Soboba bets on steady IT leadership as business grows

CIO Steven Nino develops IT to support business expansion with Info-Tech resources

The San Jacinto Valley in southern California is home to the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians. With a rich history and a population of more than 1,200 members, this self-governing tribe manages its own community services, including schools, parks and recreation, a fire department, and law enforcement. It also operates several businesses, including a new gaming resort with a casino, hotel, and golf course, plus growing retail operations.

At the helm of Soboba’s IT department is Steven Nino, who joined the group 15 years ago as a systems administrator. Together, Nino and the IT group have grown over the years, with Nino now in the role of CIO and IT supporting the expanded needs of the Soboba tribal government, its enterprises, and the community. The organization has faced trying times in recent years, as the grand opening of the new Soboba Casino Resort in 2019 was quickly followed by its shutdown due to COVID-19, leading to a new focus on diversifying its economic activities. Throughout the journey, Soboba has relied on an IT group that has risen to the challenge under Nino’s steady leadership. Info-Tech Research Group has kept pace along the way to support this growing IT leader and this growing organization.

Building IT maturity with practical and proven resources

To help his IT department meet the challenge of growth and change over the years, Nino turned to Info-Tech Research Group. The advisory firm’s actionable research and practical guidance have filled a critical gap for Soboba IT. “A lack of formal structures, policies, and procedures was a void that we needed to fill. Our partnership with Info-Tech has helped dramatically – Info-Tech research, templates, and guidance saves me hours and hours of time and helps me to make decisions more effectively,” said Nino. “It’s a great resource that the IT management team and I use on a daily basis.”

These resources were especially beneficial as Soboba navigated uncertainty and urgency when COVID-19 struck and forced the shutdown of its brand-new gaming resort. The IT organization had to ramp up quickly to securely enable many employees working remotely. “We leveraged Info-Tech’s COVID-related resources to expand our security posture and maturity. In fact, we used the lockdown period to make a number of IT improvements and infrastructure and security updates, which put us in a much stronger position when things re-opened,” recalled Nino.

“A lack of formal structures, policies, and procedures was a void that we needed to fill. Our partnership with Info-Tech has helped dramatically – Info-Tech research, templates, and guidance saves me hours and hours of time and helps me to make decisions more effectively."

– Steven Nino, CIO, Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians

Gathering actionable insights on IT performance

As part of the IT maturity journey, Nino has taken advantage of many Info-Tech services, including survey-based diagnostic tools such as CIO Business Vision. The survey allows Nino to ask IT stakeholders insightful questions and use their responses to guide IT improvement efforts and make strategic decisions. “We have used the CIO Business Vision survey to identify gaps and to help with hard discussions about budget and resources. The survey has been a valuable tool to gauge where we need to grow and what steps we need to take – it helped us continuously grow as we opened our new casino resort,” explained Nino.

Comprehensive technology reviews to make faster decisions

As Nino strives to build a mature, strategic IT organization, he has used Info-Tech’s detailed software reviews to make fast, fact-based decisions on technology and vendors. He noted, “Info-Tech’s vendor selection resources are really best in breed. The software reviews save you from spending hours researching solutions, which can be almost immobilizing to the point where you don’t even make a decision. It’s hard to put a number on it, but it can significantly impact value from $200,000 to $300,000 on a budget.”

“Software reviews save you from spending hours researching solutions, which can be almost immobilizing to the point where you don’t even make a decision. It’s hard to put a number on it, but it can significantly impact value from $200,000 to $300,000 on a budget.”

– Steven Nino, CIO, Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians

Supporting strategic goals with expert guidance

To further guide his professional growth and the growth of the department, Nino uses an Info-Tech Counselor membership, which provides a dedicated, seasoned IT executive to help advance organizational and leadership goals. As cybersecurity has become a critical focus for Soboba, the team has engaged in several security-related engagements with Info-Tech and recently added a new Info-Tech Technical Counselor membership to leverage deeper technical support for cybersecurity. “Having a technical advisor from Info-Tech ensures that we continuously push along the path of making our maturity model and cybersecurity posture more effective,” said Nino.

Enabling strategic vision through organizational design

As the team’s responsibilities have expanded to keep pace with Soboba’s growth, Nino wants to ensure that IT is structured effectively. Using an Info-Tech Redesign your IT Organizational Structure workshop, the team recently explored ways to better serve Soboba’s current and future requirements. Nino explained, “We want to ensure that we set up our team to be successful as we continue to see this enormous amount of growth. The changing requirements put more responsibility and strain on IT. We’re trying to build ourselves up to stay ahead of that and be proactive in our approach.”

Charting a steady course for Soboba IT as it grows has earned Nino the trust of tribal leadership. Looking ahead, he remains committed to developing an IT organization that can support initiatives aimed at building a long-term future for the Soboba tribe. “I’ve been blessed to be able to grow the IT department over time, and we are continuing to grow even further.”