CIO_Interview
Enterprise Times interviewed Ian McEvoy, Operations and IT Director of P3 Medical manufacturing devices. We met him at SuiteWorld in San Jose. As a manufacturer and distributor of products used in 27 surgical procedures, P3 have been using NetSuite since 2010. He was actually there to help promote KoditPaperflex, a labelling app add-on for NetSuite that P3 has developed. Internally it is used for their own products but it is suitable for label printing where labelling compliance is critical such as food and medical industries.

Ian McEvoy, Operations and IT director at P3 Medical (Source LinkedIn)
Ian McEvoy, Operations and IT director at P3 Medical

Tell us a bit about your role at P3 Medical

“I am the Operations and IT Director. That means anything in the factories and technology Anything other than sales marketing and finance.”

What holds your interest in your current role?

“I am still motivated by technology, the change and the ability to control what you do in a better way. I can see massive advantages to manufacturing companies in that area.”

Google Apps or MS Office

“MS Office, no choice, because we have offices in China and cannot use Google software.”

What are the key challenges faced by your industry?  

“It’s a challenge and an opportunity. The move towards EDI, the move towards electronic trading, having all your data on the web. It’s a game changer. If you don’t have a piece of software for it, you will have a problem.”

Given the rising cyber security threat, what key things do you think your company and the industry should be doing?

“My sole answer is, go cloud-based and let guys like those at NetSuite deal with it.”

Do you have any tips for new CIO’s

“Controlling the interfaces that you deal with. Specifically, ‘we are using Apple, Microsoft  and Google, you will put this in Sharepoint or Box and use this messaging’. It’s that level of stuff.”

How did you get into IT in the first place?

“Because I was the only one who could do it.”

Do you have a tip that you can share about transformational projects?

“My view is speed. Get it over and done with. The first half a dozen implementations I did it properly. Since then I go hell for leather. It’s going to be painful but just get it done.”

It should be noted that Ian McEvoy has done a large number of ERP implementation through his career

Do you consider yourself fit to be a CEO?

“Yes I do, been doing it all my life.”

What was the latest Business book you read, your favourite book or podcast?

Tom Brockaw, The Greatest Generation.

How do you prioritise operational work against project/transformational work?

“You’ve got to do both. You’ve got to get the operational stuff out the way first. Late PM and the afternoon is when I do the other stuff.”

What’s the one question you’d like to ask another CIO to answer and can you answer it then  yourself?

“How do you stay current with alternative technology and methods without spending all day doing it?”

“I have to prioritise that with the transformational work that I do. The biggest challenge is handling the amount of technology that is coming at us now. How do you spend time to understand it?”

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