Epic 2013 CIO Summit of America Focuses on Critical Role of CIO in Rapidly Changing IT Landscape

NEW YORK, Jan. 31, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2013 CIO Summit of America, held Monday at the Harvard Club in New York, delivered a clear message to the global IT community: The role of the CIO is more relevant and more critical than ever before.

"Rapid advances in cloud, social, mobile technologies and business analytics are fundamentally changing the IT landscape. We cannot afford to minimize the risks of newer technologies, but we also need them to compete in global markets," said Hunter Muller, President and CEO of HMG Strategy, LLC. "The CIO is the single best person to navigate the complicated path ahead and to safely guide the enterprise to success in a shifting economy. Clearly, the role of the CIO has never been more important to the success of the modern enterprise."

The annual summit, described as "the industry's most genuinely effective and dynamic peer-to-peer networking event," drew a record attendance of more than 320 top-level executives. The scope, range and depth of the presentations, panels and discussions were truly epic and unparalleled.

"I was extremely gratified to see such a large group of IT thought-leaders and industry experts gather in one venue to share their knowledge, experience and wisdom. Most of them sense that we're at an inflection point, and that the CIO is perfectly positioned to leverage newer technologies, mitigate potential risks and gain the maximum ROI from new IT investments," said Muller. "The CIO is the ideal choice for leading the journey from older to newer technologies, both responsibly and effectively."

Keynote speakers included Tim Campos, CIO, Facebook;  Steve Harvey, Global Analytics Leader, IBM Global Process Services; Julie O'Brien, Industry Marketing Director, Box; Dr. Howard Rubin, Rubin Worldwide, MIT CISR Research, Professor Emeritus, Hunter College of NY; and Ajay Waghray, SVP & CIO, Verizon Enterprise Solutions.

Panelists and other speakers included Snehal Antani, CIO, Enterprise Architecture, GE Capital Americas; Shawn Banerji, Managing Director, Russell Reynolds Associates; Kurt Brungardt, CIO, MSD Capital L.P.; Gregory Buoncontri, EVP & CIO, Pitney Bowes, Inc.; Rick Farnell, Co-Founder and President, Think Big Analytics; Jon Harding, Global CIO, Conair Corporation; Donagh Herlihy, SVP eCommerce & CIO, Avon Products, Inc.; John Hill, CIO, Veyance Technologies, Inc.; Lisa Hoffman, CIO, Marsh & McLennan Agency; E. Jeffrey Hutchinson, CIO, Maple Leaf Foods; Daphne Jones, SVP & CIO, Hospira, Inc.; Jonathan Landon, Global IT – CTO, Kimberly-Clark Corporation;  Lisa Larson, VP, Enterprise Cloud Solutions, Rackspace; Tony Leng, Managing Director and CIO Practice Leader, Diversified Search; Chris McGugan, VP & GM, Emerging Products & Technology, Avaya; Gerry McNamara, Partner, Heidrick & Struggles; Scott Morrison, VP, IS Prescription Medicines, Corporate Information Systems, Boehringer Ingelheim;  Ken Murdoch, CIO, Save the Children; Adam Noble, SVP & CIO, GAF Materials Corporation; Jim Panos, CIO, Central National Gottesman; Mark Polansky, Managing Director, IT Officers Practice, Korn/Ferry International; Brian Queenin, Partner, Global Business Services, Business Analytics and Optimization (BAO), IBM; Doug Rousso, SVP & CTO, CBS Corporation; Mary Sobiechowski, CIO, Kantar Health; Carol Zierhoffer, VP & Global CIO, Xerox Corporation; Ken Zimmerman, Senior Business Intelligence Architect, Chateaux Software; and Hank Zupnick, CIO, GE Real Estate.

Sponsors of the summit included: Adobe, Avaya, Box, Canon, Chateaux Software, Code42, IBM, Informatica, Mitchell Martin, Okta, Rackspace, ServiceNow, Think Big Analytics, and QlikTech. Association Partners included Npower and SIM NY Metro. Strategic Partners included Egon Zehnder International, Heidrick & Struggles, Korn/Ferry International, Russel Reynolds Associates, and Spencer Stuart.

The summit was produced by HMG Strategy, a leading global provider of innovative IT leadership, management and technology support, in association with the New York Metro Chapter of the Society for Information Management (SIM).

"Together, we took the summit to a phenomenal new level of excellence and relevance. The rapport between the speakers and the audience was nothing short of amazing," said Muller. "From my perspective, the summit drove home a key message: the strategic relevance of the CIO is crystal clear and absolutely critical to the success of modern companies."

About HMG Strategy, LLC

HMG Strategy, LLC is a leading global provider of innovative IT leadership, management and technology support to CIO/Senior IT executives by focusing on the 360-degree needs of the CIO/IT Leader. Our events and services raise thought leadership, knowledge sharing and networking to the highest level. HMG Strategy provides access to an international network of nearly 50,000 CIO/Senior IT executives, industry experts and world-class thought leaders. For more information about HMG Strategy and its unique portfolio of CIO/IT leadership resources, visit www.hmgstrategy.com.  

SOURCE HMG Strategy, LLC