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The NFL thrives on big, except in IT

For Nancy Galietti, keeping the NFL's IT department costs flat sets the groundwork for an expanding role.

April 30, 2012 06:00 AM ET

Computerworld - NEW YORK - The NFL may have big stadiums, big players and big games, but when it comes to its IT operation, Nancy Galietti, the NFL's vice president of IT, does not use the word big.

The NFL runs three data centers of about 2,000 square feet each, or server rooms, as Galietti refers to them. The IT operation supports business functions, a growing film collection, statistics on players, and a looming foray into big data.

Galietti is modest about the scope of the NFL's IT operation, but not about the job.

"It's a privilege to work for them -- we have such a fun product," Galietti said.

It turns out that many other people want to work for the NFL's IT department as well. The department has about 50 employees, and when openings are advertised, piles of resumes will pour in.

Galietti has to readjust expectations of some applicants who believe they'll be doing more than IT work.

"You have to love being an engineer, because that's what you're going to be doing. Everybody thinks they are going to suit up and play," she said with a chuckle.

The NFL corporate offices are based in New York, and Galietti was at a small get-together recently with some IBM executives to talk about projects to improve the efficiency of her IT operations.

Although the NFL itself is a large enterprise, the teams have their owners and their independent IT operations, although IT staffs from NFL corporate spend a lot of time on the road helping out with events.

The IT goal, Galietti said, is to keep operational cost flat to meet demand for new services. To accomplish that, the NFL has virtualized 95% of its servers and is using virtualization to expand capacity without having to expand hardware usage.

"We're going to try to stay at the level of virtualization because it gives you maximum flexibility," Galietti said.

IBM was hired to help improve the efficiency of operations through virtualization, standardization, and use of a private cloud. The move to private cloud services also set the foundation for using public cloud resources as they mature, she said.