We have some gnarly news! Scott Driver is coming to Tech Field Day 19 and he is super stoked to be part of the Tech Field Day family! Scott is looking forward to “tearin’ it up” with the community members.
Connect with Scott on Twitter or the Tech Field Day website. And check out his personal website for blog posts, book reviews, and some fun videos of him and his peeps snowboarding.
Can you tell us a little bit about what do you do now?
I am lucky to be part of an amazing organization. When people ask what I do, I say that I’m the “Chief Geek.” My title says “Director of IT,” so obviously there are strategic and managerial elements of my role. However, working for a small organization with both deep and broad technical requirements affords me plenty of opportunities to (try and) keep my skills up.
What are your biggest challenges?
On a day-to-day basis, the biggest challenge would have to be, how to go deep on a technology or platform when you are responsible for a wide swath.
At a higher level, my biggest challenge and one of the biggest challenges in our industry is “security.” Managing the threat streams, keeping in sync with technological developments, managing management, balancing business impacts with InfoSec requirements. Like many in our field, InfoSec keeps me awake at night, but the bad guys are just one piece of that puzzle.
How did you get into Technology and IT?
A friend somehow convinced me to attend a programming class and I was hooked. Unfortunately, math isn’t my strong suit, so I got flushed out of Computer Science. Oops. Luckily the Business School had a Management Information Systems program that led to a project, that led to an internship, that led to help-desk, that led to… where I am today.
Where do you see IT going in the next 3-5 years?
I’m going to take this in a slightly different direction…
Where I’d like to see IT go, is having a bit of a re-focus on the SMB space. The needs and challenges are very different from that of an Enterprise. Sales and hype-cycle are largely driven by Enterprise; however, the majority of spend is still in SMB. My personal opinion is that there is a huge opportunity for organizations who can develop relationships with and price for the SMB.
Beyond that, I think that no matter the role, we’re all going to have to up our InfoSec games in the years to come. The issues there aren’t going away.
If you weren’t a “Chief Geek,” what would you be doing instead?
I make some pretty fancy grilled cheese, and always joked about my plan to open up a “grown up grilled cheese” restaurant. Imagine my disappointment when I was last in San Diego and saw that someone stole my idea! I guess it’s back to the whiteboard…
Do you have any hobbies? What do you do in your spare time? 
I enjoy snowboarding, hiking, and gardening. Basically, I just enjoy being outside with my family as much as possible.
One last question, do you have a favorite movie?
I think I’d have to say Shawshank Redemption. There’s something about the perseverance and strength of spirit in Tim Robbins character that speaks to me.
Shawshank Redemption, 1994
Awesome, Scott! Looking forward to having you at Tech Field Day 19!
Remember to add Tech Field Day 19 to your calendars; June 26-28!
