Top Guns: VARBusiness 500 Executives
Hats off to the men and women who made this exclusive list--they lead the top solution providers in North America. Collectively, these CEOs are all educated, market leaders; but each possesses a special quality that distinguishes them and drives their thirst for excellence.
For some, we've included a quote provided exclusively to VARBusiness about their business goals or philosophy; others told us about a famous person they admire; and for some, we picked an unusual biographical note that reveals an unexpected side. The result, we hope, is a well-rounded snapshot of the elite troupe who runs North America's most successful solution providers.
No. 1
John Joyce
SVP and Group Executive
IBM Global Services
Age: 51
Years As Group Exec: 1
"I like to think [success] is the ability to observe a situation, break it down and make the changes that drive a business or an organization to higher and higher levels of achievement. I inherited a tremendously successful organization. The mission of my team is to make sure we keep that huge revenue- and profit-machine running."
No. 2
Michael Jordan Chairman & CEO
EDS
Age: 68
Years as CEO: 2
Jordan believes in getting back to basics to create the turnaround he craves. This calls for the creation of industry-leading technology to be driven by an initiative that will embed 200 vendor partner employees at the EDS campus, and the relentless pursuit of ongoing cost efficiencies.
No. 3
Bill Green CEO
Accenture
Age: 51
Years as CEO: Less than 1
"People have asked me why I joined the firm--it wasn't to become CEO one day. I went to college, sent in one application, and they said yes and I said yes. I had no idea what I signed up to do. I just wanted a 'real job' to show my parents that they didn't waste their money--and I wanted to buy a Volkswagen. I stay here because I earn huge 'psychic income' because being part of Accenture is being part of something special."
No. 4
Van Honeycutt
Chairman & CEO
Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC)
Age: 60
Years as CEO: 10
Honeycutt's long career at CSC began in 1975, when he was hired as a regional marketing manager. Honeycutt earned a B.S. degree in business administration from Franklin University in Ohio, and completed Stanford University's Executive Graduate Program in 1984.
No. 5
Ann Livermore
EVP Of Technology Solutions Group
Hewlett-Packard
Age: 46
Years as EVP: Elected evp in 2002 after serving as vice president since 1995. Since May 2004, she has led the Technology Solutions Group.
"The thing that is most important is to deliver against a plan and to meet or exceed customer expectations. That's what I look for in my employees, our partners and myself. One of my heroes is Sir Edmund Hillary, the man who first climbed Mt. Everest."
No. 6
Robert Stevens President & CEO
Lockheed Martin
Age: 53
Years as CEO: Less than 1
Like other Lockheed Martin top executives, Stevens' background is in engineering, but he has fleshed out his technical expertise by earning a master's degree in engineering and management from the Polytechnic University of New York and, with a Fairchild Fellowship, a master's in business from Columbia University.
No. 7
Thomas McCausland President
Siemens Medical Solutions, USA
Age: 62
Years as President: 8.5
McCausland says he's proud that Siemens' "combination of innovative medical equipment, coupled with advanced IT and services enables clinical and business outcomes to help our customers achieve unprecedented levels of patient care and revenue growth." He adds that it also "differentiates itself by offering a broad portfolio beyond health care and can provide everything from lighting to building technologies, in addition to medical technology."
No. 8
Arthur Weinbach Chairman & CEO
Automatic Data Processing
Age: 62
Years As Chairman & CEO: 7
Arthur Weinbach joined ADP in 1980 and has served as an ADP director since 1989. In addition, Weinbach is a director of Schering-Plough Corp. and serves on the boards of New Jersey Institute of Technology, New Jersey Seeds and the United Way of Tri-State.
No. 9
Ken Dahlberg Chairman & CEO
Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC)
Age: 60
Years as CEO: 1
Dahlberg took over SAIC from its founder, J.R. Beyster, who reigned over the government IT integrator since it was formed in 1969. Dahlberg is a lifetime member of the Navy League and was inducted into Drexel University's College of Engineering's 2003 Alumni Circle of Distinction.
No. 10
John McKenna CEO
Siemens Business Services
Age: 42
Years as CEO: 5
Prior to Siemens, McKenna served as CEO at Entex and guided its move to services. When Siemens Business acquired Entex in 2000, the newly formed company kept McKenna in the corner office.
