Rick Mears, 2014 Honoree

- Title
- Senior vice president and CIO
- Employer
- Owens & Minor
- Location
- Richmond, Va.
- How are you turning your IT department into a services organization?
- To ensure total alignment and integration with the business, we have organized all our IT efforts into business 'work streams,' which represent a population of business users who rely on technology. Every work stream is co-led by me along with the vice president of that business unit.
- Coolest current project:
- The rollout of tablets with proprietary software that provides our sales staff with unprecedented mobile, real-time automation supporting sales, company programs, customer relationship design and account management.
- How are you building an IT department for the future?
- We believe the key to meet future challenges is staying focused and agile, rapidly solving business problems using state-of-the-art and emerging technology tools. Our IT teams are organized to fully understand business requirements and to have fast access to IT partners who can deliver best-of-breed solutions.