New Va. DoT CIO Has Rough Road Ahead

Uphill Climb at Virginia DOT

Bernard Hill Jr. has a rocky road ahead of him. As the first CIO of the Virginia Department of Transportation (DOT), he is charged with revolutionizing the agency’s suffering IT department. “There’s no continuity in terms of databases, computing platforms, programming languages or security,” says Hill, who just left a job as CIO for the Virginia Department of Corrections. “Data isn’t integrated, and it doesn’t meet department needs.”

That lack of integration makes reporting data to the federal government?the basis of funding?a monumental task each year. “We have to report data on numerous aspects of the highway system, but right now, information ends up coming from different systems. There’s some on PCs and mainframe and Unix systems,” says Hill. With 150 IT staffers and a $45 million annual IT budget, Hill plans to make continuity and integration his top priorities.

Why would anyone want to join such a tech-challenged environment?

“I love torture,” Hill says, half-jokingly. He also loves that Virginia’s DOT, formerly managed by two division directors, makes greater use of technology than the commonwealth’s Department of Corrections. But just because the DOT sees the advantage of technology doesn’t mean it always makes the right IT decisions. Just eight days into his term, Hill halted some of the agency’s IT efforts in order to implement his proposed ERP system.

To overhaul the IT systems successfully, Hill will adhere to some philosophies he adopted at the Department of Corrections. “We will engage systems integrators for three- to six-month time periods in implementing components in ERP systems,” says Hill. “When they are successful at implementing the component, we’ll pay them. We did this at the Department of Corrections, and the state adopted that as a state model.”

Player’s Guide

John M. Coyle Vanion

The former vice president of enterprise development at Rhythms NetConnections, Coyle has become CIO at Vanion, an integrated communications provider in Colorado Springs, Colo. Coyle is responsible for providing organizational and technical leadership, and for establishing corporatewide strategy.

Evon Jones The Dial Corp.

Jones joins as senior vice president and CIO of this Scottsdale, Ariz.-based consumer products manufacturer. Formerly senior vice president and CIO of America West Holdings, Jones is expected to provide organizational and technical leadership, and to establish corporatewide strategy, policies and standards for the use of IT.

Dave Liddle Tommy Bahama

Formerly a member of the information services management team at Lands’ End, Liddle has been named the first-ever CIO at Tommy Bahama, a retailer of clothes, accessories and home furnishings with headquarters in New York City and Seattle. In this newly created position, Liddle will be responsible for all aspects of technology development and applications integration.

Dan Piteleski Metris Cos.

As the new senior vice president and CIO of the Minnetonka, Minn.-based credit card issuer, Piteleski, former vice president and CIO at H.B. Fuller, is charged with expanding Metris’s existing IT infrastructure.

Josephine Young NuVox Communications

The former CIO and senior vice president of Digital Access, Young has become senior vice president and CIO of the Chesterfield, Mo.-based communications and applications service provider. Young will be responsible for the oversight and leadership of information technology for the entire company