that they were able tomerge over a million members in their database. Griffen set up a system that enabled thenewly merged entities to meld seamlessly all the while benefiting from an IT system thatfollows best practices thanks to Griffen’s diligent and technologically savvy leadership.Formerly Vice President for Information Technology and CIO at Loyola MarymountUniversity in Los Angeles, as well as CIO at St. Johns College, she previously served theU.S. State Department in Germany, and the U.S. Navy in Japan, Italy, and at the USNaval Academy. Now at SAG-AFTRA, Griffen promotes leadership through her strengthsof IT knowledge and infrastructure. She leads a solid team of skilled professionals anddemonstrates effective leadership throughout the IT group and business processes. Shealso works directly with the board of directors and brings them up to speed at meetings.She is a part of executive committee teams and other various groups within the organiza-tion to communicate how technology contributes to the company’s success.

IT TEAM OF THE YEAR

KENNETH HEAPSLATHAM & WATKINS LLP

IN his role as the Chief Information Officer of Latham & Watkins, KennethHeaps is responsible for Latham & Watkins’ worldwide technology and com-munications strategy, platforming, technology support and training, data gov-ernance, systems security, eDiscovery and practice support services. He servesas a key member of the firm’s Technology Committee and Security & Privacy

Committee. When Heaps joined Latham in 1989, there were approximately nineoffices in three countries with 500 attorneys. Today, there are 31 offices in 15 differ-ent countries with 2100 attorneys. Heaps has demonstrated strong leadership inevolving and scaling the Technology Department and its services to match thegrowth, strategies and infrastructure of the firm. Teamwork is inherent in all areasand at all levels, and this has facilitated creating a global structure that supports dif-ferent cultures, both regionally and based on vertical expertise. Growing theDepartment to meet the demands through customer service and innovative think-ing, and also providing a scalable and highly reliable technology platform that isaligned with business needs have been Heaps’ primary focus. As a result, the firmand its legal professionals have been provided with technology tools and servicesthat enhance client services and provide competitive advantages. Latham’sTechnology Department follows a few basic principles when hiring and keeping greatpeople. It is essential for the Technology team members to possess the highest degreeof technical expertise, as well as a thorough understanding of the firm’s core legalpractices. There is a standard for providing full-service support solutions and foroffering the best possible customer service at all times. A collegial and collaborativework environment is also fostered in order to create an effective and cohesive teamculture. These factors make it possible to work cooperatively as a team on a globalscale and to provide consistent and reliable service and support around the clock.

CIOs OF THE YEAR

2012 Honorees

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IT SERVICE PARTNER OF THE YEAR

NEWEGG INC.

NEWEGG Inc., which owns and operates Newegg.com andNeweggBusiness.com, is a leading e-retailer of computer compo-nents and consumer electronics. The company is committed tobecoming the most trusted and reliable marketplace on the Web byoffering a superior shopping experience, rapid delivery, and stellar

customer service. With more than 3 million products available and an award-win-ning web site, Newegg has earned the loyalty of tech-enthusiasts and novice e-shoppers alike. Newegg.com and NeweggBusiness.com offer depth of selection inproduct categories such as computer hardware, PCs, tablets and laptops, electron-ics, and software. Newegg also equips its customers with state of the art decision-making resources such as detailed specifications, how-to’s, two million customerreviews, and high resolution photo galleries. Newegg is dedicated to providing thebest service to its Newegg.com and NeweggBusiness.com customers. It is Newegg’sbelief that great service establishes strong ties, loyalty, and repeat customers. Thecompany knows, for example, that fast shipping is crucial for customer satisfactionand makes sure that 100 percent of orders are shipped out within one business day.Newegg also works hard to maintain low call and wait times to ensure that anycustomer service issues are addressed quickly and effectively. The company oper-ates more than 1,000,000 square feet of warehouse space in the U.S. alone.Newegg’s team of customer service associates is also available via phone, e-mail andonline chat to ensure a customer’s utmost satisfaction. Whether Newegg’s cus-tomer is a self-proclaimed computer “geek,” small business owner or independentIT contractor, Newegg provides its registered users with the right tools to purchaseeverything that is needed for a business or home office. NeweggBusiness, whichcaters to small and medium-sized organizations across a variety of industriesincluding government, education and healthcare, offers its customers unique bene-fits to help streamline purchasing processes, and maximize both time and budget.

