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Rolando Mosqueda

1:1 Leadership Insight

🧠 ThinkSpace Synthesis Memo

Rolando Mosqueda, Interim VP, Finance & Administration – 1:1 Executive Oversight Insight

Facilitated by Beyond | May 9, 2025 | Duration: In-person 1:1, ~60 minutes

đź‘Ą Who Was in the Room?

Rolando Mosqueda is serving as Interim Vice President for Finance & Administration at CSN during a leadership transition in IT. As acting steward of technology strategy, he is focused on near-term stabilization rather than long-term reinvention. This conversation centered on how CSN should respond to the CIO’s departure, reassess high-risk technology investments like CRM, and reevaluate its fully outsourced IT model.

🎯 What We Set Out to Do

The session aimed to surface immediate technology priorities, leadership needs, and structural shifts in the wake of the CIO’s departure. We discussed the state of CSN’s CRM platform, readiness for the network refresh, gaps in governance, and the potential pivot from a fully outsourced to a hybrid IT model. Rolando provided a finance-driven, delivery-focused perspective on what CSN needs next.

🔍 What We Heard

What’s Working

  • The network RFP is ready but lacks an owner to drive it forward.

  • Beyond PM Nick could lead the CRM recovery, which should be managed internally by CSN.

  • There is increased transparency into Synoptek’s deliverables versus CSN’s actual needs.

What’s Not

  • The CIO’s departure has left the organization without a technology lead, creating uncertainty.

  • The CRM project has significant issues—$4 million invested, yet it’s unclear if the right solution was chosen.

  • A leader with strong execution skills is needed to address immediate challenges, rather than a strategist.

  • There is confusion over ownership responsibilities, highlighting the need for better demand management and a single point of contact.

  • The fully outsourced IT model is unconventional, and transitioning mid-level roles and leadership in-house is being considered.

🧭 Where We Go From Here

Leadership Stabilization

The departure of the CIO creates a vacuum that must be filled quickly and functionally. Rolando is seeking an interim with executional muscle—someone who can stabilize CRM, drive the network RFP forward, and provide grounded guidance on vendor performance. Visionary leadership can wait.

CRM Recovery

Grey Matter CRM has lost executive confidence. The next step is a focused health check to assess whether remediation is viable or a replacement should be pursued. Rolando prefers CSN-led project management with Beyond’s Nick embedded to structure and accelerate the work.

Sourcing Strategy Shift

CSN is reconsidering its fully outsourced IT model. Rolando favors a transition to a hybrid structure, with in-house leadership and core staff, while retaining Synoptek for niche services. Benchmarking contract costs against local salaries is underway.

Infrastructure Ownership

The college has a time-sensitive network refresh effort tied to aging routers and switches. Although an RFP is ready, progress has stalled without a designated owner. Assigning this to the interim CIO is a short-term imperative.

Governance & Communication

End users are confused about where to go for support, and business units lack decision-making discipline. Rolando sees quick wins in establishing a central point of contact and creating working groups to clarify business ownership of priorities.

🌱 Strategic Opportunities

  • Appoint a Functional Interim CIO: Focused on CRM triage, network execution, and vendor oversight—not long-term visioning

  • Run a Structured CRM Health Check: Map use cases, identify failure points, and define build-buy-replace options quickly

  • Design a Hybrid Sourcing Model: Rebalance roles between Synoptek and in-house staff based on value, cost, and control

  • Align Infrastructure with Leadership: Make the network refresh a visible early win under the interim’s mandate

  • Fix the Front Door: Establish a support model with one point of contact and clear escalation paths to reduce friction and ambiguity

âś… What Happens Next?

This memo sets the foundation for executive support recommendations and short-term IT stabilization at CSN. Beyond will assist in structuring the CRM assessment, modeling hybrid sourcing trade-offs, and designing transitional governance practices. Rolando’s feedback will also shape hiring criteria for the interim CIO role and guide reengagement with critical infrastructure priorities.