Insurance Networking News: Executive Strategies for Technology Management articles from March 2005

Insurance Networking News: Executive Strategies for Technology Management archives from March 2005

Filing Gets Up To Speed.
March 1, 2005... Ever since the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 removed barriers between insurance companies, banks and securities firms, insurers have been pushing states for regulatory reform. If insurers are to remain competitive, they argue, insurance...

Integration Requires Business/IT Alignment.
March 1, 2005... Everybody likes to talk about the weather, but nobody wants to do anything about it. The same axiom could be applied to U.S. insurers' approach to customer service. Most insurers will declare that customers represent the lifeblood of their...

A Broken Deal Produces Opportunity.
March 1, 2005... Three years ago, The Baltimore Life Insurance Co. implemented an automated sales and underwriting system in conjunction with striking a marketing deal with a large membership organization. The Owings Mills, Md.-based carrier believed the...

Consumers Value Choice.
March 1, 2005... Do you buy all of your fruits, vegetables, meat and canned goods at the same store? Do you have all of your IRAs, stocks and bonds with the same money manager? I bet most of you answered "no" to both questions. As Americans, we value the...

Citigroup Sheds Travelers Unit.
March 1, 2005... When Citicorp and Travelers Group merged in October 1998, banking and insurance experts universally hailed the deal as the beginning of a new era in financial services in the United States: the one-stop financial superstore. Indeed, given...

Fireman's Upgrades IT, Communications Infrastructures.
March 1, 2005... Fireman's Fund Insurance Co. has been no stranger to technology outsourcing initiatives over the past three years. But the term "outsourcing" might be an inaccurate depiction of what the carrier's senior IT team regards to be its mandate....

Auto Fraud, Claims Buildup Confound Carriers.
March 1, 2005... Although the specter of organized crime rings receives the brunt of the publicity, the proliferation of "garden variety" insurance fraud continues to badger insurance companies. In their efforts to implement best-practices claims...

Contracts.
March 1, 2005... 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 News magazine at (312) 913-1366 or by...

Calendar.(Calendar)
March 1, 2005... CICA International Conference Sponsor: Captive Insurance Companies Association When: March 6-9 Where: La Costa Resort, Carlsbad, Calif. www.cicaworld.com Seminar On Ratemaking Sponsor: Casualty Actuarial Society When:...

CFA Jumps On Spitzer Bandwagon.(Consumer Federation of America)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Consumers of auto and homeowners insurance are vulnerable to the same potential conflicts of interest as commercial insurance buyers, according to a report recently released by the Consumer Federation of America (CFA), Washington, D.C. ...

Texas' Final Analysis: Scores Are Sound.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Credit-scoring significantly improves insurance pricing accuracy when combined with other rating variables in predicting risk. That's the conclusion of a study commissioned by the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI). In December, the...

Product Previews.
March 1, 2005... SRC TARGETS P&C INDUSTRY SRC Software Inc., a Portland, Ore.-based provider of enterprise performance management applications, has released a budgeting, forecasting and reporting solution specifically designed for the property and casualty...

Business Alliances.
March 1, 2005... CGI-AMS EXTENDS FOOTPRINT IN LIFE INDUSTRY CGI-AMS, the wholly owned U.S. operating subsidiary of CGI Group Inc., Montreal, and McCamish Systems LLC, an Atlanta-based business process outsourcing (BPO) provider to the U.S. life and annuity...

Carriers Plan To Bolster Spending.(policy administration systems)
March 1, 2005... Insurers' interest in purchasing and implementing policy administration systems is expected to rise during the next four years, according to a new report from Celent Communications Inc., Boston. Six major factors are influencing...

Data Management Provides Rx For Workers' Comp Policies.(New Mexico Mutual Group)
March 1, 2005... As workers' compensation carriers continue to be pummeled in a rough-and-tumble economy, New Mexico Mutual implemented service-oriented architecture and a new underwriting system to provide continuous, real-time customer service. It's no...

INN Focus.(New Mexico Mutual Group)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... CASE STUDY: New Mexico Mutual Group AT ISSUE: As part of a larger reorganization, the carrier queried agents to find out how the company could improve its overall response time, and found the need to replace its 13-year-old legacy...

Presidential Life Rejuvenates Valuable Legacy Code: Migrating to state-of-the-art platforms doesn't mean that valuable mainframe code will be lost forever. Presidential Life has successfully moved its COBOL applications-twice-since 1999.
March 1, 2005... If an application works well for a business, why risk staff and financial resources on a replacement system that may prove to be substandard? That's the quandary carriers are addressing, many of whom have invested tens of millions of dollars in...

INN Focus.
March 1, 2005... At Issue: After the first migration in 1999, Presidential Life's COBOL programs ran well on the company's Windows NT systems. However, Microsoft recently phased out support for NT and "continuing to execute on these unsupported systems...

Reps Propose SMART Reforms.(State Modernization and Regulatory Transparency Act)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... In September, U.S. Rep. Mike Oxley (R, Ohio) and U.S. Rep. Richard Baker (R, La.) introduced draft legislation to reform insurance regulation. Titled the "State Modernization and Regulatory Transparency" (SMART) Act, the bill contains two main...

Insurance Reform Options.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... (part 1 of 3) NAIC's Plan Rate regulation State compacts proposed for uniformity Policy forms approval SERFF Compensation transparency State by state visibility Agent licensing State with...

What's in Your Portfolio?(using portfolio management software)
March 1, 2005... Insurers that have portfolio management software are able to prioritize which business drivers spread across their vast enterprise are prime for additional funding requirements and which drivers might have to be scaled back from a capital...

e.Business Briefs.(Travelers Life Updates Producer Site)(National Association of Insurance Commissioners Launches Online Producer Fraud Reporting)(ClickNsettle Sheds Dispute Resolution Biz)
March 1, 2005... Travelers Life Updates Producer Site At the same time Citigroup Inc., New York, was announcing the sale of Travelers Life & Annuity to MetLife Inc. (see page 6), the life and annuity company was introducing an updated producer Web site....

Index Of Advertisers.(Directory)
March 1, 2005... (part 1 of 2) Advertiser AdminServer AIIM Expo Conference & Exposition AQS CGI Duck Creek Technologies Fair Isaac Fiserv Guidewire IASA ImageRight LOMA/ACORD Insurance Systems Forum ...

Reversing Spiraling Claims Costs: Rules-based BPM tools keep the manual handling to a minimum and increase operator productivity.(business process management)
March 1, 2005... Claims processing has become one of the most expensive, complex and resource-intensive processes in the insurance industry. Traditional health care claims processing systems, comprising core enterprise applications and databases located...