Insurance Networking News: Executive Strategies for Technology Management articles from December 2003

Insurance Networking News: Executive Strategies for Technology Management archives from December 2003

The IT Maintenance Dilemma: Life Insurers Gain Processing Speed.
December 1, 2003... Most consumers admit that purchasing life insurance is not something they relish-mainly because of the issue of their mortality. For life insurers, selling their various products has been difficult as well, but this shortcoming has little to do...

Carriers' Net Gains Continue.(surveys)
December 1, 2003... The insurance industry appears poised to remove the "technology laggard" label. Despite a back-to-basics management philosophy brought on by the two-year economic slump, insurance companies continue to move forward with their Internet...

Business Climate Driving IT Strategies.(Industry Overview)
December 1, 2003... As 2003 comes to a close, it's a great opportunity for executives to gauge the current business climate and identify trends that will follow through to the new year. For insurance carriers, the near-term outlook is considerably more upbeat than...

Industry Research: Insurance CIOs: Feeling Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered.(chief information officers)
December 1, 2003... The old adage of "What, me worry?" isn't part of the lexicon of CIOs, CTOs and other senior level executives in charge of IT functions at life/health and property/casualty firms, according to a survey completed by Celent Communications Inc. in...

Legacy Systems: Death Bell Tolls For Carriers' Legacy Systems.(surveys)
December 1, 2003... Ask not for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for carriers' legacy systems. At least that's the conclusion of a survey conducted by Guidewire Software Inc., a San Mateo, Calif.-based Web-based claims system provider. Three-quarters of...

Calendar.(Brief Article)(Calendar)
December 1, 2003... AICP New England Chapter Sponsor: Association of Insurance Compliance Professionals When: Dec. 4 Where: Hyatt Regency, Newport, R.I. www.aicp.net Reduce Workers' Comp Rx Spending Sponsor: The Center For Business...

CIO/CTO Priorities.(chief information officer, chief technology officer, surveys)(Brief Article)(Illustration)
December 1, 2003... % ranking category as one of top three priorities. Resources 75% Business/IT alignment 30% Infrastructure 25% Efficiency/Productivity 25% Security 20% ...

Contracts.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... The Contracts Update section includes announcements of contracts insurance information technology companies have signed with customers in recent weeks. Contract news can be faxed to Insurance Networking magazine at (312) 913-1366 or by...

Regulatory Compliance: Insurers Wrestle With Sarbanes-Oxley.
December 1, 2003... As insurance companies develop a blueprint for compliance to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, an alarming number of U.S. corporations admit they are still uncertain about how they plan to adhere to the mandate. Moreover, industry experts believe...

INN focus.(one in 10 surveyed chief financial officers and financial executives from a cross-section of the largest U.S. companies view their internal controls as compliant with section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... At Issue: The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, section 404 (Management Assessment of Internal Controls) is designed to provide greater assurance to investors regarding the status of a company's internal control. The Implications: The...

Business Alliances.
December 1, 2003... AscendantOne and RebusIS Partner Nashua, N.H.-based AscendantOne, a unit of Insurance Services Office Inc. (ISO), and RebusIS, Secaucus, N.J., have partnered to integrate AscendantOne's rate management system with Genius, RebusIS's...

Product Previews.(Insurance Industry Software)
December 1, 2003... Residential Valuation Tool Insurance Services Office Inc. (ISO), Jersey City, N.J., and its Boston-based subsidiary AIR Worldwide Corp. have released a new Web-based property replacement valuation system based on the latest component-based...

Technology Spending: Optimizing Business Processes.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... The easing of the recent hard insurance market and equity market meltdown could signal the beginning of a strong rebound in IT spending. Pressure to achieve greater operational efficiency will continue to drive carriers' focus on business...

Business Intelligence Helps Fireman's Fund Extinguish Fraud: Claims adjusters are pinpointing irregularities associated with claims using business intelligence software.
December 1, 2003... To keep policyholders placated-not to mention in tow for the long term-insurers face mounting pressure to settle claims quickly. Quick claims settlement, though, comes attached with one latent problem: the inability to properly detect fraud....

