In the late 1960s, about the time that Dustin Hoffman's character in the film "The Graduate" got an unsolicited tip about the plastics industry, Michael Lezenski also received some career advice:
"Technology," a friend said to him. "There might be a future in the field." Happily, Mr. Lezenski says, he heeded the prediction.
A 28-year technology-oriented career at Bank of Boston culminated last June in his appointment as chief technology officer of the $44.3 billion-asset company.
Now, the 47-year-old executive with intimate knowledge of the bank's technological history -- his first jobs utilized the prehistoric Honeywell 200 punchcard processor -- is charged with guiding Bank of Boston's investment in the future.
Armed with an annual budget of $137 million and a work force of about 1,100, Mr. Lezenski oversees technological upgrades in every major area of the bank, including the branches, wholesale operations, and trading floors.
"I sort of see my vocation as management and my avocation as technology," he said.
"Bank of Boston was the second bank in the country to install a computer back in the late '50s, and since then we have not stopped using technology to increase efficiency and increase shareholder value."
One of the first challenges facing Mr. Lezenski is filling the leadership void created when Michael Simmons left the chief technology post last year.
Mr. Simmons provided Bank of Boston with a strategic vision it had lacked in the years prior to his tenure, experts said.
By all accounts, Mr. Lezenski is up to the challenge, though his management style is likely to differ greatly from that of the opinionated and outspoken Mr. Simmons.
"Mike Lezenski is a low-key team player [who is] everybody's friend. He has no ego whatsoever," said a source close to Mr. Lezenski.
With the number of technology projects under way at the bank, Mr. Lezenski's ability to inspire others to be team players will be at a premium.
Recently, the bank announced that it had spent over $24 million to install a new trading floor for its treasury operation in its Boston headquarters. The money will also cover the installation of a similar operation in Latin America.
In addition, management has started to aggressively upgrade its branch automation platform and is planning to install new systems throughout its more than 300 domestic branches toward the end of next year.
"Technology is providing us with the tools to build our business and provide a higher level of customer service," said Mr. Lezenski.
"As we continue to add new systems and make the operation more efficient, we are creating the foundation for the future of our organization."
The bank is also pursuing a reengineering strategy that looks at the organization and its various operations through a technology lens.
"We don't want to be the first bank on the block to use a new system, but rather we want to understand where the technology is going and see where an opportunity may be created through using the application," said Mr. Lezenski.
"If there is a business case that will make the operation faster, reduce unit costs, and improve profits, we may choose to be on the bleeding edge of technology because we don't want to miss an opportunity."
Gerard Cassidy a senior vice president at Hancock Institutional Services in Boston said many banks recognize that their future depends on the technology investments that are made today.
Technology Efforts At Bank of Boston
* $24 million invested in state-of-the art trading floor
* Planned upgrade of retail workstation technology at about 300 branches
* New workstations for wholesale area
* Imaging systems to be installed in consumer finance area
* Planned installation of a bankwide data warehouse
He believes Bank of Boston, whose technology budget is growing at a rate of about 5% annually, is spending wisely.
"They have started to make substantial technology investments to their core businesses, which will lead to substantial profits in the future," he said.
"Management has realized that there needs to be a healthy balance between cost control and revenue growth, and through successful uses of technology they are going reach a solid balance."
When the bank looks at funding new technology projects, it closely examines how the new application will improve response time to the customer.
Experts say the customer focus is a positive break from the days of using technology mainly as a cost-cutting tool.
"The application's effect on time allows us to determine what impact it will have on our operation and what effect it will have on customer service," Mr. Lezenski said.
"The key is to drive time out of the process completely and be able to react as swiftly as possible to customer requests."
A case in point:
The process of opening a corporate checking account once involved 95 steps.
Using an imaging system from IBM Corp. in conjunction with workflow software, the bank was able to have one document in two places at the same time, enabling half of these steps to be eliminated.
The use of technology produced an increase in productivity and customer satisfaction, bank executives said.
"Our strategy is to figure out how to use the technology to increase shareholder value," said Mr. Lezenski. "We need to be able to not only build technology into the organization, but insure we have the right people in place to drive the systems."
The customer-driven technology focus is also evident in the trading room projects.
As part of its $24 million investment in this area, Bank of Boston plans to electronically link trading floor operations in Boston with those in Sao Paulo, Brazil, so that traders' positions in Brazil will show up simultaneously in Boston, and vice versa.
Stephen Scullen, the bank's director of treasury systems, said the new trading floors will give the operation a more customer-focused orientation with direct connections to up-to-date market and customer information.
The new system will also remove paper tickets from the floors, giving traders the ability for "real-time response" and providing them with better analytics to manage accounts.
The inspiration for many of these changes comes from customers themselves, according to bank executives.
"Throughout all parts of the bank we are listening to the customers and gathering information through any mechanism we can to find out what they want and expect from us," said Mr. Lezenski.
"When we heard from our customers that we needed to turn mortgage applications around quicker, we did it. Now it takes 10 days instead of 30 to get a decision, the key is listening to what they say and reacting appropriately."
Historically, Bank of Boston has hedged on its commitment to its retail bank, but recently that has changed. Now, it considers retail banking to be one of its top priorities, committing over 30% of technology dollars to it, as opposed to only 20% three years ago.
"We have not been a retail bank for the last 200 years, and now we want to be the most highly respected retail organization in the region," said Mr. Lezenski.
As part of the effort to become a respected retailer, the bank is installing a teller system that brings together information from all of its back-office systems to support both sales and processing.
Although Bank of Boston's retail banking is focused primarily in the New England area, it is looking to expand its retail presence in Latin America.
"We are in the process of installing a platform automation system throughout Argentina and Brazil that will allow us to build our retail franchise in this region of the world," Mr. Lezenski said.
"We are trying to make sure we are getting leverage from the things we are doing domestically by applying them to our operation abroad."
Though Mr. Lezenski, a graduate of Boston University, began his banking career in the days when computers were a luxury rather than a competitive necessity, he understands the important role that technology plays in banking today.
"The technology is becoming the business, it allows us to compete on a level playing field," he said.
"The industry has realized that the people who lag behind in technology are not able to produce the unit costs that will allow them to stay in the industry and compete successfully."
