Kane to lead software group

Jim Kane, a well-known figure in the federal information technology community, is taking a new job as president and chief executive officer of the Software Productivity Consortium.

Kane will take over as head of SPC in January. SPC is a nonprofit group that helps its member companies adopt new technologies to improve profitability.

Until Dec. 8, Kane was the CEO of Federal Sources Inc., a market intelligence and consulting firm that serves the federal IT market. Kane's departure comes just weeks after the Washington Management Group Inc. bought Federal Sources in late October.

"Jim's unparalleled expertise in the federal IT and information systems marketplace, in tandem with his exemplary accomplishments in applying technology to enhance business productivity make him an excellent choice for this position," said Werner Schaer, the consortium's president, who will retire next month but continue to serve on the board of directors.

The consortium's 95 members and affiliates include aerospace and defense providers, systems integrators, other large information systems companies, government agencies and industry-affiliate organizations.

"It's not so much the technology but the management of technology that is the challenge right now," Kane said in a telephone interview with Federal Computer Week.

"The consortium has real value to its clients by helping them manage technology and develop processes to manage technology," he said.

In another appointment, the productivity group named Tushar Hazra as chief technology officer and vice president, technical division. As CTO, he will direct the consortium's technical program. Hazra is an expert in component-based enterprise application development, integration and deployment. Most recently, Hazra was president and CEO of EpitomiOne, an enterprise architecture integrator, AI, and web services provider.