IT Confidential: Putting The Hurt On Hackers And The Mob

Hewlett-Packard CIO and executive VP Bob Napier passed away last week in Houston following a battle with cancer. Napier came to HP as part of its acquisition of Compaq in May 2002. At Compaq, Napier was CIO and senior VP of global business solutions and helped bring the company into the age of E-commerce and E-business. A business-technology veteran with more than 25 years' experience, Napier previously held CIO positions at Mariner Post-Acute Network, Delphi Automotive Systems, Lucent Technologies, AT&T Global Business Communications Systems, and Lockheed Information Management Services. In a memo to HP employees, CEO Carly Fiorina described Napier as "one of those rare individuals who could both challenge and support, who was both tough and compassionate." Before HP, Fiorina and Napier worked together at Lucent. Vallerie Parrish-Porter, with HP's personal systems group, is serving as acting CIO.

Gap last week said Ken Harris, the clothing retailer's CIO since 1999, "has decided to leave the company at the end of this fiscal year to pursue other professional interests." Harris came to Gap from Nike, where he spearheaded an ambitious but controversial global supply-chain project. Harris is being replaced at Gap in the CIO and executive VP position by Michael Tasooji, who was most recently senior VP and CIO of The Walt Disney Co. Tasooji will report to Gap CFO Byron Pollitt. Gap also said it brought in Nick Cullen as executive VP and chief supply-chain officer. Cullen was most recently president, North America supply, for Diageo, the distributor of Guinness, Cuervo, Smirnoff, and other premium alcohol brands. Cullen will report to Gap president and CEO Paul Pressler.

Rudolph Giuliani, former mayor of New York and a figure of strength and resiliency during the Sept. 11, 2001, disaster, last week debuted the Rudolph W. Giuliani Advanced Security Centers. The cybercrime service, a joint effort between Giuliani's security consultancy, Giuliani Partners, and accounting firm Ernst & Young, will be located at Ernst & Young's Americas headquarters in New York's Times Square and at the company's offices in Houston. It will feature state-of-the art security technology and will be staffed with Ernst & Young's intrusion specialists, "white-hat hackers" recruited from military, government, and corporate security backgrounds. "The days of neglecting digital risk are over," Giuliani said in a statement, "and the realization has set in that digital risk has a direct effect on an organization's profitability, as well as business objectives, stakeholder confidence, and brand."

It may be mostly a marketing move, but, cynicism aside, I wouldn't want Giuliani on my butt. Not only was he a crime-stomping mayor, he put a deep hurt on the Mob when he was U.S. attorney before that. I'll be deeply hurt if you don't send me an industry tip, to [email protected] or phone 516-562-5326. If you want to talk about well-remembered managers, controversial supply-chain projects, or the Mob, meet me at InformationWeek.com's Listening Post: informationweek.com/forum/johnsoat.