No. 11
John Edwardson
Chairman and CEO
CDW
Age: 55
Years as CEO: 4
"At CDW, we've always believed in creating our own good news. Our best opportunities come from the relationships we cultivate with customers. And we still see a great deal of untapped growth potential."
No. 12
Kevin Rollins President & CEO
Dell Services
Age: 52
Years as CEO: Less than 1
Rollins earned his M.B.A. and bachelor's degrees from Brigham Young University. He is active in the American Enterprise Institute and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
No. 13
Mark Ronald
COO of BAE Systems plc; President & CEO of BAE Systems North America
BAE Systems
Age: 62
years as coo: 3
Ronald has been awarded the title of Honorary Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in recognition of the valuable services he has provided to further improving cooperation in the U.S.-U.K. defense industries.
No. 14
James O'Neill
Corporate VP & President
Northrop Grumman Information Technology
Age: 51
Years as CVP & President: 1
O'Neill promised that when he took the job, he would oversee double-digit growth for the defense contractor's technology services division.
No. 15
Joseph McGrath
President & CEO
Unisys
Age: 52
Years as CEO: Less than 1
Before joining Unisys in January 1999, McGrath was vice president and general manager of then-start-up Xerox Production Color Systems. Before joining Xerox, McGrath was a vice president and service director of Gartner Group.
No. 16
Greg Brown President of Government & Enterprise Mobility Solutions (GEMS) unit
Motorola's GEMS unit
Age: 45
Years as CEO: 2.5
Brown's years at Micromuse mastering convergence helped prepare him for his role leading Motorola's ongoing government and enterprise-mobility solutions efforts.
No. 17
Jeff Rich
CEO
Affiliated Computer Services
Age: 44
Years as CEO: 6
Rich told University of Michigan students there were five lessons they would not learn in class: Life is an adventure, plan to have many; there is no such thing as a bad job; what's hot today will not be hot tomorrow; keep first things first; and acquire equity.
No. 18
Bill Parrett
CEO
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu
Age: 59
Years as CEO: 2
"Those at the top of the corporate ladder are becoming more inclusive in the decision-making process, and their temperament is changing," Parrett, the grandfather of three, recently said about changing management styles.
No. 19
Richard Notebaert
Chairman & CEO Qwest
Communications International
Age: 57
Years as CEO: 3
Notebaert has made recent headlines due to his apparent overwhelming desire to acquire. "On any given day, I can pull reports that tell me the number and percentage of female managers or our percentage of employees over the age of 60. I can tell at a glance that Hispanic individuals represent our largest ethnic minority, that we employ higher percentages of women technicians and male service reps than in the past, and that more than 1,200 Qwest employees are Pacific Island or Asian Americans."
No. 20
Don Grantham
Executive Vice President of Services
Sun Microsystems
Age: 48
Years as EVP: Less than 1
"In 2004, we were encouraged by the continued gains we achieved in our consulting business and by the growth in our outsourcing business. We continued to maintain a healthy balance sheet and a strong cash position. We have made tremendous progress differentiating ourselves, putting distance between us and our competitors, and carrying the results-oriented, high-performance business message forward. We continue to aggressively drive that message."
No. 21
Leslie Muma
President & CEO
Fiserv
Age: 60
Years as CEO: 6
"My dream job is the one I have. Being CEO of one of the most respected companies in the country ain't bad."
No. 22
Ivan Seidenberg
Chairman & CEO
Verizon
Age: 58
Years as CEO: 3
From his relatively unglamorous roots as a cable splicer's assistant, Seidenberg has gone on to help craft the merger of Bell Atlantic and Nynex in 1997, and the Bell Atlantic merger with GTE in 2000.
No. 23
Harry You
CEO
BearingPoint
Age: 45
Years as CEO: Since March 2005
"I want this to be a year of repair, renewal and investment. My first priority is to rectify the financial-reporting challenges we have been facing. Profitability continues to be a primary focus. Other priorities include hiring, retaining and motivating our employees."
