Friday, October 24, 2008

The Mover

Brown brings tech teacher talent to Iron Mountain

By Amy Castor, Special to Mass High Tech

As a boy, growing up on the South Shore, Bill Brown was on the fast-track to becoming a teacher. After all, the newly appointed chief information officer of Iron Mountain Inc. in Boston hailed from a family of educators.

His mother and father were teachers. His grandmother was a teacher, and he eventually married a teacher. It all made for vibrant family discussions at the dinner table, but when Brown got to college, he veered into technology.

When he entered Bridgewater State College to get a degree in mathematics, the curriculum required him to take several programming classes. He didn’t realize it at the time, but those classes laid the groundwork for the career path that followed.

“When I started looking for work, the programming field was really starting to come around, so I joined Honeywell Information Systems as a programmer for a group that was automating the drafting process,” he said. “Their work ultimately led to the basis of today’s CAD/CAM systems.”

He stayed at Honeywell only a few years before heading on to other opportunities. “I rode the technology wave. It was a time when you could move around and work with different companies,” he said.

He recalls the ’80s as “an exciting period because you were watching companies use automation to solve relevant business problems.” At one point, he worked for the state of Massachusetts, developing a system for automating the jury-selection process.

After getting an MBA from Babson College, Brown moved into executive-level positions. In 1991, he co-founded computer distribution company PCs Compleat, which CompUSA purchased five years later. That’s when Brown found himself back in school — but this time, he was in the front of the class.

Xaverian Brothers High School, where his three sons graduated, was embarking on a major technology project. Brown came on board as director of IT as a way to give back to the community. The position also gave him an opportunity to teach computer courses. 

“It was a great four-year stint,” he recalls. “You really have an influence on the way students view technology.” But when the project was finished, he felt it was time to rejoin the corporate world. That led him in 2005 to his first role at Iron Mountain, as senior vice president of information technology, the position he held until his recent promotion to CIO.

Brown commutes to his job at Iron Mountain from his home in North Falmouth, where he owns a 28-foot Boston Whaler that “doesn’t get off the dock enough.” He hasn’t forgotten his teaching roots.

In his new role as chief information officer, he sees himself as part educator and part someone who makes things happen. “I help people align with a vision and remove obstacles so they can succeed.”