Alan MacLamroc is the chief technology officer for the new, strategic businesses at CompuCredit, an information and technology-driven provider and direct marketer of branded credit cards and related fee-based products and services offered to prospective customers on an unsecured basis. TPAtlanta was interested in gaining further insight from a real industry insider. Read on for the interview.

Q: What are some of the biggest issues facing the transaction processing industry today?
A: The first thing that jumps out is security - protection of our data and networks. I believe it's possibly our most critical issue and something that we keep in the forefront of everything that we do.

Q: How is CompuCredit addressing these challenges?
A: We have brought a chief security officer on board in the past year to address our entire strategy around security. I inherited a lot of existing applications and technology - so we are first assessing all of that technology for any kind of security vulnerability and making sure that none exists. But in order to fully address the security issue, we have a three-fold strategy: first, we are assessing the current technology portfolio, particularly the networks and their applications. Second is training - as we're building, we're going to train everyone who is involved in our development in appropriate security practices. And third, we're building a new platform - to build in robust security. I consider this our most important responsibility - not only to our customers, but also to our shareholders.

Q: What are examples of innovations CompuCredit is doing in the transaction processing industry?
A: We are building a comprehensive, service oriented architecture-based platform for our products and services that will support our strategy of diversification and acquisition. That technology platform will not only provide our services, but also support our strategy, and help to fuel our rapid growth. Essentially the core expertise of our company is risk analysis. As a result, we have an industry-leading capability to evaluate risk based on modeling and technology. And we use that expertise to provide products and services at the lowest cost to our customers, while effectively managing the risk to our shareholders.

Q: Where is the transaction processing industry headed, and how do you see CompuCredit fitting into that direction?
A: With increased build-out in the telecom market, added Web-based interfaces and applications, I believe more customers, specifically those who have been underserved to this point, will be able to access that capability. And this is a market that CompuCredit hopes to serve with our growing line of products and services.

Q: What are the top three things you have learned about this industry?
A: Well, I can tell you the two most important things. The first is that in order to provide effective, secure end-to-end solutions, you have to have cohesive partnerships. And then, I think it's very important that you continually evolve your delivery capability for your services and products to take advantage of new advances in technology and platforms so that you can provide business value with the technology.

Q: What has been your favorite project during your tenure at CompuCredit?
A: I thought my first job was to build a team of world-class people. To me, that was a project - a personal project - to build a team of great people to address the challenges that we have and I think we've done a tremendous job. I've inherited some great people, and then we've hired some world-class folks. To me, that's extremely fun and very rewarding.

Q: What book you would recommend to others, and why?
A: Consilience by Edward O. Wilson. He's one of our most preeminent scientists and he has won two Pulitzer prizes. This book is his attempt to present a unified view of knowledge, tying science and physics and biology together with the other sciences, including social sciences and so forth. It's a brilliant work that provides a holistic view of human knowledge from a technical perspective, but also a very well written book, too.

Q: Who has been the biggest influence in your life?
A: First of all, my Mom. I have a thing about honesty, and if you have to have an underlying principle, that's it. And my Mom certainly instilled that in me. My wife. I'm a person who's very focused on getting the job done. Sometimes I lose focus on just having fun, so my wife over the years gets me to slow down and enjoy things. And then my oldest friend - a man named John Hund. He has shown me through example that one can deal with any kind of adversity through depth of character.