Gary C. Kern presents:Technology Balance…The Tales

and Scales of an IT Leader

August 27, 2015

Indiana Technology Symposium

BALANCE:FROM YIN & YANG TO PROS & CONS

“…life is about balance. The good and the bad. The highs and the lows. The

pina and the colada.” Ellen DeGeneres

I.T. Management

The center of it all – a major balancing act.

Technologist Business LeaderI.T . Manager

• Techie Skills vs Managerial Skills• Peter Principle?• Big Picture thinking may impact

tactical technical decisions• QUESTION: Should a CIO have

more focus on Tech or People?

Security Productivity

• Passwords / Single Sign-on, MDM, Multifactor authentication, Admin RightsFilters, Whitelists / Blacklists, CPU

• You never wish you were LESS secure• “Just let me do what I need to do to do

my job” - What IS that? Insurance.• QUESTION: Is there anything on the

horizon to make security easy?

Cost FeaturesFunctionalityEase of Use

• The ‘administrator’ wants things cheaply, the technologist doesn’t want ‘cheap’?

• (To Vendor) “I want it all free, you’d like a million $, we just need to find an agreement someplace in the middle”

• Don’t be “cheap” on tools that make you more effective

• QUESTION: How do you determine / obtain the (full) value out of a new tool?

Negotiation

Business - NEEDS - Customer

• “Back Office” driven decisions – shareholder value & efficiency

• The Customer EXPERIENCE – do they care if it’s easy for us to do?

• Does a “best of breed” decision help or hurt?• “We do most things very well, but the total

package not so much”• QUESTION: Can you make an efficient

internal operation = a customer focused one?

Support Projects

• How much effort is spent on maintenance & problem resolution?

• “Production Support is Job #1”• What new things are sitting waiting? Can

you dedicate resources to those items?• ALWAYS a proactive use for “1 more FTE”• QUESTION: How do you determine the

right mix of staff allocation?

Process Innovation

• Similar to Support vs Projects, but…• Paving the cow-path so it’s easy to

follow or looking for the new highway.• Documentation, Policies, Procedures –

some things NEED strong Process.• Think outside box– A: the right Q:!• QUESTION: How do you encourage

innovation while getting efficient?

Trust VerifyPartners / Vendors

• Dependable Partners are really staff adds.• YOU are still responsible for what your

vendor does on your behalf – only you can fully own YOUR issues.

• Vendor Management still takes time, FTEs.• Internal aspects: Project Team, Employees• QUESTION: What actually makes someone

a good PARTNER? How do you know?

Comfort Growth

• Areas of comfort = areas of familiarity and expertise. Need to get comfortable with frequently used skills.

• However, Growth & Learning come when you are uncomfortable and challenged.

• Constructive CONFLICT not a bad thing• QUESTION: How do you get yourself or

your team comfortable with discomfort?

Work Family

• We are now ‘technologically’ available all the time to our employers – does this extend to our home life too?

• Stress relief for both – disconnection?• Volunteerism / Community Involvement• QUESTION: Does 24x7x365 available

impact BOTH work & home life??

YOU

Questions?Follow-up?

Gary C. Kern, VP & CIO, MutualBankImmediate Past President, Muncie Civic Theatre

Founder & Past President, AITP-ECILinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/in/gckern/

Twitter: @garyckernEmail: gary.kern@bankwithmutual.com