14 DAY TRIAL // When it comes down to information technology, Microsoft has managed a major accomplishment over the past couple of years. According to the Redmond company, in the past 10 fiscal quarters, no large-scale systems failure impacted its worldwide sales. Responsible for leading the software giant’s information technology group is Tony Scott, chief information officer for Microsoft.
Tony Scott came aboard as CIO in early 2008 from The Walt Disney Co. where he occupied a similar position. Since February 2008, he is overseeing Microsoft’s 4,000-strong global information technology organizations. Scott’s role is synonymous with ensuring that all critical technology systems are running smoothly, as they are responsible for Microsoft’s worldwide sales, marketing, services, and corporate processes. On November 2nd, 2009, the software giant announced that Scott was named to CIO Hall of Fame, by CIO magazine.
Microsoft’s CIO noted that technology information was the catalyst for the “dramatic speed at which business gets conducted. People can more quickly make a decision, invent something, or deploy a product. And at the same time, people’s hunger for information is also at a much higher magnitude than it was,” he stated.
Scott noted that the focus was increasingly placed on workers handling various aspects of their jobs in remote scenarios. Making this possible is the progressive integration of consumer devices into the information technology process. The CIO revealed that Microsoft was already at the avant-garde of embracing smartphones, small PCs, and gaming machines in its systems landscape.
“When you think about it, Microsoft has done a form of this for a long time, but most IT organizations don’t have the experience of managing the variety and depth of devices that we do. Because of the business we’re in, and the manufacturers we support, a lot of companies are looking at us and saying, ‘How do you manage all of these things?’” Scott said. “From phones, PDAs, small-form-factor PCs all the way to gaming. It hasn’t been part of the normal IT landscape, but it’s also an interesting position for us to be in at Microsoft IT.”
However, although dealing with increasingly complex information technology systems, Microsoft has managed to keep everything running smoothly for the past two years and a half. Responsible for the company’s flawless track record for the last 10 fiscal quarters was its focus on risk management and core infrastructure, Scott explained.