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

JORY WOLFCITY OF SANTA MONICA

JORY Wolf has been an innovative thought leader, advocating for the useof technology to enhance services and attract businesses to SantaMonica. His leadership is reflected in the skill and dedication of SantaMonica’s Information Systems Department, which is respected for itsintegrity, know-how and reliability. Formed in 2007 under his leader-

ship, the Information Systems Department now has 40 staff organized into fivedivisions supporting City, business and public networks; over 160 applications; afree public Wi-Fi service; management and support of all City technology hard-ware and software; and administration of the City Net broadband program. Hisinnovative vision has also helped Santa Monica attract and retain many entertain-ment and high-tech companies. Prior to City Net, these businesses found it diffi-cult to get telecommunication companies to invest in the infrastructure requiredto meet their demands. Wolf has implemented many beneficial organizationalstrategies for IT staff that have helped integrate technology and business withinthe organization. The resulting partnership has helped the City to implement sev-eral innovative technologies, including a free City-wide Wi-Fi network, transporta-tion management technologies that help track parking and manage traffic signals,and a municipal broadband program that helps spur local economic development.One of the most successful of Wolf’s organizational management strategies was tolocate technology staff within many of the City’s departments, where they learnthe processes and practices working alongside operations staff. This has led to asynergy between technology and business because IT staff is turned to when Cityleaders are looking to re-engineer practices to provide improved services, stream-line workflows or better utilize technology. Furthermore, these technologists areseen as part of the team and therefore trusted by operational staff to support theirneeds because they have a common mission and goal. The City continues toinvest its scarce resources into technology because Wolf and his staff are trusted todeliver successful projects that provide benefit to the City and the community.

CIOs OF THE YEAR

2012 Honorees

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This year’s esteemed CIO of the Year finalistsare arranged below alphabetically by lastname. Congratulations to all of the finalists!

CARMELLA CASSETTACorinthian Colleges, Inc.

Carmella Cassetta’s leader-ship is one of vision andfocus on the business direc-tion of the organization.She does an excellent job inrelaying the executive direc-tion and decisions to her

staff to ensure Corinthian’s activities arein line with the businesses. She continu-ally looks for the team’s advice, solicitsideas and challenges the norm to ensureher team is aligned. Cassetta is well inte-grated into the business as a criticalmember of the senior executive team. Inher role as SVP CIO & Procurement shetouches the corporate offices for IT relat-ed areas as well as purchasing responsibil-ities. Bi-weekly she presents to the busi-ness critical updates for her collectivedepartments to ensure the executives andbusiness partners are aware of any pend-ing and/or significant systems changes.In addition to this, she chairs an ITSteering Committee meeting on amonthly basis to present an overview tothe senior executive team.

JIM CONNOLLYZynx Health

Jim Connolly leads byexample. When a projectneeds help, he always offersto help before project man-agers have the opportunityto ask. He reduces cross-team friction through

strong, even-handed directives and com-municates his decisions with clarity andresolve. He is open to criticism, meetingwith everyone in his staff at least once amonth, looking for ways to improve theirday-to-day by eliminating blocking prob-lems or smoothing communications, par-ticularly with departments outsideTechnology. Jim Connolly does not makehis decisions in a vacuum. He is able tojudge the mood in the room and deliverdecisions which positively impact theteams he supports. He relentlessly gathersfeedback and uses it to tailor decision-making throughout the executive teamin a way that benefits his employees,department, and organization.

VIC HERRERADTT Surveillance Inc.

