1. Indiana University Kelley School of Business 2/12/2004
State Farm Systems
Indiana University
Kelley School of Business
2/12/2004
State Farm® Providing Insurance and Financial Services

2. Insurance Industry is Information Intensive
The leading insurer of homes since 1964 and automobiles since 1942
1 of every 5 autos in the US is insured by SF
Maintaining over 71 million insurance insurance policies in force
An industry highly regulated by state governments – requirements differ from state to state.
The systems we build and maintain are used for storing information and decision making for our 71 million Insurance policies.
Since every state is different, the information we need to make our decisions are also different by state. The way we rate and service our policies is also different for each state. Our systems have to account for all of those differences.
In order to do this we maintain:
One of the world’s largest private networks
Leased connections to our remote offices
Process approximately 1 billion transactions per month
End-to-end connectivity between nearly 150,000 employees at more than 21,000 State Farm locations
State Farm® Providing Insurance and Financial Services

3. State Farm® Providing Insurance and Financial Services
State Farm Systems
Systems is not the business, but the department must understand the business
Essentially, Systems exists to help business partners implement technology and business solutions that serve the State Farm customer.
Technology is on the critical path for future success of our organization.
State Farm® Providing Insurance and Financial Services

4. State Farm® Providing Insurance and Financial Services
Enterprise Network
One of the world’s largest private networks
Leased connections to our remote offices
Process approximately 1 billion transactions per month
End-to-end connectivity between nearly 150,000 employees at more than 21,000 State Farm locations
State Farm® Providing Insurance and Financial Services

5. Systems Key Challenges
Challenges create exciting career opportunities for bright people!
Our challenges include:
Integrating Web-based systems with legacy systems
Pace of emerging technology
Security
Systems Availability
Capacity and scalability
Balancing time-to-market with quality
Skill gaps
End-to-end performance
State Farm® Providing Insurance and Financial Services

6. Systems Department Organization
FSS
Financial Services-Systems DS
Department Services
BIS
Business & Information Systems
DIS
Data & Information Strategies ST
Systems Technology
Systems Executive
SECC
Systems Enterprise Customer
Care
SPD
Systems Project Development
PC&C
Property Casualty & Claims
State Farm® Providing Insurance and Financial Services

7. State Farm® Providing Insurance and Financial Services
Systems Leadership
Systems Executive
Area Heads
Director
First Line Manager
State Farm® Providing Insurance and Financial Services

8. State Farm® Providing Insurance and Financial Services
Types of IS Positions
Hardware Specialists
Interface Design Specialists
Systems Designers
Security Analysts
Database Administrators
Human Factors Analysts
Helpdesk Specialists
Business Analysts
Systems Analysts
Project Managers
Project Planners
Testing Coordinators
Test Environment Analysts
Network Analysts
There are approximately 50 different roles within the Systems Department. 14 of those are shown above.
Of the 5600 systems employees, 13% (680) are Business Analysts.
State Farm® Providing Insurance and Financial Services

9. State Farm® Providing Insurance and Financial Services
Jackie’s Career Path
1989 – 1994
Employed with Family Business
1994 – 1996
Started with State Farm as an Input/Output Operator
1996 – 1997
Programmer Librarian
1998 – 2001
Systems Analyst
2001 – 2002:
Project Planner
2002 – Present
Technical Analyst – Infrastructure Coordinator.
State Farm® Providing Insurance and Financial Services

10. State Farm® Providing Insurance and Financial Services
Business Analyst
Solve business problems through technology
Internal Consultant
Research, define and document business requirements
Understand current and future processes
Liaison between the business users and technical developers
Types of responsibilities for a Business Analyst:
Facilitate meetings
Research existing processes
Explore new technologies
Document solutions
Test and Train users
Communicate Effectively: Via , phone, written communication, or in person. Good communication skills are key to being a successful Business Analyst.
State Farm® Providing Insurance and Financial Services

11. State Farm® Providing Insurance and Financial Services
Systems Analyst
Coding/Training in the following:
NET, Websphere, C#
Java / Visual Basic
Internet technologies (XML, ASP)
Responsibilities include:
Understanding the requirements of the application being built
Assist with application design.
Build the application to match design specifications.
Thoroughly Test Applications.
Coordinate with analysts who are working on interfacing applications.
Service applications (can by a job that requires 24 X 7 availability)
Communications skills are extremely important!
Must be a team player!!
State Farm® Providing Insurance and Financial Services

12. Legacy Systems Development
Legacy Systems 3GL Programming Languages
COBOL
PL/1
Assembler
Integrating Legacy Systems, Web Development, and Network Strategy
Mainframe technologies are not dead.
Many companies are still finding mainframe technology is the best solution for storing and processing massive amounts of data.
State Farm® Providing Insurance and Financial Services

13. Systems Professionals
Enthusiasm – “Can Do Attitude”
Problem Solving Skills
Technical Skills
Communication Skills
Organizational Skills
Work in a Changing Environment
The skills we want to see in all systems professionals.
State Farm® Providing Insurance and Financial Services

14. Advantages of working in Large Corporate IT Shops
Change careers within the same company
Training Opportunities
Flexible travel opportunities
Flexible work arrangements
Business casual attire
The Systems Department develops and maintains all insurance and financial systems at the home office and throughout all 26 operation centers and 3 insurance support centers.
Outstanding Career opportunities. You can use your talents in a variety of ways. If you get tired of your job, you can change to something new without leaving the company.
Flexible start times.
Corporate IT shops support locations across the country and there are opportunities to travel to the other offices or remote locations.
State Farm® Providing Insurance and Financial Services

15. Common Misconceptions
I will sell insurance.
I must have an insurance background.
I can’t move up in a large company.
There are both horizontal and vertical opportunities.
State Farm® Providing Insurance and Financial Services

16. Contact Information
State Farm Insurance Companies
Human Resources Recruiting
3 State Farm Plaza South, K-1
Bloomington, IL 61791
Need More Information? Visit our web site!
State Farm® Providing Insurance and Financial Services

17. State Farm® Providing Insurance and Financial Services
QUESTIONS??
statefarm.com®
State Farm® Providing Insurance and Financial Services