Offering regional and national programs, CIO (and CSO) events bring together some of the most respected names and thought leaders in information technology and security. Presented by CIOs and other senior level executives, these invitation-only programs offer timely topics and strong networking. Learn More »
Webcast: In the Google Apps Cloud: How to Achieve Your Business Objectives
Dec 3rd, '09, 1 - 2 pm US/Eastern (GMT-5)
Join Council member Brent Hoag, Director, Global IT, at JohnsonDiversey, as he discusses the adoption of Google Apps which has helped meet four corporate goals; sustainability, simplification, increased employee productivity and global collaboration.
Webcast: Collaboration Initiatives: Benchmarks & Best Practices
Dec 15th, '09, 4 - 5 pm US/Eastern (GMT-5)
Join Council members Ruth Thorpe, VP & CIO at the U.S. Pharmaceutical Operations of Sanofi-Aventis, and Gary Kuyper, CIO at Bethany Christian Services, as they speak about their collaboration initiatives and experiences in how and why they chose the social networking and collaboration tools they are using and their business goals for collaboration, and facing culture change challenges.
Data Overview: Collaboration Initiatives Field Guide: Benchmarks & Best Practices
This appendix to the Council Field Guide provides an analysis which discusses benchmarks for collaboration IT implementation costs, adoption rates and payoffs. The overview identifies top IT and business goals and satisfaction rates for collaboration initiatives as well as best practices and lessons learned for implementing collaboration IT.
Learn more about the CIO Executive Council »August 01, 2003 — CIO —
Sandra Hofmann is used to playing diverse roles. She spent several years teaching children with learning disabilities before putting in 14 years in management at Big Blue. When not gardening at her rural home, she enjoys target-shooting with her Smith & Wesson 686 revolver. And as CIO of Mapics, a $128 million maker of manufacturing software, she has to understand technology intimately, but she also carries a very different kind of title: Chief People Officer.
Before you snicker at this squishy moniker or feel sorry for Hofmann, hear what she has to say about combining technology and HR leadership in a single executive: "A software company’s greatest asset is its intelligence, and that asset resides in people. So HR and IT are really two sides of the same coin."
In fact, Hofmann earned the nickname Chief People Officer around the office before it ever became official. She attributes her appreciation of the effects that IT—particularly IT-driven change—can have on people to her background in education. "Being a CIO represents being a change agent, being a model for others, establishing infrastructure, challenging processes, enabling people to act—doesn’t that describe every great teacher you’ve ever had?" Hofmann says in a gentle but cheerful voice that sounds just like every great teacher you’ve ever had.
That lesson plan appears to be just what Mapics needed. Hofmann joined the company in July 2000 as vice president and general manager of its Woburn, Mass.-based business unit. But when Mapics stumbled as the recession took hold, President and CEO Dick Cook brought Hofmann down to headquarters in the Atlanta suburb of Alpharetta, Ga., to become CIO of the entire company and help keep the formerly high-flying enterprise aloft. Late last year, Hofmann added the CPO title to her business card. The dual labels reflect her huge role in guiding all of Mapics’ 750 employees through several major changes within a short span of time: reorganizing the company, taking a sizable chunk of the workforce completely virtual and introducing offshore outsourcing.
That’s a lot of change for any organization to digest. Yet at Mapics, Hofmann not only assisted in the transformation but also improved IT service. Her boss credits Hofmann’s success to her mastery of many trades. "Sandy has lots of experience working in a wide variety of functions and acting in a lot of different roles," says Cook. "As a result, she’s the consummate manager—one who understands the business very well but also has an incredible knack with people."