In the past year, VicHerrera and his depart-ment have led a revolutionin leadership and stan-dards within DTTSurveillance. Through theadoption of a tailored lean

management process, Herrerra has beenable to increase the department’sthroughput as well as the quality of allfinal products. To maintain thismomentum, he has implemented anappropriately tiered management struc-ture as well as instituted reporting andcommunication methods that induce

all levels of staff to produce at theirbest. Some soft tactics that have beenused in support of this practice includeongoing professional developmentincentives as well as strategic bonusesto top performing staff. In addition,underperforming staff have been reme-diated with management through theexpression of easily attained, incremen-tal goal for improvement. As part of hisdelivery to fellow executives, Herreragoes out of his way to hear all sideswithout bias and come to solutionsthat can successfully address the rootdesire or requirement of any request.

DEANNA JOHNSTONBelkin

Deanna Johnston partnersclosely with her business totruly understand its opera-tional requirements andchallenges. Rather thandelivering solutions basedsolely on what the business

requests, she first digs in to digest theentire process in question and in almostall cases she shows the business thatwhat they asked for is not truly whatthey want, then proceeds to develop anddeliver a superior solution. Her deepunderstanding of business processes, andof Belkin’s unique requirements, hasdirectly led to her being selected to leadseveral high-level cross-functional proj-ects that no other senior leader had theskill set to tackle. For example, she isleading the overhaul and re-launch ofBelkin’s website, which requires cross-functional partnership throughout alllevels of the company. She has activelysought buy-in from everyone and keepseveryone apprised of development alongthe way.

CAMERON KINGProspect Mortgage

Cameron King continuallyfosters a culture of innova-tion, solution and respectby creating an open, hon-est and collaborative envi-ronment. He stresses theconstant desire to have his

personnel improve themselves personal-ly and professionally through additionaltechnical, communication and skill setrefinement advancement and refine-ment. He thinks “Big Picture” and com-municates his plan to the business bydemonstrating how technology andinnovation create efficiency and loweroverall costs. He understands theTechnology side as well as the businessside which allows him to present solu-tions that all the company to growfinancially. King has been able to estab-lish strong inter-department relation-ships and trust based on his deep andcomprehensive industry knowledge andexperience in all aspects of our business,including IT, sales and operations. Hisexperience and knowledge provide himwith the ability to provide insight aswell as tactical and strategic recommen-dations to issues and suggested initia-tives companywide.

MATTHEW KRAVITZDTT Surveillance

Matthew Kravitz has taken a uniqueapproach to executing projects and initia-tives at DTT. Instead of having a separate“IT” organization that operates independ-ently from the business, DTT essentiallyhas a “virtual” department comprised of

cross-departmentalresources. A typical projectinvolves Kravitz as the proj-ect manager, the VP of thedepartment, one functionalresource, and one or moreprogrammer. So instead of

only having “the business” being viewedas a constituent or outsider during thedesign and development of a project,they are labeled and identified as a coremember of the delivery team. It’s a subtledifference, but significant enough thatnone of the VPs feel as though projectsor changes are thrust upon them.

DAVID LAMStephen S. Wise Temple

David Lam is constantlylooking for ways toimprove the organization’soperation and works closelywith executives to imple-ment their programs in away that supports multiple

missions of the organization. For exam-ple, using a Six Sigma Black Belt method-ology, he has worked with theAccounting, Communications andCenter for Youth Engagement depart-ments to work on business improvementprojects that don’t necessarily involvetechnology. Lam is constantly looking forinnovation in both managing his teamand in working with others. Two yearsago, he installed a $750,000 phone sys-tem at zero net cost to the organizationby creatively looking at the budget andworking with the vendor. Additionally,the organization was one of the first reli-gious schools in the country to offerremote learning, and is constantly imple-menting new and cutting-edge systems.More recently, Lam is exploring the useof cloud technologies to lower the cost ofcomputing.

