Advisory Board

Brian Shield is executive vice president and chief information officer of The Weather Channel, Inc., a position he has held since joining the company in 1998.

As head of the Information Technology (IT) organization, Shield oversees all technology infrastructure, internal systems, weather forecasting, broadcast and software engineering, and implementation of industry leading technology products and services. He is responsible for setting the strategic vision, technical direction, and financial planning on behalf of the IT organization.

Shield is also responsible for design and delivery of all the global TWC technology products and services including: ITV, VOD and industry leading digital video solutions for cable, satellite and telecommunication distributors. Products and content delivery services extend across the global marketplace of The Weather Channel. These include: on-air products, radio, newspaper, and satellite, and the distribution of content to support the weather.com web site, web partnerships, desktop applications and mobile platforms.

Prior to joining The Weather Channel in 1998, Shield served as CIO of FTD Inc. in Chicago, IL. At FTD, he was responsible for all IT including their global network reaching over 125 countries. Preceding his tenure at FTD, Shield had been CTO and head of software development at the investment firm of Scudder Kemper, in Boston, and formerly with Wang Laboratories. During his 20-plus year technology career, he has specialized in emerging technologies, product development, software engineering, open source solutions, R&D, operations and IT organizational development.

Shield is a member of SMPTE, SCTE, Georgia CIO Leadership Association Advisory Council, Atlanta CEO High Tech Council board of advisors, SIM and active in a number of industry, community and non-profit organizations. Shield was named Georgia CIO of year in 2004 and won a technology Emmy award for his work in television in 2007.

A native of Boston, Shield completed his education at Bentley College in Waltham, MA, where he majored in Computer Science while minoring in Management and Accounting. He is married with three young children and is a resident of Marietta, GA. 

During his 21 years with Chevron, Randy has held a variety of technology and business management positions. As Manager, Strategic Planning for Chevron’s IT division, he led a $270 million effort to upgrade Chevron’s global infrastructure and Web application development capabilities. He has held management positions in organizational development, marketing, engineering, joint ventures, Total Quality Management and large capital project management.

Randy holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Toronto and a master’s in business administration from Golden Gate University and is active in a number of engineering, IT and project management associations.

Michael has full responsibility for the worldwide EchoStar Corporation Information Technology organization. EchoStar has more than 25 years of experience in designing, developing and distributing award-winning advanced television set-top boxes and related products for pay television providers as well as performing satellite operations for corporations and government agencies. EchoStar is focused on creating hardware and service solutions for cable, telco, IPTV and satellite TV companies worldwide. EchoStar also delivers satellite services through 10 owned and leased in-orbit satellites and related FCC licenses, which includes a network of 10 digital broadcast centers and leased fiber optic capacity with points of presence in 210 U.S. TV markets and several countries worldwide. EchoStar is a multi-billion dollar corporation with a global footprint.

Michael is the former Managing Partner of Marcotte and Associates LLC, a Denver based strategic consulting organization that helps large corporations and government solve highly complex information technology, project, organizational, and delivery challenges. He has over 20 years of experience in the technology industry with unique business and technology breadth and depth, with extensive expertise in highly technical information technology leadership roles and experience managing large profit and loss business units for major firms.

Michael has served in special advisor roles to the State of Colorado Governor’s office (Romer Administration), Colorado Secretary of Technology (Owens Administration), Colorado Secretary of Labor (Owens Administration), and as Senior Advisor to the state of Texas on several major business/IT ERP and PMO initiatives. Michael has also worked in senior leadership roles with private sector for firms such as Ball Corporation, DISH Network, Cendant, MCA Universal, Systems Partners, Hyatt, Hilton, and numerous other Fortune 1000 firms. Michael has helped corporations build and implement successful IT organizations, IT governance, program offices, SDLC, and CMMI models within these companies.

Michael is a subject matter expert in full suite ERP/CRM systems including Oracle, PeopleSoft, JD Edwards, SAP and their CRM systems including Siebel, Onyx and Clarify. Under his leadership, his teams have managed one of the largest Work Force Management internet systems in the world. Michael’s teams also have managed large scale global subscriber billing systems (B/OSS) with total subscriber counts numbering in the millions.

