Q&A with Webster Alum Phil Marie, Senior Vice President of Network and Web Operations at NASDAQ

NotaBene caught up with Webster Alum Phil Marie on his way back from a meeting with NASDAQ officials in New York. Marie was named Senior Vice President of Network and Web Operations at NASDAQ on December 11, 2001.

NB: What was on your New York agenda?

PM: I held a presentation on a new network design that we’re proposing to build at NASDAQ to connect our customers to the NASDAQ stock market. We currently run about 15 networks, and the proposal calls for the new network to be combined on one physical network, but split up logically. It would reduce our costs and provide better service and all that good stuff.

NB: NASDAQ.com is packed with constantly changing information that requires immediate and accurate updates. How do you keep it all afloat?

PM: The web sites are actually the easier part of my job. The web is what the public sees, but the network aspect of my job is really the main part of it—connecting large brokerage firms like Merrill Lynch or Charles Schwab to our stock market. They can’t afford to have any outages because it affects their ability to generate revenue and it affects our ability to generate revenue. So it’s really key to keeping the links between our systems and the market makers up and running all the time.

NB: Before you started at NASDAQ, you were in the travel industry working for Galileo International. Why do you think NASDAQ drafted you?

PM: I was hired for the NASDAQ job because I had run a large network at Galileo—probably one of the biggest ones in the world—and the technology we used at Galileo is basically the same as what NASDAQ had. I’ve been in technology since 1974 and was a computer programmer and on the network side when NASDAQ came calling. That’s the area I’ve been in for over 30 years.

NB: What sort of changes have you seen over 30 years?

PM: Everything is getting smaller and faster. That’s the key thing—the speeds have increased.

NB: You received your MA in Management from Webster in 1980. How did you happen to select Webster’s program for your master's degree?

PM: In 1979, I worked for Western Electric, which was part of AT&T. One of the company's recommended master’s programs was the Webster program at a place called Fitzsimmons Medical Center in Colorado, where I'm from.

NB: Did the program measure up to your expectations?

PM: Definitely, and I think the reason was that most of the instructors were actually working in a lot of different industries, so you got a lot of different perspectives. The other useful thing they did was make you give a lot of presentations and speak in front of classes constantly. That prepares you for higher-level jobs.

NB: NASDAQ is trying to create greater investor interest in the market. From a connectivity standpoint, how are you able to help that process along?

PM: What we’re trying to do at this point is make sure our networks are as reliable as possible and up all the time. In the future, we aim to deliver networks that are even easier to use and connect to. Today, if you want a connection, we order it in and it’s easy to do, but in two years, it will be even easier—basically, an overnight type of thing. So we’re trying to get NASDAQ to the point where we have even more flexibility in what we deliver. Those are the areas we’re focusing on: new functionality, flexibility and participant connectivity.

NB: Our theme for this issue of NotaBene is communication and the importance of it for business professionals. You’re very well spoken and seem to be able to convey technological concepts in a simple fashion, which isn't always the case for people in your field. Does communicating come naturally, or have you had to work at it?

PM: A lot of times you can’t shut me up! But when I first went to Webster, I was really kind of a techno geek—pocket protector, the whole thing. I mean I lived and breathed computers—worked on them all the time. One of the things that the master’s degree from Webster really helped me with was expanding my horizons, trying to see a different way of communicating and getting the message out to other people. Like in the case of this new network, I’ve probably given 20 or 30 presentations to multiple groups of people. You have to really understand your audience because your audience changes. You also have to be able to sell your ideas. With enough money and time, you can do anything. The challenge is selling your ideas to upper management so they understand the benefits to the company and why they should want to do that.

NB: So has your own portfolio fared any better since you’ve been a NASDAQ employee?

PM: Not really. I moved it all over from Galileo, and I’ve just kind of sat on it and not done anything stupid with it.

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