A great time to gain board experience — and new CIOs to report…

If you’ve ever thought of getting some board experience, now is a great time to start. Companies are currently in particular need of executive direction and with board members needing to spend more time with their own companies, you may find some great opportunities in this poor economy. While corporate board positions tend to be the ultimate goal for most CIOs, many find that advisory board work is a good place to start. 

Jonathan Rider, CIO of Gilbane Building Company is a great example. He was recently named to the CIO advisory council for Sprint North America and as such, will contribute ideas and opinions on Sprint’s business direction, their portfolio of products and solutions, and how they can continually improve their customers’ experience. A great networking experience too!

GridPoint., a smart grid software provider announced that it has appointed Michael Carlson as leader of its smart grid operations. The former Xcel Energy CIO led the design and implementation of the utility’s $100 million SmartGridCity in Boulder, Colorado. Carlson joined Xcel Energy in 2002 from Arthur Andersen, LLP, where he was a practice director in the areas of technology integration and financial operations.

David Y. Sharp, former AVP of Global Operations and Customer Service at the ACE Group has taken on a new role as Director of Information Technology at Alliance Healthcare Information, LLC, a United Drug Company.

Scott Hicar, formerly CIO of Solectron, just became CIO and SVP of Global Information Services for Digital Globe, a provider of high resolution commercial imagery and the only company operating a constellation of sub-meter commercial imaging satellites.

Complinet, a provider of connected compliance solutions to the financial services companies, has appointed Andrew Jordan as CIO based in London.

Jordan has previously worked at Citigroup, dunnhumby and Beyond Analysis and brings key skills in SaaS, IT strategy development and implementation, and global operational management to Complinet.

Osh O’Crowley is the new CIO of Sephora. Previously, O’Crowley was CIO of  Benefit Cosmetics.  

CT, a Wolters Kluwer business, today announced the appointment of two senior-level members to its information technology team. Venkatesh Ramakrishnanhas been named CTO for CT compliance, governance and lien solutions, and Paul Wanuga assumes the role of CIO for CT.

Ramakrishnan joined CT Corporation in 2000 as software engineering manager and has served in multiple capacities, including his most recent position as vice president of software architecture. Wanuga came to CT in 2003 to lead the newly formed Program Management Office.

Dean Foods has a new CIO.  Barbara Carlini recently served as the corporate VP of the mobile devices division at Motorola prior to that was CIO of Diageo Americas.

Hydra, a performance-based advertising network, announced the appointment of Mitchell Dimler to CIO. As CIO, Dimler will lead technology strategy and development to support higher volume operations and will focus on building up data warehousing, real-time optimization and other capabilities.

Prior to joining Hydra, Dimler’s career included executive IT management positions for leading multinational companies such as DirecTV, Transamerica, and Mail.com Media Corporation. Dimler is also a veteran of a number of successful startups and initial public offerings.

Alan Hughes has been named CIO for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina and is succeeding John Sternbergh who is retiring.

Hughes comes to BCBSNC with 20 years of senior leadership experience in information technology, most recently at GE Commercial Finance and Deutsche Financial Services. At GE Financial, he served as CIO of Global Risk Management and as CIO of Distribution Finance. He was also President of Business Services and CIO for Deutsche Financial Services, which was acquired by GE Financial in 2003.

Until next week…

Martha Heller, Managing Director, IT Leadership Practice, ZRG Partners

mheller@zrgpartners.com