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While citizens of Gulf Shores, Ala., boarded up windows and went underground to escape Hurricane Ivan last year, American Medical Response CIO Bill Tara tried to keep one step ahead of it. His plan was to shut down a call center in Birmingham, Ala., and move it 75 miles south -- unless Ivan jolted off its predicted path. Then Tara would move the call center 250 miles north.
Hurricanes, earthquakes, snowstorms, the Republican National Convention and visiting dignitaries tying up traffic are all factors in the lifesaving decisions that American Medical Response managers and dispatchers must make every day.
The 24/7 business recently tackled its biggest IT challenge: real-time data. Like all IT projects at AMR, the business intelligence project, named Management Information Platform (MIP), began in the executive boardroom as a business goal and an IT challenge.
AMR is the nation's largest private ambulance provider, larger than its next five competitors combined. It sends ambulances, paramedics and doctors to small towns, big cities, NASCAR and National Football League events. With headquarters just outside Denver, the company serves communities in 32 states. Its BI project was designed to provide a single set of truths for operational decision making -- in real time.
It's just the sort of strategic technology plan that AMR CEO Bill Sanger had in mind when he hired Tara, a former engineer with an MBA degree and years of consulting experience on his résumé. Sanger was looking for an executive who understood IT and business alignment in a way Tara's predecessor did not. Today Tara heads an IT group of about 150 people, with a budget of $40 million. Recently the two colleagues spoke about the importance of BI, a common language in the workplace -- and the challenges that Mother Nature provides.
What made you hire Bill Tara as CIO?
Bill Sanger: Several things. We actually did a very extensive national search. Our company suffered terribly from creating IT solutions in a vacuum. I wanted to look broadly for an individual that understood the concept that the business strategy has to drive the IT strategy -- and also had an understanding of how business integrates technology for achieving enhanced value. I'll be frank with you. There aren't a lot of people who can put the two pieces together -- we were very fortunate to be able to hire Bill.
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