Chief information and technology officers (CITOs) know thechallenge of working within an ever-evolving landscape. Tuesday'sCITO Roundtable is built to help them navigate that landscape tomake strategic technology choices that not only empower theircompanies but bolster their own careers.

"Our presenters are all people who have experience in thetrenches," says roundtable coordinator Mary Ellen Freyermuth,director of MIS with the Catholic Mutual Group and an IASAvolunteer with the Executive Education Program. "These are allpeer-to-peer sessions that share insights based on real examples ofhow technology is being applied, the lessons they have learned, andhow those lessons are shaping future decision-making. 

The roundtable kicks off with, "Beyond Keeping the Lights On:Moving Insurance Technology from Maintainer to Strategic Enabler."Moderated by Allstate's Miguel Edwards, the panel of speakersincludes Mike Anselmo, Narragansett Bay Insurance Co.,Andy Scurto, ISCS, Sal Albano, Tower Group Insurance, and DanielNecastro, Allstate.

As insurance IT departments change, the role of the CITO mustadapt, too. This session will explore how executives, by changingtheir tactical, operations-focused mindset, can transformthemselves to become true innovators. "We need to acknowledge that,by and large, IT's role has tended to be more reactive, rather thanproactive," Edwards says. "Being honest with ourselves is thestarting point of changing our vision of IT's role."

It's a transformation that panel members have undergonethemselves. "Our panel includes executives who have been able toget a seat at the table with their business counterparts anddevelop a strong business case for IT," says Edwards.

Closing the Gap

The second session of the morning features author and humanresources executive Ann Rhoades, who is expected to address howinsurers need to close the generation gap by employing multiplegenerations in the workplace along with new ideas, and technologiesin insurance IT.

"Ann is a dynamic, entertaining speaker who brings a uniqueperspective on how not just insurance, but all industries arefacing challenges in recruiting and retaining young workers," sayssession moderator John Dunbar of Atlantic American Corp.

Rhoades is president of human resources consulting companyPeople Ink. Her book, Built on Values, details howcompanies can create winning environments that allow theiremployees and their organizations to thrive.

Her session will explore how to best handle aging workers, aswell as the systems they maintain and on which the companycurrently relies, while simultaneously integrating Gen X andMillenials into the insurance workforce. It will also look at howIT leaders need to prepare for the looming talent shortage, withfewer technology-focused students graduating college and increaseddemand for new technology within the insurance enterprise.

Channel Surfing

Following a luncheon program sponsored by IBM, the roundtablesessions resume with a panel discussion entitled, "Channel Surfing:Evolving Your Distribution Strategies for the Modern InsuranceMarket."

"Insurers have many challenges related to distribution that weplan to explore," says session coordinator Debra Penrod of MMICGroup. "There are legacy distribution models they need to supportand growing demands of both customers and agents for modernchannels that they must satisfy. IT needs to support the channelspectrum and be as flexible as possible."

Unfortunately for budget-constrained IT organizations, creatingand maintaining a multi-channel strategy can be both costly andtime-consuming. The session will explore how insurers can strikethe right balance between innovating and maintaining by driving outinefficiencies in traditional channels, leveraging partnershipswith technology-savvy distributors, and capitalizing onself-service and other models that provide consumers and agentsboth ease of business capabilities untethered accessibility.

The session features presenters who have both experience andperspective on the topic, including: Brian Anderson, editor ofLife Insurance Selling, Julie Stafford of MMIC Group,LIMRA's Sean O'Donnell, Bruce Winterburn of Vertafore, andAllstate's Kelly Coomer.

The day's final session, "Strengthening Your Core: Leave theConsulting to the Consultants," will examine how insurers can bestdetermine how and when to use consultants, solution providers, orintegrators, and when to choose in-house development for coresystems and other development. Session presenters include BillFreitag of Agile Technologies, SECURA's Ernie Pearson, VictorCarneiro of CompSource Oklahoma, and CSC's Ryan Savage

"Technology executives today are dealing with an amazingescalation in the complexity of problems and the solutions neededto address them," observes session coordinator Michael Foerst ofMidwest Employers Casualty Co. "New and emerging technologies alsorequire more and newer expertise to integrate and implement.However, by their nature, most insurers have more insurance expertsthan technology experts. The questions arise of not just whether,but when to retain consultants, as well as how to choose and usethem. Those are the types of questions we will explore in the finalsession."