LEVY LIEBERMAN andMENDY PINSONProdege LLC

As leaders,the duoof LevyLiebermanand MendyPinson moti-vate their

team leading by example, never takingthem for granted. Both credit their suc-cess to the fact that this position allowsthem the opportunity to teach othersand lend them the same opportunitiesthey were fortunate to come by.The pairalso makes a point of always knowing“how” to complete any task they delegateto developers. This unique approachdemonstrates to the developers that theirhard work is fully appreciated, not onlyas a finished product, but in its entirety,including all “under the hood” develop-

ment that may not be as evident, even tosomeone with technical, and IT develop-ment, background. Under their leader-ship, the tech team repeatedly steps up tothe plate, sometime for multi-24-hour-a-day “development marathons.” It’s a tes-tament to their leadership, that evenunder such intense, results-driven pres-sure, the atmosphere is always one ofcontent, excitement and most important-ly: pride!

PHILIP LIEBERMANLieberman Software

Philip Lieberman is a highlyaccomplished security soft-ware executive with morethan 30 years of industryexperience. He has anestablished track record offinding shortcomings in

existing market solutions and fillingthose gaps with innovative new products.As president and founder of LiebermanSoftware, he developed the first productsto serve the privileged password manage-ment and shared account password man-agement space. Today he continues tointroduce new solutions to resolve thesecurity threat of unmanaged privilegedaccounts. His company released its firstcommercial product in 1994, but tracesits roots back to 1978 when it was found-ed as a software consultancy. Since itsinception, Lieberman has maintainedLieberman Software as a profitable, man-agement owned firm. It has consistentlyprovided unique solutions that fill theniche of managing privileged accountsthroughout the cross-platform enterprise.He also happens to be a visionary whopioneered the privileged identity man-agement space.

KARA MARXMethodist Hospital

Kara Marx holds a master’sdegree in healthcare servic-es and uses her uniquecombination of academictraining and work experi-ence to communicate on alllevels and through all

departments. Her background includesworking with a major software vendorand various consulting firms, in additionto her years of experience as a registerednurse. Communication is a critical skillin leading successful IT projects. Sheensures that all IT projects are communi-cated fully and utilizes all options avail-able. Marx and her team have imple-mented electronic medical records, freewi-fi for the community, IPad applica-tions for physicians, online bill pay forpatients, wireless temperature monitoringfor medications, numerous safety alertingsystems, online portals for employees,Facebook pages for human resources, etc.She is open minded, creative and encour-ages thinking outside the box. Her pas-sion for healthcare IT is such she recentlybegan teaching an intro to healthcare ITclass at Cal State Fullerton.

CIOs OF THE YEAR

2012 Finalists

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JORGE MATALos Angeles CommunityCollege District

There are a number of waysJorge Mata has contributedto the Los AngelesCommunity CollegeDistrict’s success. First, hecreated the TechnologyStrategic Plan and has now

embarked on a team effort with the busi-ness units in creating priorities and anImplementation plan for considerationacross the enterprise. He is also creatingopen architecture enterprise standards,led by colleges to facilitate concepts ofshared services and co-dependencies tobetter accomplish goals with minimalresources. Mata has worked to showcasehis IT strategy and deployments withpost-implementation reviews for continu-ous adjustments to meet evolving needs.His decisions are based on guiding princi-ples such as evaluating solutions withconsideration for Total cost of ownership.He also makes a point to map businessprocesses across business units to betterunderstand information and data flows,guide automation, reduce unproductivetasks and enhance services for students.

DAN MATTHEWSSkirball Cultural Center

A results?oriented team leader, DanMatthews has worked to build the capaci-ty of the Skirball’s information systems

over the past seven years. Under his lead-ership, the Skirball has overcome techni-cal challenges, implemented new sys-tems, and created innovative technicaldisplays for exhibitions. An example of

his superior leadership skillsis his work overseeing theconversion of an antiquateddatabase system into TheRaiser’s Edge, Blackbaud’sstate?of?the?art fundraisingsystem. After determining

that the outdated database would notsuit the Skirball’s future needs, Matthewsimplemented a conversion process thatinvolved the transfer and synthesis ofover 30,000 computerized and paperrecords from 3 different departments. Hehas successfully led similar conversionprocesses to overhaul the Ticketing, Pointof Sale, E?marketing, and Membershipdatabase systems.

