"The CIO needs to master the intricacies of business."

FRANK JACKSON
SVP of Health Operations & Technology/ CIO
HealthMarkets

Prior to joining HealthMarkets as Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Jackson served as CIO of Private Healthcare Systems, a leading national health care and cost management firm. He served as VP and CTO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, and served as VP of Technology and Data Center Operations. He earned his MBA from the University of Missouri, St. Louis and holds a B.S. in Computer Science and Accounting from the University of Evansville in Evansville, Indiana.

Challenges in technology to meetenterprise needs in 2013 and expectations.
Our company competes in the healthcare industry and the industry is going through the largest change in its history. The new healthcare law has a large ripple effect on all of the companies in the industry and it will be fascinating to see how the market shifts. The subsequent shifts in our business will put pressure on our IT capability, infrastructure and other technology vendors. The solutions that we continue to focus on include mobile, point-of-sale technologies, and cloud advancements. Speed and agility are paramount.

The areas in business environment where solutions do not yet exist or not up to the mark, and which if existed, would've made job easier.
The healthcare industry foundation is changing rapidly. The requirement to innovate and increase speed-to-market for solutions for the business is demanding but the security, privacy and compliance technologies are not changing at the same speed. This is the same issue with consumerism but in healthcare it is imperative. The second issue is about data. The winners in the new healthcare environment will have a high competency in turning raw data into actionable insights. They will have people, processes and analytic technologies tied to operational processes.

Technology Trends Impacting Enterprise Business Environment
We continue to monitor consumerism of IT especially on how it might affect the buying behaviors of customers of healthcare in the Post-reform world. We are continually looking for efficiencies to fund investments so the evolution of cloud technology in areas of telephony, data and security are important.

My roles and responsibilities as a CIO
The role has changed to much more business-focused and strategic. Technology is central to strategic discussions so three changes have occurred

•The CIO needs to master the intricacies of the business. It is not good enough to only understand the goals and objectives of the business but now I must understand how the business runs.
•The role of CIO has evolved to more translation of strategy into business architecture and technology implications.
•As CIO, we need to continue drive efficiencies that fund IT investments. I can no longer expect the business to completely fund investments without my contribution and efforts. I am of the mindset that I need to generate cost savings to fund IT investments that will in turn increase top line revenue.

Lessons I learned as a CIO that can help you
•As CIO, developing influence within your company is critical. The currency of influence is competency. Don’t forget the little things. I learned that the basic deliverables of the CIO are just as critical to developing influence within the business as the strategic things. While working on the big strategic initiatives, continue to develop influence by meeting the small daily service levels, deliver on weekly milestones and deliver on all promises, even little ones.
•I believe it is critical that CIO’s approach the job with humility. The IT environment has become so complicated so the CIO requires other points of view. It is important to understand that we don’t have all of the answers. It is important to be confident and directive but don’t confuse this withhumility.
•Work to inspire your team through inspired standards and work ethic. Establish high standards.