A focus on delivering consistent client information by implementing a customer/member relationship management system across all sales and service channels has turned around the Independent Order of Foresters which had lost its connection to members and was suffering from an outdated IT infrastructure. Forester president and CEO Michael White reports that the technology has helped the company bring to life their commitment to members and the children’s charities they support, including the Children’s Miracle Network, throughout North America and the U.K.
It has also earned this member-owned 125-year-old insurer the premier award in the customer care category from the Canadian Information Productivity Awards (CIPA) organization.
Claiming to be Canada’s largest information management awards program, the CIPA honoured 22 Canadian firms and marked its own tenth year at an award presentation and banquet in Toronto on Nov. 27.
The Montreal Exchange (Bourse de Montreal Inc.) was honoured in the organizational transformation category. The Montreal Exchange created an automated trading environment for derivatives, building a scalable network of traders and partners to be more competitive in world financial markets.
Luc Bertrand, president and CEO, reports that the Montreal Exchange is the first North American exchange to automate its local outcry trading floor, a very physical presence for 25 years. The transformation, which was completed in December 2001, has resulted in a volume increase of 17 per cent despite the toughest equity bear market. Rosanna Teti, vice-president, Business Solutions and IT, attributes the success of SAM, the Exchange’s automated trading platform, to having strategic business considerations as the primary driver for the solution.
Watch for future IT World Canada coverage on these IT applications.
