Mike Linfert has enjoyed a long career in IT across a number of verticals, although a goodly proportion has been spent in the insurance industry. “I think it’s fair to say I never managed to get out of insurance,” laughs Mike. After spells working for three major insurance solution companies, Mike now heads up IT for Georgia Underwriting where he has been responsible for a number of innovations. His association with Micro Focus comes via AcuCorp who he has worked with for a number of years.
“We’re an AS400 shop,” explains Mike “and a few years back we really didn’t have much Web presence. Then about five years ago our customers started coming to us requesting that we boost our Web presence. They told us they really wanted to be able to perform online quoting. About this time I was fortunate enough to see a presentation by AcuCorp which explained how it was possible to web-enable existing solutions, and we subsequently started working with them to take two or three of our quoting solutions online. The project went really well – AcuCorp has some really good technical people – and we’ve carried on from there. Since the AcuCorp acquisition we’ve continued to work with Micro Focus and I’ve now found myself running the Micro Focus user group based in Atlanta.”
Mike was nominated for the position in the formative meeting of the Atlanta group, which attracted more than 20 Micro Focus customers. “It was a really worthwhile meeting,” says Mike. “First off Micro Focus gave us a presentation on object-oriented Cobol and talked to us about what to expect in future releases of their product set. We also had the chance to meet and talk to other Micro Focus customers, and I can’t begin to tell you how useful that was. I talked to everyone that came and asked them about their experiences – the initiatives their companies were currently involved in. I was working on a particular problem at that time and one of the other attendees said ‘hey we’ve had that too!’ and was able to point me in the right direction to a possible solution. You know that sort of interaction is invaluable.”
Subsequently, Mike emailed all the other attendees to get their feedback on the first meeting. “The responses were really positive,” says Mike. “Everyone liked the educational material that Micro Focus contributed, and we’re now looking forward to a lot more of that. But we’re also aiming to get more interaction into the meetings and the opportunity to present our own initiatives. I plan to kick this off by talking about the web-oriented initiatives we’ve undertaken at Georgia Underwriting and then will open it up by asking everyone how they’re handling web applications using Micro Focus technology. I think this will result in some fantastic insight, both for the users and for Micro Focus as well.”
Mike plans to hold three hour meetings once a quarter, but he emphasizes that improving communication between users in between these meetings is also critical. “At the moment I’m emailing attendees, and sending them presentations if they miss the meeting, but in the longer term I think we’d really benefit from an online solution to enable improved interaction both within a user group chapter and between chapters,” he comments. Mike continues: “I’m lucky enough to have met AcuCorp California users, so I know there’re some really smart people out there and elsewhere. And I’d advocate that since a lot of us are facing similar problems being able to talk to other Micro Focus customers and share our knowledge, insight and experience is a very powerful proposition. That’s why a web solution that facilitates knowledge-sharing and improved communication between Micro Focus customers is high on my request list! In the meanwhile I’d like to extend an invitation to Micro Focus customers in my immediate area to become involved in the Atlanta user group, and encourage those elsewhere to seek out their nearest group or look into setting one up. And I’d be very interested in hearing from other user group presidents to discuss how we can co-operate further to mutual benefit.”
When not growing user groups, Mike is struggling to maintain his garden in the face of the 18-month drought that has afflicted Georgia. “I really like my gardening,” he says “particularly vegetables and most especially growing heirloom varieties of tomato. We’ve had a tough time with the drought here in Georgia, but fingers crossed we’ve had a pretty good April in terms of rainfall so I’m hopeful of a much better growing season this year!”
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