Mafiana tasks IT managers to be innovative, proactive

The Manager for Nigeria and Ghana at NetApp, Mr. Rex Mafiana, has called on Information Technology (IT) Managers, especially in the Insurance sector, to be more innovative and proactive in their adoption of IT tools as the sector becomes bigger.

Mafiana said unlike in other parts of the world where the insurance companies own banks, the reverse is the case in the country, predicting that the future for the sector is bright.

He bemoaned the current over reliance on paper work in the sector, saying data storage and management is very important for prompt and immediate attention to issues on insurance, stressing that storage efficiency requires both hardware and software approaches.

Speaking on Doing More with Less, the benefit of feature – rich unified storage, he identified three stages of IT maturity as, a supplier, aligned with business and competitive differentiation.

“Competitive differentiation looks beyond immediate business needs, considers technology trends and competitive landscape to play proactive role in shaping business strategy,” he said.

Mafiana who was speaking at the Insurance Technology Expo 2009 last week, also said IT infrastructure should be flexible and scalable to support growth.

Speaking earlier the convener of the event and chief executive officer (CEO) of Private Media Mart Limited, Mr. Ejiofor Agada said the desire to help change the business processes in the insurance sector from “its brick and mortar outlook to the 21st century click and buttons age,”
was the motivation behind the expo.

“With our idea to showcase the technologies suitable for the insurance sector and have the proponents explain the inherent advantages and features of their solutions to their target market, as well as using this avenue to discuss and ascertain the future direction of the sector,” he said.

He said the intention of PMM is to recreate the same level of awareness for ICT tools in the insurance sector as was achieved in the banking sector in the late 90s.

Tagged, E-insurance: Issues and expectations in a growing economy, the event, he said, has introduced the award component to recognize industry movers and propel others especially at chief executive level to make them interested in ICT adoption in the insurance sector.

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