Sarah Palin's CIO on Hunting for Bear and IT Staff
What's it like to be Sarah Palin's CIO? In this latest Hiring Manager interview, Alaska CIO Annette Kreitzer talks about IT culture change, working for a high-profile boss and making time for the bear necessities.
Mon, June 22, 2009
CIO — Annette Kreitzer inherited a rudderless IT department when Alaska Governor Sarah Palin appointed her CIO and commissioner of the state's Department of Administration in January 2007.
Enterprise Technology Services (ETS), the approximately 130-person IT arm of the Department of Administration that provides technology infrastructure and support throughout state government, had lacked steady leadership before Kreitzer arrived. As a result, members of ETS focused on putting out fires, repeatedly missed implementation deadlines, and the heads of other departments that had to work with ETS found ways around them. Kreitzer's job as CIO is to build ETS's credibility by establishing a technology vision for state government, setting IT priorities and getting other state commissioners on board with her agenda.
"That's when a strong personality comes in handy," says Kreitzer, alluding to the tenacious, no-nonsense style she shares with her boss, Governor Palin. "I probably don't have a lot of fans within some departments that do IT."
[ See CIO.com's other Hiring Manager Interviews with Hertz CIO Joe Eckroth, Wyeth CIO Jeffrey Keisling and Starbucks CIO Stephen Gillett. ]
Improving ETS is just one of Kreitzer's many responsibilities. As commissioner of administration, she oversees a department with 1,029 employees across 11 divisions that together provide all administrative services for state government, including finance, retirement and benefits, facilities services, and of course IT. Kreitzer also negotiates the state's 11 union contracts on behalf of Governor Palin. As a top aide to Palin, Kreitzer was required to testify in Troopergate—the investigation into whether Governor Palin had abused her power in trying to get her former brother-in-law fired. (The Alaska Legislature concluded she did abuse her powers while a separate investigation conducted by the Alaska Personnel Board found that she did not, according to The New York Times.)
Kreitzer doesn't have an IT background, but she knows Alaska state government intimately, having worked for the state for 26 years. She began her career in 1983 when she got a job in the state legislature as a secretary. In the 1990s, she worked for then-State Senator Loren Leman. When Leman was elected lieutenant governor in 2002, he named Kreitzer his chief of staff. She held that position until Governor Palin named her CIO and put her in charge of the Department of Administration.
Amanda Brady caught up with Kreitzer just before the CIO went on vacation to go on her annual spring bear hunt. ("They're good eating in the spring, but they're not good eating in the fall," says Kreitzer.) She discussed the challenges she faces trying to re-build ETS's credibility, her approach to hiring, and her relationship with the boss, Governor Palin.
