CV German Retana - Georgia Tech - Georgia Institute of Technology

Georgia Institute of Technology
Scheller College of Business
800 West Peachtree NW
Atlanta, GA 30308
EDUCATION
German Retana
August 2013 Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA.
(expected) Ph.D. in Information Technology Management.
May 2008 University for International Cooperation, Costa Rica.
Master’s Degree in Project Management. Based on PMI Standards.
�german.retana@scheller.gatech.edu
+1 (404) 894-4376
http://germanretana.net
@germanretana
May 2005 INCAE Business School, Costa Rica.
M.B.A., with distinction. Concentration in Industry and Technology Management.
December 2004 HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management, Germany.
Exchange student of MBA program. Ranked 1 st among exchange students.
November 2002 Costa Rican Institute of Technology (ITCR), Costa Rica.
B.S. Computer Engineering. Honor Graduate.
A.S. Superior Computer Technician. Honor Graduate.
DISSERTATION
Title: Technical Support and the Demand for Cloud Infrastructure Services:
The Role of Service Providers
Short Abstract: My dissertation examines how providers can use technical support as a mechanism to influence
firms’ demand for IT services that involve non-trivial barriers to implementation. By analyzing
unique nanodata on cloud infrastructure services consumption, I find that the knowledge
transferred to firms through technical support has an economically significant influence on their
demand for the service by enabling them to make better use of the service (e.g., use its advanced
features). I extend these results by exploring complementarities with firms’ internal capabilities
and the rate of knowledge depreciation. I also investigate the influence of early proactive technical
support (i.e., provider-initiated knowledge transfers immediately after adoption of the service) on
customers’ capabilities in using the service. I study the short-run and long-run effects of such
support on customer spending, demand for further technical support, loyalty and satisfaction.
Dissertation Committee:
Dr. D.J. Wu (co-chair), Dr. Chris Forman (co-chair), Dr. Sridhar Narasimhan,
Dr. Marius Florin Niculescu, Dr. Sandra Slaughter, Dr. Ramnath K. Chellappa.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Economics of information systems, cloud computing, service co-production, business analytics.
SCHOLARLY ACCOMPLISHMENTS
A. Submitted Journal Articles and Working Papers
1. Retana, German, Chris Forman, Sridhar Narasimhan, Marius Florin Niculescu, and D. J. Wu, “Technical
Support and Service Demand: Evidence from the Cloud,” under preparation for second round review at
Management Science (Special Issue on Business Analytics).
2. Retana, German, Chris Forman, and D. J. Wu, “The Value of Early Proactive Technical Support: Short-
Run and Long-Run Effects in the Cloud,” research in progress.
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3. Retana, German, Sridhar Narasimhan, Marius Florin Niculescu, and D. J. Wu, “When Should Providers
Offer Vendor-Managed Support for Enterprise IT Services?,” working paper.
B. Publications in Refereed Conference Proceedings
1. Retana, German, Chris Forman, Sridhar Narasimhan, Marius Florin Niculescu, and D. J. Wu, “Technical
Support and IT Capacity Demand: Evidence from the Cloud.” Proceedings of the 33 rd International
Conference on Information Systems (ICIS). Orlando, FL. December 2012.
C. Conference and Workshop Presentations
1. Retana, German, Chris Forman, Sridhar Narasimhan, Marius Florin Niculescu, and D. J. Wu, “Technical
Support and IT Capacity Demand: Evidence from the Cloud.” 33 rd International Conference on
Information Systems (ICIS). Orlando, FL. December 2012.
2. Retana, German, Chris Forman, Sridhar Narasimhan, Marius Florin Niculescu, and D. J. Wu, “Not all
Cloud Users are Equal: Who Benefits from Technical Support?,” INFORMS 2012 Annual Meeting.
Phoenix, AZ. October 2012.
3. Retana, German, Chris Forman, Sridhar Narasimhan, Marius Florin Niculescu, and D. J. Wu, “Providers’
Technical Support, IT Capacity Usage and Architecture Complexity: Evidence from the Cloud,” 2012
Atlanta-Athens Conference on Research in Information Systems (AACRIS). Atlanta, GA. March 2012.
