InfoWorld CTO 25: Dave Martin

Dave Martin is proof that you can take the boy off the farm but you can’t take the farm out of the boy. Martin, who grew up on a farm and started his career as a farm loan officer, has returned to his roots as CIO of the $8 billion Farm Credit Services of America. For the past year Martin and his team have been completely overhauling FCSA’s business processes, moving from an open VMS environment to one based on a Microsoft architecture. When the project is completed, FCSA loan officers will be able to process loans more efficiently, visit farms and write on-the-spot quotes, and perform deeper data analysis for its customers. Martin says FCSA expects a lot from its IT investments. “The challenge is, How do you deliver on high expectations and not drive costs through the roof?” he asks. He’s apparently figured it out — the project has already achieved productivity boosts of nearly 70 percent, and they’re not done yet.

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