Executive Closeup
McClintock Poised to Take Next Step at Arch
Running an IT organization for a start-up carrier unbound by legacy systems offers many opportunities, according to Scott McClintock, Arch Insurance's (a subsidiary of Arch Capital Group Ltd., Bermuda; $280.6 million net income) new CIO. Built from scratch in 2002, the specialty P&C carrier's new technology infrastructure is built around its Data Place, a massive central repository. "Starting from here is a nice thing," McClintock comments. But the former vice president of applications also faces challenges in bringing Arch's technology apparatus to the next step in its evolution.
In establishing its technology foundation, Arch had relied heavily on vendors, but its IT organization will now focus on internal development capacity, says McClintock, who adds that aligning business and IT initiatives has required a rigorous review. "We went through a fairly rigorous portfolio management process and determined that we wanted either to put on hold or stop about 50 percent of the work that was going on so that we could better focus our resources," he says.
McClintock will also concentrate on establishing governance processes and redefining communication channels to improve the transparency of IT initiatives to the business and allow for clear accountability. "When we decide to focus on a specific function, there will be clear ownership within the organization, and we can escalate issues and get decisions made by the process owners," he explains. "Everyone in the organization will know that, and if there are issues, they will be business issues, not IT issues."
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