Beth Jacob, Target
Following a data breach that was thought to affect over 110 million people in the US, Beth Jacob has resigned as CIO of Target. Along with the retail chain announcing its disappointing fourth quarter results, Jacob also announced her resignation, effective immediately.
Tony Scott, Microsoft
When Microsoft announced it was shifting its strategy to focus on mobile and cloud in summer 2013, CIO of five years Tony Scott also decided to shift his focus. According to Microsoft, he left the company to focus on ‘personal projects’ but was then found to take up the CIO role at VMWare just a month later.
Richard Spires, US Department of Homeland Security
Richard Spires caused a stir in May 2013 when he resigned from his post as one of the most active leaders in US federal government. During his three and half years in the position, he oversaw an effective consolidation of data centres and movement to cloud services. So his departure to go on personal leave was met with disappointment from Homeland security.
Glenn Archer, Australian Government
After just 12 months of holding the CIO position, Glenn Archer announced via his Twitter in February 2014: ‘Today is my last day in the Australian Public Service. Will be sad to say farewell to staff in #AGIMO but looking forward to moving on.’ His reasons for leaving remain unclear and the Australian Government Information Management Office are yet to confirm who, if anyone, will be his replacement.
Frank Baitman, Social Security Administration
Back in 2011, Frank Baitman abruptly resigned as CIO of as the US’s Social Security Administration. According to InformationWeek, his departure was due to Commissioner Michael Astrue wanting to shift most of the agency CIO’s responsibilities to deputy commissioner for systems.
