Armed with a strong background in underwriting, an MBA in information systems, and several years of experience, Steve Sitterly jumped at the chance a little more than two years ago to join a fledgling startup insurance carrier and build a flexible, scalable platform from the ground up.
Launched in October 2007 as the U.S. specialty division of Bermuda-based Ariel Holdings, Ltd., Valiant Insurance Group provides specialty property/casualty insurance through agents and brokers. Headquartered in New York, with branch offices in Albany, N.Y., and Atlanta, the company currently employs 44 people. The IT department consists of five full-time staff members.
“The ability to take something from scratch, build it up, and make it your own is a dream come true for everyone in IT,” Sitterly, vice president of IT, says. “We did not have to contend with any legacy issues. We were able to build what we wanted from day one.”
What Sitterly wanted was an IT foundation that could provide a growing insurance company with the same technical functions available at its larger counterparts. To do that efficiently and cost-effectively, Sitterly decided to implement a computing platform that relies on a virtual environment. He deployed VMWare virtual servers to run key applications and purchased Wyse thin-client terminals that allow employees to work remotely from any browser. All processing functions and applications are in a data center in New Jersey.
“Even though we’re not as large as other carriers, we still need to support the same functions from a technical standpoint,” Sitterly explains. “Our virtual environment allows us to install new applications within hours rather than days or weeks. More importantly, it allows our IT staff to be mobile and provide immediate desktop support resolution to all offices at any time. That’s a tremendous benefit to us.”
The technology also is greener, requiring less energy and physical resources, an important consideration for a new company.
Now that Sitterly’s initial priority—set up a technical infrastructure with core policy and claims administration systems—is complete, he’s focusing on helping Valiant leverage that technology to create operational efficiencies and improve decision-making. His objectives for the next 18 months are threefold: improve automation of routine and redundant processes, provide access to data for better decision-making, and enhance overall workflow.
“Insurance companies are notorious for rekeying the same data over and over again,” Sitterly says. “I want to automate the flow of information that passes from one phase to the next to improve efficiency and accuracy and free our underwriting staff to work on more accounts.”
In addition, Sitterly wants to provide Valiant’s management team with the analytical tools it needs to help grow the business.
“Insurance companies are very good at recording and mining data on bound policies on the business they’re writing,” he says. “Where most fall short is recording the data they are quoting but not winning. From an analytical standpoint, we want to provide management with better information so it can make more strategic decisions.”
Additional projects include implementing an underwriting desktop to better manage submission flow and automating Valiant’s rating, pricing, and issuance processes.
Initially, Sitterly did not expect to have a career in IT or the insurance industry. After graduating from Siena College with a bachelor’s degree in economics, he accepted a position as an underwriting trainee at State Farm Insurance.
Sitterly moved up in State Farm’s underwriting division and attended graduate school at SUNY-Albany to earn his MBA. He then joined Liberty International Underwriters in New York, working up the IT ranks to project manager, where he led a variety of system design, development, and integration initiatives.
Sitterly’s understanding of underwriting has proven invaluable in his efforts to build a strong IT infrastructure at Valiant.
“My background in underwriting provided me with the business context that’s the basis for almost every IT initiative we undertake,” he says. “To me, it’s critical [that] support functions within an organization have a solid working knowledge of the core business they support. This is especially true for a startup environment, where you’re implementing the foundation on which the organization is going to grow and build upon over time.”
Sharon Baker is a freelance business writer based in Charlotte, N.C.