4. Retana, German, Chris Forman, Sridhar Narasimhan, Marius Florin Niculescu, and D. J. Wu, “Providers’
Technical Support and IT Capacity Usage: Evidence from the Cloud,” Poster, 2012 Winter Conference on
Business Intelligence. Snowbird, UT. March 2012.
5. Retana, German, Sridhar Narasimhan, Marius Florin Niculescu, and D. J. Wu, “Cloud Usage: Role of
Scalability and Online Technical Support,” Poster, Workshop on Information Systems and Economics
(WISE) 2011. Shanghai, China. December 2011.
6. Retana, German, Sridhar Narasimhan, Marius Florin Niculescu, and D. J. Wu, “Measuring the Value of
Cloud Scalability and Technical Support,” INFORMS 2011 Annual Meeting. Charlotte, NC. November
2011.
7. Wu, Tianshi, Sandra Slaughter, Chris Forman, Sridhar Narasimhan, German Retana, and Sebastian Urbina,
“Diversification versus Specialization in Learning after Information Systems Implementation,” 2011
Academy of Management (AOM) Annual Meeting. San Antonio, TX. August 2011.
8. Wu, Tianshi, Sandra Slaughter, Chris Forman, Sridhar Narasimhan, German Retana, and Sebastian Urbina,
“Learning and business value of information systems: The case of customs automation system
implementation,” Workshop on Information Systems and Economics (WISE) 2010. St. Louis, MO.
December 2010.
D. Invited Talks
1. School of Computing, National University of Singapore. Singapore, Singapore. February 2013 (expected).
2. Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia. Vancouver, BC. February 2013 (expected).
3. Krannert School of Management, Purdue University. West Lafayette, IN. February 2013 (expected).
4. Fox School of Business, Temple University. Philadelphia, PA. January 2013.
E. Honors and Awards
1. Nominated by Scheller College of Business for the 2013 Georgia Institute of Technology’s Center for the
Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL) / BP Outstanding Teaching Award, in category of
Graduate Student serving as instructor of record. One student per college per category is nominated.
January 2013.
2. International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) Doctoral Consortium Fellow. 2012.
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3. Recipient of the Ashford Watson Stalnaker Memorial Prize for Student Excellence in the PhD Program,
College of Management, Georgia Institute of Technology. Awarded for excellence in research and teaching
(2 out of 45 students). $2,500. April 2012.
4. Received $1,050 research grant from publicly-traded cloud infrastructure services provider to visit their
offices and collect data for own research. February 2012.
5. Distinction in international MBA program. Ranked 5 th among 69. INCAE Business School, Costa Rica.
May 2005.
6. Ranked 1 st among exchange students. HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management, Germany. December
2004.
7. Honor Graduate, bachelor’s degree. Ranked 3 rd among 250. ITCR, Costa Rica. November 2002.
8. Honor Scholarship for academic performance during 3 consecutive years (GPA greater than 90/100). ITCR,
Costa Rica. From 2000 to 2002.
9. Honor Graduate, associate degree. Costa Rican Institute of Technology, Costa Rica. November 2000.
10. Awarded Gold Medal at National Programming Tournament. Costa Rica. 1999.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
A. Teaching Statement and Interests
In every lecture I give, I ensure that at any point in the session I can tell a student why the knowledge I am
transmitting and the discussions we are having are important for their future and have a direct impact on their
careers. In particular, I leverage on my computer engineering knowledge to explain to students the technical nuances
behind IT-related phenomenon, and then discuss with them their managerial implications. In line with this, I have
designed and taught a Business Data Communications course, in which students learn the ins and outs of computer
networks, and in which I devote various sessions to examine the emerging cloud infrastructure services industry.
Along with cloud computing, I am interested in teaching students about other cutting edge IT applications such big
data (e.g., Hadoop and NoSQL databases) and business analytics.
B. Instructor (full responsibility in preparation, syllabus and teaching)
MGT 4053 – Business Data Communications, Georgia Institute of Technology.
