In 1986, I dropped out of Case Western Reserve School of Law to go to graduate school and earn my Ph.D. in U.S. Cold War Foreign Policy History.  With a B.A. in History and B.S. in Political Science, this seemed the logical next step.  Therefore…..like so many other IT professionals…..I’m in IT.  While I’m still very much an amateur historian (I never did earn that Ph.D.), I’ve spent the last twenty-plus years in a variety of IT leadership roles; a career I never expected but that has proved to be very rewarding both personally and professionally.

I’ve served as a project and program manager, built and repaired PMOs, led application and infrastructure teams, improved challenged business/technology partnerships, managed culture change, post M&A integration efforts and turned around under-performing teams.  In executive roles, I’ve held titles such as a VP of Vendor Management, managing major outsourced off-shore engagements with firms such as Infosys, Accenture, Cognizant, Oracle and CSC.  Other roles include Director of IT Finance and Administration, Director of Global Service Delivery and Site Lead.  My career has primarily been in the financial services industry, but I’ve tried my hand at consulting, both as an independent and as a direct hire.

During the course of my career, I’ve learned a lot about what works and what doesn’t work in leading technology organizations and in managing people.  Many of these lessons I learned the hard way (back when I knew everything).  For example, by irritating quite a few people while in my late 20’s, I learned that written process is NOT the solution to every problem.  Many of these lessons were taught to me by my peers and colleagues, sometimes with their knowledge, other times not.  Ultimately, I’ve learned that what matters most at work is the relationships we build and the deals we broker in delivering value to our business partners.  Little else we do matters or will endure after our departure.

My wife and I live in Carmel, Indiana with our two beautiful boys and one small dog.  I can be reached at mark.e.calabrese@gmail.com. For more information on my career including my professional resume, you can visit my LinkedIn profile.