Michael’s business leadership background includes complete profit and loss responsibility for Convergent Communications, Norstan Consulting, and Breakaway/Pathfinder CG Western U.S. operations. While with these firms, Michael’s teams successfully completed over 500 large scale ERP/CRM engagements and over 300 international data WAN projects on time and on budget. Michael managed the technology research and development group for Cendant/RCI Corp. Additionally, he has served in several senior information technology management roles ranging from Director/VP of IT to CIO/CTO in Fortune 1000 firms managing budgets exceeding 400 Million dollars annually. He has extensive experience in implementing Sarbanes-Oxley and U.S. Department of Defense compliance in large organizations.

Michael has received multiple awards from NASA and the U.S. Air Force in the field of engineering. He serves on several corporate and non-profit boards in Denver, Colorado including The Logan School for the Gifted, RidgeView Academy, The Archdiocese of Denver OFR Program and Rite of Passage Corp. Michael was named to the Denver Business Journal’s Forty under 40 list for 2010. He is currently serving on Colorado Governor-elect Hickenlooper’s transition team. He was educated in Economics at Bard College and Aerospace Science at Metropolitan State College.

Michael speaks regularly at user group conferences and executive seminars on topics ranging from Program Management, large project delivery, and effective large corporation IT organizational structure. Michael is married and lives in Denver and is the proud father of three children. In his spare time he enjoys skiing, flying aircraft, and coaching his children’s soccer teams. 

Helen is responsible for the overall strategic direction and management of CIBC Mellon’s information technology function. She is also a member of the company's executive committee.

Helen has over 30 years of extensive experience in the technology services field and prior to joining CIBC Mellon in 1998 as chief information officer, she was CIO at Mellon Financial’s subsidiary in Houston, Texas.

She was featured on the cover of CIO Canada for an article titled "Fusing Business and Technology, and has served on the judging panel of the Canadian Information Productivity Awards (CIPA) for 5 years. Helen currently serves on the Canadian Advisory Board, of the CIO Executive Council, as well as on the Advisory Committee of the Conference Board of Canada, Council of CIOs. Since 2008, she also serves on the Board of Directors for the Independent Energy System Operator (IESO).

Helen has been recognized as one of the Top 100 Women in Computing, acknowledging her achievements and contributions to information services and technology, and is currently Executive Sponsor of WIN (Women’s Initiative Network) at CIBC Mellon.

She received her education from The University of Pittsburgh, in Pennsylvania, attaining a Bachelor in Science in Mathematics and Psychology degree, and graduated from The Stonier Graduate School of Banking at the University of Delaware. Helen also holds the certification from the Institute of Corporate Directors. 

William A. (Bill) Weeks serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer. Weeks has over 15 years of Information Technology experience, and has responsibility for all IT operations and systems development within our company. He works to establish systems strategies that align with and enable profitable revenue growth.

Weeks joined SquareTwo Financial from Key Equipment Finance, where he most recently served as Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer. Before joining Key, Weeks held positions in the Information Technology arena with National City Commercial Capital, the Provident Bank, PCFS Mortgage Resources, and Makino Incorporated.

Weeks is a Marine Corp Veteran, and holds a certificate in Executive Management from the University of Colorado in Boulder. Additionally, he is a member of the Society for Information Management, ELFA Operations and Technology Committee, CIO Executive Council, and a Volunteer with Boy Scouts of America.

Roger Coville is the Chief Information Officer for The Limited. He is part of the turn-around team brought into the brand after the women’s apparel store was sold to Sun Capital Partners by Limited Brands in 2007. After the sale, in a very difficult business environment, the business has re-engaged its core customer and turned a profit after more than a decade of red ink. Roger has been responsible for building a technology team to extract the business applications from its former parent. This new team has transitioned all systems and is saving in excess of 20% from the pre-sale costs of IT.

Prior to The Limited, Mr. Coville served as SVP/CIO of the Abercrombie And Fitch businesses. During his tenure that business grew from 27 to over 800 retail locations and revenue increased from $285 million to $2.8 billion. His technology team built applications to support all US, Canadian and European operations. Roger created a “Hub and Spoke” model to support the stores environment. All data was centrally controlled and managed from the Columbus, Ohio headquarters allowing for near real time decision ability. This technology team delivered results year after year at an industry leading 70 basis points.

