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As VP of information systems at Prudential Financial (Newark, NJ), Dele Oladapo is using his strong financial industry background to create a leaner and more efficient IT operation.
Oladapo, who has both EE and MBA degrees, joined Prudential in 1997 and watched the firm transform from a mutual company to a public company. That meant many changes to his job and work environment, and spurred many changes in Prudential's IT functions. He has enjoyed the varying climate at Prudential and the mentoring guidance from other senior staff members. "I feel as if I'm on my third career with the same company," he says.
Response to business needs
Prudential is a financial services company that provides mutual funds, annuities, real estate brokerage franchises, relocation services and insurance products to individual and institutional customers worldwide.
Oladapo is in corporate technology management, where he pulls together teams that boost business performance with innovative technology solutions. "Most days you won't find me behind the computer but rather with people," he says. "My job entails listening to our business partners, asking the right questions and really figuring out how technology can meet the needs of our businesses."
Ranging from routine to special
A typical project might involve a routine upgrade of hardware or a special effort like the job Oladapo is currently leading: gathering requirements for an Internet registration process application.
Recently his staff rolled out a WebSphere process server, a platform to support Prudential's call center software. The new technology is used in data centers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
"I never know what I'm going to volunteer myself for!" Oladapo says with a laugh. "I may get involved with an initiative where I don't have a lot of background, and I have to learn on the spot and work with people who don't formally report to me to reach a common goal."
Management by collaboration is a challenge, he agrees, "but it's quite enjoyable when I can help move a group of people with different objectives toward a common solution that ultimately benefits the company."
He manages three supervisors who work with an onsite team of twenty-one people; twelve more technical experts are based in Ireland and the Philippines.
Oladapo's staffers often telecommute a day or two each week, a work arrangement he strongly supports. He has a "360-degree management style," he says. "I am a leader, a people manager, a team member and a technologist. In order to be effective, a strong leader must wear multiple hats."
Bona fide African American
While Oladapo's parents are from Nigeria, he was born and raised in New York, NY. "I'm a bona fide African American," he says. Oladapo's father, who has a degree in medical technology, encouraged him to study engineering. Oladapo received his BSEE from Polytechnic University (Brooklyn, NY) in 1993.
He did a series of internships in the electronic engineering field, but wasn't convinced that he had found his true passion. So when he was offered a software design engineer job at United Technologies (Hartford, CT), he took it. He became a project manager, working with engineers in the electrical and system design groups.
Moving into finance
After a year Oladapo went to work for Chase Manhattan Bank (Brooklyn, NY) as a senior program analyst for the Chase bankcard service. His team built one of the largest databases of its time for an early data warehouse project. Oladapo went through extensive training on C++ and became a Unix administrator.
In 1996 he moved to Salomon Brothers Inc (New York, NY) as a senior program analyst/Unix admin, part of a team that administered Unix systems for the firm. Later that year he took a job at Bankers Trust Co (New York, NY). As the assistant treasurer for corporate systems, he was project lead on a team developing a database repository to store client information.
Working for Prudential
He went to work for Prudential in 1997, and in 2000 the company sent him to participate in its top-rated executive MBA program. For two years he commuted to Columbia University (New York, NY) every Friday, and did a residence week once a semester.
Obviously, the coursework added "considerable time" to his regular job, but, "I don't really need a lot of sleep," Oladapo says with a smile. He completed the MBA in 2002.
About that time he was working in Prudential's Unix server consolidation project, which meant more than $2 million in savings for the company. "Before that, my projects were implementations of systems," he says. "This was the first project I helped to drive that had significant financial implications for the organization. We took a look at the existing infrastructure and identified a solution that would upgrade the system and create substantial cost savings for the company."
Getting help and helping
Oladapo appreciates the mentoring support he gets at Prudential, especially from Barbara Koster, SVP and CIO, whose management team has helped him through special projects. He's also a member of Prudential's Black Leadership Forum, the New Jersey chapter of BDPA, the NextGen Network of the Executive Leadership Council and the Alpha Phi Alpha
Fraternity, Inc.
He gives back to the community as a board member of the Mental Health Association of Essex County and is on its housing committee team.
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