INN Focus.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Case Study: Fireman's Fund Insurance Co. At Issue: As part of its systems integration initiative, the carrier invested in business intelligence tools to fight fraud and improve subrogation efforts. The Solution: ...

The Judges.
December 1, 2003... Ron Barwick VP, CIO MiniCo Inc. Jamie Bisker Research Director TowerGroup Ryan Conlon IT Manager Progressive Insurance Susan Cournoyer Principal Analyst Gartner Inc. Robert Hacker ...

Insurance Networking News' Best Of The Newest Insurance Technologies.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... No.1: Web Services Impact: 7.5 Innovation: 7.29 Total Score: 7.4 No.2: Claims Administration Tools Impact: 7.67 Innovation: 6.6 Total Score: 7.14 No.3: Internet Security & Privacy Impact:...

Experts' take on the rest of the 'Best'.(compliance tools, data management tools, decision management & collaboration tools and IT asset management)
December 1, 2003... This year's survey had several new categories: compliance tools, data management tools, decision management & collaboration tools and IT asset management. The results were mixed: data management and decision management/collaboration made...

Index Of Advertisers.(Brief Article)(Illustration)
December 1, 2003... Advertiser Site Addresses Page # First Data www.firstdataclients.com 11 IBM www.ibm.com/db2/middleware C4 MasterCard www.mastercardmerchant.com/build_build_business/insurance.html C2 Microsoft ...

The IT Maintenance Dilemma.
December 1, 2003... For anyone who has ever owned a car, it's an inevitable question: Continue pouring money into the old jalopy, or cut your losses and buy a shiny new model complete with six-cylinder engine, alloy wheels and keyless entry? Insurers face the...

Ten Reasons to Hate Legacy Systems.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... 1. They slow my time to market with new products. 2. Maintenance costs will only increase. 3. My staff isn't working with current technology. 4. The pool of staff that can work with legacy code is shrinking. 5. Eventually, my...

TPA hops on parent company's platform.(Third-Party Administrator)(Berkley Risk Administrators Co)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Unlike many insurance companies that reach a point of pain with old technology, Berkley Risk Administrators Co. LLC (BRAC) was not under duress when it decided to migrate to a new platform. "We're not struggling with our systems," says...

ROI Overview.(return on investment)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Based on implementation of Navisys' Web-based business software solution to support applications, illustrations, underwriting and customer service Benefit Category Revenue Improvement Cost Savings New Prod Intro. 2%...

Rules play an integral role in underwriting.
December 1, 2003... By implementing a next-generation new business process, a typical life insurer that issues 40,000 policies a year could save more than $1.3 million annually. This was one dramatic finding of a report entitled "The Evolution of Rule-Based...

Great-West Learns The Value Of E-Learning.(Great-West Healthcare )
December 1, 2003... Great-West Healthcare began using computer-based training to teach new sales reps about its products and services. The company is now using online training for its claims examiners, call center reps and HIPAA compliance across the organization....

INN focus.(Great-West Healthcare)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Case study: Great-West Healthcare The problem: The Denver-based health and life insurer was spending too much time and money on classroom training for new sales reps-many of whom did not become long-term producers. The...

E.Business Briefs.
December 1, 2003... ACE Launches ACE TankSafe ACE Casualty Risk, a division of Philadelphia-based ACE USA, has launched ACE TankSafe, a Web-based underwriting facility that enables contracted brokers to conduct automated underwriting transactions from...

The Benefits of E-Learning for Training Field Reps.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Reduced travel costs. Perhaps the largest, most quantifiable expense reduction derived from e-learning tools. Often, avoiding one large face-to-face sales meeting pays for the cost of the online solution. Lower printing and postage...

Insurance Portals' Time Has Come.
December 1, 2003... For years, insurance executives have been striving to introduce more streamlined procedures and technologies to improve their financial management and analysis capabilities. One of the primary end goals of these efforts has been to deliver more...