No. 24
Richard Fennessy
CEO
Insight North America
Age: 40
Years as CEO: Less than 1
Fennessy spent 17 years at IBM before taking the reins of Insight North America, most recently serving as general manager, worldwide, for the ibm.com organization, IBM's direct telesales and Web channel operating throughout the world.
No. 25
Klaas Wagenaar
Chairman & CEO
Getronics
Age: 46
Years as CEO: 1.5 years
A Dutch national, Wagenaar has spent his life in the Netherlands, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Sweden and the United States. This international know-how serves him well as the top gun at Getronics, which has 28,000-plus employees in more than 30 countries around the world.
No. 26
Edward Whitacre Jr.
Chairman & CEO SBC Communications
Age: 62
Years as CEO: 15
Once a local telephone company, SBC, under the stewardship of Whitacre, has evolved into an increasingly powerful integration and telecommunications giant. The acquisition of Pacific Telesis in 1997, followed by mergers with SNET in 1998 and Ameritech in 1999, helped further propel SBC--and Whitacre--into the limelight.
No. 27
Celine Azizkhan
SVP Channel Chief for AT&T'S indirect channel
AT&T
Age: 48
Years as SVP: 1
"In these times of heightened security, business continuity has become a top priority for all our customers...We have and continue to work extensively with our enterprise customers to help protect their business applications and network investments."
No. 28
Lou F. Von Thaer VP & President of General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems
General Dynamics
Age: 44
Years at position: Less than 1
General Dynamics' acquisition of Lucent Technologies' Advanced Technology Systems division worked out well for Von Thaer--who in March was named president of the large defense contractor and integrator's Advanced Information Systems Division.
No. 29
Ralph W. Schrader
Chairman & CEO
Booz Allen Hamilton
Age: 60
Years as CEO: 6
"Booz Allen Hamilton is an enduring institution--91 years old--because we make a difference for clients and the world. One of our great strengths comes from our roots in management consulting, a profession Edwin Booz helped establish. With this consulting orientation, we focus on solving problems and delivering results, and then look at technology, people and process solutions that address the total problem. We don't bring a predetermined system or packaged solution to the table."
No. 30
Serge Godin
Chairman & CEO
CGI Group
Age: 55
Years as CEO: 29
Godin founded CGI as a two-person consulting and management firm in 1976 at the age of 26. During his career, he has been awarded two honorary doctorates--a law degree from Concordia University and a Doctor of Management degree from University Laval. Currently, he is also serving on the University of Waterloo's board of governors.
No. 31
Chell Smith
CEO of North America
Cap Gemini North America
Age: 50
Years as CEO: 1
Smith has enjoyed a long-standing career with Cap Gemini during the past 14 years. Her roster of titles at Cap Gemini includes head of technology activities as well as head of Global Operations. Smith was also in charge of deploying the global transformation program worldwide and was a member of the company's Strategy & Development Committee.
No. 32
James F. Orr
Chairman, President & CEO
Convergys
Age: 59
Years as CEO: 7
"Because we are a world leader in the industry--we serve and maintain offices in more than 30 countries--it is important for us to understand and embrace all cultures in order to continue to attract the talented workforce that creates greater value for our employees, clients and shareholders."
No. 33
Bob Cagnazzi
CEO of Dimension Data North America
Dimension Data
Age: 45
Years as CEO: 3
"We still feel very bullish on voice and converged infrastructures. Our expertise in planning, building and supporting converged infrastructures will continue to be a focus for us this year. Additionally, as enterprise IT departments grow larger and more business-oriented, we believe our expertise in operational management, process and procedure as a global services provider can be a critical asset in helping IT departments."
No. 34
Michael Kohlsdorf
SVP of Enterprise Services
Ikon Office Solutions
Age: 46
Years as SVP: 3
"Two key areas of opportunity last year were--and continue to be--services and color. Customers want to partner with a company that can provide a complete document strategy and road map, and we are able to take our customers all the way from assessment to implementation and ongoing support through our Enterprise Services team."
No. 35
Bryan Even President
Raytheon Technical Services
Age: 41
Years as President: 4
Even has spent some 20 years at Raytheon, working in areas such as diversified engineering, logistics, operational and management. Prior to becoming president of RTSC, he was vice president and general manager of RTSC's Engineering and Production Support business in Indianapolis for two years. Even holds a bachelor's degree in business and economics from St. Anselm College.
