"Ambit Energy's success is due in great part to the company's IT department. Their premier platform is a key differentiator that has not only allowed the company to grow, but to shine in quality of service in delivery, billing and customer services," said Jack Dowling, DFW SIM judge and past award recipient. "Based on his leadership of the IT department, John Burke rated high on all award criteria and was the clear winner for this award."
Burke was nominated for this award by Don Harman of Reflex Systems for his work in leading next generation technology initiatives, including the areas of virtualization and cloud computing at Ambit Energy. As the CIO at Ambit Energy, Burke's responsibilities include leading and managing all IT staff, systems and strategy, in addition to the company's project management organization. He oversees software development, production support, infrastructure and risk, and all billing and transaction management.
"John Burke is exceptionally smart and an incredible leader. He deserves this award," said Jere Thompson Jr., CEO and co-founder of Ambit Energy. "Under his creation and direction, Ambit Energy's systems enable our employees and Independent Consultants to provide accurate and responsive service to our 500,000+ customers. These same internally developed systems enable the company to efficiently deploy affordable energy services into new markets and easily accommodate the addition of hundreds of new customers each day."
The DFW SIM Chapter established the IT Executive of the Year Award in 1998 to recognize excellence in IT management within the Dallas/Fort Worth area. An independent panel of judges rates the nominees according to seven basic performance criteria. Included among these criteria are:
Demonstrate creative use of IT to strengthen the competitive position of their organization Improve the effectiveness, efficiency and quality of IT/IS services Elevate IT to a proactive role in the organization's overall strategic plan Demonstrate uncommon leadership within the IT community.
Burke has earned a variety of accolades for his accomplishments with the company. Most recently, he was named one of the Computerworld "Premier 100 IT Leaders for 2010," as well as one of the InformationWeek "Top 25 CTOs of 2010."
