If you had the power . . .

Linux would be the de facto operating system, identity management would be a breeze and . . . what else? We deemed four of you all-powerful and asked how you'd change the world

Imagine this: With the wave of a magic wand, you're suddenly all-powerful. You can change today's network industry in any way you want. What would you do, and how?

We posed such a challenge to four veteran enterprise network executives: Arun DeSouza, manager of global service assurance and chief information security officer at Inergy Automotive Systems in Troy, Mich.; Christopher Paidhrin, IS security officer at Southwest Washington Medical Center in Vancouver, Wash.; Jonathan Campbell, director of technology at First Health of the Carolinas in Pinehurst, N.C.; and Elliot Zeltzer, global manager for telecom security at General Motors in Detroit.

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Imagine this: With the wave of a magic wand, you're suddenly all-powerful. You can change today's network industry in any way you want. What would you do, and how?

We posed such a challenge to four veteran enterprise network executives: Arun DeSouza, manager of global service assurance and chief information security officer at Inergy Automotive Systems in Troy, Mich.; Christopher Paidhrin, IS security officer at Southwest Washington Medical Center in Vancouver, Wash.; Jonathan Campbell, director of technology at First Health of the Carolinas in Pinehurst, N.C.; and Elliot Zeltzer, global manager for telecom security at General Motors in Detroit.

In their own words, here's how they would wield their newfound power:

If you had the power to alter any vendor's product strategy in any way, what company would you choose, and what would you do?

DeSouza: Symantec -- I would cease the strategy of constant new acquisitions and technologies, which is diluting the customer-value proposition. I would focus on consolidation, enhancement and integration of existing tool sets. Essentially, my ultimate goal would be to provide holistic centralized management of the portfolio products. This would give me a simplified, security-management cockpit. The consequent increase in efficiency and productivity for IT staff would add to our bottom line and cascade to additional revenue for Symantec