Brian Magnotta
Chief Operating Officer at Taunton Press, Inc.- Claim this Profile
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Bio
Jeff DeBalko
As a Chief Technology Officer, Brian brings the right mix of skills, attitude, and experience to truly make a difference in the success of a business. In my experience, many CTOs operate in a protective bubble, more interested in protecting their "turf" rather than showing a willingness to change as fast as the organization needs. Brian is the complete opposite, always open to new ideas, willing to change direction as organizational needs and market conditions dictate, and willing to work with all members of the management team to balance the needs of the organization. Having effectively managed both the infrastructure side and the development side of IT organizations as well as having been a valued partner in the establishment of a world class digital media business, Brian has both the experience and perspective to effectively build an IT organization that is a true competitive advantage. I highly recommend Brian to any organization looking to build a forward looking, world class, IT operation.
Rebecca Luneau-Yahraus, PMP, ITIL
I worked directly for Brian during my 3 ½ years at Reed Business Information. Brian has many strong qualities that make him a great leader, he cares about the people that work within his organization, he is dedicated to mentor and to provide opportunities to his team to help advance their careers. Brian has helped advance my career and has increased my knowledge about new on-line business opportunities with the B2B media industry. Brian is someone who not only wants to succeed, but wants others to and he will go out of his way to help however he can. Above all, Brian’s in-depth knowledge of all areas of the business and technology is impressive and extremely valuable. Brian is able to successfully lead his teams to solve difficult technical issues, which is a unique skill for someone at his level. I would highly recommend Brian for a CIO/CTO level position and would gladly work for Brian again.
Jeff DeBalko
As a Chief Technology Officer, Brian brings the right mix of skills, attitude, and experience to truly make a difference in the success of a business. In my experience, many CTOs operate in a protective bubble, more interested in protecting their "turf" rather than showing a willingness to change as fast as the organization needs. Brian is the complete opposite, always open to new ideas, willing to change direction as organizational needs and market conditions dictate, and willing to work with all members of the management team to balance the needs of the organization. Having effectively managed both the infrastructure side and the development side of IT organizations as well as having been a valued partner in the establishment of a world class digital media business, Brian has both the experience and perspective to effectively build an IT organization that is a true competitive advantage. I highly recommend Brian to any organization looking to build a forward looking, world class, IT operation.
Rebecca Luneau-Yahraus, PMP, ITIL
I worked directly for Brian during my 3 ½ years at Reed Business Information. Brian has many strong qualities that make him a great leader, he cares about the people that work within his organization, he is dedicated to mentor and to provide opportunities to his team to help advance their careers. Brian has helped advance my career and has increased my knowledge about new on-line business opportunities with the B2B media industry. Brian is someone who not only wants to succeed, but wants others to and he will go out of his way to help however he can. Above all, Brian’s in-depth knowledge of all areas of the business and technology is impressive and extremely valuable. Brian is able to successfully lead his teams to solve difficult technical issues, which is a unique skill for someone at his level. I would highly recommend Brian for a CIO/CTO level position and would gladly work for Brian again.
Jeff DeBalko
As a Chief Technology Officer, Brian brings the right mix of skills, attitude, and experience to truly make a difference in the success of a business. In my experience, many CTOs operate in a protective bubble, more interested in protecting their "turf" rather than showing a willingness to change as fast as the organization needs. Brian is the complete opposite, always open to new ideas, willing to change direction as organizational needs and market conditions dictate, and willing to work with all members of the management team to balance the needs of the organization. Having effectively managed both the infrastructure side and the development side of IT organizations as well as having been a valued partner in the establishment of a world class digital media business, Brian has both the experience and perspective to effectively build an IT organization that is a true competitive advantage. I highly recommend Brian to any organization looking to build a forward looking, world class, IT operation.
