Changing technologies
SKILLS FOR INSURANCE IT

Opportunities in insurance for well-rounded IT pros

"We see IT folks taking their seats at the leadership table, sharing insights with CEOs and making strategic decisions." Margaret Resce Milkint, the Jacobson Group

By John McCormack
Contributing Editor

Danette Purkis manages a programming pool at the Chubb Group in Warren, NJ.

At MetLife, Vinod Kachroo is a VP of IT for individual business lines.

Pushpendu Pal is VP and CTO of Anthem, Inc, a health insurance provider.

IT pros in the insurance industry faced tough times over the last few years, but things are looking up now.

"2003 was the beginning of a great recovery for the industry," says Margaret Resce Milkint, a partner with Jacobson Executive Search, a division of the Jacobson Group human resources services firm. Jacobson works exclusively with the insurance and financial services industries.

"From a historical perspective, the industry had never experienced what we saw in 2002 - such a sudden rise in unemployment coupled with such a steep decline in new job openings. It was a very difficult time," Milkint says. "Luckily, 2003 brought a significant turnaround and many professionals finally began landing good jobs.".

Strategic development
In some ways, the rough period was a blessing in disguise, Milkint observes.

"For a long time IT pros had such abundant opportunities to choose from that they didn't have to think about them too closely. The downturn in the market forced people to reevaluate their career objectives, or even create them for the first time. They were forced to think about their goals and map out a strategy - a career path to pursue.

"There has been a reawakening," Milkint says. "The business world is realizing that IT involves much more than just loading software. A strong partnership with IT is a necessary component of a successful organization.".

For example, IT pros are getting involved in Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, which guards against Enron-style fraud by mandating the documented preservation of financial records. "That intense level of reporting requires IT involvement, and even companies that are not publicly traded are choosing to be Sarbanes-compliant," Milkint notes.

Results-driven players
Insurance companies are looking for "results-driven impact players," Milkint believes. Besides technical skills, they want their IT staffers to be able to communicate, negotiate and strategize.

"The IT pros are being asked to add value to organizations, not just keep the technology running. "Companies like to see job candidates who have an MBA or similar credentials," Milkint says.

Whatever their leadership posture, IT folks are still expected to stay on top of advances in technology. Two of the really hot areas are Web-based technology and information security.

"Further evolution of the IT professional's role will lead to numerous nontraditional opportunities," Milkint adds. "Today's new vision of the IT leader holds unending possibilities for professionals who are ready to reposition themselves and take on the challenge of being seen in a new light.".

Here are the stories of four people who are making the most of their opportunities in the fascinating world of insurance IT.

Pushpendu Pal is a VP and CTO at Anthem
Pushpendu Pal moved through a variety of positions to his current post as VP and CTO of Anthem, Inc (Indianapolis, IN), a health insurance provider.

"The insurance business is going through rapid growth," he observes. "This has renewed the focus on how the IT organization supports growth.

"Growth makes the organization nimble and flexible in responding to the changing demands of the market. The industry needs to develop new products to meet healthcare challenges and the changing regulatory environment. This makes the role for IT leaders challenging, but also satisfying.".

Pal received a BSEE from the Institute of Technology of Banaras Hindu University (Uttar Pradesh, India) in 1987. After graduation he worked for the Tata Consultancy in India.

Then he moved to the U.S. and a job with SuperSolutions Corp (Eden Prairie, MN), a maker of financial software. He went on to the midwest offices of the Dean Witter brokerage, and was CIO of Bank One Financial Corp (Chicago, IL). He earned his 1998 MBA at the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management (Lake Forest, IL).

In 2001 he joined Anthem as a regional IT exec, working with specialty, national services, shared services and strategic products. VP and CTO was the next big step up.

As CTO, Pal is responsible for developing Anthem's IT architecture and direction. His department maintains the technical infrastructure, including the network, servers and data centers. It manages vendors and assets and even contract negotiation.

"What I find most gratifying is anticipating the needs of our customers and delivering solutions that not only meet but exceed their expectations," Pal says.

"This is a growing industry when it comes to IT. The creative challenge is to deploy new solutions to manage growth and meet changing business demands.".

He finds IT roles in insurance "challenging, creative and enjoyable.".

Danette Purkis manages a programming pool at Chubb
In her five years at the Chubb Group of Insurance Companies (Warren, NJ), Danette Purkis has met new technical and business challenges.

"I really enjoy the variety of opportunities Chubb has offered," she says. "The company posts all its open jobs, so it's easy for employees to move as they perceive opportunities. It's great exposure to different technologies as well as the business of Chubb.".

Purkis grew up in Basking Ridge, NJ and received a BS in math and CS from Montclair State University (Montclair, NJ) in 1987. She found a job as a programmer trainee at the Madison, NJ HQ of New Jersey Bell (now part of Verizon). She worked on the payroll system, responsible for mainframe batch and online programs that calculated paychecks and taxes.

