Truth from the Valley: A Practical Primer on IT Management for the Next Decade

The IT industry was transformed during the 2010 decade. Cloud-based business applications proliferated throughout most enterprises. Rules of engagement between IT and its business partners were redefined. Proprietary data centers came to be viewed as corporate liabilities instead of corporate assets. Information security and regulatory compliance concerns multiplied. And finally, end user support practices were redesigned to support smart devices and smart millennials who wanted immediate access to their data, applications and productivity tools at any time and any place.

Nowhere have these changes been more profound or pervasive than in Silicon Valley. The Valley is home to a wide variety of cloud-native companies that operate entirely on cloud applications and cloud computing resources. Many operate under stringent security safeguards and all are engaged in a perpetual war for IT talent. They are ravenous (sometimes reckless) adopters of new technology and are continually re-inventing the processes they use to recruit and retain talent, optimize internal operations, and manage new forms of technology.

Truth from the Valley describes the organizational challenges confronting Silicon Valley IT teams and proposes ways of transforming such challenges into organizational opportunities. Seven-time CIO Mark Settle brings a unique perspective to the discussion of contemporary IT management practices based upon his personal experience in the Valley startup community and larger Fortune 500 firms.

This book can be used as a strategic planning document by IT leaders everywhere to identify the organizational competencies their teams will need to succeed during the next decade. Savvy leaders will use this book to make targeted investments in those organizational capabilities that will enhance the impact of their teams and advance their careers in the process.

Mark Settle is a seven-time Chief Information Officer with broad business experience in the enterprise software, information services, consumer products, high tech distribution, financial services and oil & gas industries. He has led IT teams that support the internal business operations, product development activities and revenue-generating websites of multiple Fortune 500 companies. Mark has served as an informal advisor to many Silicon Valley startup firms and currently sits on the advisory boards of several venture capital companies. He is the author of Truth from the Trenches, A Practical Guide to the Art of IT Management and a three-time CIO 100 honoree.