Database marketing agency Merkle promoted two technology executives today. Barry Smith was appointed CIO, and Christian Wright was named CTO (a new title for the company). Smith has worked for Merkle since 2004, when he was hired as VP of IT. Prior to joining the Lanham, Md.-based company, he was the IT director for the City of Gaithersburg, Md. Previously, he worked for Coopers & Lybrand, Marriott and NetDynamics (now a division of Sun Microsystems.) Wright most recently served as Merkle’s VP of product development. He has 10 years of experience developing enterprise software for companies such as First Union, Wells Fargo and Capital One. Innovative Food Holdings filled its newly created CIO position with John McDonald. McDonald, who has over 20 years of experience in finance and IT, will also be in charge of some of the Naples, Fla.-based company’s accounting. Laurie Simon joined IT outsourcer CompuCom Systems as its CIO on Monday, December 3. She reports to COO Jeff Frick. This is her first CIO post. Most recently, Simon worked for EDS as a client delivery executive responsible for managing mobile communications and help desk support. Earlier in her tenure at EDS, she led program delivery for one of the company’s largest accounts. Prior to EDS, Simon worked for Capital One Auto finance as an IT manager and for Texas Utilities as an IT director in charge of call center operations, customer operations and global delivery. Simon has a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Tulane University and an MBA from Southern Methodist University. Golden Living, a provider of healthcare services for seniors, hired John Derr as its SVP and CIO. Derr has 40 years of experience in the healthcare industry. He has held senior marketing, product development and management positions at healthcare companies including Squibb, Searle, Siemens, MediSpan, Kyocera and National Medical Enterprises. Most recently he was executive director of the Foundation for the Advancement of Care for the Elderly (FACE). PlumChoice plucked a former Monster.com executive as its CIO. Paul Neilson, Monster’s former SVP of technology, joined the provider of PC services on Monday. Before Monster, Neilson was global technical services director for Thomson Global Markets. He holds a B.S.B.A. from Boston University and a MBA from Suffolk University. Related content feature We’re all becoming software CIOs — a role Red Hat CIO Jim Palermo knows well As products become more based in software, CIO roles will increasingly align with CIOs who’ve been selling software for decades, like Jim Palermo, CIO of open source solution provider Red Hat. By Martha Heller Nov 15, 2023 7 mins CIO Software Deployment Marketing feature New US CIO appointments, November 2023 Congratulations to these 'movers and shakers' recently hired or promoted into a new chief information officer role. By Martha Heller Nov 08, 2023 9 mins CIO Careers IT Leadership interview How Huber spurs innovation in a historically decentralized business With IT/OT convergence, digital technologies, and the growing importance of data, Huber CIO Dwain Wilcox leads the creation of a cross-functional, cross-business innovation engine. By Martha Heller Aug 23, 2023 6 mins CIO Enterprise Cloud Management interview CIO Ryan Snyder on the benefits of interpreting data as a layer cake Thermo Fisher Scientific CIO Ryan Snyder discusses a tiered model used to turn data into value at the $40 billion laboratory equipment and instrument maker. By Martha Heller Aug 02, 2023 8 mins CIO Data Architecture Data Governance Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe