Arleene Porterfield
Vice President, Global Information Technology
As vice president of global information technology, Arleene Porterfield is
responsible for the company’s global IT strategy, budget, systems,
infrastructure, and service delivery.
Porterfield joined the National Instruments international sales operations
organization in 1989. After a promotion to global sales operations manager in
1991, Porterfield led many critical projects, including working with NI
cofounder Bill Nowlin on the company’s first ISO audit. In 1998, Porterfield
joined the IT department as the IT applications manager and three years later
was promoted to director of global IT, overseeing the application development
and infrastructure teams.
Since 2001, Porterfield has been instrumental in leading the evolution of NI systems and processes to
support the company’s ongoing growth and worldwide expansion. Her responsibilities have included
leading the IT department’s governance and project prioritization process and establishing and managing
IT teams around the world. One of Porterfield’s most notable accomplishments was her leadership in the
company’s large-scale migration to the Oracle ERP systems in the United States, Europe, and Japan –
one of the most significant IT projects in the company’s 35-year history.
Through her various roles, she gained early exposure to all areas of the company and developed a solid
understanding of the NI vision, strategy, and processes. Porterfield has set high standards for hiring and
developing careers across the global IT organization. She also created the IT Leadership Development
Program to foster career growth and IT staff development.
Porterfield holds a bachelor of business administration in international business and marketing from The
University of Texas at Austin. Porterfield is on the board of directors for Girlstart, a nonprofit organization
with a mission to increase girls’ interest and engagement in science, technology, engineering, and math
(STEM) through informal STEM education programs.