Neal Ruffalo is a prime example that one does not need to bouncefrom company to company to experience new challenges within IT.

Now vice president of IT at ACUITY, Ruffalo began hiscareer 30 years ago at the insurance carrier–then known as HeritageMutual Insurance–right out of college as a programmer trainee. Overthe years, he worked as a programmer analyst, systems architect,team leader, area manager, and director before being promoted tohis current position in 1999. Ruffalo views his longevity at ACUITYas a strong asset.

“Time equates to knowledge and wisdom,” he contends. “You learnas you go, and you learn from your mistakes. One of the key thingsyou discover is you can't do everything yourself. You need a strongteam around you, with people who can fill in areas where you don'texcel.”

And excel the carrier does. Based in Sheboygan, Wisc., ACUITYhas been named on InformationWeek magazine'sInformationWeek 500–a list of companies that are deemed the mostinnovative users of IT–for six consecutive years. Ruffaloattributes these awards to ACUITY's focus on providing real-timesolutions for its independent agents and its build-vs.-buy ITphilosophy.

“IT makes up about one eighth of the company and covers a lot ofareas, but by far our biggest area lies in development,” he says.“When we build, we can customize solutions to give ACUITY'semployees and agents exactly what they want, and that has been ourcompetitive differentiator.”

For the past several years, Ruffalo and his team have focused ondesigning and implementing ASIST, ACUITY's next-generation,Web-based policy processing system. According to Ruffalo, ASIST hasallowed more than 98 percent of ACUITY's personal lines newbusiness and 80 percent of commercial lines transactions to comeinto the company electronically.

“We've put a lot of energy into real-time tools that are Webenabled,” Ruffalo says. “With the help of ASIST, policies areautomatically rated, underwritten, and issued, and a completedelectronic policy is delivered back to the agent withinseconds.”

In addition to upgrading and rolling out ASIST in other lines ofbusiness, Ruffalo expects to focus on three areas within the next18 months: increase the company's online portal pipeline; createtools to improve precision pricing; and develop systems that areavailable 24/7.

“We have a strategic set of projects focused on increasing ourportal pipeline,” Ruffalo explains. “We want to enhance our brandawareness electronically with customers and potentialcustomers.”

As for precision pricing, Ruffalo and his team are developingtools and capabilities that can create a price point tailoredspecifically to an individual.

To better meet customers' expectations, Ruffalo knows he needsIT systems that are available around the clock. “One of the thingsthat keeps me up at night is making sure we have systems that arehighly available and highly responsive,” he says. “You could haveone of the best products out there, but if it takes a system twiceas long to give you the answer you need, then you are setting thestage for losing market share.”

To address this issue, IT developed transaction guidelines forstrategic Web-based applications and is monitoring each one to makesure it meets or exceeds expected performance.

When Ruffalo began working at ACUITY in 1980 after graduatingfrom the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, IT was considered acost center. That changed when now CEO Ben Salzman joined thecompany as vice president of IT and helped IT get a seat at thetable. “Once IT became part of the executive team, collaborationtook a huge step forward,” Ruffalo contends.

Today, ACUITY's enterprise technology committee, which iscomposed of Salzman, Ruffalo, and two business vice presidents,examines every piece of technology and how it fits in with thecompany's strategic goals. In addition, Ruffalo chairs thecompany's project management steering committee, which discussesall projects over a defined size to determine their viability andpriority level.

“IT is really regarded as a key enabler here,” Ruffalo says.“Over the years, my role has progressed from selling the advantagesof technology to problem solving to driving projects and finally topositioning IT as a strategic differentiator.”

Which is just the kind of change one hopes for during the courseof a career in IT.

Sharon Baker is a freelance business writer based inCharlotte, N.C.