No. 36
Sam Gilliland
Chairman & CEO
Sabre Holdings
Age: 42
Years as CEO: 2
"Particularly in these times of high oil prices, I have great admiration for the resilience and dedication of the leadership and employees of our nation's airlines. They've persevered through numerous significant challenges over the past several years."
No. 37
Derrell James
SVP of Technology Solutions
EMC Services
Age: 43
Years as SVP: 2.5
"The person I admire the most is Ross Perot Sr. for his leadership skills, management style, and ability to get the job done. I not only admire him as a pioneer in the services business, but he is an excellent example of a leader who listens to all employees, no matter what level, and truly values their opinions and input. I also admire his involvement and support in charitable organizations, especially the military, where my family has had a long history."
No. 38
Keith Block
EVP of North American Sales & Consulting
Oracle Consulting
Age: 44
Years as EVP: 3
"I've surrounded myself with a great group of people, each of whom bring to the table a unique perspective and set of skills all adhering to the core tenets of leadership. So without question, my biggest strength has its foundation in the talent, wisdom and resolve of the people I interact with every day. These people are passionate in what they do, clearly understand our vision and have the drive to get the job done."
No. 39
Gene Ray
Chairman, President & CEO
Titan
Age: 67
Years as CEO: 24
Ray received his Ph.D. in theoretical physics at the University of Tennessee in 1965, an M.S. in physics at the University of Tennessee, and a B.S. in mathematics, physics and chemistry at Murray State University in 1960.
No. 40
Keith Coogan
President & CEO of Software Spectrum
Level 3
Age: 52
Years as CEO: 3
Prior to joining Software Spectrum, Coogan was employed by Price Waterhouse for seven years. Coogan, who is a Certified Public Accountant, graduated from Indiana State University with a B.S. in accounting.
No. 41
Thai Lee
Chairman & CEO
Software House International
Years as CEO: 15
Lee earned a B.S. in economics and biology from Amherst College in Amherst, Mass., and an M.B.A. from Harvard in Cambridge, Mass. She was born in Thailand and lived there as well as in Germany, Korea and the United States while growing up.
No. 42
Peter Altabef
President and CEO
Perot Systems
Age: 46
Years as CEO: 1
"Perot Systems' India operations are a cornerstone of our emerging global delivery model of integrated IT, BPO and consulting solutions."
No. 43
William P. Foley II
Chairman & CEO
Fidelity Information Services
Age: 60
Years as CEO: 21
"Our plan for 2005 is to focus on making the company more profitable. Last year, we acquired a number of companies that could offer our customers greater depth and breadth in products, services and solutions. Although we don't expect to continue acquisitions during 2005 at the pace we did last year, we'll certainly consider an opportunity if it fits our business model and the price is right."
No. 44
Samuel L. Katz
Chairman & CEO of Cendant's Travel Distribution Services Division
Galileo International
Age: 39
Years as CEO: 3
Under Katz's leadership, the TDS division has integrated its complementary travel-services businesses around five key customer channels--leisure consumers, corporate clients, travel agencies, airline carriers, and hospitality and leisure travel suppliers.
No. 45
Jim Kavanaugh
CEO
World Wide Technology
Age: 42
Years as CEO: 3
"I admire Jack Welch [former CEO of GE] and Herb Kelleher [former CEO of Southwest Airlines] for their ability to drive financial results while passionately developing leaders, managers and employees at all levels of their respective organizations."
No. 46
Patricia Gallup
Chairman & CEO
PC Connection
Age: 51
Years as CEO: 23
Gallup co-founded PC Connection in 1982 with partner David Hall. Starting with an initial investment of $8,000, Gallup and Hall oversaw the growth that surpassed $1 billion in annual sales in 1999. Under Gallup's leadership, PC Connection completed an IPO of its common stock in March 1998.
No. 47
Ronald Turner
Chairman, President & CEO
Ceridian
Age: 57
Years as CEO: 5
In addition to Ceridian's board, Turner serves on the board of FLIR Systems and The Brink's Company. He loves Minnesota and is involved in the Minnesota Business Partnership and Minnesota Meeting.
