Innovation in a Reinvented World: 10 Essential Elements to Succeed in the New World of Business

EMC: Sheryl Chamberlain, Senior Director, Central Partner Engineering, EMC Solutions Group

Sheryl Chamberlain refers to her role within EMC as a hub-and-spokes person.

The role of intersecting point person responsible for managing a myriad of moving parts that lie in the center of EMC's journey to the cloud requires an on-point performance by Chamberlain, who serves as the pulse point for this complex ecosystem of product portfolio managers, partners, and their leaders.

Taking the leadership role of managing EMC's technology relationships with partners such as VMware, Cisco, and VCE requires new ways of listening and collaborating with them.

“It's about the vision of their road map and the direction that they're trying to take,” Chamberlain says. “My role is to ensure that EMC is aligned with their visions, so I'm always looking for the points of intersection between us—two-way, three-way, or four-way—and then moving them forward with EMC and our alliances.”

Connecting the Dots

Chamberlain's background in business operations prepared her for working with a cross-section of technologists inside and outside the company.

The former owner of a business reengineering consultancy, Chamberlain refined her blueprint for seeing things from a different perspective during her years in the financial industry as public auditor with Deloitte Touche, internal auditor with Norton Simon Inc. and as a controller in the construction industry.

“I think of business as constructing a building—it's a ...