Name and title: Randy Holl, chief technology officer and vice president of developmentEmployer: Notara Inc., a New-York-based business-to-business company that enables secure, real-time collaboration among licensing and sponsorship partners.
Nature of his work: Holl is responsible for overseeing and implementing a secure, robust business-to-business infrastructure that lets Notara's customers share sensitive information over the Web.
Skills and experience: Holl was chief operating officer at Marine Management Systems, an enterprise resource planning systems firm in Stamford, Conn. In 1997, he built a distributed warfare system for the U.S. Navy. His work with client/server technology helps him "understand which steps in design and development are essential to product quality without sacrificing market responsiveness."
His impact: The technology is the company, and the buck stops at Holl. "My position is the equivalent of CIO, but with perhaps additional emphasis."
What he enjoys: The excitement of building new, Web-based technologies that solve a business-to-business need, and the opportunity to work with lots of smart people. "The energy is contagious."
Skills and experience required: Holl relies on his background in enterprise software and distributed systems development. Team management skills are particularly important, he says.
Salary, bonuses, perks: A US$250,000 salary, plus stock options, benefits and bonuses. Notara maintains an office in Stratford, Conn., for just Holl and his team.
Toughest challenge: Staying focused. "You want to move quickly enough to fill the market demand, but not so fast that you lose sight of quality."
Greatest reward: The teamwork. "Generating synergy of thought in my development teams and across the whole company is the most exciting part of my job."
Future opportunities: Holl says he plans to stay at Notara and keep building large-scale business-to-business projects.
Advice: "Learn as much as possible about your target market and how the people in it do their work. Your company's reputation rests upon its performance, so don't sacrifice technology for a quick time to market. Quality is key."
Fryer is a freelance writer in Santa Cruz, Calif.
Just the Facts
Name and job title: Randy Holl, chief technology officer and vice president of developmentCompany: Notara Inc., New YorkNature of his work: Building a business-to-business Internet hub that includes a collaborative extranet software applicationWhy selected: Because of his backgroundTraining needed:
Deep experience in enterprise systems; team development skillsSalary potential:
Millions, if the company does wellAdvice: Stay focused on quality