Roger began his career in various technology and leadership roles at Sterling Commerce, Computer Task Group and State Street Bank. He earned a BS-CIS degree from the College of Mathematics at The Ohio State University. 

Barb is Chief Information Officer at Troutman Sanders LLP with over twenty-five years of IT leadership, including more than a decade in a premier law firm. She is recipient of the 2005 Computerworld Premier 100 IT Leaders Award and 2001 Information Technology Women of the Year Award presented by the Women’s Council of the Greater Rochester Metro Chamber-of-Commerce. Prior to Troutman Sanders, Barb worked for Nixon Peabody for twelve years as CIO and for the Eastman Kodak Company for twelve years as a programmer, senior systems analyst, and software development manager. Barb also spent one year at the Rochester Telephone Company as an applications development supervisor for one of their subsidiary start up companies.

Continuous education is a very high priority for Barb. She completed her Bachelor of Science degree at Bowling Green State University (in Bowling Green, Ohio), earned her M.B.A. degree at the University of Rochester's Simon School, and has recently completed her Doctorate in Business Administration (D.B.A.) at the University of Phoenix. 

Prior to Bright Horizons, Mr. Morin brings with him 30 years of experience in IT and business transformation in the staffing, professional services, retail/distribution, high-tech and telecommunications industries. His experience has encompassed both domestic and international environments. Mr. Morin has strong experience in IT strategy, transformation, development and management. Mr. Morin is recognized as an expert on applying leading-edge technology developments to solve practical business problems.

Prior to joining TAC Worldwide in 1999, Mr. Morin served as business unit CIO at GTE Internet Services and director of technology at CVS Pharmacy. He has also held IT systems analysis and development positions with Melville Corporation, Computervision and Salomon North America.

Under Mr. Morin’s leadership, his IT organization was recognized in 2008 by CIO Decisions magazine and in 2009 by InformationWeek as a recipient of the IW500 Award for innovation. Mr. Morin is a member of SIM, CIMS and the CIO Executive Council. He is active in the non-profit community, serving on the National Advisory Board of YearUp and as an Executive Coach with Common Impact. He holds an MBA from Northeastern University and a BS. 

David (Dave) Webb is Chief Information Officer for Equifax, with responsibility for the company's global technology strategy, operations and support for the delivery of the company’s innovative solutions.

Webb, a 30-year veteran of the IT and financial services industries, joined Equifax from Silicon Valley Bank where as COO he led the company's IT strategy to support its global expansion, drove revenue and productivity initiatives through the effective use of technology. In addition, his responsibilities included oversight for IT, banking operations, outsourcing and off-shoring efforts, facilities, physical and information security, performance management, and disaster recovery/business continuity planning.

Previously, Webb was a vice president at Goldman Sachs, where he coordinated a global team of IT professionals, supporting the Investment and Merchant Banking Divisions. Until 1999 Webb served as the chief information officer of Finance One at Bank One Corporation.

Before joining Bank One, Webb was the chief technology officer for GE Capital’s Auto Finance business. Between 1986 and 1992, he served as a technology consultant to several large corporations in the U.S. While living in Europe, Webb held positions at companies servicing the oil industry, including Kestrel Data Limited, Marathon Oil UK Ltd., and Brown and Root Ltd.

Webb earned a bachelor’s degree in Russian from the University of London and an MBA from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. 

Bob Wittstein joined Harvard University to lead Information Technology in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences in April 2010. This includes Harvard College and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. In addition, Bob is a member of the UCIO’s leadership team for University IT and serves on the CIO Council.

Prior to joining Harvard, Bob had served as the Vice President and CIO at Sappi Fine Paper North America since 2002. In addition to having responsibility for all aspects of Information Technology, Bob led the IT transformation project, including the roll-out of SAP and the implementation of the mill execution system at each of the mills in North America. Bob also led the execution of Sappi’s ecommerce strategy both internally and externally for investors, customers and trading partners. In September 2005, Bob took on the additional responsibility as Vice President of Procurement of leading the Procurement and Forestry functions at Sappi including a $1.2B spend for wood, chemicals, equipment and energy.

