“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.