Elite 8 2009: Where Are They Now?

BS&T catches up with some of last year's Elite 8 honorees to see how the improving economic outlook is influencing their responsibilities and priorities.

A Modern Image: Francisco DeArmas, EVP and CIO, Whitney Bank (Harahan, La.)

I'm still responsible for all of the technology and back-office operations, both information and physical security, as well as business continuity. Last year, we were in the middle of a program to totally modernize our systems infrastructure and applications and processes. We're going like gangbusters on that this year. We've deployed several major components and implemented Oracle Peoplesoft for financials and human resources as well. We've recently finished putting in Data Support Systems' (Omaha) T.R.I.P.S. (Touchless Return Item Processing System), image-enabling our Day Two operations. This makes the entire bank image-enabled, which is a major milestone for us.

Most of my discretionary time is spent on regulatory changes. The regulatory environment continues to be challenging, and keeping up with it from a systems and a process point of view keeps us very busy.

Peggy Bresnick Kendler has been a writer for 30 years. She has worked as an editor, publicist and school district technology coordinator. During the past decade, Bresnick Kendler has worked for UBM TechWeb on special financialservices technology-centered ... View Full Bio

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