Mentor Cana, Ph.D., is a VP, Analyst, with Gartner's CIO Research Group, focusing on communications service providers (CSPs). Dr. Cana is a Key Initiative (KI) Leader for the CSP Industry Research team, focusing on CSPs' digital IT operating model. His research covers the emergent and changing role of telecom CIOs and IT strategy leaders, their IT strategy, and the evolving and changing nature of IT in telcos as they transform from traditional to digital telcos.
He advises CSP CIOs about the forward looking scenario planning, how to innovate and create value in the future, digital business transformation, participation in broader digital ecosystems, culture change, role development, technology strategy, IT workforce/skills realignment, how to implement bimodal and DevOps, CSPs' engagement with OTTs, the role of IT as a revenue enabler, IT applications and architecture, infrastructure strategy, open-source software, and open APIs and open platform strategies.
Furthermore, Dr. Cana's Ph.D. in Information Science has enabled him to fuse industry experience and academic knowledge, and explore the digital transformation from a sociotechnological co-constructionist perspective, combining technological and nontechnological (social, organizational, cultural) dynamics.
He has more than 20 years of experience as a technology- and business-focused IT professional, with an affinity for strategic business consulting in telecommunications and information systems. Prior to Gartner, he worked as a system and business analyst, architect, consultant and industry-focused technology professional within the telecommunications industry.
Microsoft
Sr. Technology Solutions Professional
AT&T/Consultant
System Architect, System Analyst
Telcordia (formerly Bellcore)/Consultant
Systems Eng., Business Analyst, Consultant
CSP Digital Transformation and Innovation
CIO Leadership, Culture and People
CIO Role Evolution
Ph.D., Information Science, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey
M.S., EE/Telecommunication Engineering, Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, New Jersey
B.S., Electrical Engineering, State University of New York at New Paltz, New Paltz, New York
1CSPs: CIOs' changing role from that of support to that of business and revenue enabler
2CSPs: How to innovate and create value in the platform era
3CSPs: How to plan for plausible future scenarios in the communications market
4CSPs: How to change the I&T operating model for digital business
5CSPs: Best practices around culture change, talent, open source, open APIs, open platforms, IT integration, DevOps, Agile, Bimodal, ecosystem participation