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Cheryl L. Janey

Building on a Strong Foundation

Editors’ Note

Before joining Harris Corpora-tion in 2007, Cheryl Janey served as Vice President of Business Development and Strategy for the Commercial, State, and Local (CSL) group of Northrop Grumman’s Information Technology Sector. Prior to joining Northrop Grumman, she was Vice President, Marketing and Business Development, State and Local Government Solutions, for American Management Systems. She has also held leadership positions at Unisys Corporation, SCT Corporation, Interactive Data Corporation, and IBM. Janey has received numerous awards, including the Career Communications Group’s 2003 Women of Color Technology and Business President’s Award. Janey earned her bachelor’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University and is a member of Women In Technology.

Company Brief

Founded in 1895 and headquartered in Melbourne, Florida, Harris Corporation (www.harris.com) is an international communications and information technology company dedicated to developing assured communications products, systems, and services. With annual sales of more than $5 billion, the company serves government and commercial markets in more than 150 countries and employs more than 16,000 people, including nearly 7,000 engineers and scientists.

Can you give a brief overview of Harris Corporation’s Civil Programs business and your outlook for its growth?

Civil Programs has a really strong foundation. We’re the second-largest contractor inside the FAA [Federal Aviation Administration] with a variety of programs, and we’re responsible for the FTI [Federal Telecommunications Infrastructure] telecommunications network, giving us terrific market positioning. We also have a solid anchor at the Census Bureau, working with people there toward automating the decennial census, which will occur in 2010. So we have excellent programs and customer relationships, which serve as a great foundation for our growth. When highly reliable communications is core to an agency or department’s mission, Harris really shines, and we’re leveraging that strength.

How will your range of services evolve?

They will continually evolve. We dream with our customers and come up with technological ways to facilitate their vision. As an example, full motion video wasn’t even a term 10 years ago, and it is now something that our customers are really talking about. That’s the future.

Is new technology heavily impacting the way you provide services?

Technology is certainly a driver. The way to solve challenges changes as the technology changes and becomes faster and more enabled. For example, we’re doing work with imaging in health care, linking medical providers with image data in a way that used to be too slow or not resolute enough to meet their needs.

How does Harris differentiate itself in this business sector?

Differentiation within the civilian markets is a challenge for everyone in that market. We successfully differentiate when highly reliable, trusted communications and information technology really matter – communicating from the ground with satellites in space or the unique applications of our telecommunications infrastructure to support the FAA. When technological innovation is needed, we continue to set ourselves apart.

Are you pleased with the level of talent you have at your disposal within the Harris organization?

Absolutely. I am most excited by the fantastic people I have encountered here and by their depth of commitment to their customers and their technological innovation. Harris spends a significant amount of money on research and development, which helps keep us on the leading edge, and our customers really appreciate it. In moving the Civil Programs headquarters to Washington, DC, we have the opportunity to add an influx of new thoughts from new people who have different backgrounds to the long-serving Harris team we have in Florida. That is proving to be a very strong mix.

What excited you about fulfilling this role at Harris Corporation?

I was excited by Harris’s foundation in the civil arena and the wide-open space it has for growth. The business unit had succeeded in establishing anchor programs, which proved that it can do customer relationships really well, and that the customers really respect our technology and service. That was a great foundation from which to grow.

Is this an industry that creates opportunities for women professionals to excel?

I’m very encouraged by the number of women who have entered the industry and are achieving success and positions of leadership, on both the contractor and government sides. That’s exciting.

In your current role, are you able to spend time with clients?

That’s one of the reasons we moved the Civil Programs headquarters to Washington, DC: it allows me to spend more time with my customers or potential customers, which I think is critical when you’re in a growth mode or delivering complex solutions that are core to the mission. I’m fortunate to have a very solid operational staff that knows the technology inside and out, and is singularly focused on delivering the services and solutions we promise to our customers. So that allows me to spend more time with customers and with other companies in the industry. Ours is an industry where few jobs are done independently – we team up all the time. So it’s imperative to stay plugged into both the provider and government communities.

How do you achieve a work-life balance?

Work-life balance is something I work at every single day. The pendulum moves day to day. Some days may be more heavily weighted toward work, and some may be more heavily weighted toward the personal side. To strike a balance, I need a great support system, which I have in my family – my husband and my Little League-playing nine-year-old son. I have a BlackBerry, so I can go to his games and be accessible to my colleagues at the same time. It is all about multitasking.