Alumni Setting New Trends In Business
Boston University School of Management www.bu.edu/entrepreneurship

Alejandro "Ali" Sarmiento (SMG '02), founder of Topologe, says "Coming back to BU to get my MBA was the best career decision I've made." After working as a techie at PricewaterhouseCoopers he witnessed the constant communication gap between "techies" and management. The idea to create an IT management consulting firm inspired his return to BU, and after developing a business plan in Professor Peter Russo's "New Ventures" course, the rest fell into place. Upon graduation Ali created Topologe, a "CIO-For-Hire" services firm located in Burlington, MA.

The "CIO-for-hire" concept itself is not new. PwC and the rest of the Big Four provide similar services to their clients, who mostly represent a long, distinguished list of Fortune-500 companies and corporate conglomerates. Sarmientos' goal with Topologe is to provide these same resources to much smaller, newer companies, which are growing quickly but may not have the capital to invest in hiring a full-time CIO. These leaders nevertheless recognize the need for integrating the technological sides of their businesses with their management of the business.

Topologe was established in January 2003, and Sarmiento has been sought out for his expertise from CIO Today and American Way. He recently wrote an article for Mass High Tech describing the "myth" of the dual-role CIO and the growing demand for CIO outsourcing. For more information, visit: http://www.topologe.com