| | NOVEMBER 20198CIOReviewIN MY OPINIONOPTIMIZING YOUR INVESTMENTS IN TECHNOLOGY BY AVOIDING THE DISTRACTIONSBy Greg Driscoll, SVP, Service Operations & CIO, The Penn Mutual Life Insurance CompanyAs the chief information officer of a national life insurance company, I receive calls every day from an array of technology vendors pitching their own version of "next generation, cutting edge" capabilities coming to "enhance your company's bottom line" or "disrupt the business landscape." These claims are often without any insight into my company's strategic direction, opportunities, or challenges.In other words, most of these claims are baseless, but it does raise the challenge of how to filter out the value-adding investment opportunities from the rest of the noise. Sifting through the countless different vendors, technologies and add-ons is enough to give one whiplash.As eye-catching as they may be, it's imperative to avoid the distractions and not get bogged down in solutions or technologies that do not align with and deliver the needs of your business. Many of these new capabilities will do little to advance long-term business capabilities and objectives. In that light, here are some tips to help you avoid these distractions and ultimately leverage technology to advance your organizational strategy:1. Striking a Balance between Operation and InnovationWith so much new technology hitting the market every day and the incessant drum-beat of the next must have, the temptation to focus solely on the innovation of your organization's capabilities can be difficult to resist. However, this mindset can lead you to neglect the less exciting needs your company relies upon as the backbone of its day-to-day operations. The result of such an approach could lead to a fractured technical foundation and, in turn, stifle your innovation opportunity. Building new capabilities on an unstable operating infrastructure serves no one well. Striking the balance between operating today and investing in tomorrow is essential to any business.Greg Driscoll
< Page 7 | Page 9 >