Michael Cirafesi
Partner, CTO, Global Business Solutions
CSC
Excellence in Technology
Michael Cirafesi, a Partner and CTO for CSC's Global Business Solutions group, is focused on growing the commercial sector business spanning cross industries and solutions for a $100 million market. He leads CSC's sales, solutioning, delivery excellence, risk analysis and strategic alliance management efforts.
"I am, without a doubt, motivated by making a difference for our clients and their value chain," he says. "I have certainly seen some mission critical impact across the commercial and public sector clients I have had the pleasure working with over the years."
Cirafesi says he credits his business relationships with clients, alliance partners and fellow colleagues as the biggest factors to his success.
"I truly learn more about the next best practice by understanding several perspectives from my sphere of influence and CSC's ecosystem," he says. "Ultimately, I have taken some wisdom to heart from a mentor and past winner of this award. This former CSCer, now a client, would repeatedly say that 'a consultant's goal is to know more about the client's business than the client knows after one year. They want you to speak in their language.' "
And Cirafesi certainly does. His recent accomplishments include leading multiple proposal efforts simultaneously to secure $40 million in consulting and business process outsourcing agreements and reinstituting the CIO Council in his division.
But he insists those accomplishments are not the result of his work alone. "I also have always been fortunate to have senior folks in the organization take the time to mentor and guide me throughout my career," he says. "I have been with the firm for over ten years and have learned from some of the best and most balanced leaders and consultants in the industry over the years in both our commercial and federal consulting organizations.
And Cirafesi returns the favor by mentoring junior consultants at CSC, passing on the knowledge he gained from others in his early years. "I remember different analogies to describe what makes the best consultant, but one that clearly is a great one for folks entering the industry is that you are 'always on,' " he says. "That is shared during our consulting skills training that every junior consultant goes through upon hire. Our clients need us to always be at the top of our game and managing expectations."
Q&A: What does winning the Top 25 award mean to you?
"I am absolutely honored to be recognized in such a well-known magazine in our tight industry. I have personally subscribed to Consulting Magazine since I started with CSC in 1999 and I am humbled to be part of such an absolute rich history of consulting powerhouses. I think the award is an affirmation of the talent CSC's culture fosters. CSC is usually referred to as the industry's best kept secret as we are not overly branding ourselves in the marketplace. Most importantly, this award would not even exist without our clients. They are truly along with our employees and alliance partners the engine of CSC's intellectual capital."
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