Insurance Networking News: Executive Strategies for Technology Management articles from January 2004

Insurance Networking News: Executive Strategies for Technology Management archives from January 2004

On The Road To Greater Mobility.
January 1, 2004... Last October, when Allstate Insurance Co. developed a plan to best assess damage and settle claims in the wake of the Southern California wildfires, the Northbrook, Ill.-based company reasoned it would be counterproductive to set up operations...

Insurers Cautiously Increase Tech Budgets.
January 1, 2004... Barring another terrorist attack on U.S. soil, or some other catastrophic event, U.S. insurance companies are cautiously optimistic about the economy in 2004. As a result, IT budgets in the industry on average are increasing slightly this year....

SANs Provide A Data 'Dial Tone' Across The Business.
January 1, 2004... Although storage area network (SAN) technology has been around for several years, it's been mainly limited to big-budget IT operations, due to cost and complexity. However, the economics of SANs have been changing, thanks to more robust...

Investments Shouldn't Overlook Employees.
January 1, 2004... In a world where technological innovation appears to be progressing more rapidly than our ability to understand how to use it effectively, business leaders need to find a balance in the amount of resources they're committing to technology and...

Fraud Lawsuit: Allstate, Nationwide File $100 Million New York Fraud Case.
January 1, 2004... In the largest-ever civil insurance fraud case filed in the state of New York, Allstate Insurance Co., Encompass Insurance and Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. last month filed a RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act) lawsuit...

INN Focus.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... The issue: Last month, Allstate, Encompass and Nationwide filed the largest-ever civil complaint for insurance fraud in the state of New York. The allegations: Seventy-four defendants managed or participated in an elaborate...

Agency Automation: ACT Outlines Ambitious Sales Management Initiative.(Agents Council for Technology)
January 1, 2004... Alexandria, Va.-based Agents Council for Technology (ACT) is trying to sell independent agents on a new concept: using technology to enhance the sales and marketing aspects of their businesses. In phase one of a multi-part report designed...

Calendar.(Calendar)
January 1, 2004... P&C Insurance Joint Industry Forum Sponsor: Insurance Information Institute When: Jan. 13 Where: The Waldorf Astoria, New York www.iii.org Symposium On State Insurance Regulation Sponsor: NAIC When: Feb. 23-24 ...

Industry Research: Deloitte Survey: Insurers Getting Back To Basics.
January 1, 2004... Insurers are turning introspective. They lived a charmed life when healthy investment returns covered for a lack of efficiency within their operations. Now, they have shifted their focus from asset management back to insurance basics. A...

Product Previews.
January 1, 2004... Castek Releases Insure3 Policy 4.0 Toronto-based Castek Inc. has released Insure3 Policy 4.0 with enhancements to business functionality and deployment flexibility. The browser user interface is now included with Insure3 Policy at no...

NAII and Alliance Consider merger.(National Association of Independent Insurers)(Alliance of American Insurers)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... Amerger between the National Association of Independent Insurers (NAII), Des Plaines, Ill., and the Alliance of American Insurers, Downers Grove, Ill., will strengthen insurers voices in statehouses and in Congress, according to NAII Board...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
January 1, 2004... In the December 2003 issue, the article "Life Insurers Gain Processing Speed" incorrectly identified a Web-based policy writing platform developed by Toronto-based MFXchange Holdings Inc. WriteNow is a Web-based system that enables agents to...

Business Alliances.
January 1, 2004... FSI To Use NAIC's Filing Specs Financial Software Innovations Inc. (FSI), Austin, Texas, has signed a license agreement with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), Kansas City, Mo., to use the NAIC's proprietary filing...

Mergers & Acquisitions: St. Paul Travelers Merger Creates Market Leader.
January 1, 2004... The deal to merge the St. Paul Cos. and Travelers Property Casualty Corp. is on track to create the second-largest insurer in the country, with top market shares in 22 states, according to Jay Benet, chief financial officer of Hartford,...

Contracts.
January 1, 2004... 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...

