Sydney Trains CIO resigns

Sydney Trains CIO Malcolm Pascoe has resigned to take up a role as group CIO at ASX-listed standards and compliance firm SAI Global.

Malcolm Pascoe

Pascoe joined Sydney Trains in August 2013 after several years as a project executive at IBM Australia. Prior to that he worked as CIO at food manufacturer Goodman Fielder.

During his time at Sydney Trains, Pascoe helped deliver a $35 million outsourcing deal with HCL for application support and maintenance; develop an app to allow transit officers to fine Opal fare evaders via a mobile device; and began work to upgrade the rail network's operations centre as well as to improve how rail information is delivered to travellers, among other projects.

"Pascoe’s expertise in information technology made him a natural choice for a role focused on improving efficiencies and reforming IT strategies across the business," a Sydney Trains spokesperson said.

"[He] successfully introduced multiple applications for mobile devices specifically designed to meet the needs of the business and assist staff complete their daily tasks in a more efficient and timely way."

Pascoe's new role at SAI Global will see him manage over 200 IT staff who service around 2500 global employees.

SAI Global's former long-running CIO Brett Lenthall - who spent over eight years at the firm - departed the company in December after postponing his resignation several times over the past 12 months at the request of the board.

Currently taking time to "have a break", Lenthall told iTnews Pascoe would have plenty to occupy him over the coming years as the business works to enact several key strategies.

"SAI Global is a disparate, fragmented, business unit-based organisation," Lenthall said. "The assumption has always been that they will start to put it into a more unified business."

Part of that approach will include delivering on a new digital strategy developed over the past five months by Lenthall and his former team, which includes a replacement of the company's legacy Siteman content management system with an Ektron CMS, a revamp of its home-grown online store, as well as an overhaul of its ERP systems.

The business currently has around 12 different ERP systems globally - including PeopleSoft, QuickBooks, and MYOB, among others - as a result of M&A activity, and expects to complete the move to Epicor in the next 12 months.

Sydney Trains is currently recruiting a replacement CIO. The organisation's current manager of portfolio application delivery Vikas Patole is acting in the role.