1. Fall 2012. Course rating: 4.84/5.00. 25 students.
2. Fall 2011. Course rating: 4.91/5.00. 34 students.
3. Fall 2010. Course rating: 4.8/5.0. 45 students.
C. Curriculum Development
MGT 4053 – Business Data Communications, Georgia Institute of Technology.
Course with 30 sessions combining textbook materials, industry articles, case studies, guest speakers, and own
cloud computing-related research material.
D. Pedagogical Materials Developed
1. Grigoriou, Konstantinos, German Retana and Frank Rothaermel, “IBM and the Emerging Cloud
Computing Industry,” teaching case study in Rothaermel (2012) Strategic Management: Concepts and
Cases. McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
2. Created and update yearly slide deck for session on Cloud Computing of MGT 6058 – Information
Technology Practicum, MBA-level course taught by Dr. Sridhar Narasimhan. 2009 to 2013.
E. Guest Lecturer
1. MGT 6056 – E-Commerce, Georgia Institute of Technology, 1 session for 2 MBA sections. Gave lecture
on Two-Sided Platforms (50 min) and guided students through simulation game. Jan 19, 2012.
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2. MGT 4057 – Business Process Analysis and Design, Georgia Institute of Technology, several sessions in
undergrad section. Guided students through SAP-based simulation game. Spring 2009.
F. Teaching Assistant
1. MGT 6057 and 4057 - Business Process Analysis and Design, Georgia Institute of Technology (3 times,
MBA and undergraduate sections).
2. MGT 6056 and 4056 - E-Commerce course, Georgia Institute of Technology (5 times, MBA and
undergraduate sections).
SERVICE AND MEMBERSHIP
A. Institutional Service
1. PhD student representative on PhD Committee. College of Management, Georgia Institute of Technology.
2011-2012 Academic year.
B. Journal Reviewer
1. Management Science.
2. Management Information Systems Quarterly (MISQ).
3. Information Technology and Management.
C. Conference Reviewer
1. International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) 2012. Orlando, FL. December 2012.
2. 45 th Hawaiian International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS-45). Maui, HI. January 2012.
3. International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) 2011. Shanghai, China. December 2011.
4. 21 st Workshop on Information Technologies and Systems (WITS). Shanghai, China. December 2011.
5. INFORMS Conference on Information Systems and Technology (CIST) 2010. Austin, TX. November
2010.
D. Volunteer
1. Workshop on Information Systems and Economics (WISE) 2011, Shanghai, China. December 2011.
2. IT Teaching Workshop Georgia Tech, Atlanta, GA, May 2010.
3. International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) 2009. Phoenix, AZ. December 2009.
E. Affiliations
1. Industry Studies Association (ISA).
2. The Institute for Operations Research and The Management Sciences (INFORMS).
3. Association for Information Systems (AIS).
INDUSTRY PRESENTATIONS
1. Cloud Computing Discussion Panel: What will IT infrastructure look 5 years from now? Panelist at event
organized by Georgia Tech MBA IT Club. Atlanta, GA. March 2012.
2. Cloud Economics: A few Ideas to Think About. Presented to members of Cloud Computing Atlanta
Meetup. Atlanta, GA. May 2011.
3. Research Project Overview: Understanding Competition in the Cloud Computing Ecosystem. Presented to
the top management team of The Rackspace Cloud division of Rackspace Inc., San Antonio, TX. January
2010.
4. Cloud Experts Panel. Panelist at CloudCamp Atlanta #2. Georgia Tech Research Institute Conference
Center. Atlanta, GA. October 2009.
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MEDIA COVERAGE
1. “40 under 40 2012: German Retana Solano.” El Financiero, Costa Rica. November 25, 2012.
2. “INCAE Alumni receives distinction for excellence in Georgia Institute of Technology PhD Program.”
INCAE Business School, Costa Rica. May 7, 2012.
3. “College of Management Honors Excellent Faculty, Students and Staff.” Georgia Institute of Technology,
College of Management. April 20, 2012.
INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE
Jan 08 – Jul 08 Consulting Engagements, Costa Rica.
