Learn Today! Online Class - Leading Digital Transformation

Building a ‘Team-of-Teams’ Culture in IT

Sky divers in team formation with arms linked. Team-of-teams culture in IT may require a new operating model but not a new organizational model.

The traditional hierarchical organizational structure in which most of us continue to work is a remnant of the early industrial age. This management approach was developed in the early twentieth century to address business efficiency and profitability in business cycles measured in years.  Typical working environments in enterprises of the day involved applying many linear […]

The Time Is NOW: An Executive Summary For Leaders

New technology bright ideas. Charlie Feld shares his insights to help business and IT leaders gain alignment and lead together during this unprecedented time of crisis, pandemic

During the spring, as the coronavirus spread, changing modern life and work as most of us have known it, we were all required to mobilize and transform at a scale and pace not previously imagined.  Enterprises that were in the process of transforming before the pandemic have fared better during this disruption than those that […]

Leading the Acceleration of Digital Transformation Part 1: WHY the Time is NOW

transformation clock. The time for digital transformation and innovation is now.

Over the course of the next several weeks, I’ll be sharing with CIOs and IT leaders in our community some perspective, principles, and practices. My book, Blind Spot: A Leader’s Guide To IT-Enabled Business Transformation, is written for business leaders to understand the IT transformation journey in very simple business terms. I’ll be using the framework […]

Common Traits Of Great Enterprise Architects

Consider what people around the organization think when they hear the words…Enterprise Architect. What comes to mind? That depends on who you are and what organization you belong to. It’s one of the more interesting questions I ask when talking with business leaders. Here is the quick list of some of my favorite answers. “Oh…you […]

The Feld Group Institute and Scaled Agile, Inc. Collaboration and White Paper

blurry photo with glasses that make it clear. Scaled Agile Inc and The Feld Group Institute White Paper.

As an “Institute”, we are a professional organization dedicated to leadership development; this allows us not only to teach but also to learn from clients, our Affiliates, program participants, and partners, all while keeping pace with market trends. As we continue to work with more than 40 large enterprises in our community, we’ve witnessed and […]

IT Leaders Can Learn to be Game Changers

Two men discussing information technology issues at The Feld Group Institute

The Feld Group Institute (TFGI) is a leadership development organization with one mission: To help complex, enterprise-scale, legacy corporations achieve IT-enabled business transformation. The Institute provides training, mentoring and comprehensive support from a network of experienced IT operating leaders and management strategists. Together, we serve executives with a special focus on current and next-generation IT […]

The CIO as the Chief Integration Officer

Man, executive, leader near windows. Article by Charlie Feld Chief Integration Officer.

Over the last 100 years, business models have evolved. Much of this evolution has been driven by innovations in technology, including the automobile, airplane, television, mainframe computers and smartphones. These have enabled commerce to expand from local, to regional, to national and, more recently, to global. However, it’s not that one replaces the other, rather, […]

Structuring a World-Class IT Organization

Woman executive leading meeting.

Creating a world-class Information Technology department requires more than scrum masters, servers, tablets, software, IoT, artificial intelligence and the technology lingo of the day – Cloud, Bi-Modal, Containers, DevOps, Agile. All of these are useful and have a place. However, we often lean on these new technologies and technology fads so much that we tend […]

The 30 Game Changers in Your Organization

Basketball plan diagram. Article by Jon Feld Game Changers in your organization.

I previously posted that great leaders focus on setting the agenda, building a great team and delivering with consistency. However, that is only part of the challenge for a leader, because none of that matters if you can’t “sell it” and if the business won’t consume it. That’s where “Street Smarts” are required, but I […]

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Russell Villemez

Affiliate, The Feld Group Institute

Head of Technology Strategy, Dialexa – a Feld Group Institute partner

Highly regarded CTO and change agent with IT strategy and enterprise architecture expertise.

Russell Villemez is an Affiliate with the Feld Group Institute and the head of Technology Strategy at Dialexa, a Technology Research, Design and Creation firm that works with organizations on initiatives such as Operational Transformation, Business Growth, and New Venture Creation.

During 17 years in operational roles and 15 years in consulting roles, Russell has worked across a variety of industries in both executive leadership positions and as a subject matter expert. Russell thrives on the scale and complexity of leading major change agendas in large corporate environments.

Recent consulting clients include AmerisourceBergen, the American Automobile Association, Brinker International, Cubic, Equifax, and Cox Automotive. A common thread is the client’s need for strong leadership during a period of change—whether motivated by acquisitions, spin-offs, competitive pressures, or other factors. Clients also benefit from Russell’s expertise in enterprise architecture, agile development, application portfolio rationalization, technology and architecture strategy, as well as business strategy and commercial software product development.

Recognized as a versatile IT executive, adept at solving complex problems with innovative solutions, Russell’s capabilities and achievements span a continuum from business-strategy formation to hands-on IT solution development. His extensive career achievements include pioneering the first use of relational databases in high-volume transaction systems in the ‘80s, applying voice recognition DSPs in public intelligent network services for consumer markets in the ‘90s, and leading large-scale adoptions of open systems, object technology, and middleware frameworks in complex business environments, often in advance of commercially available software products.

Prior to joining Dialexa, Russell served at HP as Enterprise Services Chief Technology Officer for the Americas, leading a global capability for embedded Account CTOs in large enterprises. Russell began his career at Accenture, where he first crafted his consultative problem-solving approach, later honed at A.T. Kearny and the Feld Group. Russell’s deep telecom experience is built upon numerous director and enterprise architect positions at AT&T, Bell Atlantic, Telstra, US West, Pacific Bell, and Sprint, and as V.P. and CIO for WebLink Wireless.

Russell has a BS in Business Administration from Louisiana State University and an MBA from Vanderbilt University. In his spare time, Russell participates in amateur auto racing, and is a driving instructor with the Porsche Club of America.