CIO Enterprise sat down with Retired Col. Edwin L. Rosane, president and CEO of USAA Life Insurance Co. in San Antonio, Texas. That really brought home to me how important it is to have systems that let you create and market new products fast, particularly since people want things more quickly these days. The final story here is that we went out and built a new system that lets us add new products without even having to call in the IS department. I'm not trying to be mean, but at many companies there are a lot of folks high up who'd just as soon not think about systems and all the joys and worries that come with that responsibility. I think that's a mistake.
Senior executives ought to be up to their eyeballs in technology.
They need to make sure that IS is doing what the business needs it to do. Before you spend money it's important to know what technology can and cannot do so you're not wasting a lot of money and time sending people out trying to do the impossible. I like to be on the leading edge of the second wave. I like to let other companies discover what new technology can and can't do and then take advantage of what they've learned. I have a leg up here because back in 1971 or 1972 the Air Force decided I ought to go back to school, and I got specialized training in computer science.