It's a pleasure for me to start off the Fall 2004 Issue of News and Views with the good news that after a decidedly roller coaster year, the talent market for technology and operations executives is demonstrating sustained stability and growth. Now that we have the good news we've all been waiting for, is your company prepared to handle it?

Over the past year, we heard from our colleagues in Human Resources that they've been focused on stripping down their organizations to their best levels of efficiencies rather than on retaining or expanding their executive ranks - retention hasn't been a critical issue. The recent increase in activity in the talent marketplace may make this a good time to rethink their priorities.

Now that a lot of your companies have completed their spring cleaning of your executive ranks, and more options are opening up for talented executives, here are some questions worth considering:

1. Has your company identified who your key executives are, and evaluated the risks attached to having to replace them? Just because you haven't focused on who your most valuable people are, don't take it for granted that your competition or those of us in search aren't aware of who they are.
2. Have you made any contingency plans for retaining your key executives? Counter offers are rarely as successful or well received, as making someone feel valued before your competition does.
3. With renewed competition for the best and brightest have you evaluated how attractive and competitive are the packages that you are offering? Executives look for a comprehensive package that offers in addition to a generous base salary long term incentives and good benefits as rewards for contributing to the success of their companies
4. Does your company offer its executives career coaching or additional training in their area of expertise? This is a wise investment that will not only increase their value to you, but is a concrete demonstration that you are prepared to invest in their building a successful career at your company.
5. What is quality of life at your company? Family friendly firms with a team oriented workplace build loyalty and have a vastly superior retention rate.
6. How open are your lines of communication? You may know that your senior management has big plans for a key executive, but if they don't they are more open to listening to what other companies may have to offer?
7. What are your options for filling a key executive position quickly? Before a critical need arises take the time to visit with your selected search partners and determine if they are still your best choice for sourcing the caliber candidates you need in a timely manner or is this an opportune time to establish new partnerships.

This healthy talent market is wonderful news - it means our economy is thriving, and it also means that there are new and exciting opportunities and challenges ahead for all of us.

We live in a very image conscious world. Personal makeovers have not only taken over the media - on reality shows and in major magazines, they have begun to invade the workplace. Even the respected Wall Street Journal recently published an article on the importance of polishing up your speech and appearance to fast track your career.

It is no longer good enough to be talented, hardworking and loyal, in order to move up the career ladder you have to look and sound good performing your responsibilities. Companies want their top executives to be a positive reflection of them.

Every job description now calls for "excellent communication skills" and "Boardroom presence". This means that the days of the technology or operations executive working strictly behind the scenes are over.

Technology and operations executives now not only interface with the business leadership at their own firms, they may be expected to be part of the presentation team making pitches to attract new business to their firm. The expertise they bring to these meetings has to be matched by the level of respect they can command. You have to look and sound as though you belong in these meetings, that requires not only expertise in your field, and knowledge of your product line and company, but the presence to be accepted as a key member of your firm's management team.

With Sarbanes-Oxley impacting so many companies it may now be an important part of your responsibilities to appear before regulators or commissions and to give presentations. How you look and sound lends credibility and weight to what you have to say.

Companies grooming their executives for key positions are now investing in the services of coaches to train the executive on how to polish their speech and appearance, and how to give memorable presentations. They consider this money to be well spent if it makes the executive more confident, and generates more respect from their peers and staff.

If you are looking to advance your career, now might be a great time to make a similar investment in yourself. Do a self assessment and decide whether you could use a little fine tuning.

Are you comfortable and feel natural giving presentations or in a social situation with your peers or bosses? If not, investigate how you can enroll in either one on one or group instruction in overcoming these obstacles. There are coaches who can help you overcome stage fright, give more dynamic and interesting presentations, who can help you learn social skills, who can even teach you how to look good losing that golf game to an important client.

Now that you've reached a certain level of success, do you look the part? Take a good look at the people holding the positions you aspire to, and see if your image matches theirs. Every top department store has personal shoppers that can help you match the outer you with the inner success story, at every price point -even in a casual environment you can still command respect by the style of the clothes you wear, and the confidence you project.

Knowing that you look and sound your best is a real career booster. Aren't you worth the investment in yourself?

Autumn - a time to stop and reflect
On nature's wondrous story;
Each season plays a special part -
Each one a time of glory

It's no longer business as usual regarding how technology and operations are viewed and deployed throughout the corporate world. In the past technology was divided into applications and systems development, generally in support of specific business entities throughout the organization and infrastructure and operations, which provided the hardware, platforms, data centers, networks, help desks and desktops that interconnect employees and extend out to clients, as well, frequently on a global basis.

These categories are still in place within most organizations, with outsourcing of part or all of the help desks, data centers or select applications playing an increasing role in what gets done within the organization, generally governed by cost considerations.

What has changed dramatically over the past 2 to 3 years are the functions that overlay and govern the manner in which applications and infrastructure are architected, implemented, tested and ultimately controlled.

