SAIC – eating their own dog food

This post sponsored by the Enterprise CIO Forum and HP.

2 of 365 - Dog Food By admitchell08 on flickrWhile drinking my cup of coffee this morning, I sat down to watch a video highlighted over on the Enterprise CIO Forum titled SAIC cyber security: “We eat our own dogfood”.  In the video, SAIC’s CEO Walt Haverstein and CIO Charles Beard talk about their approach to security, innovation and the fact that they actually use their own systems and methods internally.  These systems are then improved upon and those improvements are rolled out to provide better solutions for their clients.

What I found extremely interesting about this was the CEO’s comment toward the role of the CIO.  To paraphrase him:

Charles isn’t just responsible for managing the IT function but also for creating and deploying innovative solutions that can help our clients.

The SAIC CIO isn’t just a techie who’s job is to “keep the lights on”…he’s looked at as someone that should be delivering solutions that can be used in the marketplace to drive revenue. He’s also looked at for driving innovation throughout the organization.

That’s an interesting concept, no?

Not only is the CIO and IT group ‘keeping the lights on’ but they are delivering real-world solutions to real-world problems that they see in their organization – and then helping their clients solve those same problems.

If you want an example of a CIO that exemplifies the “Officer” in Chief Information Officer, Mr. Beard may be a good example.  Of course, I can’t really tell anything about the type of leader that he is or how he runs his business, but on the surface, it looks good.

While the video’s purpose was to show how SAIC is ‘eating their own dog food‘ by using the systems and methods that they also sell, a much more important lesson may be how the CIO and IT group are looked at as innovative teams driving real growth and value for the company.

Can you say the same about your IT group?  Are you seen as innovative or unimaginative? Are you driving value or just driving people crazy with your processes and procedures?

Jump over and watch the video…good stuff.

Image Credit: 2 of 365 – Dog Food By admitchell08 on flickr

This post sponsored by the Enterprise CIO Forum and HP.

12 responses to “SAIC – eating their own dog food”

  1. Published: SAIC – eating their own dog food http://t.co/D0xXudh #CIO

  2. SAIC – eating their own dog food http://t.co/1Wg6EmX via @EricDBrown

  3. Reading @ericdbrown's post on SAIC for #EntSecurityThursday – recommended! http://ow.ly/6oXga

  4. SAIC – eating their own dog food: This post sponsored by the Enterprise CIO Forum and HP.While drinking my cup o… http://t.co/cfrjAax

  5. SAIC – eating their own dog food http://t.co/mSmahhr from @ericdbrown

  6. Rewatched #SAIC video on @ECIOForum (http://ow.ly/6qw1n) after reading @ericdbrown 's blog http://ow.ly/6qw0U – #infosec implications

  7. IT teams only looked at as "innovation teams" (http://ow.ly/6qw5V) if they add value to the business case. Most still don't.

  8. RT @pcalento: Rewatched #SAIC video on @ECIOForum (http://ow.ly/6qw1n) after reading @EricDBrown 's blog http://ow.ly/6qw0U #infosec

  9. RT @pcalento: Rewatched #SAIC video on @ECIOForum (http://ow.ly/6qw1n) after reading @EricDBrown 's blog http://ow.ly/6qw0U #infosec

  10. pcalento Avatar
    pcalento

    There’s more to the “eat our own dogfood” comment (http://ow.ly/6qw1n) than just running software internally that’s sold to customers. Many companies share best practices with their customers (based on watching the larger market, not necessary from themselves) that they don’t follow through with on their own.That’s lost opportunity.

    –Paul Calento (http://bit.ly/paul_calento) (Note: I work on projects sponsored by Enterprise CIO Forum and HP Instant-On Enterprise)

  11. campbell.alvin5 Avatar
    campbell.alvin5

    Excellent article but according to me grain-Free foods are more biologically appropriate for dogs and cats than foods that include grains. Grains include corn (maize), rice, wheat, barley, sorghum, millet, oats, and rye. Grains are complex carbohydrates that break down into sugars in the digestive system. Sugars don’t stick around for long in the body; they must be used or converted into fat quickly. Since animals do not use all of the energy they consume instantly, their bodies convert this excess sugar to fat. This can lead to obesity. A grain-free food has far fewer carbohydrates than a food that include grains. This means that instead of a sugar rush, your pet breaks down fat for energy throughout the day. This leads to a pet that keeps a stable weight.

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  12. campbell.alvin5 Avatar
    campbell.alvin5

    Excellent article Grain-Free foods are more biologically appropriate for dogs and cats than foods that include grains. Grains include corn (maize), rice, wheat, barley, sorghum, millet, oats, and rye. Grains are complex carbohydrates that break down into sugars in the digestive system. Sugars don’t stick around for long in the body; they must be used or converted into fat quickly. Since animals do not use all of the energy they consume instantly, their bodies convert this excess sugar to fat. This can lead to obesity. A grain-free food has far fewer carbohydrates than a food that include grains. This means that instead of a sugar rush, your pet breaks down fat for energy throughout the day. This leads to a pet that keeps a stable weight.

    Animal Supplies