Rebecca Luneau-Yahraus, PMP, ITIL
I worked directly for Brian during my 3 ½ years at Reed Business Information. Brian has many strong qualities that make him a great leader, he cares about the people that work within his organization, he is dedicated to mentor and to provide opportunities to his team to help advance their careers. Brian has helped advance my career and has increased my knowledge about new on-line business opportunities with the B2B media industry. Brian is someone who not only wants to succeed, but wants others to and he will go out of his way to help however he can. Above all, Brian’s in-depth knowledge of all areas of the business and technology is impressive and extremely valuable. Brian is able to successfully lead his teams to solve difficult technical issues, which is a unique skill for someone at his level. I would highly recommend Brian for a CIO/CTO level position and would gladly work for Brian again.
Jeff DeBalko
As a Chief Technology Officer, Brian brings the right mix of skills, attitude, and experience to truly make a difference in the success of a business. In my experience, many CTOs operate in a protective bubble, more interested in protecting their "turf" rather than showing a willingness to change as fast as the organization needs. Brian is the complete opposite, always open to new ideas, willing to change direction as organizational needs and market conditions dictate, and willing to work with all members of the management team to balance the needs of the organization. Having effectively managed both the infrastructure side and the development side of IT organizations as well as having been a valued partner in the establishment of a world class digital media business, Brian has both the experience and perspective to effectively build an IT organization that is a true competitive advantage. I highly recommend Brian to any organization looking to build a forward looking, world class, IT operation.
Rebecca Luneau-Yahraus, PMP, ITIL
I worked directly for Brian during my 3 ½ years at Reed Business Information. Brian has many strong qualities that make him a great leader, he cares about the people that work within his organization, he is dedicated to mentor and to provide opportunities to his team to help advance their careers. Brian has helped advance my career and has increased my knowledge about new on-line business opportunities with the B2B media industry. Brian is someone who not only wants to succeed, but wants others to and he will go out of his way to help however he can. Above all, Brian’s in-depth knowledge of all areas of the business and technology is impressive and extremely valuable. Brian is able to successfully lead his teams to solve difficult technical issues, which is a unique skill for someone at his level. I would highly recommend Brian for a CIO/CTO level position and would gladly work for Brian again.
Experience
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Taunton Press, Inc.
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Book and Periodical Publishing
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100 - 200 Employee
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Chief Operating Officer
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Nov 2020 - Present
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Chief Technology Officer
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Jul 2015 - Nov 2020
Leading the transformation of Taunton's media businesses by rebuilding the company's product and marketing technology stack to increase flexibility in building product, driving direct consumer revenue and reducing operating costs. Member of executive team reporting to the CEO.• Led effort to re-platform and redesign all special interest media websites to a cloud based open source platform designed to improve customer experience across all device types and purchase flow to drive more subscription and membership conversions/revenue.• Evaluated and implemented SaaS, custom and outsourced solutions to increase capabilities in audience development, demand generation, session-based conversion, re-targeting, customer-identity management and order management.• Managed complete turnaround of product development and technology infrastructure teams, outsourced maintenance activities, consolidated hosting to the cloud, reduced hardware footprint, implemented new cloud based telephony system, hired new talent, implemented agile development practices, reduced overall technology costs by 40%. Show less
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Technology and Digital Transformation Consultant
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Apr 2015 - Present
Provide technology and digital transformation consulting services to major media companies. Provide technology and digital transformation consulting services to major media companies.
