CTO, TrueCredit Scott Metzger, CTO of TrueCredit, calls his early days at the company a “trial by fire.” In typical startup fashion, “many promises were being made that couldn’t be kept. I showed up with a gun to my head on Day One.”Drawing on his experience leading Web app dev for MCI, IBM, Apple, and Intel, Metzger established a rational development process, and then took a deep dive into TrueCredit’s business agenda. Agility turned out to be job one, so a broad array of consumer credit products and services could be launched quickly.Metzger’s technology answer was a homegrown, Java-based SOA deployed in 2001, which Metzger gradually migrated to commercial products from BEA and others. IT can now deliver new products every 30 to 60 days and respond rapidly to new compliance demands. But the secret to IT success, says Metzger, lies in real comprehension of business goals. “It’s amazing the value that you get by just engaging whoever the business sponsor is and understanding the business. No technology is going to do that for you.” Software Development