Prior to the reorganization, the NBC IT organizations were geographically based with major IT concentrations in Boise, ID, Denver, CO, Reston, VA, and Washington, DC. Coordination across the geographic areas was facilitated through an NBC CIO/DCIO council comprised of the NBC CIO and Deputy CIOs located in each of the geographic areas. With the reorganization, each of the IT functional areas (e.g. planning, infrastructure, aviation systems, information management, e-Applications Management) is now working as a single organizational unit regardless of the geographic location of employees. In fact, virtually every functional area has employees in each of the major office locations.

We have just begun operating in this fashion, but I can already see improvements in consistency and coordination over the prior organization. New relationships are forming and new ways of conducting business are being developed. Operating a geographically-dispersed organization creates both challenges and opportunities. The key to success in each depends on the communication between staff from each of the locations. As the NBC CIO, I am very encouraged and pleased by the level of enthusiasm and cooperation that I have witnessed thus far. While we are certain to have our issues in the future, I feel very good about the progress that has been made to date; and I look forward to even greater levels of success and improved internal and external customer service, as we leverage the talents and abilities of the combined IT resources within the NBC.