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WHATEVER IT
TAKES
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By Bob Schaper
Hidden behind the gleaming mirrors of the downtown skyline—or perhaps
buried in the underground conduits that tie the virtual world together—the
St. Louis region has quietly evolved into a powerhouse in the field
of information technology (IT).
Perhaps no company exemplifies the stature of St. Louis in the IT
world better than SBC Communications. Ed Glotzbach, executive vice
president and CIO for SBC, leads an organization spanning 13 states
and employing more than 16,000 IT workers—including almost 6,000
here in St. Louis.
Glotzbach says the region is often overlooked within the IT world—a
perception, in his opinion, which is skewed and outdated. “Corporations
have major pockets of IT people here,” he says. “But nobody particularly
looks at St. Louis as an IT Mecca—and they should.”
The numbers back up Glotzbach. According to an IT study commissioned
by the RCGA and performed by the Battelle Memorial Institute in
2001, more than 45,000 St. Louis residents are employed in information
technology-related occupations. This figure easily outpaces Kansas
City, Nashville and Charlotte.
"YOUR
NUMBER ONE OBLIGATION IS TO KEEP THINGS RUNNING. THE
ONLY PROFIT CENTER WE HAVE IS OUR BRANCHES, SO OUR
NETWORK BASICALLY IS THE ENABLER OF THE BUSINESS."
Rich Malone
CIO,
Edward Jones
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IT careers are also well paying, adding fuel to the region’s economic
engine. Again according to the BLS, the average 2001 pay for a systems
software engineer in St. Louis was $67,550 a year. For a computer
systems analyst, the annual figure was $60,130.
Rich Malone, CIO at Edward Jones, has seen much of the industry’s
growth firsthand. In 24 years with Jones, Malone’s department has
burgeoned into a world-class IT network. “We didn’t have an IT organization
when I came,” Malone remembers. “Back then, I was a department of
one.”
Now Malone oversees a unit of about 1,100 people, responsible for
linking 9,000 “Main Street” branches across the U.S., Canada and
Britain. Throw in connections with mutual fund companies, stock
exchanges and news services, and Jones’ St. Louis County network
is easily one of the most sophisticated in the entire country, if
not the world.
“The only profit center we have is our branches,” Malone says, stressing
the importance of the IT operation. “So our network basically is
the enabler of the business.”
Realistically, Malone envisions an even larger IT presence for St.
Louis in the near future. “There’s a tremendous focus on new capabilities
and enhancements,” he says. “Jones is a growing organization, so
there are always new projects to help accommodate that growth.”
Glotzbach says SBC could have based its IT organization anywhere
in the nation—including California—but chose St. Louis instead.
A major factor for that decision was the region’s human resources
strengths. “The employees here stay with you a long time, and they
have a great work ethic,” he says. “They are very well trained by
the university systems, including Rolla and Columbia and Southern
Illinois University (SIU). They come to us well educated.”
Greg Carmichael, vice president and CIO of Emerson, says the work
done in St. Louis by the IT specialists is critical to the corporation’s
future. To be successful, his team must link more than 1,200 Emerson
IT employees located in 120 countries. “We have to deploy IT skills
and resources to solve business problems,” Carmichael says. “We’re
a partner to the business leader who runs that division.”
For each company, the stakes could not be higher.
“Our (internal) customers have high expectations,” Carmichael says.
“They expect IT to drive the productivity and profitability of the
operation.”
To ensure success, the three executives—Glotzbach, Malone and Carmichael—have
helped create the St. Louis CIO Forum, an informal affiliation of
10 major companies in the region. Three or four times a year, all
10 CIOs meet at a member site to exchange ideas.
“We all pretty much know each other and share ideas,” Glotzbach
says. “The problems we face are common. And somebody finds a way
to fix a problem.”
Malone agrees. “The forum is great,” he says. “We share ideas. Someone
will put on a presentation about something they’re doing and how
they’re doing it.”
A major challenge facing every corporation now, Carmichael says,
is network security. The round-table has been invaluable in aiding
the companies to address that issue. “The forum gives us a chance
to network and share each other’s experiences,” he says. “I can
pick up the phone and reach closely and quickly to relationships
in the St. Louis area.”
The healthy collaboration between leaders is just one more link
in the region’s already strong IT chain. Put together, of course,
the whole idea is to boost business. Glotzbach says, “That drives
the prioritization behind the applications you develop. There’s
always more request to develop applications than there are people
or money to do it.”
But for St. Louis companies, the advantage of doing business in
a thriving, growth-oriented IT environment should make the job a
little easier.
Bob Schaper is a free-lance writer based in St. Louis.
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