(Editor's note: This feature on Joan Falcetta of MetLife isthe fourth of five articles we will post this week on our2011 Insurance IT All-Stars.)

Joan Falcetta has held a variety of positions within the IToperations of MetLife over her 23-year career with the financialservices leader—both on the technical side and in leadershippositions—but of the technical roles the one she loved the most wasthat of a data architect.

“I thought that absolutely was fun—taking technology andactually loving what I did everyday,” she says. “I couldn't believehow much fun I was having designing databases and then the systemsthat use that data. That's kind of geeky sounding, isn't it?”

Falcetta discovered she had an affinity fordevelopment.

“I compared it with sculpture,” she says. “You start with ablock—basically the last program because you never start fromscratch—and you carve it into what you need this time. I loved thatyou could see that happen in front of you. It was just so easy forme to think in two dimensions—rows and columns. Even today, Iprefer data in tables instead of written in text. I haven't figuredout how to think like a cube yet.”

Falcetta currently is a vice president in Technology &Operations for MetLife, responsible for the U.S. Business IT SharedServices organization, which delivers common solutions and servicesacross U.S. Business and in some cases, the enterprise. She alsoserves as the vice-chair of the ACORD Standards Committee.

Falcetta left data behind, for the most part, to move intomanagement in the late 1990s. She has worked in a variety ofleadership positions and has gained an appreciation of thetechnology staff that does the day-to-day work.

“The expectation that we never stop delivering value toour customers and keeping that momentum going is pretty daunting tome,” says Falcetta. “The expectation is that we are trustedpartners, forward-looking, and give the business insight whilesuccessfully delivering on things that have to drive competitiveadvantage. And by the way, they have to be scalable, timely, havequality, and be delivered at the best possible cost.”

For process changes that will affect all of MetLife's U.S.Business IT, Falcetta leverages her own team first to interact withother parts of the IT organization.

“We don't roll out anything unless we've vetted it or piloted itfirst,” she says. “When I present something to my peers, I have agood level of confidence that it's the right thing to do, that it'sbeen working, and has good benefits.”

Many of the challenges insurance IT operations face haven'tchanged, but Falcetta maintains the emphasis on technology keepsgrowing. Those challenges include governance and finding ways todrive operational efficiencies.

“Our business leader for U.S. Business, Bill Mullaney, uses theterm 'create financial capacity.' What he's saying is show me wayswe can invest short term to save money so that we can then investin more growth,” she says.

MetLife also focuses on issues such as legacy systems,regulatory compliance, and customer privacy, according toFalcetta.

“These are issues that we've been addressing for years, but thefocus continues to increase,” she says. “There are newchallenges as well, such as mobility and social media.”

All insurers are trying to figure out how tofit mobile technology and social media into their customer-facingchannels.

“Younger customers have an expectation around mobility. Wehave programs that are focusing on doing more online as well asfocusing on the customers in that basic age group,” she says. “Wehave a rapid underwriting program for term life, which is moving[customers] toward an online experience while also reducing theamount of time it takes to do things. Also, distribution partnerswant to maximize their revenue therefore we need to have us be aseasy as possible to do business with.”

Mobility is creating an easier and more cost effective way ofdoing business, explains Falcetta. The more flexible and innovativeinsurers become in that area the more they become a partner ofchoice to their distribution partners.

“That's a great opportunity for us,” she says. “If you thinkabout auto/home business, the distributors have many choices ofcarriers to pick from and they tend to gravitate toward the carrierthat has the best experience for them.”

Falcetta believes social media and mobility are creating newchannels for insurers.

“Mobility will be table stakes for all of our channels as weenable our partners and customers to do business the way they wantto do business,” she says. “Think about a person 25-years-old andthe only way to buy insurance is through an agent who comes intotheir home. That's totally incongruous for that person. Havingtrusted insurance experts will always be a cornerstone of ourindustry, but we need to provide channel flexibility.”

Falcetta points out she can buy anything she wants on asmartphone, so why not life insurance?

“That's where we need to get to and we have to get there soonerrather than later,” she says.

Another key issue for the industry is the need to reduceoperational complexity, explains Falcetta.

“We need to retire and consolidate systems,” she says. “There isan overarching need to take some of the complexity out of ourenvironment. That goes back to creating the financial capacity todo other things. If we are too busy working to keep the lights on,we might be missing other growth opportunities.”

As she has moved through IT leadership positions, Falcettarecognizes how difficult it is to maintain the technical knowledgeshe developed early in her career.

“It's now a balance among the business focus, the business oftechnology, and the technology itself,” she says. “I have a greatteam of people with deep technical skills that enable me to lookbroadly at the technology, making sure we are moving in the rightdirection, taking advantage of developing opportunities whileavoiding and mitigating risks.”