Johnson Goes Global

The insurance industry has been both slow to pick up on technology trends and tolerant of technology initiative failure, but it can't afford to stay the course, opines Judy Johnson, a former Sapiens (Research Triangle Park, N.C.) executive and META Group (Stamford, Conn.) analyst who recently made the move to India-based IT services provider Patni Computer Systems. Among Johnson's reasons for joining Patni is that she believes insurers cannot meet current challenges without sourcing options.

"In an age in which the insurance industry faces increased regulatory scrutiny and pressure to streamline business, handle multiple channels and deliver in 24/7, real-time mode, there's no way to tackle this problem other than globally," she says.

Johnson, who will serve Patni as principal solutions architect, says another factor in her decision to work for the firm was the presence of Larry Amundsen, former principal and director, Strategic Partners (Potomac, Md.), and John Pierce, former VP of the insurance strategic business unit for EDS (Plano, Texas), both of whom also joined Patni as principal solutions architects.

Anthony O'Donnell has covered technology in the insurance industry since 2000, when he joined the editorial staff of Insurance & Technology. As an editor and reporter for I&T and the InformationWeek Financial Services of TechWeb he has written on all areas of information ... View Full Bio