A note to colleagues about my new Fortium Partners affiliation (May 2016):
I've just been named a Partner at Fortium Partners LP (www.fortiumpartners.com). The resulting LinkedIn item, which you may have seen, generated lots of "What is that?" and "What will you be doing?" inquiries. And so this explanatory note to people I've worked with, who might be curious, or--let's be frank--who might know of and connect me to circumstances and places where I might be helpful.
Fortium describes itself as "...an IT turnaround and technology services firm providing world-class IT leadership to clients focused on finding solutions to complex IT infrastructure issues or difficult-to–solve operational challenges." Its partners are all individuals who, like me, have decades of CIO-level information-technology leadership experience. Until now Fortium's clients have mostly been commercial firms and non-profit organizations, with a few government agencies and educational institutions mixed in. Fortium doesn't sell products or do product implementations, so it advises IT-leader clients based solely on their best interests. Given the rapidly expanding base of 60+ ex-CIO Fortium partners, there seem to be few processes, products, applications, or challenges where one of us does not have direct relevant experience.
The partnership invited me to join seeking opportunities in and around higher education for the kinds of senior-level support and guidance Fortium provides. Fortium's other clients can also benefit from our experience we in higher education. I find Fortium Partners appealing for the same reasons, because it will enable more structure and resources for my consulting and other projects, and because it can connect me with a broader array of challenges, contexts, and colleagues.
I'm always open to interesting opportunities, and I welcome inquiries. Here are some examples of things I might tackle:
I continue to be located in Washington DC, but of course can travel as necessary. I look forward to working with you!
Fortium describes itself as "...an IT turnaround and technology services firm providing world-class IT leadership to clients focused on finding solutions to complex IT infrastructure issues or difficult-to–solve operational challenges." Its partners are all individuals who, like me, have decades of CIO-level information-technology leadership experience. Until now Fortium's clients have mostly been commercial firms and non-profit organizations, with a few government agencies and educational institutions mixed in. Fortium doesn't sell products or do product implementations, so it advises IT-leader clients based solely on their best interests. Given the rapidly expanding base of 60+ ex-CIO Fortium partners, there seem to be few processes, products, applications, or challenges where one of us does not have direct relevant experience.
The partnership invited me to join seeking opportunities in and around higher education for the kinds of senior-level support and guidance Fortium provides. Fortium's other clients can also benefit from our experience we in higher education. I find Fortium Partners appealing for the same reasons, because it will enable more structure and resources for my consulting and other projects, and because it can connect me with a broader array of challenges, contexts, and colleagues.
I'm always open to interesting opportunities, and I welcome inquiries. Here are some examples of things I might tackle:
- Providing senior-level guidance to CIOs and senior IT staff facing unexpected and perhaps ill-understood practice or policy challenges.
- Helping campuses to frame and design broad internal assessments of campus IT, for example in advance of re-accreditation, or more specific data collection and analysis to inform practice.
- Assisting Presidents, Provosts, EVPs, CFOs, and other senior officers to define campus IT leadership structures and requirements appropriately before before retaining search consultants, who are often very good at finding candidates and managing searches but less so at defining jobs.
- Supplementing or providing interim campus IT leadership when existing leaders are on temporary assignment elsewhere (on campus or off), incidents or projects are consuming too much leadership time, or there is a vacancy during the search for a new CIO.
- Guiding development, implementation, and review of campus policies related to IT, both as driven by outside requirements and to ensure consistency with broader campus policies and expectations.
- Bridging gaps between vendors and campuses, especially those arising from organizational and cultural misunderstandings.
I continue to be located in Washington DC, but of course can travel as necessary. I look forward to working with you!