Chris Cruz, San Joaquin County’s chief information officer and IT director, will be joining Tanium as the company’s chief information officer for state and local government across the U.S., beginning next week.
“It’s a great opportunity,” Cruz told Techwire in an interview Monday. “After 30 years in government as a passionate public servant, and several years in executive-level positions … and then working with the county, leaving the county with a good transformation and innovation plan, a high-level cybersecurity strategy and high levels of efficiencies, and moving IT in alignment with the needs of the business, I felt that this was a good stepping-out point for me. I’m leaving it in a good position, with very invested executive leaders and staff at the county.”
Cruz has had a high profile for years, most visibly as the award-winning deputy state CIO and chief deputy director of the California Department of Technology. In his CDT role, Cruz was influential in driving state IT governance toward innovation and the use of data in measuring performance.
Before his roles with CDT and then San Joaquin County, Cruz held a series of leadership roles within some of the biggest departments and agencies in state government: He had been chief of Technology Services for the California Department of Public Health, CIO and then agency information officer (AIO) for the California Department of Food and Agriculture, and deputy director and CIO for the California Department of Health Care Services.
While with the state, Cruz was recognized along the way by his peers in and out of government. The National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) gave him the 2018 State Technology Innovator of the Year award, and in 2015, he was named one of the Top 25 Doers, Dreamers & Drivers by Government Technology, Techwire’s sister publication. Cruz was a recipient of the 2013 Best of California Demonstrated Leadership in Management of Information Technology Award, the 2011 Outstanding CIO Leader Award, the 2010 Innovation and Vision Award and the 2009 Outstanding CIO Leader Award given by the Center for Digital Government*.
When Cruz left the state and took the San Joaquin County position, he succeeded Jerry Becker, the longtime county CIO. The county IT staff had begun working on a number of initiatives under Becker that Cruz continued and championed, perhaps most visibly the data center that now floats on a barge in the Port of Stockton, serving as backup for the county’s data needs.
In his role at San Joaquin, Cruz worked regularly with nearby cities, counties and education institutions to bring innovation — and economies of scale — to public-sector technology in the Delta. That work continues, with regional discussions about 5G, broadband and data sharing and storage.
Throughout his career, Cruz has been a frequent public speaker and participant in trade conferences and other gatherings. While working from home in Folsom in his new role, he said, he plans to maintain that profile through participation in national conferences and gatherings of such organizations as NASCIO.
In his 26 months at San Joaquin, Cruz cites the following accomplishments and initiatives that he and his team have driven:
- Standing up the Nautilus Data Technologies barge as the backup data center. The barge went live in January, yielding the county significant cost savings through use of super-efficient cooling and other technologies.
- Tightening cybersecurity and infrastructure across county government.
- Finalizing county government’s adoption of Microsoft 365 for email.
- Advocating for more leveraged procurements across the county, “as opposed to having the Baskin-Robbins approach to technology, where you have 31 flavors of tools.”
- Implementing a program for county employees to begin training in technology and then moving into IT jobs.
- Advancing regional collaboration in tech innovation and procurement.
“I’ve known Chris for years and I am very pleased to have him join Tanium as the CIO for state and local government and education,” Axt told Techwire on Monday. “His reputation in the public sector, and the many relationships he’s forged across the industry, will serve us all well. I’m looking forward to the value Chris brings to the business.”
Cruz acknowledged that his mission and mandate going into the private sector will be different from what he did in government.
“Going into the private sector, I’m still working with government, obviously functioning in the CIO role as a strategic adviser to help Tanium penetrate the state and local government market,” he said. “I’ll be using my expertise and understanding of the Tanium platform, and my understanding of how to navigate and execute within government, both at the state and county level, to bring that necessary strategy into place. Government organizations will be more effective and efficient in using Tanium as an endpoint protection tool while looking at threat detection and monitoring and dashboarding, and using it as a patch management tool. And last but not least, utilizing it as an asset management tool so you can effectively manage and secure your assets across your enterprise network.”
Cruz acknowledged that he’ll be “wearing a different hat,” as a vendor rather than as a customer.
“My job will be to come in and help Tanium work with strategic clients in state and local government to effectuate those kinds of changes and make the maximum utilization of the Tanium tools that they purchase. It’s a great strategy. I’ll also be a spokesperson for Tanium to state and local government, making presentations, going to NASCIO and really talking about the product. I’m looking forward to getting on the presentation trail and going to conferences when the pandemic is over.”
Cruz also said he’ll pattern his transition from public sector to private by following the paths of some high-profile Californians who've successfully made that shift, name-checking former state CIO Carlos Ramos; Davood Ghods of Direct Technology, former chief of the Office of Technology Services in CDT; and Joe Panora, former AIO for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Cruz added that the recruitment for his successor as San Joaquin County CIO is ongoing, and he said he’s willing to consult with anyone who’d like to apply for the position.
*The Center for Digital Government, Techwire and Government Technology are all part of e.Republic.
