• September 30, 2009

Razorfish has named Ray Velez to fill the newly created position of chief technology officer, with a particular mandate to accelerate the agency's cloud computing efforts.

A 10-year veteran of Razorfish, Velez most recently served as a national discipline lead for the agency's technology practice and consultant for clients including Ford, Conde Nast and the NFL.

In his new role, Velez will report to Chief Innovation Officer Colin Kinsella and guide strategy for client use of technology, with a focus on expanding the use of cloud computing.

Razorfish is increasingly operating its internal systems in the style of public cloud providers, with almost nothing running on a dedicated physical server, according to a CNet article earlier this year. It's also consolidating from 25 data centers down to three.

Razorfish has already employed cloud technology for campaigns such as the "Don't Miss It" game promotion for H&R Block run on YouTube. This approach saved the agency from having to build its own video-hosting infrastructure.

"By developing service-oriented architectures, the Razorfish technology community can provide cost-efficient and scalable services to more clients," said Velez, in a statement. --Mark Walsh