No. 48
Rob Morrison
Director of energy, communications and manufacturing, and COO of consulting and systems integration in the United States
BT Consulting and Systems Integration (Formerly Syntegra)
Years as Director: 12
In the six years before joining BT, Morrison was a teacher in his native Belfast. A principal U.S. energy journal recently named him one of the top 50 leaders using IT in the energy industry.
No. 49
Paul Jarvie
President
ASAP Software
Age: 52
Years as CEO: 17
"Hands down, the Web has been the most exciting technology breakthrough of my professional lifetime. It changed everything. What about the future? There will be other breakthroughs equally as monumental, but I'm not willing to put a stake in the ground. My plan is to leverage the breakthroughs of the last decade to better serve ASAP Software customers, and leave 'the next big thing' to the start-up companies we will incubate."
No. 50
James Dixon
CEO
Compucom Systems
Age: 58
Years as CEO: 1
"I admire Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel and the creator of Moore's Law, for his vision, leadership and creativity. Moore laid the foundation for our industry. He predicted that the number of transistors the industry would be able to place on a computer chip would double every two years. His forecast became the guiding principle for the industry, and he played a leading role in ushering in the computer revolution."
No. 51
John Hammergren
Chairman & CEO
McKesson Information Solutions
Age: 45
Years as CEO: 6
Hammergren employs Six Sigma, a set of principles and methodologies used to design business practices that enhance performance by improving processes with the belief that it will improve quality for customers and change the way his company does business.
No. 52
Rick Devenuti
SVP & President of Microsoft Services and IT
Microsoft
Age: 47
Years As SVP: 1
Devenuti has been with Microsoft since 1987, holding numerous positions, including CIO, vice president of worldwide operations and general manager of sales operations. He has a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Washington.
No. 53
Frank F. Khulusi
Chairman, CEO & President
PC Mall
Age: 38
Years as CEO: 18
Khulusi and his family own approximately 26 percent of the company. He has served variously as chairman of the board, president and CEO since the company's inception in 1987.
No. 54
J.P. London
Chairman, President & CEO
CACI International
Age: 67
Years as CEO: 21
London's background was in the military as a former U.S. Navy aviator. He now holds the title of Captain, U.S. Navy Reserve (retired).
No. 55
Dendy Young
Chairman & CEO
GTSI
Age: 57
Years as CEO: 10
"The most exciting technological development in recent years is commoditization of wireless. Wireless communications, e.g. cellphones, have had a tremendous impact on our lives, and I believe we haven't seen anything yet. Today, we are setting standards and creating chips to implement standards. We will see wireless technologies become cheaper and more powerful and therefore more pervasive."
No. 56
Russell Fradin
President & CEO
The Bisys Group
Age: 49
Years as CEO: 1
Fradin holds an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School and a B.S. from the University of Pennsylvania.
No. 57
Charles Morgan
Company Leader
Acxiom
Age: 62
Years as Company Leader: 8
Morgan retired from a successful auto-racing career in 2003 after more than 20 years behind the wheel, but remains involved in motor sports as a team co-owner and fan. Among other interests, he is trained and licensed to pilot Citation and Falcon jets.
No. 58
Frank Martire
President & CEO
Metavante
Age: 57
Years as CEO: 3
"Having completed eight acquisitions during a 14-month period, beginning the process of melding the acquired companies to our corporate culture and encouraging people to work together as one team was a challenge with which we have been quite successful, and one that is now proving out in an increased number of cross-sells between our subsidiaries."
No. 59
Neil Patterson CEO & Chairman
Cerner
Age: 55
Years as CEO: 5
Patterson co-founded and serves on the executive board of the First Hand Foundation, Cerner's nonprofit agency that aids children with critical health-care needs.
No. 60
Derek Smith CEO
ChoicePoint
Age: 50
Years as CEO: 8
"The United States faces serious new risks from people who do not hesitate to use technology against us. Americans must agree on the best ways to use technology to combat terrorists and criminals, because it is possible to make our nation more secure while protecting civil liberties."
No. 61
Brian Keane
CEO
Keane
Age: 44
Years as CEO: 6
Keane is convinced of the long-term benefits of going to market with a combined application services and business-process services capability. "BPO is a critical and synergistic component of our services mix for the future, and we believe that it will represent a significant portion of revenue as our service offering and the industry mature," Keane says.
