Before everything became electronic, I was what was known as an ink-stained wretch. I loved the feel of newsprint in my hands. I also loved the romance of journalism. My favorite movie about “the press,” as it used to be known, is Deadline USA starring Humphrey Bogart as the tough-as-nails editor.

It's not a great movie, but it certainly is a guilty pleasure whenever I stumble across it. “That's the press, baby,” is one of the final lines of the movie as Bogie tells the gangster (played by Martin Gabel) that his newspaper—on its final day of publication, no less—is going to print the story about Gabel and Bogie doesn't care if Gabel sends his henchmen to kill him. (Thank goodness Idon't have to write about gangsters.)

I'm occasionally mystified that some observers give the media credit (or blame) for holding some magical power over readers. I was reminded of this in an article I wrote for the December issue of Tech Decisions.

Robert E. Nolan Co. analyst Gerald Shields believes magazines such as Tech Decisions sometimes are to blame for misguided IT projects. As an example, he explained that a CEO might read an article about a hot new technology while on a trip and then return to the office and pass on the limited knowledge he picked up in a 2,000 to 3,000 word article to the CIO.

“I think periodicals drive a lot of IT strategy,” says Shields. “The CEO gets on the plane and reads about neat things and those then become strategic projects for IT.”

The CIO—depending on hisstanding with the boss—will either get started on a new project or worry about his status at the executive table.

While it's nice to think magazine editors and bloggers have some influence, it's important to remember the difference between the hype and the reality of technology.

We've written extensively in the past 12 months about mobile technology and social media. If the subject of the article wasn't specifically aimed at those two areas, certain aspects of those technologies invariably found their way into the story.

Shields argues that CIOs have to fight through the pressures outside forces place on them to follow the hype, stick to their guns (maybe there are some gangsters among the CIO force), and focus on what is most important for the enterprise.

Shields and many others—including journalists—feel the most important issue for the industry in 2012 remains legacy modernization and insurers with aging systems need to focus their attention where it will have the most impact.

“Few companies are going to be shut down because they screwed up the social media strategy,” says Shields. “They may not realize some of the benefits [of social media], but a company that screws up its legacy modernization strategy can put itself at risk.”

I'm quite certain we will write multiple articles in 2012 about social media and mobile technology—probably more than we'll write about legacy modernization—but that doesn't necessarily make them the most important issues insurers need to address.

Face it, legacy transformation has been on the board for the last decade and may not ever disappear from the discussion. Is it sexy and exciting—particularly for the CEO? Hardly, but core solutions are the heartbeat of the industry. So the next time your CEO heads out on a trip, make sure he has copies of the dozens of core solutions articles we've also been writing about. You can thank me later.

Special Reports /

The Power of the Press

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