JESS McKINLEYDTS, Inc.

Jess McKinley demonstratesstrong leadership focus to histeam by staying up to dateon current technology andworking with his team oninnovative ideas. He is veryactive in working with key

executives at his organization. He research-es software and technology and provideclear insight and direction to his executiveteam. McKinley is always working with hisexecutive team and team members to suc-

cessfully show them technology roadmaps.He brings in different vendors and peopleto speak on innovative ideas. He alsoworks with different groups and stays up todate on trends, concepts, and technologyto help his company grow. He does his duediligence when looking for employees, aswell. For example, he promoted his execu-tive assistant recently to a marketing roleto further her career.

CASEY MOOREDoubleLine

Casey Moore motivates histeam at DoubleLine andbrings in the most currenttechnologies to the office.He cultivates skill andknowledge with trainingseminars and weekly

update meetings amongst all team mem-bers. He is also a central part of the busi-ness and his input and knowledge arekey components of the business’ success.He always has time for every employeeand every problem. Moore has buildproject road maps that are clearlydefined to all levels, from his direct teamto upper management, companywideand to external customers. He has a ter-rific knack for building highly skilled,motivated, and loyal teams. Moore chal-lenges his staff technically and allowsthem to grow personally and profession-ally. He provides all the necessary toolsand materials that allow his staff to besuccessful in their fields.

STEVEN SHOCKIrell & Manella LLP

A significant focus ofSteven Shock’s tenure hasbeen attentiveness to hisfirm’s business needs. Heavoids the pitfall of creatingan insularity that character-izes many IT departments

and instead works closely with the firm’stechnology partner and me in assessingand addressing the firm’s needs. He pro-vides quarterly technology updates to ourtechnology and managing partners, out-lining projects closed during the previousquarter and planned for the upcomingquarters. Rather than make all the ITdecisions himself as to what he feels isthe best choice, he arranges for pilotgroups to test various options; and then,only after thorough testing and discus-sion, does he make the decision. Therecan be a tendency among users to feelthat IT is imposing its will on the userbase; Shock, however, takes great pains toensure that users feel heard and that theirbusiness needs are taken into accountbefore any significant decisions are made.

STACEY SHULMANAmerican Apparel

Stacey Shulman was able to quicklydemonstrate her value as a leader atAmerican Apparel as she moved fromDirector of IT to CIO in less than twoyears. She has the responsibility of over-

CAL NET TECHNOLOGY GROUPC O N G R A T U L A T E S

And All of the other nominees of the

Los Angeles Business Journal’s CIO Awards

DANMATTHEWSFrom the Skirball Cultural Center

www.calnettech.com

For Carmella Cassetta, putting students first is at the heart ofbeing a CIO.The entire Corinthian Colleges organization congratulates

Carmella Cassetta on her nomination and selection as a

finalist for the 2012 CIO of the Year award from the

Los Angeles Business Journal.

Her dedication to CCi’s goals and future fuels our mission

to change students’ lives.

2012 CIO of the Year Nominee

Carmella CassettaChief Information Officer

Corinthian Colleges, Inc.



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seeing all retail management technologyat American Apparel. This task has

recently become muchmore complicated with theinitiative of a global onlineretail system. Shulman hasalso been able to successful-ly align her IT team in roleswhich align with their skill

set. Shulman joined American Appareljust before a period of serious turmoilwhere IT expenditures were not alignedwith the business. As she was elevated toCIO, she was able to work effectivelywith the business to focus on areas ofgrowth. With this strategy, she has beenable to bring about improvement withinher department, as well as help the busi-ness focus on revenue generating areas.

