6 pages essay based on presentation ppt

CSE170 Winter 2020

02/06/20

Technology Management – A CIO Perspective Tom Gill, Former Vice-President and Chief Information Officer Plantronics, Santa Cruz

Abstract ​: Since the day two airline pilots working in a garage set out to invent a new kind of aviation headset until today, Plantronics has considered breakthroughs in audio technology as their daily business. They pioneered the lightweight headset, the mobile headset, noise-canceling technology and the personal speakerphone, always driven by a single obsession: remove the barriers to simply smarter communications.

Plantronics is a publicly held company (NYSE: PLT) headquartered in Santa Cruz with offices around the world including major facilities in China, England, Mexico and the Netherlands. Their products are sold and supported through a worldwide network of Plantronics partners including resellers, system integrators, retailers and mobile carriers.

After sixteen years as CIO, Tom too an early retirement package from Plantronics last year to pursue a career in Real Estate so rather than talk about Plantronics, Tom will cover the topic of technology management from a CIO’s perspective. Included in the discussion are the people, process, technology and challenges faced by CIOs as they transform their businesses. Tom is also available to answer questions about Plantronics, their internship program and hiring opportunities during Q&A.

About the Speaker: Formerly, as Vice President of Information Technology and CIO at Plantronics for sixteen years, Tom had responsibility for global IT at Plantronics. Tom led an IT team focused on partnering for innovation, top line growth and value creation. Tom has been named to the Computerworld 100 IT leaders, InformationWeek 500 and was recently a finalist for the Bay Area CIO of the Year in the area of innovation and business transformation.

Before joining Plantronics, Tom held senior IT management positions at Bay Networks, Tandem Computers and TRW. He has a BS in Business Information Systems from San Diego State University. Tom currently serves on the Board of Directors for Crowd Mics, a tech startup that turns smartphones into audience participation devices.