- Darryl Lemecha CIO, ChoicePoint
Interview with Darryl Lemecha
- What is your largest technology challenge for 2007?
There are a number of product rebuilds and upgrades occurring in the business units. These are challenging projects that will add key new capabilities to our product set. But the project I am most excited about is our Customer Data Integration project. We are looking to enhance customer service across all of our business units through the creation of a “golden source” datastore and workflow for our customer information. This will allow us to link together all customer data across a customer lifecycle Ð from application to customer support and billing. This will ultimately allow us to anticipate and resolve customer issues before there is any visibility to our customers. - What other organizations are you associated with in your industry?
I am on the Board of GCLA (Georgia CIO Leadership Association); a member of SIM (Society of Information Management), CIPS (Canadian Information Processing Society), and TAG (Technology Association of Georgia). I have been a multi-year auction candidate for WIT (Woman in Technology), multi-year Host for TechBridge’s Digital Ball, member of the Georgia Aquarium Technology Advisory Committee, member of TechLinks Buyer Advisory Forum, and a former Board member of our Home Owner’s Association. I really believe in giving back to the community and try to get involved as much as possible. - What is your favorite reason, besides your career, that you enjoy living in Atlanta?
I grew up on the Canadian Prairies, so anyplace that isn’t ten feet deep in snow in December is a great place to live on my list. More importantly, the city is big, but very friendly. My wife, Karen, and I have met so many great people in the six years we have lived here. The city is big enough that there is always something going on and something to do, but yet it feels like a small hometown. We are really happy to call Atlanta home. - What hobbies do you enjoy in your spare time?
I love building things and music. Most weekends you will find me doing some improvement around our house in Alpharetta. My Dad taught me well and there are few home improvement projects that I haven’t tackled. When I want to relax I play or listen to music. My playing skills have rapidly deteriorated over the years, but I still enjoy a great concert, be it rock, jazz, or country. - What new types of technology do you see arising for the future and specifically for the Atlanta market?
There are several emerging technologies that are exciting. I think the SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) and the related SOA (Service-Oriented-Architecture) will continue to evolve. Every business has some work going on in this area, including ChoicePoint. I see the evolution as being gradual, no big peak of work like the transition to client-server or web-based application. Secondly, the security space is really starting to mature. There are many point products in this space, but I expect to see more services based offerings and also more integration to occur. Also, the early Web 2.0 work on federated authentication is interesting. We’ll see if this catches on and if it is practical. Finally, the emerging new payment mechanisms for traditional ecommerce sites and also mobile devices. There are some very interesting players that are finding ways to make the payment experience more convenient for the consumer while simultaneously reducing fraud risk.