No. 62
Eileen McPartland
SVP of Global Services
Siebel Global Services
Age: 51
Years As SVP: 1
"I think the next groundbreaking technology will be the ability for tech vendors to break down their applications in order to offer component applications to customers. For example, by being able to buy one piece of a CRM application, vendors will help their customers create custom-built systems that are comprised only of the functionality that meets their exact business needs. As this technology becomes more widespread, customers will have the flexibility to procure software in smaller chunks, only buying exactly what they need."
No. 63
Mac Slingerland
President & CEO
Ciber
Age: 50
Years as CEO: 7
"I admired what [Lou] Gerstner did to improve IBM. I respect 'operators' that reinvent their companies as business conditions change, like George Sissel (one of our board members), who was at Ball Corp. when they went from glass jars to aluminum cans (logical) and satellites (extreme, but very successful)...I dislike the here-today-gone-tomorrow charlatans that mislead Wall Street and hurt investor confidence, e.g., dot coms."
No. 64
George Pedersen
Chairman & CEO
ManTech International
Age: 69
Years as CEO: 10
Pedersen received the National Defense Industrial Association 2005 James Forrestal Industry Leadership Award, which is given annually to an industry exec who has shown a record of business accomplishments and has been active in helping to preserve and strengthen the nation's defense industrial base.
No. 65
Finbarr O'Neill
CEO & President
Reynolds & Reynolds
Age: 52
Years as CEO: <1
"A customer-in rather than a product-out approach is critical to meeting customer needs in North America and around the globe. At the end of the day, automobile dealers want to spend more time selling cars and taking care of their customers, not managing and learning to use technology. To understand their needs, you have to first listen."
No. 66
James Ringler
Interim CEO
NCR
Age: 59
Years as CEO: <1
When Hurd, formerly president and chief executive at NCR, resigned in March to take over as CEO and president of Hewlett-Packard, the board tapped James (Jim) Ringler, a board member for two years, to take over as interim head of the company.
No. 67
Stephen E. Pomeroy
President & CEO
Pomeroy IT Solutions
Age: 35
Years as CEO: 7
"We continue to focus on customer satisfaction as well as execution of our market-development and penetration strategies. We are also beginning to recognize synergies and strategic benefits from the integration of Alternative Resources, our recent acquisition."
No. 68
Bill McDermott
President & CEO of the Americas
SAP America
Age: 43
Years as CEO: 3
McDermott is active as a community leader and advocate for social responsibility in business. To that end, he currently sits on the board of directors of the Welfare To Work Partnership, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that promotes career opportunities for former welfare recipients.
No. 69
Joseph M. Kampf President & CEO
Anteon
Age: 60
Years as CEO: 9
"The advent of smart cards and IC credential cards, related emerging technologies like RFID and next-generation biometric-verification systems are already changing the way the government does business. As this technology continues to grow, the market will produce new applications that will fundamentally change the way our government supports and protects our citizens and assets around the world."
No. 70
Jack Bolick
President
Honeywell Industry Solutions
Age: 49
Years As President: 2
"I encourage my employees to be open, honest and up-front with me, and I make every effort to respond to them quickly. I also believe in a high say-do ratio. Honeywell has always been regarded as a company with high levels of integrity. We establish high levels of accountability. If I say I am going to do something, my employees and customers should be able to count on me." --Jack Bolick
No. 71
C. Richard Harrison President & CEO
Parametric Technology
Age: 49
Years as CEO: 5
"It is an exciting time for our channel partners in the SMB space. We [have a new] partnership with IBM where they will host our PDM link offering [PDM Link On-Demand], and we will distribute it exclusively through our channel partners."
No. 72
John P. Cullen
President
Modis North America
Age: 46
Years as CEO: 4
Before entering the IT sector, Cullen held positions at Johnson & Johnson and Colgate-Palmolive. He is the former president of the Washington Chapter of the National Association of Computer Consulting Businesses.
No. 73
Jose A. Collazo
Chairman, President & CEO
BT Infonet (formerly Infonet Services)
Age: 62
Years as CEO: 17
"In the area of telecommunications...the next groundbreaking technology [will be] multimedia applications that will revolutionize how corporations address their information technology needs."