MICHAEL SIFTARUS Auto Parts Network

Michael Siftar hasimpressed many with thejob he has done laying outa clear and concise ITroadmap for US Auto Parts.He has successfully deliv-ered his plans to the rest of

the executive team and has achievedbuy-in from them. Thanks to his strongrelationship with the rest of the business,he is able to explain the value of this IT

roadmap. Siftar collaborates with variousvendors to explain his plans for thefuture of the IT department. He is effi-cient in explaining where he wants to bein the future and managing the vendorsto figure out best path to get there. Thelarger employee base of US Auto Partsunderstands the importance of technolo-gy and it shows through the successfuluser adoption of their systems. Siftar alsodelegates efficiently with the informationtechnology department. He has a verygood understanding of the abilities of hisemployees and puts them in positions tosucceed and grow within US Auto Parts.

BRIAN SMOLSKISPresbyterian Intercommunity Hospital

Brian Smolskis has lead theIT journey PIH startedbeginning in 2003. PIHknew that in order toremain competitive, it hadto adjust its originalroadmap to enhance its IT

infrastructure as well as continue toimplement an electronic health record.Smolskis’ knowledge of the changinghealthcare requirements is a key factor inthe success of making the necessary andcorrect changes to the hospital’s roadmap.As changes are made, Smolskis presentsthe roadmap to the Board of Directors

and Executive Leadership explaining hisrecommendations and the value of stay-ing on course. Smolskis delivers the sametechnology roadmap and message to thePIH staff to ensure that everyone is hear-ing the same message and understand thedirection of the organization. PIH is nowa leader in the implementation of an elec-tronic health record and is aligned forgrowth due to the knowledge, directionand leadership of Smolskis.

PAUL VOLKMANKeenan & Associates

Paul Volkman demonstratesleadership as CIO at Keenan& Associates as the primaryleader of all IT functions forthe enterprise. This roleincludes strategic planning,IT governance, technology

direction and deployment, managementand deployment of resources, enablingcompetitive advantage and operations ofall IT systems. Through his leadershipfocus, Volkman has developed a strong ITteam proficient in many disciplines thatalign with various business initiatives andgoals toward growth. Volkman has devel-oped strong ties with each of the primarybusiness units in Worker’s Compensation,Property & Liability, Employee Benefitsand Third Party Administration. Through

these business relationships and a contin-ued communications throughout theKeenan enterprise Paul and his teamhave aligned the technology needs ofKeenan with the business initiatives forgrowth, customer service and innovation.

TOM WHITEPorteous Fastener Company

Tom White first startedworking with Porteous as aconsultant and he madesuch an impact, thatPorteous asked him tocome on as a full time CIOto help them implement

his recommendations. This speaks a lotto the leadership and experience hebrings into his role as CIO. He was askedto bring the IT infrastructure from a stateof disarray to a fully integrated system.He also played a pivotal role in placinghis consultants in the company asemployees and then turning currentemployees into skillful programmers. Thefirst day White started working withPorteous he spent time with the execu-tives, as well as the business users. Heknew from over 20 years of restructuringIT departments that the executive buy-inwas key, but for the changes to actuallybe adopted he would have to get buy-infrom the everyday users as well.

Those are words that describe Brian Smolskis,Chief Information Officer for PIH and Bright Health Physicians and one of this year’s CIO Award finalists.

Innovative. Strategic. Highly-Skilled.

We salute you, Brian, and your entire Information Technology team for your strong

leadership, expertise, focus and commitment to outstanding technology in the ever-

changing healthcare field. In collaboration with our stellar physicians, clinicians and

staff, Brian has managed the implementation and adoption of the enterprise’s Electronic

Health Records, among many other IT projects. His dedication benefits all of the patients

in our service areas by providing them with quality, efficiency and safe care.

As an Integrated Delivery System, PIH and Bright Health Physicians are the communities’ health

and wellness partners providing a range of healthcare services to better serve their needs.

www.pih.net 1.877.285.DOCS(3627)


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