Q&A with Paul Butka, president of Sophelle
Photo/Christina H. Davis
Paul Butka, President, Sophelle, Framingham
By the time Paul Butka was in the fourth grade, he was already learning how to apply price stickers to cans of vegetables at his father’s Marlborough store, Chicago Beef. He applied those early childhood lessons as CIO of Framingham-based TJX Cos. and its predecessor Zayre Corp. He presided over immense growth at TJX, and witnessed the fallout from the 2007 data breach at the company, which exposed credit card information of millions of TJX customers. Butka left TJX in 2009 and started working as an independent consultant. But in April, he joined Framingham-based Sophelle, a 50-person retail IT consulting firm, as president. Here, he discusses his new role at Sophelle as well as the lessons he learned from the TJX data breach.
>> How did you end up working in IT?
When I graduated from college, it was December of 1973 and 1974 was at least as severe a recession year as 2009 or 2010. Unemployment in Massachusetts was double digits and it was virtually impossible to get a job. I earned a living as a substitute teacher in the Marlborough school system but then learned of an opportunity to work in the computer room of Zayre Corp. in Framingham part-time. Then the people at Zayre just started promoting me.
>> You’re the president here at Sophelle. Is that a new position for the company?
There was a president and CEO, but it was the founder, Doug Weich. He hired me as a subcontractor after I left TJX in November 2009. As we worked together for a while, it became very clear that one of the things preventing Sophelle from getting bigger was that he was so invested in his existing accounts. He needed somebody to help him, so we crafted the position of president.
>> What are your key responsibilities?
I’m trying to free Doug up and frankly, it almost doesn’t matter what I free him up from. Beyond that my non-compete with TJX has expired. My newfound availability will hopefully bring some more clients to the table that might be interested in having me work their account for a while or manage a team that’s focused on their account. There’s a sales and business growth component of what I’m responsible for as well as helping to manage the existing teams and the existing accounts that are out there.
>> How much do you think your experience of working at your father’s store allowed you to succeed in retail?
I just felt comfortable with the concepts of retail. I remember every Sunday night watching my father sitting at the kitchen table filling out the order sheets to restock the shelves for the following week. I was always looking over his shoulder. Almost through osmosis, it gets to you.
>> What new technology is coming down the pike for retailers?
There’s a lot of buzz in the industry about mobile payment technology — people using their cellphones in lieu of a credit card.
>> What did you learn from the data breach at TJX?
I’ve learned an awful lot about the payment card industry’s data security standards. It’s kind of a core competency of Sophelle now. We can provide retailers that sort of extra help. It was probably the thing that kept me the busiest when I was an independent consultant. By the time I left TJX, we had given thought many, many times to every possible aspect of credit card security and data security. It’s just becoming bigger and bigger with all the different privacy laws. It’s a growing business for consultants.
>> At the end of day, is any of our data really safe?
There are things that can be done to keep data safe, but I think the one point that comes across loud and clear is even if you’re secure today, if you stand still, you’re not secure tomorrow.
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>> What makes Sophelle unique?
We have a pretty unique compensation model for the people we call practice leads, who actually are managing the accounts. We compensate them for their time, but they also get additional compensation for each new engagement they bring on board. For the hard-working practice leads that can drive a lot of new business for us, they can make out very, very well.
>> What have you learned from being on the buyer side versus being on the consultant side?
There's always the issue of people getting back to you. They know you're trying to sell them something or to establish a connection. You have to know that you're one of God knows how many people clamoring for their money or their time or their attention. It can be an easier or harder lesson to learn depending on how much you let it get to you. You just have to know it's going to happen.
>> What's that going to do to retailers?
They'll have to adjust their systems to adopt. They'll also have to figure out which technology is going to be the prevalent one. There are multiple technologies out there. Nothing has risen to the surface as being the one that's going to trump all others.
>> What's the toughest management lesson you've had to learn?
When you're in retail, one of the things that you learn one way or another is that you have to keep the lights on and you have to keep the stores open. You have to satisfy your operational needs first, and then you can worry about evolving the business. That can be a hard-learned lesson.
>> What about on the people side of management?
I think it's learning to let go and trust and empower your employees. There are lots of times when I know I can do this thing better than my subordinate's doing it, but they'll never get good at if I keep going in and doing it for them. You have to trust that you put the right people in the right place and then give them the chance to succeed or fail. And be there to quickly pick them up and help them out.
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