No. 74
Dr. Renato A. DiPentima
President & CEO
SRA International
Age: 63
Years as CEO: 1.5
"In 2004, we were encouraged by the continued gains we achieved in our consulting business, and by the growth in our outsourcing business. We continued to maintain a healthy balance sheet and a strong cash position. We have made tremendous progress differentiating ourselves, putting distance between us and our competitors, and carrying the results-oriented, high-performance business message forward."
No. 75
Lakshmi Narayanan
CEO & President
Cognizant Technology Solutions
Age: 51
Years as CEO: 2
Narayanan has been instrumental in formulating his company's strategy and building and managing the organization's development centers in India, where he is based.
No. 76
Daniel Friedmann
President & CEO
MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates
Age: 48
Years as CEO: 10
With Friedmann at the helm, the firm continues to improve its bottom line--despite a strengthening of the Canadian dollar against the U.S. dollar and the softening of the British real-estate market. Last year, MDA posted a 20 percent revenue increase.
No. 77
Peter Karmanos Jr.
CEO
Compuware
Age: 62
Years as CEO: 32
"Compuware's acquisition of Covisint really opened my eyes to the opportunities available in large verticals, like manufacturing and health care, for solutions that help customers securely share information, business processes and applications."
No. 78
William E. Salter
President, Intergraph Solutions Group
Intergraph
Age: 63
Years as CEO: 21
Before Intergraph, Salter put his master's degrees in electrical engineering and mathematics to work at Sperry Rand in support of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Apollo program. Salter also holds two patents.
No. 79
Gary Frahm
President
IXC Telecom
Age: 55
Years As President: 10
"We do a lot for St. Mary's Catholic School, and also do a lot for the local Red Cross. We do all their networking, all their computers, all their IT stuff. They buy the hardware, and we donate the time. They bought a new building in Rockledge, so we're going to start wiring that building for them."
No. 80
James Crook
CEO
IDX Systems
Age: 48
Years as CEO: 2
In early February, Crook and several employees spent the morning at Vermont Children's Hospital in Fletcher Allen, delivering armloads of teddy bears to the young patients.
No. 81
Fred Young
CEO
Black Box Network Services
Age: 48
Years as CEO: 7
Prior to joining Black Box, Young served in management positions with General Electric and IBM. He also served as the CFO for two technology start-ups in New York and Virginia. Young serves on the board of Citizens Bank, and earned a B.S. in finance from Clarkson University.
No. 82
Larry Ellison
CEO
Oracle Consulting
Age: 60
Years as CEO: 28
In an industry known for short tenures and abrupt executive oustings, Ellison is a phenomenon. After 28 years, he shows no sign of tiring of the industry, his business or the public eye--witness his dogged, and fruitful, pursuit of PeopleSoft.
No. 83
Tom Burger
President and CEO
NEC Unified Solutions
Age: 54
Years as CEO: 16
"We are making a strong transition from a communications-box provider to a more solutions-oriented organization. We are now incorporating significantly more services and up-front consulting."
No. 84
John Chen
CEO and Chairman
Sybase
Age: 49
Years as CEO: 7
"Moving the perception of our company from being solely a provider of database software to Wall Street--which we still do for nine of the top 10 financial services firms worldwide--to that of a provider of end-to-end information management and mobility solutions was quite a challenge."
No. 85
Steven Baldwin
CEO and President
Apptis
Years as CEO: 7
Baldwin is taking center stage at Apptis, which began its corporate life as Intellisys Technology before becoming PlanetGov in 2000, then Apptis in 2004. Baldwin is recasting Apptis into a professional-services company, moving away from its roots as a traditional IT reseller.
No. 86
Firoz Lalji
President and CEO
Zones
Age: 58
Years as CEO: 7
"We remain encouraged with the business opportunities that lie in the SMB and public-sector sectors... From a product-mix perspective, servers and networked storage and other higher-end technologies, IP telephony, POS networking and enterprise software continue to be growth areas for the company."
