Computerworld Recognizes James Barrese, PayPal CTO, as a 2015 Premier 100 IT Leader

Anuj Nayar, Senior Director, Global Initiatives, PayPal

 

computerworldsmall.jpgLess than two years ago, PayPal embarked on the largest agile and technology transformation in the industry. With thousands of engineers, and a large portfolio of products and services for consumers, merchants and retailers in more than 200 countries, PayPal’s aggressive leap into Agile is 20-30 times larger than those tackled by typical enterprise companies.

 

This week, Computerworld applauded the success of PayPal’s agile transformation and selected CTO James Barrese as a Premier 100 IT Leader for 2015.

 

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PayPal’s agile transformation ensures that rapid updates to products occur across the global PayPal network. A team of 110 volunteers helped more than 4,000 product, operations and engineering staff through the transformation. Thousands were co-located into open offices and cross-function team seating, and KPIs aligned across product, operations and engineering. A technology platform conversion (conducted in just seven months), combined with agile development, made production cycles seven times faster.

 

In just half a year, PayPal had significant momentum in the new working model. More importantly, these newly co-located teams were laser-focused on solving critical customer needs quickly and dramatically improved the organization’s overall productivity.

 

According to Computerworld, the Premier 100 spotlights individuals who have had a positive impact on their on organizations through technology. These are individuals who manage internal IT organizations, mentor and motivate their IT teams and business colleagues, create a positive work environment, envision innovative solutions to business challenges and effectively manage and execute IT strategies.

 

That definitely describes James, and I’m guessing he is blushing a little as he reads this. I know he’ll be the first to point out that it’s not his award to receive; it belongs to an amazing team of leaders and thousands of talented, committed technologists working hard every day to deliver amazing customer solutions.

Original author: PayPal-Forward