CIO Announcements from J.C. Penney, the Red Cross, Cendant and More

I want to begin today’s posting by thanking all of you who commented on the announcement about Marv Adams for sharing your perspectives.  You created a wonderful dialog around his move, and one that adds considerable value to my blog. 

Many different kinds of people read Movers & Shakers–from executive recruiters to CIOs to CIOs’ staffs–to keep tabs on which CIOs are getting hired and fired and to understand the implications of those job changes on the individual CIO who’s making the change, on the company and IT department s/he is leaving, and on the organization to which s/he is moving.  Unfortunately, I have no way of knowing about the legacies of all the CIOs I mention on my blogs, and I really do look to you–my readers–to provide that insight, to say, ‘Watch out Citigroup techworkers: Marv’s an outsourcing monster’ or to say ‘This is a huge loss for Ford; Marv is the greatest CIO and strategy chief we’ve ever had.’  Your comments are invaluable to me, to my blog and to the people reading it.  When you chime in with your opinions, you make my blog so much more compelling.  You really do play a key role in the vitality of Movers & Shakers.  Please keep your comments coming!  And thanks again. 

With that said, I’d love to know what you think of the management changes at Wal-Mart that were announced last week.  Linda Dillman, who succeeded Kevin Turner as CIO in 2002, was named executive vice president of risk management and benefits administration.  Wal-Mart’s EVP of Logistics and Supply Chain, Rollin Ford, was named CIO.  I had suggested last week that perhaps Dillman is being groomed for broader management responsibility.  But moving an IT executive into an HR-type role can also be perceived as a demotion.  Given Wal-Mart’s history of cross-training it’s executives, I doubt Dillman is being demoted, but what do I know?  Perhaps someone closer to the happenings at Wal-Mart can fill us in.  Is her tenure as CIO considered successful?  Was she really able to accomplish the things she wanted to do with RFID? 

The other thing that’s notable about the management changes inside Wal-Mart IT is that this is the first time in years that someone outside of the IT department (but still within the company) has been brought in to lead it as CIO.  Dillman worked for Kevin Turner before taking his spot, and Turner worked for Randy Mott before he left for Dell.  What kind of message does the appointment of the supply chain executive as CIO send to the IT staff and the rest of IT management?  Do you think it says anything about Dillman’s ability to groom a successor?  Or does it suggest that Wal-Mart wants IT to play an even greater role in making its supply chain and logistics efforts more efficient?  

Now for the news of new CIOs you came to read:

Ron Johnson was promoted from vice president of IT to CIO at Scripps Networks.  He’s worked for the company for three years. His top priority is developing a media asset management strategy for the organization that runs the DIY and HGTV networks.

Last Friday was my day for tips from my devoted readers (thank you!).  Three came in during a single afternoon, which—if I may be so bold—makes me think my blog really is the preeminent destination for CIO announcements.  Among the FYIs that readers sent to me:

Craig Cuyar was hired as CIO of Cendant’s new real estate company. 

Peter Martin was named vice president of Insight UK’s worldwide IT infrastructure.  He most recently was in charge of the infrastructure for just the UK portion of the business.  He’s now responsible for data center operations, help desk support, systems administration, database administration and voice/data networks on a global scale.  He reports to Insight’s CIO, Dave Rice. 

Dave Clarke (pictured at right) left his position as vice president and CTO of the American Red Cross to join Tatum LLC as a partner in its technology leadership practice.   Clarke says he’s “glad to be with a growing firm that offers such tremendous value to our clients.” The Red Cross has come under attack over how it used millions of dollars it raised for hurricane victims. 

I also just heard earlier today that Steve Raish (pictured wearing the blue shirt) has supposedly “retired” from his post as CIO of J.C. Penney.  The company has not yet named a successor.  Anyone know what’s going on at J.C. Penney?