� Peninsula Papagayo (tourism and residential development-related services). Trained 15+ users in SAP
configuration and business processes during 2 weeks.
� Grupo ReRe, S.A. (small automotive parts importer and repair shop). Assisted CEO in designing new
enterprise IT architecture with completely new business processes software and local area network.
Sep 05 – Dec 07 Peninsula Papagayo, Guanacaste, Costa Rica.
SAP Project Leader in tourism and Residential Development-related services firm. Advised general
management regarding the project’s scope and its alignment with corporate strategy. Led development
team conformed by consultants and key users in initial go-live and later expansion phases for the ERP
through complete project life-cycles. Collaborated as liaison between some IT Department’s projects and
the rest of the organization. Collaborated in the design of the IT Department’s Project Monitoring and
Controlling processes.
Jun 04 – Aug 04 MIT Media Lab and INCAE Business School, Los Santos, Costa Rica.
Special project researcher on Market Place of Ideas Project. Project dealt with social networks, rural
development and wireless connectivity. Worked in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media
Laboratory’s Market Place of Ideas project studying the analysis and use of social networks as a driver for
rural development. Documented the region’s social, economic and technological characteristics as base for
future INCAE Business School case studies Installed the first stage of the self-sustainable wireless network
that would cover a 5,000 population village by coordinating the collaboration of the community’s leaders.
Designed and taught a computer workshop for 60 local villagers.
Jul 02 – Aug 03 Atlas Eléctrica Corporation (now MABE), Heredia, Costa Rica.
PERSONAL
IT Project Coordinator at construction and distribution of domestic refrigerators and stoves firms in Latin
America. Analyzed the requirements, designed and started implementation of a regional systems
integration project that centralized the JDEdwards OneWolrd ERP processes using remote computing
technologies throughout 4 different countries. Developed the corporate IT Department’s Strategic Plan.
Coordinated along with the Marketing Department the development and launch of new corporate website.
� Volunteer leader for 6 years for Young Life Costa Rica where I was head of several youth groups 1996-
2002.
� Studied organ and clarinet. Formed part of the National Youth Symphonic Band as Principal Clarinet.
1989-2000.
� Developed own website as hobby at age 14 that won several awards and was mentioned in a Florida
newspaper. 1995.
� Languages: Spanish (native) and English.
� Computer / IT Skills: STATA, SQL, Perl, VBA, SAP.
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REFERENCES
Dr. D. J. Wu
Thomas R. Williams Wachovia Associate Professor
Information Technology Management
Scheller College of Business
Georgia Institute of Technology
800 West Peachtree Street, NW
Atlanta, GA 30308, USA
+1 (404) 894-4364
dj.wu@scheller.gatech.edu
http://scheller.gatech.edu/wu
Dr. Sandra Slaughter
Alton M. Costley Chair and Professor
Area Coordinator
Information Technology Management
Scheller College of Business
Georgia Institute of Technology
800 West Peachtree Street NW
Atlanta, GA 30308, USA
+1 (404) 385-3115
sandra.slaughter@scheller.gatech.edu
http://scheller.gatech.edu/slaughter
Dr. Marius Florin Niculescu
Assistant Professor
Information Technology Management
Scheller College of Business
Georgia Institute of Technology
800 West Peachtree Street NW
Atlanta, GA 30308
+1 (404) 385-3105
marius.niculescu@scheller.gatech.edu
http://scheller.gatech.edu/niculescu
Dr. Chris Forman
Brady Family Term Associate Professor
Sloan Industry Studies Fellow
PhD Coordinator
Information Technology Management
Scheller College of Business
Georgia Institute of Technology
800 West Peachtree Street NW
Atlanta, GA 30308, USA
+1 (404) 385-2064
chris.forman@scheller.gatech.edu
http://scheller.gatech.edu/forman
Dr. Sridhar Narasimhan
Senior Associate Dean
Robert A. Anclien Professor
Scheller College of Business
Georgia Institute of Technology
800 West Peachtree Street NW
Atlanta, GA 30308, USA
+1 (404) 894-4378
sri@scheller.gatech.edu
http://scheller.gatech.edu/narasimhan
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