When it comes to talent, the enterprise IT world is a lot like Major League Baseball: Even the people at the bottom of the ladder are still way more talented than the rest of the world.
Still, there are certain types of enterprise tech skills that are hard to find, and they're not always technical ones.
Some people are visionaries, others are diligent researchers. Still other people possess the kind of wisdom that only comes from years and years of battling with other tech vendors. They know how the game is played.
Exceptional leaders have a way of standing out no matter what their backgrounds. And companies work hard to poach them from competitors. Here are some of the biggest enterprise hires of the last 12 months.
T.K. (‘Ranga’) Rengarajan, Microsoft
Joined: May 2013
Title: VP of development for the data platform group in Microsoft’s Server and Tools Business
Previous Company And Role: He spent the past three years at SAP overseeing business analytics and HANA, SAP's in-memory database, a type of super-fast database that can store data and analytics on it at the same time.
Game Changing Skills: He's previously led tech teams at CA, which he joined through its acquisitions of Wily and Timestock. He's also worked at Sybase and networking and wireless startups. He's a co-inventor of 6 database tech patents.
Mike Nash, HP
Joined: January 2013
Title: VP of product management for consumer PCs
Previous Company And Role: He spent most of the past three years as a VP in Amazon's Kindle unit. Before that he worked at Microsoft for more than 18 years, and was corporate VP of Windows Platform Strategy when he left.
Game Changing Skills: He's got a diverse background: He was the first product manager on the Windows NT marketing team, and he also headed up Microsoft's security tech unit. Nash was also in charge of Windows during the Vista debacle, so he's used to operating under pressure. And with the consumer PC market tanking, he'll face no shortage of it at HP.
Kristin Paget, Apple
Joined: September 2012
Title: Core OS Security Researcher
Previous Company And Role: Has previously worked in security roles at eBay, Google, and IOActive, as well as independently as a consultant.
Game Changing Skills: Formerly known as Chris Paget, she's an ethical hacker who's an expert in Windows security issues. She was part of a small group of elite hackers Microsoft hired to help make Windows Vista secure, Wired's Bob McMillan reported last December. With Apple becoming more of a target for hackers, she's part of a team working to keep Apple products safe.
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