Navigating the technology shoals.

Name: Michael Lezenski

Title: Chief technology officer, executive director of technology and system services, Bank of Boston Corp. Promoted in June to his current job.

Responsibilities: Supervises 1,100 people in the computer hardware, network management and systems development areas, or as he says, "everything from the desktop up, and all the networks in between."

Background: Joined the bank in 1968 after receiving a bachelor's in computer science from Boston University. He worked his way up through the data processing department, and six years ago was named head of deposit operations. In that role, he ran all check processing services, lock box processing and the money and wire transfer groups. After the bank's reorganization last October, he took over hardware and network management.

How technology has changed since he began: "It's the difference between a small town in 1950 and New York City in 1995," Lezenski says.

What bankers should know about technology: "The fundamental thing is that technology is at the heart of doing business," he says. Bankers who run the day-to-day business "have to be in the priority-making decisions with the technologists."

Where technology will be in five years: "The things we're seeing today in terms of client/server technology are just going to mature much more rapidly than mainframes did." It took roughly 30 years for the systems administration and network management tools for mainframes to develop. These are fundamental to their operation and one reason why mainframes are still more reliable and better suited for company-wide computer processing than personal computers. Comparable tools will have to be developed for PCs before they assume more of a role, but Lezenski believes they can be developed in a fraction of the time required for the earlier generation of computers.

Hobbies: Golf. "I'm a novice golfer, but I've become a fanatic." Also loves to sail.

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