Raghu Bala, Chief Technology Officer, Automotive.com
Raghu Bala is CTO at Source Interlink Media, where he manages 200-plus Internet properties
including such brand names as MotorTrend, Automobile, Hot Rod, and more. He
helps set strategy and participates in the management of technologies including
Internet search, search engine optimization, Internet advertising, and Internet video
programming. Raghu has founded two startups in his 20-year careerâ€"both sold
to public companies. He was a Director at Yahoo prior to Source Interlink, helping run
Yahoo'ss contextual search advertising business. He was also a Director of search and directory
products at Infospace. He taught at Columbia University's Computer Technology and
Applications Program and is the author of several books and articles on technology
topics for Macmillan, McGraw-Hill, and Microsoft Press. He possesses an MBA
(Wharton), an MS in Computer Science (RPI), and a BS/BA in Comp Science/Math
(SUNY Buffalo); he also is a member of Mensa.
Basil Blume, Chief Analytics Officer, Colorado Capital Bank
Basil W. Blume is Executive Vice President and Chief Analytics Officer for Colorado Capital Bank. He is an accomplished technology management professional with a broad-based background in architecting technology infrastructure and solutions across divergent industries to better support end-users and meet strategic organizational goals. He has extensive qualifications in all facets of project life-cycle development from initial feasibility analysis and conceptual design through documentation, implementation, user training, quality review and enhancement.
Mr. Blume has over 20 years of experience in Information Systems, including eight years in senior technology management positions, along with experience in project management, system implementation, business analysis, systems analysis, programming and other functions.
Mr. Blume holds a Bachelors of Science with a concentration in Finance and a Masters of Business Administration in Finance from Colorado State University. Mr. Blume is the recipient of several academic and professional awards and recently completed with honors the Graduate School of Banking program at the University of Colorado.
Stephen Bozzo, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer, 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, recognized by the Computerworld Honors Program, 2008
Stephen J. Bozzo has been Senior Vice President, Chief Information Officer of 1-800-Flowers.com Inc., since May 2007. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Bozzo served as Chief Information Officer for the International Division of MetLife Insurance Company since 2001. Mr. Bozzo's business background includes senior executive positions at Bear Stearns Inc. as Managing Director Principle, AIG as Senior Vice President Telecommunications and Technical Services and Chase Manhattan Bank, where he was Senior Vice President Global Telecommunications.
John Dohm, Vice President, True Religion Brand Jeans
John Dohm is a distinguished executive with extensive experience in most aspects of information technology, strategy development, and business management. Dohm is currently the VP of IT at True Religion Apparel and is focused on the key company objectives of retail expansion, product line expansion and international expansion. His role at True Religion is quite broad, so John is tackling opportunities ranging from leveraging SaaS for Warehouse Management, to building a 100% uptime data center, to deploying Software and Services solutions (such as Oracle EBS On-Demand) to managing integration between managed services providers for domestic and international retail systems. Dohm is highly process oriented, and, as such, has initiatives underway to improve process understanding and project management.
John was previously CIO and VP of E-commerce at American Standard. In this role, he managed a worldwide IT organization and was a member of the corporate Strategy & Planning team. Dohm has numerous accomplishments at American Standard, including supporting global supply chain initiatives, driving a global SAP deployment, negotiating vendor agreements, improving productivity within the IT function across 13 countries, and instituting structured portfolio and program management techniques.
Before American Standard, Mr. Dohm was a Partner and founder of the Distributed Computing Infrastructure practice for Deloitte & Touche. During his tenure, the practice grew at a 300% annual growth rate and was one of the fastest growing practice areas within the Firm. Dohm remains the fastest tenured partner in the history of the firm, being promoted from Senior Consultant to Partner in under four years.
John's interest in computing started early when he did assembler programming for Timex Sinclair machines in the late 1970s. Afterward, he developed software for a variety of platforms, including the original IBM PC. Dohm also started one of the early Bulletin Board Systems (BBS) in 1982. His interest in business began during the mid 1980's when he founded a software development firm focused on call centers.
Mr. Dohm received his MBA from the Northwestern Graduate School of Management (Kellogg) and a combined MS/BS in Computer Science from Loyola University. He has published articles on topics ranging from computer science to organizational design and has been a key speaker at industry conferences and events.
Joseph Essas, Vice President, Engineering and Operations, eHarmony
Tony Fuller, Chief Information Officer, Rent-A-Center and Computerworld Premier 100 IT Leader, 2005
Tony is Senior Vice-President and Chief Information Officer of Rent-A-Center, Inc, Plano, TX, the largest rent to own operation in the United States with over 3,050 stores and 19,000 employees located in the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico. He previously served in management positions for several companies. In 2005, he was recognized as a Computerworld "premier IT Leader." His initiatives have been recognized nationally in magazines such as Baseline, Stores, Integrated Solutions for Retailers, and Journal for Workplace Learning and featured in two cover stores in CXO (December 2005) and Integrated Solutions for Retailers (April 2006). Additionally, Tony has a M.S. in Applied Technology and Performance Improvement from the University of North Texas.
Noreen Kendle, Analyst, Data Management Strategies, Burton Group
Noreen Kendle is an analyst for Burton Group Data Management Strategies. She covers enterprise data strategies, data architecture, business data frameworks, information integration and quality, business and operational intelligence, as well as enterprise data asset management. Prior to joining Burton Group, Noreen has held several data management leadership positions for large organizations including The Home Depot, Delta Air Lines, and ATT as well as provided data architecture consulting for organizations in a variety of industries. Noreen has over 25 years of data architectural experience including: business data blueprinting, enterprise data management, data integration, data quality, master data management, business intelligence, metadata, data governance, and data design. She has been instrumental in the development of data management frameworks, aligned with business objectives and their implementation across the enterprise in support of data and information as a corporate asset. As a recognized leader within the data management profession she holds a patent, is a respected speaker, writer and has presented at data architecture conferences both in the US and internationally.