Before joining Sappi, Bob served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Information Officer at Cyrk, Inc., a $1B promotional marketing company. While at Cyrk, Bob developed and implemented the company’s e-business strategy and managed its technical infrastructure. He also developed strategic and tactical plans to support and drive Cyrk’s sales and operations. Before joining Cyrk, Bob successfully implemented SAP domestically and in Europe as Director of Information Systems at Warnaco, Inc. and at Owens Corning. Prior to this, Bob spent 14 years progressing through successively greater positions of accountability within Manufacturing Engineering at Sikorsky Aircraft.

He holds an MBA from the University of New Haven and a B.S. in Engineering from the University of Connecticut. 

 

Mr. Berry began his career healthcare as a Field Services Manager with Tymshare Medical Systems implementing computer systems in hospitals in the northeastern USA. He left healthcare to join Pitney Bowes, Inc as a systems analyst. Pitney Bowes is the leading manufacturer of mailing machines and copiers in the US. He later joined Pepsi- Cola (Pepsico) as a project leader developing large-scale mainframe applications for the Food Service Division. He was promoted to Project Director, and after 5 years with Pepsi, he accepted a position as IT Director USA with The Dannon Company (Groupe Danone) where he headed the migration of the company’s distribution system from storedoor delivery to warehouse distribution. In 1990, he joined Grand Metropolitan plc’s (now Diageo plc) Häagen-Dazs unit as VP Worldwide Information Systems, and after 2 years at Häagen-Dazs, he was transferred to Paris, France as VP, European IT and Business Processes. While in Europe, he managed the selection and implementation of SAP R/3 in 7 European countries, a first for GrandMet. In 1996, he assumed the CIO position for GrandMet’s Burger King unit in Miami. At Burger King, he changed the point-of-sale (POS) industry that led to the implementation of non-proprietary POS systems in company restaurants. After the merger between GrandMet & Guinness plc which formed Diageo plc, Mr. Berry joined Coty Inc as the Global CIO based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. At Coty, he revamped the worldwide infrastructure, centralized computing assets, and developed the IT strategy that included implementing common business systems and processes based on SAP, Manugistics, and other global systems through out Western Europe and in North America. He also transformed the IT organisation from a country-based organization to a global organization.

In August 2007, Mr. Berry was awarded the CIO 100 Award from CIO Magazine for the use of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) in the integration of the acquisition of Unilever Cosmetics International, in less than one year that resulted in an ROI of 415%. Coty was also the featured cover story on CIO Magazine’s January 2007 issue.

Mr. Berry left Coty Inc in June 2010, and is currently the interim CIO at Polycom, Inc. in Pleasanton, California. Polycom is a leading global manufacturer of Unified Communications products including voice and video in a variety of delivery platforms.

Mr. Berry lives outside New York City with his wife and their three children. 

William Deam joined Quintiles, the world’s largest biopharmaceutical services company, in January 2005 as Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer, bringing almost 30 years of experience in international business transformation and Information Technology.

He is accountable for IT services in over 60 countries worldwide. In November 2008, Deam was given additional responsibility for enterprise business improvement.

In 2009, Deam was named to the "CIO Hall of Fame" which selects honorees for their leadership in the CIO community and contributions to the advancement of the profession.

Under Deam’s leadership, Quintiles has twice been named to Computerworld magazines "100 Best Places to Work in IT."

Before joining Quintiles, Deam served as CIO for two well-respected global corporations. Most recently, he was CIO of ACNielsen, the world’s leading marketing information company. At ACNielsen, he led the development of an Internet-based business model and a Web framework for business intelligence services for both internal and external clients, under the brand name of Answers.

Previously, Deam served as CIO for Burmah Castrol, an international manufacturer of specialized lubricants and chemicals, where he led the re-engineering of infrastructure and business processes to facilitate the restructuring of the company into global marketing streams.

Prior to Burmah Castrol, Deam was deputy to the CIO of Safeway Stores (UK), following a successful ten years with Mars Inc. in a variety of management positions.

He has a bachelor of science degree (with honors) from Leicester University, in the U.K., and is a founding board member of the CIO Executive Council in the United States.

Ellen Kitzis is former group vice president at Gartner, former member of the global leadership team of Gartners CIO Executive Programs, and co-author of The New CIO Leader: Setting the Agenda and Delivering Results (Harvard Business Press, 2004).  Kitzis, who holds a Ph.D. in sociology, has spent more than 20 years in the technology and management research fields.

She is currently an independent consultant working with CIOs and companies who supply services to the CIO.