Chief information and technology officers (CITOs) know the challenge of working within an ever-evolving landscape. Tuesday's CITO Roundtable is built to help them navigate that landscape to make strategic technology choices that not only empower their companies but bolster their own careers.

"Our presenters are all people who have experience in the trenches," says roundtable coordinator Mary Ellen Freyermuth, director of MIS with the Catholic Mutual Group and an IASA volunteer with the Executive Education Program. "These are all peer-to-peer sessions that share insights based on real examples of how technology is being applied, the lessons they have learned, and how 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 speakers includes Mike Anselmo, Narragansett Bay Insurance Co., Andy Scurto, ISCS, Sal Albano, Tower Group Insurance, and Daniel Necastro, Allstate.

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

It's a transformation that panel members have undergone themselves. "Our panel includes executives who have been able to get a seat at the table with their business counterparts and develop a strong business case for IT," says Edwards.

Closing the Gap

The second session of the morning features author and human resources executive Ann Rhoades, who is expected to address how insurers need to close the generation gap by employing multiple generations in the workplace along with new ideas, and technologies in insurance IT.

"Ann is a dynamic, entertaining speaker who brings a unique perspective on how not just insurance, but all industries are facing challenges in recruiting and retaining young workers," says session moderator John Dunbar of Atlantic American Corp.

Rhoades is president of human resources consulting company People Ink. Her book, Built on Values, details how companies can create winning environments that allow their employees and their organizations to thrive.

Her session will explore how to best handle aging workers, as well as the systems they maintain and on which the company currently relies, while simultaneously integrating Gen X and Millenials into the insurance workforce. It will also look at how IT leaders need to prepare for the looming talent shortage, with fewer technology-focused students graduating college and increased demand for new technology within the insurance enterprise.

Channel Surfing

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

"Insurers have many challenges related to distribution that we plan to explore," says session coordinator Debra Penrod of MMIC Group. "There are legacy distribution models they need to support and growing demands of both customers and agents for modern channels that they must satisfy. IT needs to support the channel spectrum and be as flexible as possible."

Unfortunately for budget-constrained IT organizations, creating and maintaining a multi-channel strategy can be both costly and time-consuming. The session will explore how insurers can strike the right balance between innovating and maintaining by driving out inefficiencies in traditional channels, leveraging partnerships with technology-savvy distributors, and capitalizing on self-service and other models that provide consumers and agents both ease of business capabilities untethered accessibility.

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

The day's final session, "Strengthening Your Core: Leave the Consulting to the Consultants," will examine how insurers can best determine how and when to use consultants, solution providers, or integrators, and when to choose in-house development for core systems and other development. Session presenters include Bill Freitag of Agile Technologies, SECURA's Ernie Pearson, Victor Carneiro of CompSource Oklahoma, and CSC's Ryan Savage

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

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Insurance Technology Leaders Share Lessons at IASA Roundtable

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