No. 87
Hubert Kelly
President and CEO
NexInnovations
Age: 53
Years as CEO: 6
Kelly disproves the adage that you can never go home again. In 1981, shortly after NexInnovations was formed, Kelly joined as director of operations. In mid-2001, Kelly led the private acquisition of EDS Innovations from EDS, and renamed the company NexInnovations.
No. 88
Tom Giannopoulos
Chairman, President and CEO
Micros Systems
Age: 64
Years as CEO: 12
"I admire individuals or organizations that possess a high degree of work ethic and tenacity for succeeding in any endeavor with the highest integrity. Golfer Tiger Woods is an example."
No. 89
Dave McDonald
President
Softchoice
Age: 47
Years as CEO: 3
"In 2004, our biggest challenge was building a renewal capability to focus on Microsoft and other vendors. As the trend toward annuity-based licensing continues, it's critically important for us to manage and secure this business effectively. As our 2004 results suggest, we're on the right track."
No. 90
Chuck Sweet
CEO
Sarcom
Age: 49
Years as CEO:
Less than 1 year
Sweet has been president and CEO at a number of companies prior to coming to Sarcom. The roster includes Response Oncology, a radiation oncology physician practice-management company; Physician Health Corporation, an organization specializing in radiation oncology and comprehensive cancer treatment; and BMJ Medical Management, a physician practice-management organization specializing in orthopedics. He was also sole director of Rehab Designs of America, an orthotics and prosthetics company.
No. 91
Ronald W. Hovsepian
President, Novell North America
Novell
Age: 44
Years As President: 2
Before joining Novell, Hovsepian spent more than 17 years at IBM. He is currently a member of the board of directors of Ann Taylor.
No. 92
Jack Prim
CEO
Jack Henry and Associates
Age: 49
Years as CEO: 1
Prim has worked his way up through the ranks at Jack Henry. In January 2003, he was promoted from COO to president, then became CEO in July 2004..
No. 93
Charles E. Sykes
CEO and Director
Sykes Enterprises
Age: 42
Years as CEO: <1
Although only appointed CEO in August 2004, Sykes has worked his way up through the corporate ranks, moving to COO in July 2003 and to president in May 2004.
No. 94
Rick Kearney
President and CEO
Mainline
Age: 47
Years as CEO: 16
"In terms of exciting technology, most people would talk about RFID, wireless computing, bio-nano technology, etc. My answer is probably much too mundane. Everything has become incredibly complicated to understand and operate. The most exciting technology being developed is easier and more reliable systems-management tools."
--Rick Kearney
No. 95
Richard A. Forsythe
President and Chairman
Forsythe Technology
Age: 64
Years as CEO: 34
"The big opportunities for last year were on solutions side-in business continuity and IT security. Both were big service areas for us. Another opportunity that we built on last year was providing services around selling maintenance agreements on equipment that we provided."
No. 96
Arthur Rhein
Chairman, President and CEO
Agilysys
Age: 58
Years as CEO: 3
Rhein serves on the Kichler Lighting board of directors, the Magirus board of directors, the Orbit International board of directors, and on the executive committee of the Global Technology.
No. 97
Harvey Najim
President and CEO
Sirius Computer Solutions
Age: 64
Years as CEO: 25
"The largest opportunity for Sirius in 2005 lies in our ability to design cross branded total solutions for our customers and for companies who are looking for a technology provider with a broad set of skills on a nationwide basis. With our 2004 acquisition, we now represent all IBM hardware and software products."
No. 98
Steve Claggett
President and CoO
Ajilon Consulting
Years as President and COO: 1
Age: 58
"We want our clients to know that we take pride in satisfying their needs and making the experience of working with Ajilon Consulting as personal as a fingerprint. We look forward to the exciting possibilities 2005 will bring."
No. 99
Didier Lamouche
Chairman and CEO
Bull Services
Age: 46
Years as CEO: 1
"During the first semester of 2005, we will implement an action plan dedicated to growth. The foundations of this plan will be the identification of strategic market opportunities as applied to the group's strengths."
No. 100
David Kenny
Chairman and CEO
Digitas
Age: 43
Years as CEO: 8
Before heading up Digitas, Kenny was a senior partner at Bain and Co. He holds an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School. He is also chairman of the board of Teach for America and a director of the Corporate Executive Board.