Categories within the technology/operations space that have taken center stage are:

• Risk Management- Whether its operational risk, capital markets trading risk or other forms of risk endemic to a particular business, expertise in this category is vital to minimize a corporation's exposure to capital losses. Risk is now an issue to be dealt with by operations and technology executives in addition to financial, security, product control, compliance and senior executives throughout the organization.
• Business Continuity- Heightened by the post- 9/11 era, business continuity has far-reaching implications on how companies configure and provide backup for their data centers, networks, client data, etc.
• Audit & Regulatory- Sarbanes-Oxley and Basel II have required companies to change the manner in which they report financial results in the first case, and the manner in which they meet reserve capital requirements for their Capital Market businesses in the second case.
  These relatively new regulations impose stricter reporting and operating requirements on most organizations, which have far-reaching implications on the architecture, development, implementation and rollout of new systems and business applications on a global basis.
• Strategic Initiatives- Quantifying strategic business alternatives, including merger & acquisition options, have become increasingly part of the planning and implementation process of key technology & operations functions within many large organizations. PMO offices linking directly into executive committees and CEOs of many organizations are frequently embedded within the technology & operations function.
• Corporate Governance- Setting policies, procedures and developing methodologies for how business is to be conducted within business units and for the corporation as a whole has also fallen, at least in part, within the responsibilities of the technology and operations function.

All of these categories and trends point to the same thing, which is, technology and operations are closer to, and more an integral part of, the business than ever before. In order for technology and operations executives to be successful in this new world of business, they must become increasingly more knowledgeable and experienced in all or most of the categories described above.

As providing seamless, secure services to customers on a global basis becomes more of a competitive necessity, and a regulatory reality, the technology and operations executives that play a major role in this emerging process will be the CEOs of tomorrow.

With the cost of hiring and training soaring, firms need to make sure the person they do hire is "The One". Changes in the marketplace have forced companies to do more with less. Employee retention is one of the top concerns of Human Resource executives.

A Technology executive in today's world needs to be more business oriented and have better communication skills, not just being technically savvy.

A candidate needs to be a cultural fit not just a fit for the job. Tools such as personality tests afford firms the ability to go beyond first impressions and dig deeper into the candidate's character and attributes. If the candidate has the perfect set of skills for the job, but can't adapt to his new environment or can't work well with his management team, then he is not the right person and shouldn't be hired.

It's always a good idea for Human Resources, the Hiring Manager and the Search Firm to work together as a team to make sure the right candidate is hired. Creating a focused job spec, in-depth interviewing, reference checking and the use of assessment tools increase the chances of this happening.

For example, identifying if the candidate is ambitious vs. being an opportunist can be tricky. Without everyone involved working together disaster may strike. A candidate with all of the desired skills may accept your offer and leave as soon as something better comes along. There are warning signs to look for to avoid this problem.

You should look at the past track record to determine the candidate's commitment and staying power. Changing jobs every 18 months might indicate that someone is impatient and won't want to stay for the long haul or can't deliver. The candidate might leave after the initial challenges are completed or give up if the challenges get too difficult. These are all factors that should be considered before putting out an offer.

One way to ensure the right candidate is brought on board is to partner with the right executive search firm. Top executive search firms follow the new hire through their first year of employment to ensure a smooth transition. By doing so, surprises are avoided through addressing the candidate's concerns and presenting them to the Hiring Manager for resolution. The Search Firm will also keep the Human Resources partner and Hiring Manager working with them updated on the selected candidate's progress. This attention to detail is the foundation for a great working relationship for future searches, and will help to make sure you will always be able to hire the right person for your team.

As the year is slipping away outsourcing is still moving at full speed. More and more companies are jumping on the bandwagon in attempt to reduce their technology costs and to free up money that would otherwise not be available for new projects. Financial services companies have led the way with just about all of them outsourcing some aspect of their technology - operational services, application development or call centers.

Most of us identify this trend as only being associated with India. India is still capturing the lion's share of the business, because companies have established relationships with outsourcers there and feel comfortable sending larger and larger projects to them. While they certainly are the leader, other countries are gaining market share. For U.S. companies that have a presence in Europe members of the European Union, such as Czech Republic, Poland and Hungry are a nearshore alternative. Costs are still less expensive than in the U.S., but time will tell if they remain that way, as their salaries and standards of living start to improve.

With excellent communication skills a key factor in awarding outsourcing dollars, new contracts are being awarded to those countries that have workers who demonstrate a high degree of English comprehension and proficiency. India is the market leader followed closely by the Philippines, New Zealand, Ireland, Bulgaria, Israel, South Africa, Costa Rica and Canada.

One of the major issues in outsourcing is that of knowledge transfer. Regardless of what aspect of I/T is being outsourced, the ability to understand project requirements and to communicate with internal customers are essential to the delivery of a successful project. To make this knowledge transfer seamless companies have to invest in training and travel, not to mention transitioning your old staff. You can't expect your employees who harbor a vast amount of knowledge to willingly train their replacements knowing they will be laid off in the near future, without the offer to train for another role in your organization or alternatively being offered a retention or severance package. The offshore contractor should either come to your company's facilities in this country or you need to send staff to their facilities overseas in order to familiarize them with your processes, culture, and the key people involved. If you can start off with a thorough understanding of the language as well as both cultures you will achieve a more productive relationship. Although the costs involved will offset some of the initial savings, it is an investment essential to the success of the project.

With the more awareness of the risks involved in outsourcing key parts of technology U.S. companies are looking closer to home and to our neighbors to the North and South. More outsourcing contracts are being awarded to Canada because of its close proximity to the U.S. and its knowledge of how U.S. businesses operate. Similarly, Mexico is becoming a major player with an attractive near shore pricing structure.

With all this said, I don't believe we will see any slowdown in outsourcing in the coming years, in fact the number of countries involved in offering outsourcing services will continue to expand as they try to grab a piece of this lucrative market.

Thanksgiving Day is coming soon,
That long remembered day
When nature gives her blessed boon
To all America.