When Theresa Wise and the Delta IT team faced a massive merger two years ago with Northwest Airlines, they set goals. They structured the merged IT function to deliver on a strategy integrating hundreds of IT systems without disrupting the business. Today, the goals are close to complete. Wise and the IT team implemented a phased, deliberate approach to IT integration – making the transition as seamless as possible for their internal and external customers, while recognizing and continuously addressing the inevitable stress of this volume of change on customers and colleagues.

Session discovery topics:

• Building business partnerships during a merger
• “Adopt and-go” – trade-offs between speed perfection for “starting state” systems
• Cultural challenges – working as a unified team and putting people first
• Moving from a technology organization to a business organization
• Next steps – closing “gaps”, improving service, continued communication and maintaining relationships

After General Mills acquired Pillsbury, Mike Martiny was asked to lead a global expansion, while maintaining a centralized IT team. In this session, Martiny explains his journey of transforming system capabilities, building global teams and providing common solutions across the entire business.

Session discovery topics:

• Building a global team – understanding diversity and cultural communication
• Providing more resources, elevating efficiencies and increasing delivery
• Developing a transparent process for maintaining costs
• Enhancing systems – improving reliability and quality of data

As the economy is energized, growth for many organizations is on the rise and innovation is a critical element to accelerating the upward movement. As CTO, Ananth Krishnan leads innovation and R&D within Tata Consultancy Services. In this enlightening presentation, he will demonstrate the need for a portfolio approach to the three degrees of innovation: derivative innovation, platform innovation and breakthrough innovation, citing core principles such as the “Technology Market Map” and the “Innovation Life Cycle” adapted from author and Harvard Business School Professor, Clayton M. Christensen.

Emphasizing the key enablers for open innovation by using collaborative models such as the TCS Co-Innovation Network, Krishnan will present examples on how IT leaders can translate into action their rightful status as a key driver of business value and reclaim their role as the organization’s champion of idea generation.

As a compelling change agent within Deluxe Corporation, Malcolm McRoberts has been developing IT’s partnership with the business for the past two years. By developing the IT strategy alongside the business strategy, McRoberts has positioned IT as an enabler of growth and value. In order for this partnership to truly mature, he has cultivated change within the IT organization and beyond.

Session discovery topics:

• Shifting the perception of IT
• Gaining support – challenging everyone to accept change
• Increasing the pace of delivery – focusing on the end result
• Organizational development – engaging the workforce and all business segments
• Understanding IT’s roles and contributions
• Driving communication and visibility

For many years, CIOs have focused on driving efficiencies throughout the IT organization by improving productivity and cost containment. Additionally, CEOs have begun to view the Corporate IT function as a strategic partner rather than an operational support team, increasing business expectations and forcing the IT organization to radically change.

In this engaging session, Madhu Kumar will walk through joint transformational initiatives taken by Fortune 500 customers in partnership with Hexaware. The session will emphasize the steps undertaken by these customers to gain market competitiveness and improve efficiencies, by migrating to an agile workforce and modernizing application portfolios.

Traditionally, a CIO and CMO work on two opposite ends of the spectrum – analytically and creatively – making the working relationship difficult and at times paralyzing to delivering value to the business. Moving beyond the traditional divisions, Denis Edwards, Global CIO and Emma van Rooyen, SVP & CMO have built a unique partnership in support of the CEO’s goal of business transformation and innovation. This collaborative approach enables them to drive change, deliver value and fuel growth within Manpower.

Session discovery topics:

• Developing trust – maintaining confidence and taking risks together
• Speaking the same language – committing to a universal management style
• Marrying IT and marketing strategies
• Future forecasting – leveraging technology and the consumer to predict movement

Dell IT has undergone a radical transformation over the last few years, enabling it to shift from 70% spend on operations and 30% on innovation to a 50/50 split by the end of 2010. Join James Franklin to gain insight from Dell’s experience, best practices on transformation and to learn how the transformation has unleashed ongoing enterprise efficiency. This session will focus on the company’s journey to shift IT’s spend to allow for greater focus on strategic imperatives versus “keeping the lights on.” They have successfully done this by focusing on standardization, simplification and automation.

Three years ago, Brad Smuland designed a roadmap that consolidated a fragmented IT organization, increased service levels, and initiated a cost-cutting approach that was so successful his CEO adopted the method throughout the business. With a three-phase system of reducing unnecessary costs, Smuland has gained credibility as a true business partner.

Session discovery topics:

• Three cost-cutting phases – eliminating low hanging fruit, fi nding buried treasure, driving lucrative investments
• Doing more with less – eliminating unneeded expenses out of the cost structure
• Educating the business to drive out costs
• Solidifying business and IT alignment

Great organizations are built on remarkable stories and powerful leadership. In tough times like these, they are the “secret sauce.” The Governing Body is proud to introduce to the CIO Executive Summit stage an extraordinary communicator and ‘leadership junkie’ Doug Keeley, CEO and Chief Storyteller at The Mark of a Leader.

Based on a powerful approach he calls “Five Level Leadership, ” Keeley uses amazing stories of the world’s greatest leaders and brands to show how the power of story and focused leadership make the difference in organizations. Using unforgettable video and music, and threading his narratives through the conference, he promises to challenge you as leaders and inspire you to rethink your approach to getting the most out of your team.