Mike Wilson
ISE® West Executive Award Winner 2011
As a leading healthcare organization, we believe that providing security thought leadership and giving back to the IT communities whose resources we draw upon to protect our organization and our customers is the right thing to do. At the same time, we believe that it’s important to promote a security and risk management point of view and maintain visibility within the industry.
When a colleague introduced me to the ISE® Award Program, I saw it as an opportunity to showcase what our team had accomplished and advance security best practices within the healthcare industry. I was quite surprised and honored to be named the 2011 ISE® West Information Security Executive of the Year. To have your accomplishments reviewed by your peers and judged to be worthy of recognition is both a tremendous endorsement and encouragement to carry on. It’s a humbling experience and very much appreciated.
The recognition and endorsement of McKesson’s security and risk management mandates gave the team a sense pride and achievement. All too often security teams toil away without notice. That can be difficult for an IT organization, so to have the team recognized for their success through the proxy of my nomination was a real morale booster. The award also raised internal awareness of the information security program with the business units and provided a level of credibility for the team and what we are doing at McKesson.
Participating in the T.E.N. events has provided me with opportunities to create a circle of professional colleagues, share best practices and learn how we are doing compared to others. I appreciate the way in which the T.E.N. team consistently delivers high-quality opportunities to meet with colleagues, partners and technology solution providers. In addition to the regional ISE® Award Programs, T.E.N. offers events that bring local communities together and allow security leaders to network on a local basis. Plus, you can rely on the keynote presenters and the solution provider and security leader guest speakers to be both interesting and credible.
I especially like T.E.N.’s approach to including technology solution providers. The relaxed environment provides a comfortable forum for conversation and allows you to connect with both established and emerging solution providers in a way that allows for trusted relationships to develop naturally. Likewise, I believe that the solution providers get value in terms of being able to check the pulse of senior security leaders. It’s a perfect opportunity to learn what is top of mind and gain a deeper understanding of the issues that we are facing.
Participating in the ISE® Award Program has provided me and my team with benefits ranging from a reinforcement of our efforts to opportunities to increase our visibility and provide thought leadership to a chance to network more broadly. Even a nomination is an endorsement of a team’s efforts. Do you have one or two projects of which you are most proud? I encourage you to submit a nomination and take advantage of all that T.E.N. and the ISE® Award Program have to offer.