Jeff Smith

CIO, Suncorp

120821it Jeff Smith

CIO, Suncorp

IF YOU had to describe the key objective behind Jeff Smith's endeavours of the past 12 months it could be summed up in a single word: simplification.

The high-profile chief information officer spent 2012 paring back the technology infrastructure underpinning the financial services firm as he sought to build on the foundations already in place.

A radical shakeup has led to the removal of a range of legacy core systems and the embracing of a cloud-based platform to support new applications.

The objective of the exercise is to create an infrastructure that can be scaled to meet future demand without the need for further large investments. Like his colleagues in other financial firms, Smith also understands the need to be able to be faster to market with new products and services.

A big step in this process was the signing of a contract with Oracle. The software giant has been working with Suncorp on a portfolio of applications that will eventually replace its entire core banking system.

Smith's ranking in the Top 50 most influential list has dropped slightly (from 14 to 19), however the confident and ambitious CIO still oversees a significant IT budget and has the vision and drive to steer Suncorp through its period of change.