Brian Kearns
Industry Group Head – Insurance
Infosys Technologies Limited

Welcome, Brian. What were some of the stumbling blocks for 2006?

Most insurance carriers agree on the importance of a unified view of the customer, both for sales and servicing purposes. However, given the breadth of carriers’ business operations, and the myriad of often complex, disparate, and aging IT systems underpinning those operations, the challenges and costs of achieving a single view can be daunting. This is particularly true of companies that have grown through acquisitions and who have not already rationalized their combined operations onto a unified core set of systems. In such environments, similar processes (e.g., underwriting, claims, etc.) for similar products or lines of business are often transacted on multiple, disparate applications, adding further complexity and cost pressures. In addition, some carriers struggle with the business case value proposition, and relative prioritization, of the initiatives and funding required to achieve a unified view of the customer.

Key steps for 2007?

For 2007, many carriers are seeking more frequent, iterative delivery of a unified view of the customer capabilities for their operations. The industry is littered with failed attempts to create the ‘all singing, all dancing’ integrated view of the customer across the enterprise, all delivered in ‘one big bang.’ Service-oriented architecture (SOA) and Web services initiatives are enabling carriers to deliver meaningful, unified customer view capabilities to their businesses on a more progressive, incremental basis. Rationalization and consolidation of multiple platforms currently supporting similar business capabilities also are helping to enable a more consistent, unified view of the customer for 2007 and beyond.

A good data integration strategy?

A good data integration strategy begins with clarity and agreement on the business value, and relative priorities, for the integration of data captured and used throughout the enterprise. Only with this clarity and agreement can practical, informed business decisions be made – and a sensible plan of action created – with respect to prioritization of data integration investments and the creation of capabilities that deliver real business value based on the effective use of the integrated data. We refer to these prioritized action plans as Capability Transformation Roadmaps (CTRs). As business objectives and existing capabilities differ from carrier to carrier, a good data integration strategy, and associated CTR, will look different from one carrier to the next.

What is the one thing insurers should take away from this forum?

The importance of clarifying the business value of a unified view of the customer and then creating a prioritized capability transformation roadmap aligned with that value. This will be used to guide their integration investments in order to achieve a more unified view of the customer in a practical and progressive manner.

Rob Schwartz
Industry Principal for Insurance
SAP America, Inc.

Rob, welcome. Last year’s stumbling blocks?

The overall lack of flexibility of system landscapes continues to be a major challenge. Acquisitions and mergers, competition, and the changing demands of customers have created a serendipitous collection of systems that have hindered insurers from administering strategic changes in a cost-effective and timely manner.

What should insurers be focused on this year?

Continuous focus and progress toward establishing an optimally designed and deployed IT landscape; ensuring the ability to support future technologies and organizational changes. Adoption of new technologies such as service-oriented architecture (SOA) can create a foundation for tomorrow’s operational flexibility and efficiency. This can be one of the most important tools to defend against (or profit from), the seemingly constant change as insurers gear up for the next generation of business platforms and industry-specific applications. SOA can start to unpack the complexity and enable a move to a simplified, unified architecture, allowing a true centralized customer file.

A good data integration strategy?

A data integration strategy should be functional and supportable. It should include precise planning and identification of interdependencies between processes and the underlying IT systems. Defining both short- and long-term impact on the businesses including both the initial and recurring costs is critical and should assist in sound revenue and risk implications. To maximize the potential benefits and ROI, enterprise standards should be identified, monitored, and maintained through a centralized committee. The organization should look to embrace advances in technologies and to carefully time the introduction of new solutions to ensure the roll out causes as little disruption as possible yet delivers demonstrable benefits.

Straight-through processing?

The foundation for tomorrow’s operational flexibility and efficiency is available today. SOA makes IT systems more flexible and cost-effective. It can cut the speed-to-market of new products significantly from years to days. Core applications software can be broken up into smaller modules that customers can snap together or break apart like Lego bricks.