Brian Kilcourse, Managing Partner, RSR Research LLC and Computerworld Premier 100 IT Leader, 2001
Brian Kilcourse, recognized as one of the top retail technology leaders in the United States, is a managing partner at Retail Systems Research LLC ("RSR Research"), a company focused on delivering research, strategies, and knowledge for the extended retail industry.
Formerly President & Chief Executive of Retail Systems Alert Group (RSAG), Brian is a recognized leader in retail technology practices. Brian is a frequent public speaker on subjects ranging from emerging technologies to IT governance and best practices. He also has led training seminars on the subject of "selling IT to retailers." Brian has authored research reports on Multi-Channel Retailing, Supply Chain Collaboration, Customer Data Security, RFID, Business Intelligence, Services Oriented Architectures (SOA), and Software as a Service (SaaS), among other topics.
Previously, Brian was the SVP & CIO at Longs Drug Stores for ten years from 1993 through 2002. One of the top retail CIO's in the United States during his tenure, Kilcourse was named one of the Premier 100 IT Leaders by Computerworld magazine and by Information Week as leader of the #1 retail IT shop in 2001.
Kilcourse is a member of several technology company advisory boards, including
Borland and Azzarello Group. A long time San Francisco Bay Area resident, Brian holds a BA degree in Management from St. Mary's C
Julia King, Executive Editor, Events and National Correspondent, Computerworld
Julia King is an award-winning business and technology journalist with more than 20 years experience covering a wide range of key topics, from enterprise software development, technology management and IT skills and career issues to return on investment, business intelligence and next-gen IT leadership. Ms. King was the founding executive editor of the award-winning ComputerworldROI magazine and spearheaded Computerworld's coverage of information economics.
Prior to joining Computerworld in 1994, Ms. King worked for nearly a decade as a reporter and writer for national business and technology magazines. She also worked for five years as a daily newspaper reporter and later, as a features writer and editor. Her IT reporting has earned her several awards form the American Society of Business Press Editors and she is a frequent presenter and panel moderator at industry conferences. She is editor of a book titled Executives' Guide To The Wireless Workforce, published by John Wiley & Sons.
Ms. King holds a Master's Degree in International Relations and a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science, both from University of Pittsburgh. She is based in Ridley Park, PA.
James Kobielus, Senior Analyst, Data Warehousing, Advanced Analytics and Business Intelligence, Forrester Research
James serves Business Process & Applications professionals. He is a leading expert on data warehousing, predictive analytics, data mining, and complex event processing. In addition to his core coverage areas, James contributes to Forrester's research in business intelligence, data integration, data quality, and master data management.
James has a long history in IT research and consulting and has worked for both vendors and research firms. Most recently, he was at Current Analysis, an IT research firm, where he was a principal analyst covering topics ranging from data warehousing to data integration and the Semantic Web. Prior to that position, James was a senior technical systems analyst at Exostar (a hosted supply-chain management and eBusiness hub for the aerospace and defense industry). In this capacity, James was responsible for identifying and specifying product/service requirements for federated identity, PKI, and other products. He also worked as an analyst for the Burton Group and was previously employed by LCC International, DynCorp, ADEENA, International Center for Information Technologies, and the North American Telecommunications Association. He is both well versed and experienced in product and market assessments. James is a widely published business/technology author and has spoken at many industry events.
James has a B.A. in economics from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and an M.A. in journalism and mass communications from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Scott Koon, Assistant Head of Technology, Mayo Clinic, recognized by the Computerworld Honors Program, 2008
Prior to being promoted to the Assistant Section Head of Database Administration, Scott Koon was the Director of Mayo Clinic's (Rochester) Internal Help Desk. He holds a degree in Computer Science from DePauw University, and a Master of Arts in Management from Saint Mary's. He has been involved in Information Technology for almost 20 years. In 2000, he was named one of IT Support News' "Service 25" – an annual listing of support professionals and organizations that IT Support News' editors feel have made an impact on the Support Industry. Since then, he was instrumental in developing a regional Help Desk training program, was a member of the Quality Review Team for the book "Implementing Service and Support Management Processes: A Practical Guide.", and has spoken regularly at regional, national, and international conferences in North and Central America.
Dennis L'Heureux, Senior Vice President, Planning and Chief Information Officer, Rockford Health Systems and Computerworld Premier 100 IT Leader, 2006
Dennis L'Heureux joined Rockford Health System as its Vice President & CIO in 1994 and is now serving as Senior Vice President for Planning & CIO. He was previously Vice President & CIO at MetroWest Medical Center in Framingham; Vice President for Clinical and Management Support Services at Leonard Morse in Natick and Associate Vice Chancellor for Information Resources at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester.
An engineer by education, Dennis graduated with his Bachelors Degree in Industrial Engineering from Northeastern University, Boston in 1974 and again in 1977 with his Masters Degree in Engineering Management.
Dennis is a Fellow in the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society and served as its President in 1992. He is also actively involved in the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives. He represented the American Hospital Association as a Director for the Health Industry Business Communication Council of Phoenix, Arizona and was Chairman of the Board of Directors for the West Suburban Joint Diagnostic MRI Center in Wellesley, Massachusetts. He is a certified as a Professional of Health Information Management Systems.
Chris Nowak, Chief Technology Officer, Anthony Marano Company, recognized by the Computerworld Honors Program, 2008
Dan Vesset, Vice President, Business Analytics, IDC