When Mark Franklin "Frank" Jackson first entered the healthcare insurance industry as an IT consultant in the early 1990s, he quickly recognized the enormous potential technology had in helping businesses improve their products and services. "I got into the industry in 1992 and was amazed the use of technology in the health insurance industry lagged the other industries I was familiar with," he says. "I was excited about the many opportunities to introduce IT solutions that would improve top-line revenue and efficiencies."

Since then, Jackson has served in several IT roles at various healthcare insurance companies, helping them leverage technology to automate processes, streamline operations, and reduce costs. Today, as senior vice president and CIO of HealthMarkets, Jackson is helping the company implement tools to support service-oriented architecture (SOA) capabilities and Web-based processes.

Headquartered in North Richland Hills, Tex., HealthMarkets provides health insurance to individuals, families, the self-employed, and small businesses. The company–with more than 530,000 policyholders across 44 states–sells customized products that require flexible platforms to manage an array of configurations. In addition, the carrier sells products through a captive sales agency, which requires sales tools that can support the one-on-one relationships customers value.