Tom Peck, SVP and CIO, is helping MGM Mirage balance out technology, hiring and diversity. "We need unique, talented people with enterprise thought processes and a diversity of experience, background, race and gender," he says. "We need to bring together people that complement each other and move us forward."
Technology will be key to Project CityCenter, a $7 billion multi-use urban development MGM Mirage is building in Las Vegas, NV. Laura Fucci, CTO and VP of IT, believes it will be the largest private development in the history of America. Due for completion by the end of 2009, it will feature a casino, hotel, condo/hotels and residential buildings.
Fucci is building a team to meet the project's technology challenges. "We are in a constant active hiring state. We're always recruiting, always looking for good talent, always hiring."
She notes that the MGM Mirage IT group is "growing by leaps and bounds. When we merged with the Mandalay resort group in 2004 we doubled in size overnight."
MGM Mirage employs about 350 IT pros and currently has a hundred open positions ranging from entry level to highly experienced. "Backgrounds in apps support for gaming, hotel, food and beverage and retail industries are helpful," Fucci notes. "We're really looking for people familiar with enterprise environments."
Fucci is one of nine VPs of groups specializing in IT who report to Peck. As CTO she handles the MGM Mirage IT infrastructure. It's the largest network in Nevada and one of the largest in the western U.S., with more than 35,000 ports. Her team handles network systems, servers and security and telecom strategy and compliance.
"Within each area we have very specialized departments," she explains. "For example, I run a network engineering department as well as systems and private security. Within our engineering department I need RCCD and CISSP certified people for info security."
It was Fucci who started up the Las Vegas chapter of Women in Technology International (WITI, www.witi.com). "We just started this May and had 140 people show up at the launch," she reports happily.
One of the key initiatives for the local network is establishing a program where women in the Vegas area mentor girls from middle school through college. "A formal mentoring program, internships and scholarships can show girls that this is not a geeky thing and they can have very rewarding careers in technology."
Fucci points out that Vegas has many women in CIO positions, including those at Wynn Resorts, Ameristar Casinos and Caesar's Palace. And three of the nine technology VPs at MGM Mirage are women.
"It's a fairly recent phenomenon so we're really excited about it," she says.
Mike Amie, MGM Mirage VP of computer engineering, is responsible for desktop support. His group oversees all network-related hardware including computers, printers, time clocks and point of sales equipment: more than 38,000 devices over ten local properties in Vegas alone.
Amie's team of eighty-eight techies responds to issues and staffs a customer service center and helpdesk. Folks on his team hold A+ Microsoft, MCSE or MCP certification and are ready to troubleshoot any problems and install various applications.
He has another team that handles major software deployments, plus asset management and warehousing in a mammoth warehouse stocked with PCs, printers, monitors and other hardware. Four vans make daily runs to MGM Mirage properties to pick up faulty equipment and deliver spares.
So when Amie hires, he's looking for customer service skills. "It's very important to communicate with users in a professional manner and get them up and running as quickly as possible," he declares.
One of Amie's managers at a flagship property is a woman, and there are African Americans, Asians and women on his teams.
MGM Mirage has another VP responsible for IT ops who runs a command center that monitors and responds to problems with systems and applications. The VP of software development is responsible for building software apps for the company's hotels and casino systems. The Internet group VP focuses on the company's website.
Then there's a VP of project management and business solutions, a VP for new properties, and a VP of financial and HR systems, responsible for the MGM Mirage back-of-the-house systems.
D/C
www.mgmmirage.com
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Headquarters: |
Las Vegas, NV |
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Employees: |
70,000 |
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Revenues: |
$6.4 billion in 2005 |
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Business: |
Gaming. The company owns and operates twenty-three casino resorts offering dining, entertainment, retail and other resort amenities in Nevada, Michigan and Mississippi. |
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