How do you see your job as CTO? As we look at what we're trying to achieve here at CA, integration is becoming more and more important to our customers. To be able to deliver on the enterprise IT management vision and potential, we need to ensure that security, storage, [business service optimization] and [enterprise solutions management] are fundamentally integrated at the data level, business process level and user experience. As we bring in world-class companies [as partners and by acquisition], we need a comprehensive road map to integrate, integrate, integrate.
In general, how do you see the role of the modern CTO? A modern CTO is supposed to be a public spokesperson and doesn't have line or operational responsibility. They get the big picture and have their hand on the knobs and dials. At the other end of the spectrum are the internally focused applied technologists who are sort of heads-down in the rank and file with the delivery of bits and bytes to enable technologies. I'd describe myself as somewhere in the middle.
How do you interpret that middle ground for your new job? We will have responsibility to deliver common components [and to form] the Advanced Research Group to look beyond the two-to-three-year cycles that we're delivering products against.
How big is your organization? A few hundred folks.
What are your plans for advanced research? We have sufficient scale where we want to do advanced research, and just historically haven't done it. We want to be forward-looking in our advanced research lab. We want a practical view of having high probabilities that what we incubate in our labs will progress into product.
How are you planning to find talented people to staff the research group? A modern CTO needs to continue to recruit the best talent. Formally, a part of my charter is to actively evangelize and recruit with universities around the world.
What are some cool emerging technologies that could be important for IT? There are a couple of technologies that could really change IT. Everything will be IP-based, and we're about halfway there. With everything IP-based, it's a very different IT organization. Storage becomes IP-addressable. Today, we're 20 percent penetrated on VoIP, but there will be IP devices, from big phone switches to other things. Once you identify everything as IP-addressable, you can discover it, track it, and management becomes almost based on a query.
What is Yogesh Gupta's new role as vice president of business development? Yogesh has become a close colleague. He's an industry veteran and a friend and has done a fantastic job in the CTO role for five years. Now he has a very important role of helping drive business strategy within our mergers and acquisitions group. I'm thankful for his leadership and suspect he'll do a fantastic job.