STAFFMANA6EMENT

"l sit [on theboundaryberweenlthe inside

and the ourside,"Fr:anksays."Because tech-
nologyis our product,I play a key role in
identifyingfrom a marketplaceperspective
the role of technology."
F r a n k s a y sh e d e v e l o p e dG i o r d a n o ' s
role asPeat'sCIO wirh business needsin
m i n d . W h i l e s e a r c h i n gf o r a s e c o n d - i n -
commandand interviewingpeopleto 6ll
the CIO position,Frank lookedat candi-
datesfrom the Big Six aswell asfrom tra-
ditional rechnologycompanies.He wanted
to hire someonewith a sensefor iT aswell
as an understanding of the business;
b e c a u s eG i o r : d a n oh a d w o r k e d w i t h
Citicor:pand CoopersE<Lybrand LLP,
he fit dre bill. "What I didn't want was

some
"He'staking ofthe
strategy
high-level l've
laidoutandisusing
itto
drivethe But
business.
andpush
hewilldisagree
notayes-man."
He's
back.
-Allan Frank

tlrerypicalCIO, someonewho went

r.rpthrough rheranks of the IT orga-
nization,"Franksays."[Salvatore
is] executingexactlythe r:olewe had
in rnind."
A s t h e s t r a r e g i s tF, r a n k p l a n s
Pear'sarc[ritectureand infrastruc-
ture,which Giordanothenimplementsinternallyto
createan incubatorfor strategiesand technologiesthe com-
panymighr useeventuallylvith orherorganizations. Frank
IKE PARTNERS INAN ARRANGEDN,IARNi\GE saysthegoalsareto havea laboratoryfor bestpractices, with
or an uneasyrnilitaryalliance,Al[:rnR. Frank IS implementing projects-suchasa nationwidehelpdeskfor
and SalvatoreGiordano have had ro spend usersand a \feb-basedknowledgecenterto bolsterdevelop-
sometinle geffingacquarinted arrdlearningholv menteffor:tsin Peatt technologylabs-and to servethecom-
to work togerher. Frank,I(PMG PearMarwickt pany's500 employees.
CTO, hired Giordanolast springzrsrhe Neruv Giordanosaysreportingro Frank allolvshim to iniriare
York-barsed consulrancl,'s CIO srnackd:rbin rhemiddleof ;rn projectsand run with themlvithoutworryingaboutselling
IT reorganizarion project,which lefrrhernlittle tirnero form a ideasto higher-ups. The ideashavealreadybeensold-by
work relationship beforeheadinginto rhefrav.Their.srory is Frank-and Giordanocanconcentrare on mal<ingthema real-
largelvoneof roledefinirionanddevelopn.rerrr. ity withor-rthaving to be on the defensive."lvly role is to be
Franl<saysdreCIO befoleGiordarrolefrrhecomp:ulyparr- sureprojectsgetdone,"Giordanosays.
r i a l l yb e c a u s o
e f c h a r r g eisn P e a r rI' S
s e n v i r : o n m e narn d a n Frank saysGiordar,ofocuseson the tacticsnecessary to
incr:etrsed needto steer: irrrernal IT effortsin the direccionof implementhisIT planning,offeringfeedbackar-rdoccasiona[ !
the company's clierrrs' rreeds. WhenFrankrook on rlreCTO realirvcheckr.vhen appropriate."He'stakingsomeof the lrigh- ..E
role,which irrcludes siting on Peat'sexecr-rtive bo:rrd,rhecom- levelsrrareg_vI've laid out andis usingir to drivethe business," *;
panycasthim asan inrernalstraregist aud a parr:rner-r.virh out- Franksays."Bucl-rewill disagr:ee :rndpushback.He'snot a i
sidecompanies, not solellrersa technologisr. )'es-man." i

8 4 C r O/ N O V E i V E E1 R
5,1996 http://www.cio,com