During MetLife Inc.'s arduous process last year of converting to a public company, CEO Robert Benmosche told Wall Street investors that the New York-based company would increase its use of technology to reduce expenses and its non-agent workforce by 5%.

When Allstate made its bold move to direct sales, the Northbrook, Ill.-based carrier handed responsibility for the endeavor to one of its most-experienced executives. Steven Groot, an actuary and a lawyer, has been rising through the ranks of Allstate for more than three decades.

Despite huge corporate investments in personal computers, electronic mail and document scanners, the paperless workplace is still a pipe dream. Indeed, the insurance industry in particular is drowning in a white sea of computer-generated documents, customer correspondence and faxes.

Centralizing IT by creating a separate company is a strategy that USAA, Prudential and Kemper have pursued to bring greater financial accountability to their IT operations.When USAA created its technology subsidiary in January 1998, the primary objective for the standalone, for-profit company was to introduce financial discipline to the San Antonio-based organization's procurement of information technology.

Losses and loss adjustment expenses account for 75% of automobile insurers' total costs. Yet carriers invested only $2.5 billion in claims-related technologies in 1999-less than 1% of industrywide premiums.

Three years ago, when Jim Klotz became senior vice president and CIO of The PMA Insurance Group, the carrier's IT assets were purchased and managed in a decentralized environment. Consequently, some of the company's PCs were nearly 10 years old, seven or eight versions of operating systems were installed across the company, and technology assets were accounted for manually.

Whether she is implementing corporate policies to attract and retain skilled technical employees or conceiving better ways to use technology to deliver service to customers, Andrea Anania believes that a business-first approach serves her well.

Can the insurance industry learn lessons from the rise and fall of the Roman Empire?