Independent Producer Survey: Agents Pleased With Tech Support.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... There's no question that independent agents are highly valuable participants in the insurance marketplace. But carriers that depend on independent agents are continually trying to determine what's important to them when they choose carriers....

Just What The Doctor Ordered.(interview)(Interview)
January 1, 2004... Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey's award-wINNing customer service platform has drastically improved customer service and the company's bottom line-to the tune of $21 million. Information technology in the healthcare industry...

Charles C. Emery, Jr., Ph.D.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... Age: 57 Education: Doctor of Philosophy in Management Systems, Master of Arts in Management, The Claremont Graduate School, The Peter Drucker Graduate Management Center, Claremont, Calif.; MBA, University of Pittsburgh; Bachelor of...

Document Imaging Makes A 'World' Of Difference.
January 1, 2004... Paper documents have been virtually eliminated at World Insurance Co. But the real beauty of the carrier's new document imaging and management system is an increase in organizational efficiency and workflow effectiveness and a significant...

INN Focus.(World Insurance Co.)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... Case Study: World Insurance Co. At Issue: The healthcare insurer wanted to eliminate the need to copy, fax, retrieve, route and warehouse paper files throughout the organization. It wanted to improve the productivity of its staff,...

World Insurance Co. At-A-Glance.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... Headquarters: Omaha, Neb. Premium Income: $207 million in 2002 Employees: 220 Major Business Lines: Health Insurance Copyright 2004 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.thomsonmedia.com...

Bringing in the big guns.(imaging systems)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... World Insurance called in four of the top guns in the field of document imaging and management in order to make presentations. "We wanted self-sufficiency. We didn't want to rely on a software provider for maintenance or support," says Ron...

OnBase Implementation Timetable.
January 1, 2004... * May 2002: Scanned first paper document into Onbase * June 2002: Scanned major medical files * September 2002: Created first workflow* rules for major medical * September 2002: Back-scanned old special files * October 2002:...

The Principal's Signature Solution.(Principal Financial Group)
January 1, 2004... Principal Financial's e-signature solution enables 401(k) plan participants to review and approve amended documents online. Benefits include easy access to updated documents and increased security. Small to mid-sized businesses are often...

INN Focus.(Principal Financial Group)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... Case Study: The Principal Financial Group At Issue: Many of The Principal's clients are small to mid-size businesses that have small HR departments, placing a great deal of stress on them to manually perform 401(k) plan...

Disconnects Impede IT/Business Alignment.(information technology)
January 1, 2004... Despite insurers' best intentions to align business strategy with IT strategy, recent studies show that more than 80% of insurance companies can improve on that alignment. That's according to Deborah Smallwood, insurance practice leader at...

INN Focus.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... At Issue: Storage area networks provide carriers with a data management alternative that experts say improves data availability. The Benefits: Simplified storage management, eliminating duplication of data, and enabling business...

SANs Tools Ease Management Burdens.(storage area network)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... There are a number of storage area network (SAN) management tools now on the market to help automate and monitor storage management processes. At Mid-Continent Casualty Insurance Co., Tulsa, Okla., for example, the expansion of the...

The Next Generation of SANs.(storage area network)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... Experts predict that the next generation of storage area network (SAN) technology will be built on storage virtualization. IBM Corp., Armonk, N.Y., already has released storage management products that provide a software virtualization layer...

E.Business Briefs.
January 1, 2004... Web-Enabled Illustration Travelers Life & Annuity, Hartford, Conn., is providing to its brokers and producers the WinFlex Web illustration system from LifeLink Corp., Park City, Utah. WinFlex Web is a single entry, multiple carrier...

Growing Pains Remain for Mobile Computing.
January 1, 2004... When carriers conduct capital expense analyses for mobile technology investments, many have found such investments to be inconclusive or insufficient from an ROI standpoint. As a result, insurers often table mobile expenditures for the future....

Web Services: Lipstick On The Pig: The full potential of Web services cannot be realized until the processing capabilities of back-end systems are addressed.
January 1, 2004... A major strategy within the property/casualty insurance industry is entering new distribution channels using the Web and other technologies. To facilitate this strategy, the underlying business functionality that supported the expansion into...