Rosenbluth Taps Financial Exec As CIO

<B>Rosenbluth Taps Financial Exec As CIO</B>

By Megan Hjermstad

Rosenbluth International last month announced that industry newcomer John Dabek will head up its information technology initiatives as chief information officer. Though new to the travel industry, Dabek brings more than 25 years of technology expertise in the banking and insurance industries to his new role.

"I have a lot of experience in the financial services industry and I can relate the two; there are a lot of correlations. The travel industry is very transaction oriented," said Dabek. "I have implemented delivery systems, such as online banking, and have a lot of experience building data warehouses and providing access tools." Prior to joining Rosenbluth, Dabek served as vice president of financial systems for MetLife.

As CIO, Dabek succeeds Neal Bibeau, who since last year has been serving as president of Rosenbluth Interactive, the online affiliate of Rosenbluth International. Dabek will report to Alex Wasilov, president and COO.

Since he joined Rosenbluth in late April, Dabek has been focusing on understanding corporate strategy and translating it into technology strategy. "One of the first steps I've been working on is understanding the business, where we are from a technology standpoint and where we need to go," he said.

Dabek said Rosenbluth intends to use the Internet more, and will continue to work with online booking tools and other Web-related tools. He already has created a group specifically dedicated to developing wireless technology and delivering wireless solutions to Rosenbluth customers.

"There is a shift to cell phones being browser enabled and more and more services are being delivered to them," said Dabek. "If you think about the number of people changing their cell phones on an annual basis, and the new technologies coming out, such as WAP phones, there are a significant number of phones that will be replaced. This is a tremendous opportunity for us to deliver useful applications."

Dabek also will concentrate on providing data reporting via the Web. Rosenbluth now is in the process of rolling out Web-based reporting, but wants to enable clients to do more with the way the information is delivered. "We have the capability to provide reports over the Web. We now want to allow customers to have access to deliver their own and do their own analysis," said Dabek. "This is a whole transition point.