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Summit Professional Networks (formerly Summit Business Media)
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Greater New York City Area
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Chief Information Officer
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Apr 2012 - Mar 2015
Leading Summit’s IT transformation to drive revenue growth through new product development and reduced operating costs by rationalizing and improving the performance of the company’s infrastructure and business applications. Member of executive management team reporting to CEO. Key accomplishments include: • Developed and implemented new on-line subscription products for the legal and finance markets. Repurposed the company’s existing paid content to build new digital products creating new revenue streams. ($500k within first year). • Led effort to redesign all media websites utilizing responsive design techniques to allow for a seamless experience across desktop, mobile and tablet; and better positioning of ads to optimize engagement performance (YOY average 25% increase in site traffic). • Led effort to develop and implement first generation native mobile applications resulting in new sponsorship opportunities (>$100k revenue). • Led inititaive to implement new CRM and Order Management system to improve pipeline visibility and sales forecasting as well as financial reporting. • Evaluated enterprise IT support, network topology and website/system hosting arrangements. Implemented enhancements to improve network/internet performance, optimized hosting and outsourced IT support resulting in a 30% reduction in overall IT budget. Show less
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Ziff Davis Enterprise
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United States
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Book and Periodical Publishing
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1 - 100 Employee
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Chief Technology Officer
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Sep 2010 - Feb 2012
Member of executive management team setting strategy and development plans for entire portfolio of digital products. Developed strategy/plan for next generation CMS and audience marketing systems focused on enhancing functionality and integration to drive revenue and growth. Led the development and implementation of solutions to drive the company’s digital and mobile strategy, which included building mobile and social media applications for all brands, across all major platforms – mobile phone, tablet, web and digital magazines. Led all aspects of Information Technology. Show less
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Reed Business Information
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IT Services and IT Consulting
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700 & Above Employee
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Chief Technology Officer
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Aug 2007 - Jul 2010
Provided leadership and direction on the company’s technology and business strategy including all aspects of strategic IT planning, implementation and support. Reengineered IT organization and key applications to strengthen quality of service, timely delivery, and staff capabilities while improving reliability and reducing costs. Managed a portfolio of products and applications consisting of 50+ community websites, 25 online buyers guides and 60+ core business applications. Managed $40M operating budget, $12M capital budget and 185+ professionals.Key accomplishments include:• Led the development and implementation of a new Web Content management system, leveraging open source and Web 2.0 technologies to create new on-line business opportunities and increase revenue. • Consolidated hosting of all websites into corporate data center, reducing costs by $1.5M annually. Built redundancy and disaster recovery capabilities for revenue generating websites.• Due Diligence and Acquisition. Conducted technology due diligence of $25M target company, leading to its acquisition. Led the post acquisition technology integration and delivery. Show less
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VP, Technology Infrastructure
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Jul 2005 - Aug 2007
Responsible for the support and development of the company’s technology infrastructure, including Enterprise IT Operations, Data Center, Network and Systems Engineering, Service Delivery, Messaging, Telecommunications, Database Administration, Security and Project Management group. Led many key initiatives to upgrade and improve performance of the infrastructure to support the on-line revenue growth of Reed Business.
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VP, Business Applications
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Jun 2003 - Jul 2005
Responsible for the support and development of all business applications, including CRM, Order Management and Billing, Publishing/Content Management, Circulation and Fulfillment.
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Monster
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United States
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Internet Publishing
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700 & Above Employee
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VP, Business Applications
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Feb 2002 - Mar 2003
Responsible for all Financial and Administrative applications globally. Responsible for all Financial and Administrative applications globally.
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Answerthink
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United States
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IT Services and IT Consulting
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1 - 100 Employee
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Director
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Mar 1999 - Dec 2001
Responsible for business development, client relationships, and practice management for the IT Strategy practice. Planned/coordinated business development and directed client engagements. Responsible for business development, client relationships, and practice management for the IT Strategy practice. Planned/coordinated business development and directed client engagements.
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McKinsey & Company
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Business Consulting and Services
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700 & Above Employee
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Senior Manager
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Jan 1990 - Mar 1999
Counseled top managers to address complex business and IT-related challenges. • IT Strategy/Governance. Served on firm’s Global IT Operating council. Worked with senior partners to define and implement methods for improving IT effectiveness through improved business alignment. Developed governance model to increase IT efficiency across the firm. • Global Network Operations and Technology Support. Developed regional technology support organization responsible for cost effective implementation and ongoing support of the firm’s major technology initiatives. • Knowledge Management. Conceived and deployed standard mobile workstation and applications suite to better leverage firm knowledge across 70 foreign and domestic offices and 5000 professionals. • IT Organization. Developed/deployed professional development framework for career path/training. Show less
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PwC
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Professional Services
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700 & Above Employee
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Supervisory Consultant
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Jul 1986 - Dec 1989
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JPMorgan Chase & Co.
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United States
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Financial Services
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700 & Above Employee
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Developer/Analyst
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Mar 1985 - Jun 1986
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Software Developer
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Sep 1982 - May 1985
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Education
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1978 - 1982
Manhattan College
Bachelor of Business Administration, Computer Information Systems -
1974 - 1978
Clarkstown High School South
