What’s more, the bank has implemented
a project management office (PMO) that
has allowed the bank to build and adopt
a standard PMO methodology, manage its
project portfolio and advocate for PMO
best practices throughout the organization.
past June, Atrion CEO Tim Hebert spoke at
the Middlesex “Making Connections” event,
sponsored by the bank’s women affinity
group, “Women Influencing the Next Generations,” which is committed to continuing
to peel back the layers of leadership.
To further empower its IT professionals to
develop the soft skills needed to be proven
thought leaders within the business, Middlesex Savings Bank has remained committed
to sending several of its engineers to Atrion’s
annual AlwaysOn Symposium, a one-day
thought leadership event designed to bring
together senior-level IT practitioners and
other business line unit leaders around a
common goal of becoming greater leaders.
The bank has sent as many as 15 IT
professionals to each year’s event.
“Through Tim’s established relationship
with Sean and others here at Middlesex
Savings Bank, we felt extremely fortunate
to have Tim as our featured speaker for our
event that was attended by many officers
and employees,” says Karen Curtis, EVP
and Chief Human Resources Officer at the
bank. “Tim’s engaging 30-minute presentation touched upon some of the key pillars
of leadership as he shared personal stories
relating to taking risks, challenging yourself
and continuing to grow and develop as
a person and role model.”
“The leadership symposium is the only
IT event that I have attended that brings
IT, business and leadership together in a
thought-provoking, inspirational manner,”
Burke says. “It gives us a common language
to use.”
For Middlesex Savings Bank, Atrion has
played a vital role in helping the company
continue down its path of helping its IT
staffers emerge as strategic assets to the organization. The two first teamed together in
2006, when the bank was selecting a third
party to help it migrate from a Nortel phone
system to a new IP telephony platform.
Right from the initial conversation, there was
something different about Atrion’s approach,
Burke says. Most notably, Atrion focuses on
deriving favorable business outcomes by
completely understanding its clients’ business requirements before moving forward.
Since then, the two have continued to work
together not only on the technical front, but
the thought leadership one too. In fact, this
For the bank, the partnership between the
two companies works because of the clear
alignment between the two companies.
“When I look at the partnership on the
business side, it’s clear that it’s solid and
has momentum not just because our
training aligns, but because we share core
values,” says Burke. “At the end of the day,
we can’t move forward as a business and
be successful if we don’t have people
with leadership skills.”
“There may be people in the IT industry
who are not there yet—who are not fusing
business with technology,” he adds. “What
I would say to them is just start doing it
because that’s why the technology is there.
Generate those soft skills, understand how
and what you do in your day-to-day
business affects the company, and set
yourself on the path for success.”