The next step? Upgrade the company's systems and applications. “Meadowbrook is really a hybrid of product offerings,” Spring says. “There's not just one solution that is applicable for each department. So, we divided the business into buckets and began implementing applications that were appropriate for each area.”

For example, for its commercial lines business, the company implemented INSTEC's QuickSolver to improve rate quoting and policy issuance. For its self-insurance groups and public-entity programs, Meadowbrook installed ConceptOne, a policy issuance and claims system from Epic-Premier Insurance Solutions. The company also upgraded its data repository and billing system.

To improve claims processing throughout the company, Spring and his team replaced three legacy systems with CS STARS, a claims system developed by Marsh Client Technologies.

To address integration issues, the company implemented Adeptia BPM Server, a business process management system that combines disparate data and software applications within the company and across business partners. Such integration will be particularly beneficial as Spring and his team begin combining Meadowbrook's systems with those from Columbus, Ohio-based ProCentury Corporation, which the company acquired in 2008.

“Every acquisition brings its own set of legacy systems,” Spring says. “We won't use the systems we've implemented at Meadowbrook exclusively; we'll use what makes the most sense.”

For example, Spring plans to implement ProCentury's front-end portal as well as its data warehouse and ImageRight applications throughout the company. Other older, home-grown systems from ProCentury will be phased out in favor of Meadowbrook's systems. Spring expects the entire IT integration process to take several years.

In addition to working on integration projects, Spring and his team will continue to implement thin-client technology throughout the organization to help lower costs and improve efficiency. About 85 percent of Meadowbrook's PCs will be replaced with thin-client devices by the third quarter. So far, Spring says this environmentally friendly and progressive technology has helped the company decrease the number of help-desk calls by 80 percent and lower electricity bills in some departments by 35 percent.

The IT department also will finish converting Meadowbrook's network infrastructure to a VoIP system by the end of this year as well as revamp the company's intranet.

In 1987, Spring moved to the Boston area and held management positions at American Mutual Insurance Companies and ISI Systems, Inc.

In the early 1990s, he and two colleagues founded TPA Associates, Inc., a program administration company for workers' compensation self-insurance groups. Meadowbrook acquired the company in 1999, and Spring stayed on to help with the integration. In 2004, he was promoted to his current position.

“Of my 33 years in the insurance business, running an IT department is by far the most challenging experience because there are so many demands from so many different realms,” Spring says. “You have to look at everything–from hardware needs to new technologies. And you have to be flexible and know how to solve problems quickly.”