Play Podcast  (Right click to download)

During the past five years, Unisys, with annual revenues of $4 billion, has transformed itself from a mainframe manufacturer to a major provider of IT services, software, and outsourcing to government agencies, to financial companies, to media outlets, to transportation providers, and even to sporting events. In fact, Unisys has a profound affect on the daily lives of people throughout the world. For example, Unisys solutions ensure that 2.2 million people in the U.S. receive $14.5 billion in Medicaid benefits. Likewise, Unisys created a universal identification card for South Africa's 43 million citizens.

Unisys helps to build more secure organizations by creating visibility into clients' business operations. By leveraging an approach -- called the "3D (Three Dimensional) Visible Enterprise" -- Unisys makes known the impact of clients' decisions ahead of their investments, opportunities, and risks.

In 2005, Fred Dillman, a 25-year veteran of Unisys, became chief technology officer, overseeing Unisys's 3D Visible Enterprise, which is both a professional services methodology and a suite of business process software. In this podcast, Dillman talks about the philosophy behind his organization's methodology and the benefits it has to clients and internal IT.

According to Dillman, the purpose behind the name is to give IT practitioners a multi-dimensional view of the value IT brings to clients. "We have a modeling framework -- whether it's a business process or some other type of innovation -- that looks at all of the IT parameters that go into a problem. We need to answer what management disciplines need to happen in order for this technology to really take off. This is the beginning of the project lifecycle. As the project evolves, we continue to make changes, always focusing on the final outcome."

To add more muscle to the 3D Visible approach at Unisys, Dillman has supported the use of best practices such as Six Sigma, the Capability Maturity Model (CMI), and the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL). For example, the software development groups use CMI to ensure the right linkage between both the business processes they're looking to improve, and the requirements that are put on top of the software. Two years ago, Dillman spearheaded a robust Six Sigma program to drive greater discipline in all of the company's engineering decision-making processes. "Six Sigma projects have evolved across the entire company," Dillman says. Meanwhile, Unisys's internal IT organization has adopted ITIL as a way to create standard processes such as how to operate a help desk, and how to release software.

Join Fred Dillman, chief technology officer at Unisys, as he talks about his company's IT transformation, the importance of business process improvement, the value of good business continuity planning, and the new technologies the company is considering.

Resources

Infoworld CTO 25: Fred Dillman

SOA and BPM: A Mutually Beneficial Partnership

Unisys Web site

Bio

A 25-year veteran of Unisys, Fred Dillman became chief technology officer in 2005. He oversees Unisys's 3D Visible Enterprise, which is both a professional services methodology and a suite of business process software. Dillman has held a variety of business and engineering positions at Unisys, including vice president of Technology and Architecture, and also Solution Business Blueprint Development, and managing principal for the Unisys Systems Integration and Technology services practices for commercial, public sector, and media industry groups. In 2006, Dillman was named to InfoWorld magazine's list of the top 25 CTOs in the country. He has a bachelor's degree in computer science and mathematics from the State University of New York at Albany and two master's degrees from Polytechnic Institute -- one in computer science and one in electrical engineering.

Production Credits

Elizebeth Ferrarini, Producer
Dana Farver, Executive Producer, Communities Editor-in-Chief
Tom Parish, Audio Producer, Show Host
Kimberly Stone, Web Development Manager
Scott Ebner, Web Developer