This book is based largely on the knowledge and insight that I acquired from my experiences over nearly four decades as a senior IT executive at several large companies. But since the book is also a work of journalism and reportage, I could not have completed it without tapping into the collective wisdom of many expert sources. To them I am deeply indebted. I thank them sincerely for their time, their energy, their intelligence and their support.
I owe special debt of gratitude to Mike Barlow, the co-author of Partnering with the CIO (Wiley, 2007). Mike served as my editorial director for The Practical CIO and his guidance was truly invaluable. In addition to being a talented writer and communicator, Mike is an all-around good guy. Thank you, Mike!
Esther Schindler, the well-known writer, editor and blogger extraordinaire, also provided timely support, constructive criticism and a unique perspective on the continually expanding information technology universe. Thank you, Esther!
Much of the content of this book was based on in-depth interviews with CIOs and senior executives at numerous companies and organizations all over the world. I could not have written The Practical CIO without the active participation and cooperation of Ashlee Aldridge, William Christie, Ronald Franz, Michael Hugos, Darwin John, Beth Kirkpatrick, Harvey Koeppel, Mark Lutchen, Claude Marais, Steve Marenakos, Alejandro Martinez, Rita Gunther McGrath, Caroline Michiels, Joseph Miller, Michael Moran, Eugene Nizker, Jim Onalfo, Mark Polansky, Chris Potts, Manjit Singh, Tony Scott, Bob Turner, Cesar Vinocur, Robin Watson, Mansour Zadeh and Dave Zitur.
A special thanks to Jim Giustini for his contribution to the book. Jim helped me a lot when I was CIO of DHL-US. We are now collaborating again at Resources Global, a consulting company that I admire greatly.
All writers, of course, need many additional pairs of eyes. I was especially fortunate to work with Edith G. Barlow, whose careful copy editing and useful suggestions greatly improved the quality of the manuscript. I also thank Sheck Cho and Stacey Rivera, my editors at John Wiley & Sons, who had faith in the value of the project and were patient when I missed my deadlines.
Most of all, I thank my wife Alzira, who put up with long nights of writing, endless phone calls, and lost weekends of heavy editing.
José Carlos Eiras
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