"We need technology that moves away from the PC as the basic platform to a new solution that offers similar features and characteristics"

MARK DAVISON
VP, CIO
Delek US Holdings

Seasoned business executive with an excellent mix of business and technical skills, experienced in building productive organizations that produce profitable results, reduce costs, and improve quality while satisfying the needs of customers, employees, and stakeholders. An organization turn-around expert, with a track record of successfully transforming, developing and launching business units into strategically aligned, integrated groups for the dynamic global marketplace. Have served in various senior level capacities including CIO, VP - R&D, and President of Software Development Business.

Challenges in technology tomeet enterprise needs in 2013 andexpectations.

The biggest challenge facing technology in 2013 is its adaptability by business members.
Not necessarily with new technology but with technology that currently exists. Resistance to change is still very high in various business units and IT will have to continue being the change agent, driving process discipline and continuous improvement. Secondly, simplified integration to enterprise software solutions is necessary. No particular solution seems to serve the needs of the end to end process and makes it difficult to achieve some form of “best of breed” design. Last on my wish list is electronic wallet. Customers want it and retailers want to utilize it, but the industry is slow to respond.

My roles and responsibilities as a CIO

Partner; integrating activities with the direct needs of the business. That trend has not changed. In fact it has amplified to the point that the CIO must become the “agent of change” and “business process champion”. Technology advances over the past several years, that have drastically improved the collection and management of data, are driving the need for innovation
and availability of this information for decision making.

The areas in business environment where solutions do not yet exist or not up to the mark, and which if existed, would've made job easier.

Social Media Search Optimization (SMSO) is rising to compete with Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Facebook, Pinterest, and other social media sites that can map the interest graph of its users will begin to shift the power away from simple search engine search. Businesses must optimize both the quality and quantity of consumable content as well as the friction-free ability to share that content the inability to manage desktop configurations while giving users exceptional flexibility. We need technology that moves away from the PC as the basic platform to a new solution that offers similar features andcharacteristics.

Technology Trends Impacting Enterprise Business Environment

One trend is the use of mobile technology by our customers. More and more of them want access to information on demand. This especially impacts our retail business as we strive to provide more personalized services. The need for electronic payments is huge as people want to get away from carrying so many forms of credit. The other trend is the use of big data. Data sets are getting larger, more data is readily available, and more people want access to it. This will continue to drive new storage, analysis, and reporting solutions.

Lessons I learned as a CIO that can help you

The most unique lesson I learned and which has stayed through the test of time is that there are three main aspects of the job that must be fulfilled in order for the CIO and his/her respective organization to be successful. The first is that the IT organization needs to understand intimately the business and the respective needs. The only way to do this is to be that trusted business partner that the organization can rely on. Secondly, most of what IT does is repeatable and redundant. It is extremely important for the IT group to be focused to prevent a waste in time, money, and effort. Thirdly, the CIO of the organization must build a compelling
reason for the IT organization to want to be a part of the larger organization and commit to being a part of something special. If the CIO is successful, the results are an IT organization that consistently delivers results, is customer focused, and is proactive in delivering results that delight employees, customers, and shareholders.