In 1992 she completed an MBA with a focus on MIS at Seton Hall University (South Orange, NJ). And she went to work for Chubb.

"I was in the international department. I worked on WINS, a premium, loss, bookkeeping and general ledger mainframe and online system that used DB2," she recalls. "I started as a programmer/analyst and by the time I left that department about three years later I was managing the South American version of the mainframe system.".

She moved to the commercial lines division as a project manager, involved with a three-year rewrite project for an excess/umbrella application. Then she joined the programming resource pool as an engagement manager, responsible for administrative management of the staff. In 2003 she became department manager.

The pool employs a group of application developers who rotate through the IT organization. "As projects go through their life cycles they need different numbers of people at different times. We supply additional programmers, and act almost as consultants," Purkis says.

She finds herself getting involved in the business end of projects. "As a manger, I'm part of the business discussions and need to know about strategy," she notes.

Purkis has a Chinese mother and an Irish father. "I know from my own experience that Chubb does a good job of trying to retain, encourage and promote women and minorities," she says..

Vinod Kachroo is a VP of IT at MetLife
"I love my job because every time there's a new problem I am called on to solve it," says Vinod Kachroo. As VP of IT for individual business lines at the Convent Station, NJ location of MetLife (Long Island City, NY), Kachroo gets into business programs as well as technical ones.

"I support all the technology needs of the new business and underwriting departments," he explains. "I am also called on to support the strategy and execution of the system. The biggest challenge of my job is to react quickly to changing market needs.".

Kachroo has about 100 people on his team. The success of his group, he says, can be traced to its diversity. "I try to create high-performing teams. I strive to make them diverse, because then I am able to draw on the talents of all kinds of people who can bring different ideas and perspective to the table.".

MetLife's active diversity initiatives make that possible. "The company truly takes its commitment to diversity seriously," Kachroo says. "We leverage that diversity to win in the marketplace. All our staff members go through diversity training.".

"My experience as a minority in the IT industry has been good," Kachroo reports. "I've held many different jobs and most of the time I've worked on top projects and challenges.".

Before joining MetLife almost four years ago, Kachroo worked as a consultant or staff member at AMP, IBM, AIG and other companies. He was assistant VP for IT at AIG and IT VP at Prudential Financial (Des Moines, IA).

He grew up in India and earned his 1986 BS in engineering at the Regional Engineering College (Srinagar, Kashmir, India). After graduation he worked at the Aeronautical Development Agency (Bangalore, India), which helped develop India's first light combat fighter jet. "It was a large, complex project that involved organizations all over the world," he remembers.

As a member of the project management team he used a variety of computer systems, including an IBM 3090 mainframe. "The skills I developed landed me my first IT consulting job in the U.S.," he explains.

Kerwin Manuel manages systems at Safeco
Kerwin Manuel has been working in the insurance industry for nearly two decades. Today he's a systems manager in IT ops for the systems implementation group of Safeco Corp (Seattle, WA). The group, he explains, is the single point of entry into the IT ops support organization for implementation and integration of systems.

Manuel didn't start in IT. After he received his degree in economics from the University of California-Irvine in 1986, he took a job at Safeco as a commercial operations unit manager.

In 1991 he moved on, working in premium processing for CNA, as an accounts receivable supervisor for Fireman's Fund and as a customer services team lead at Chubb, all in the Seattle area.

Chubb was developing a new IT system for its underwriting department, and Manuel got deeply involved. "It turned out to be an eighteen-month project, and I found that I really enjoyed the work," he says. "When the project was over I left, got my certification in IT and started looking for IT work.".

He worked as a consultant for a while, and then returned to Safeco where he'd launched his career in insurance. As a systems manager, "I help get applications installed and implemented in the Safeco environment. I order the software and hardware, and then do the testing to make sure it fits our standards," he says.

His wide experience in the insurance industry helps him see the big picture. "The biggest challenge is staying abreast of the technology changes and the business requirements of our customers. But I like the fast pace, and it's good to know that the technology we're deploying fills a real business need. We're solving problems that drive the bottom line, and that's just plain fun!".

Manuel expects plenty of other opportunities to open up for himself and others. "IT is growing quickly in the insurance industry," he says. "Distributed systems are the wave of the future. There's a lot of opportunity for IT in self service for policy holders via the Web.".

Manuel is part of Safeco's corporate diversity advisory group, and likes the opportunities for minorities that he sees in insurance IT. Safeco, for example, "emphasizes growth and financial stability. Diversity of ideas and styles will be needed to reach our goals. This can only be accomplished through a diverse and dynamic workforce.".

D/C

John McCormack is a freelance writer who lives in Riverside, IL.

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