50 on Power's edge, 12/25/00

By ANN SULLIVAN
Network World, 12/25/00

Enterprise paragons

Stephen Chapery
Engineer, SiteSmith

Technical talent is scarce. Just ask Chapery. He posted his resume to an online job site, and 114 offers rolled in. Last December he chose SiteSmith, a provider of Internet infrastructure managed services. Now Chapery finds the tables turned as he tries to hire network engineers to help him run the 15 metropolitan networks he created and maintains. Chapery says he chose SiteSmith to build a really big network that would be his "own baby." With unemployment at 4% and thousands of tech jobs going unfilled, IT professionals such as Chapery can command great salaries and a bevy of perks. Power to the people.

Robert DeRodes
CIO, Delta Air Lines; president and CEO, Delta Technology

DeRodes is a pretty popular guy among employees, customers and Atlanta's charitable organizations. Delta's 74,000 U.S. employees are grateful to him for letting them buy new computers with Internet and intranet access for as little as $12 per month for 36 months. This is thanks to the airline's new Wired Workforce initiative with PeoplePC. With Delta's IS subsidiary, DeRodes has made passengers' lives easier, too. They can now select seats online, print boarding passes from airport kiosks and confirm departure times on handheld devices.

And the Atlanta charities? The chief information officer pulled in top dollar at a fundraising auction - Computer Associates bid $15,400 for lunch with DeRodes. He commanded the highest bid among the executives who participated in the auction.

Bill Friel
Senior vice president and CIO, Prudential Insurance Company of America

Friel has network smarts, and he shares them liberally. He leads Prudential's technology initiatives, from creating its 900-site WAN to implementing e-commerce sites for Prudential's business units. Outside Prudential, Friel sits on advisory boards at IBM, Intel and Microsoft, making him something of a spokesman for CIOs everywhere. Not shy of the spotlight, Friel has frequently lent his perspective to many publications - and countless readers - during his 40 years in IT.

Joshua Levine
CTO, E-Trade

Levine joined E-Trade in the fall of 1999, where he's now referred to as "the guy who keeps the wheels rolling around the world." Previously, Levine held top technology posts at Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley

Gary Reiner
Senior vice president and CIO, General Electric

Reiner is in charge of GE's overall 'Net strategy. That's no small task considering the diversity of GE's units: aircraft engines, refrigerators, credit cards and power generators, for example. When Chairman Jack Welch said he wanted century-old GE turned into an e-commerce competitor, this former Boston Consulting Group partner responded. Today, the company's successes include reverse auctions through which suppliers bid for GE's business and online customer service that costs a fraction of telephone support. Reiner is also the chairman of GE Information Services, a wholly owned IT services subsidiary best known for managing GE's e-marketplace, GE Global eXchange, and for its e-business integration offerings.

Bernard Rostker
Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, U.S. Department of Defense

A new Web site for the military - www.todaysmilitary.com - tells the story of a recruiting strategy that's changing with the times. This Senate-confirmed presidential appointee is one of the people behind the Web site, as well as a new initiative to develop recruiting stations in shopping malls that have a "gee-whiz, high-tech" feel, Rostker says. What's next? Smart cards for Defense Department active duty members and reservists, as well as select civilian employees and contractors. The smart cards initially will provide access to building and computer systems, and eventually could enable digital signatures and e-commerce transactions.

The rest of the 50 on Power's edge

Main story

Amazing analysts

Infrastructure bedrocks

Security stars

Service provider bravos

Software saviors

Carrier infrastructure czars

Standards superstars

Industry watchdogs

To top