The IT manager of yesteryear may have been typecast as a typical propeller-head, and indeed technology know-how was once considered the most important skill-set in the IT manager`s arsenal. But times change and, as IT departments have grown, the skills needed by an IT manager have shifted away from technology to managerial. The term IT manager has fallen away, replaced by the impressive-sounding title of Chief Information Officer. And Rick Devenuti is the quintessential CIO.

Since December 1987, Devenuti has served as general manager for Redmond`s North American operations, general manager of sales operations, director of financial analysis, and vice president of worldwide operations. Fitting into the role of CIO, however, represented an entirely new set of challenges for this career-long Microsofter.