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Deborah Smallwood

Founder

Deb is highly respected throughout the insurance industry for strategic thinking, thought provoking research, and advisory skills. Insurers and solution providers turn to Deb for insight and guidance on business and IT linkage, IT strategy, architecture, and eBusiness. Those seeking an edge in today's highly competitive world turn to Deb to capitalize on her deep industry knowledge and experience and her specialized understanding of distribution and underwriting automation.Deb has held leadership roles in premier insurance companies, professional services firms, and research advisory organizations, where she consistently demonstrated the ability to find new ways to leverage technology to achieve optimal business outcomes. Her skill set includes linking business strategy to IT strategy; development of business and IT road maps; selection, shaping, and delivery of enterprise/core solutions; and implementation of right-sized governance models.Prior to founding SMA, Deb served as Chief Transformation Officer for Insurance Company of the West (CIO) where she was recruited to deliver as much IT functionality to the business operations as possible in the least amount of time. Deb led company-wide change that included developing and integrating the corporate business strategies into 5 Strategic Initiatives. Before joining ICW, Deb launched and served as Managing Director of TowerGroup's Insurance Research & Consulting Practice. As a Partner at KPMG LLP, she launched an IT consulting practice specializing in the assessment and management of IT risks. She began her career at Liberty Mutual, where she directed a variety of large-scale system development projects and rose to leadership of the commercial lines application development group.Deb's expert opinion and counsel is in demand by press, clients, and major industry events. She is a frequent contributor to leading insurance trade journals and has been a keynote speaker at major conferences such as ACORD/LOMA Forum, NAMIC, ISOTECH, and IASA. Deb is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire with a B.S. in Business Administration.