AM2: Thrivent Financial: Data Management With a Mission

Founded in 1902, Thrivent Financial is a financial services and non-profit organization serving over 2.4 million members. Thrivent's message of "Connecting Faith and Financial for Good" is more than just a marketing slogan, it is a how Thrivent does business. Charitable work and a spirit of giving are central to Thrivent and its customers. Thrivent has been in business for over 100 years and in that time it has grown considerably as it is currently Fortune #333 on the famous 500 list. Growth brings challenges as Thrivent needs to continue expanding their customer pipeline, keep their high service levels and do so with older systems. Unlike most firms that look for the quick fix, Thrivent understands that world-class data management holds to key to progressing Thrivent into the future.

In this tutorial, attendees will understand Thrivent's unique business and its vision for continued growth. How Thrivent plans to use meta data management, data governance, business intelligence and other data management best practices will be presented. Attendees will see how Thrivent is using data management to provide the foundation necessary for extended growth for the next 100 years.

What you will learn:

Introduction – Who is Thrivent
Thrivent’s Business
Industry Pressures Motivating Thrivent to Change
Thrivent’s Vision
Thrivent’s Data Management Road map
Meta Data Management Focus
Data Governance Best Practices
Business Intelligence for a Competitive Advantage

Best known as the world’s foremost authority on metadata management, he is an internationally recognized expert in the fields of data management, data governance, and business intelligence. In 2004 David Marco was named the “Melvil Dewey of Metadata” by Crain’s Chicago Business as he was selected to their very prestigious “Top 40 Under 40” list and was named by DePaul University as one of their “Top 14 Alumni Under 40”. In 2008 David Marco earned the DAMA Data Management Professional Achievement Award. He is the president of DataManagementU.com and is their lead contributor. David Marco is the author of the widely acclaimed, 2 top-selling books in metadata management history, “Universal Meta Data Models” and “Building and Managing the Meta Data Repository” (available in multiple languages). In addition, he is a coauthor for multiple books and published hundreds of articles some of which have been translated into Mandarin, Russian, Portuguese and others. DMarco@EWSolutions.com

Harold Hegg is the Director of Business Intelligence Strategy and Corporate Planning for Thrivent Financial. Harold has spent nearly two decades in the Financial Services industry. His early work focused on banking technologies and operations development. Later Harold moved within the business development area where his duties include research, development, business model design, and implementation. Over the past several years, Harold’s work has focused on enterprise strategy and maturing the business intelligence capabilities needed to support strategic efforts. Harold studied English at Concordia College in Moorhead, MN. He lives with his wife and two children in Minneapolis.