Dell Exec Named CIO Of Big Data Leader Catalina

Catalina Marketing, a leader in the use of analytics software to crunch big data stores for marketing purposes, has named John Miles its new CIO and executive vice president. Miles had been CIO of Dell's commercial and consumer business.

Catalina uses its storehouse of consumer data to create analytical models that predict whether people are likely to try a product, based on other products they have bought in the past. It prints out coupons at retail cash registers that are customized based on what a person has bought. It also applies similar analytics for e-commerce promotions.

Miles will be responsible for leading Catalina's IT strategy, research and development, and new product development. Miles had been a Dell exec since 2009, and before that held senior technology roles at Lowe's and Lend Lease Inc., and was a consultant for Arthur Anderson and Booz Allen Hamilton. He also spent nine years in the U.S. Navy, including work in intelligence and on cyber warfare initiatives.

[ You don't have to be a large company to mine big data. See Big Data: Why All The Fuss? ]

Catalina was the number-five company in the 2011 InformationWeek 500 ranking, recognized for its big data prowess. Big data analytics is one of the hottest trends in IT today, as companies try to make sense of growing mountains of data they collect.

Catalina's former CIO, Eric Williams, has retired after 19 years with the company, according to his LinkedIn page, where he wrote in part, "Stay tuned, as I will be launching a small business in the next few months to keep active."

"Eric is a recognized and respected expert in the IT field who has served as an important change agent, not only for Catalina, but for the information management industry," Catalina CEO Jamie Egasti said in a statement. "Under his leadership, Catalina was recently named among the top five companies within the InformationWeek 500. We extend our sincere thanks to Eric for all that he has given our organization and the technology sector."

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