About Me
I am always asked for my advice on how I am leading a large and sizeable Information Technology department in these turbulent economic times, in practical terms, a CIO (IT) has to be as much a business process manager as a technology manager.
IT affects virtually every aspect of company operations today. Because of this, understanding where technology can improve a business process, streamline operations and consolidate functionality and resources across business units, or get new customers, for example, is vital. In order to understand this, today’s TOP IT Executives like me have to know where the company gets its parts and pieces, and how those things are processed into a product or service someone will buy.
I as a CIO must have command of what are the basic business processes and how they map to IT. I take a leadership position around helping the organization optimize its business processes; leveraging technology and being both champion, visionary and a leader but that requires good alignment between IT and rest of the business.
As a Top IT Executive you have to be “hungry for change” first. An IT Exec is uniquely positioned to be the major business transformation driver for his/her enterprises. We have a special visibility across the enterprise with an understanding of the core processes and information that make the organization tick. We need to be a catalyst for change across the enterprise and, change will require flexible, extendible IT infrastructures to respond to rapid and constant change. So, approaches like SOA, open standards, virtualization and consolidation, converged communications, cloud computing, multi-sourcing and shared services gain new appeal in this environment. Change also brings risk and our jobs are all about managing and minimizing risks so, enhanced risk mitigation, business resiliency, security, and service management initiatives will be a key to success.
Ramin Rastin
Regional Chief Information Officer,
Time Warner Cable
Experience
Regional Vice President, Regional Chief Information Officer
Time Warner Cable
I essentially bridge the communication barrier, knowledge, and strategic gap between the many departments of a business that require technology (whether they realize it or not) to solve business problems.My position is a strategic position because it requires big-picture thinking, and the ability to quickly and effectively identify broken processes (or lack thereof) where technology can be integrated to improve efficiency and the bottom line — or better yet, drive new business and capture market share. Driving new business and capturing market share is really a critical area where a I can and will contribute — because it requires a heavy dose of business intelligence and market awareness.As the top Info Tech Regional VP, I spend most of my time on the IT vision: the priorities, objectives and targets, and how Info Tech Dept contributes to deliver value to business. My Job as a Regional VP of IT is a manager of people, a manager of infrastructure, a financial planner, a business partner, a business expert, an international expert, a customer-facing executive, and a corporate leader. I am an executive who is responsible for the management, implementation and usability of information and computer technologies. I analyze how these technologies can benefit the company or improve an existing business process and will then integrate a system to realize that benefit or improvement. I direct and manage computing and information technology strategic plans, policies, programs, and schedules for business and finance data processing, computer services, network communications, and management information services to accomplish corporate goals and objectives
VP, Vice President of Information Technology Operations
COX Communications
Southeast USA
The enterprise of the future is also one that is innovative beyond customer imagination. The rise of the Internet and connectivity has produced a more informed, demanding customer — capable also of influencing peers on buying decisions. It’s therefore important to find ways to cultivate these key influencers through the development of collaborative relationships. So a key capability to develop and exploit is providing customers ready access to information and interaction. We need to deliver better, more convenient ways to transact business, and better, real-time collaboration. This requires the application of new technologies like Web 2.0, SOA, social networking, and 24×7 accesses to self-help portals.
The other key to the Enterprise of the Future is global integration, and that’s something that technology is ideally suited to support. Technology can help shrink the world via global integration of applications and common data strategies, improved communications and access — from anywhere, via any device, at any time. With CEOs moving to global business models and embracing global partnerships and integration, information must flow seamlessly around the world. This requires an infrastructure that removes barriers to integration by adopting common standards and collaborative tools and techniques.
Global Chief Technology Officer – CTO / CIO
Vartech Systems Manufacturing
Global-Defined strategy to streamline global operations, increase financial transparency & SOX compliance while improving IT infrastructure efficiencies, and consolidating 66+ ERP systems to an Oracle platform.
-Leveraged IT as a strategic investment to drive business value, in increased sales (cross selling, upselling, proposal management & configuration generation), improved cash flow (inventory control) and customer service (on time delivery, delivery accuracy). Implemented an IT governance process to
ensure business leader alignment with priorities, resource allocation and spending.
-Significantly restructured and upgraded organization of 255 associates/150 consultants. Driving a shared service model to reduce ongoing operating costs, including rollout of global IT service desk. Created career paths, increased global expertise and more effectively leveraged outsourcing.
Reinvigorated campus recruiting efforts.
- Rolled out world-wide strategic roadmap process for IT applications and infrastructure, aligning IT resources and efforts with business objectives
- Implemented RedPrairie Warehouse Management System (WMS); sourced development resources and utilized Agile/RAD principles to keep IT priorities and scheduling in alignment with business needs
-Opened the door to a $200M annual revenue opportunity through delivering an IT-enabled transportation management (TMS) service offering
- Integrated 3PL ERP systems with global retailers of digital and consumer packaged goods, including Walmart, Sam’s Club, Costco, Target, Best Buy, Amazon, Netflix, Gigante, etc.
- Implemented Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) solution to facilitate client entry and aggregation of retail forecasts, map SKUs to required production processes, and balance capacity/demand across 38 production centers.
IBM Global Services Worldwide – CIO / CTO Services – Chief Information & Technology Officer Services
IBM Global Services
Global- Managed global contracts and teams of consultants for Fortune 100 companies in areas of Enterprise Services, Architecture Design, Business Continuity Management, Regulatory Compliance, High Availability, Information Risk Management, and Disaster Recovery.
- Provided leadership for development and implementation of an enterprise technical infrastructure, security, messaging and collaboration architecture framework, including definition of the requirements, principles and models to guide technology decisions, and the governance activities required for ensuring architecture and standards compliance.
-Led the development of the infrastructure architecture future state, based on analysis of enterprise business requirements and technology industry trends.Identify the organizational and financial impact of changes to the enterprise architecture.
Lead the analysis of the current infrastructure technology to identify deficiencies and recommend solutions for improvement.
Education
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College
Masters, MBA – 1993 – 1995
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College
B.S., International Trade and Finance – 1988 – 1993
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College
B.S, Computer Science – 1988 – 1993
www.linkedin.com/in/raminrastin/
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