Content posted in September 2009
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Protesters Arrested at Aetna Office Building
It looks like the ongoing healthcare debate has landed, quite literally, on the doorsteps of the nation's health insurance carriers.
The Hartford Names Liam McGee New CEO
McGee, Bank of America's former head of consumer banking, oversaw that company's global technology and delivery in more than 30 countries.
There's a Business Case (Maybe) for Social Networking Sites
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social networking sites can be fun and distracting -- but as more users of all age groups start to explore business uses for these sites, insurers and other businesses are starting to take them more seriously.
Handren Aims to Make Mutual of Omaha's IT 'World-Class'
Former USAA executive Tim Handren takes a purposeful approach to Mutual of Omaha's technology architecture and IT capabilities in support of fulfilling the company's potential as an integrated financial institution.
Farmers Alliance Mutual Insurance's Andy Edwardson Sees IT's Mission as Enabling Better Products and Services
Andy Edwardson has led Farmers Alliance Mutual Insurance's IT organization in a series of ambitious IT endeavors -- including an SOA initiative -- that would scare off many larger carriers.
United Automobile Insurance Deploys Claims System, Selects Billing System
United Automobile Insurance Company has deployed Guidewire ClaimCenter as its new claims management system.
Liberty Mutual Agency Markets Expands Access Through Comparative Rater
Liberty Mutual Agency Markets has facilitated access for independent agents through the SeaPass Hub comparative rater, further diversifying the ways producers can interact with the carrier.
USAble Life Deploys SunGard iWorks
USAble Life Insurance has successfully implemented SunGard's iWorks insurance solution suite.
Xerox To Acquire ACS for $6.4 Billion
Xerox Corporation has announced that it has entered an agreement to acquire Affiliated Computer Services (ACS), a large business process outsourcing (BPO) firm.
AXA U.K. Selects Duck Creek
Working in collaboration with TCS, Duck Creek will supply its EXAMPLE Platform to AXA Insurance U.K. in support of the carrier's commercial business.
CIO: Insurers Must Build Capabilities on the Four Tiers of Architecture
CIOs must answer the business's needs armed with appreciation of the different levels of enterprise architecture -- business, information, application and technical -- in order to avoid a proliferation of disconnected point solutions.
Business/IT 'Linkage' Key to Insurer's Adaptation to Changing Marketplace
The architecture of the future sites on a foundation of business and IT linkage, according to Deborah Smallwood, Founder, SMA.
SUNZ Insurance Company Selects Policy Admin and Claim Management Platform
SUNZ Insurance Company is implementing Innovation Group's Innovation WORKS workers' compensation policy administration and claim management platform.
Brit Insurance Signs edge IPK for Enterprise Licence of Web Presentation Platform
U.K.-based general insurer plans wide scale deployment of edge IPK's technology to provide new and enhanced services to brokers and partners.
Carrier Confidential: Technology Transformation Puts CUNA Mutual in a Stronger Position
As part of its corporate transformational efforts efforts, CUNA Mutual's IT organization revamped its technology infrastructure, building an agile foundation to help the carrier grow and respond to turbulent market conditions.
Insurers Warm to Flexible Technology Architecture
Technology transformation is being driven by business leaders who recognize the need for a technology architecture that will efficiently support distributors' and customers' rapidly evolving demands.
Honor Roll: This Week's Top Insurance Blogs (Sept. 20-26)
Our favorite insurance technology-related blog posts from around the Web (September 20-26, 2009):
Zurich and CSC to Negotiate on $2.4 Billion IT Services Deal
The services contract, which will be negotiated over the next six months, will cover data center and IT infrastructure managed services in Europe and North America, should an agreement be reached.
Stuart Tainsky Named First CIO at PURE
As the first CIO at PURE, Stuart Tainsky will seek to improve the nascent carrier's ease of doing business while establishing a more holistic approach to technology.
OneBeacon Chooses ProspX for On-Demand Sales Collaboration
The property/casualty insurance carrier will leverage the ProspX platform to connect with brokers at the initial point of opportunity.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia Launches Zagat Health Survey Capability
The Zagat Health Survey tool provides a vehicle for members to review physicians based on a set of distinct criteria, creating a trusted resource to support informed member decision-making, says BCBSGA.
Guardian Implements Siemens Unified Communication Solution
The OpenScape Unified Communications Server and OpenScape Voice Application solution will enable Guardian to deliver advanced features, centralize and streamline its network and protect its existing technology investment, vendor says.
Web 2.0 Look Before You Leap - Before you jump into social media, ask yourself: Do you know who speaks on your behalf?
In order to successfully utilize the new social media tool as part of a complete, and many are now calling it a "traditional" marketing strategy, senior leadership should involve all levels of a company. But either one person or a department needs to be in charge of creating and executing the company's policy. Otherwise, your company's genuine message will get shut out by all the clutter.
CSC Moves Away from Rip and Replace
One of the major topics of discussion at last week's CSC Connect and FutureFocus conferences, held simultaneously in Orlando, Fla. was the Falls Church, Va.-based vendor's push towards more componentization and incremental implementations.
Consultant Report: 33% of IT Investment is Wasted
IAG Consulting says that its research has found that one third of IT investment in North American companies is wasted, due to poor requirements definition and management.
Frontline Homeowners Insurance Selects BI Solution
Frontline Homeowners Insurance is set to implement iPartners' Insurance Scorecard business intelligence (BI) solution suite.
Your Attention, Please: Insurance CIOs Must Focus on Core Capabilities and Minimize Distractions
Successful management of an insurance IT organization requires concentration on key areas, such as data management, and being alert to distractions that can dilute efforts, counsels R.E. Nolan SVP Rod Travers.
Keith Sievers Centralizes, Modernizes IT at Unitrin
Keith Sievers has used a mix of componentization and federalization to help streamline and modernize Unitrin's technology operations in his role as the company's shared services CIO.
Sybase, Siemens Partner on Workforce Mobility Solution
Sybase and Siemens Enterprise Communications Group have announced a partnership that will provide customers with an integrated mobile and fixed line voice and data solution.
IBM To Acquire Customer Analytics Services Firm
IBM has announced an agreement to acquire RedPill Solutions, a specialist customer management services firm.
Claims Analytics: Using Predictive Analytics to Optimize Your Claims Processes
By Stuart Rose, global insurance marketing manager, SAS
There are no easy ways to grow revenue, increase profit or improve market share in the insurance industry right now. Increasingly, insurers need to look internally to trim expenses and improve business processes. One way to do this is to use predictive claims analytics to optimize loss reserves, increase productivity and assist in preventing fraud.
Two AXA Equitable IT Execs Elected to SVP
Two AXA Equitable IT execs elected to SVP; Leann Bohner, a senior information officer, and Michael Healy, an operations officer, are among four executives recognized.
Mark Berthiaume Addresses the Big Picture at Chubb
The enterprise IT governance and strategy initiatives driven by Mark Berthiaume, CIO of Chubb's Specialty and Commercial divisions, are highlights of a career transcending the limits of business lines and of IT itself.
The Qualities of the Elite Insurance CIO
There are many talented CIOs in the insurance industry, but the best are decisive managers who excel as communicators, team builders and drivers of significant change, says Suzanne Fairlie, founder and president of ProSearch.
Wilton Re CIO Andy Wood Focuses on the Strategic Core of IT
By conserving strategic capabilities and ceding operational services to external providers, Wilton Re CIO Andy Wood has built a flexible IT organization that maximizes speed while minimizing cost.
eHealthInsurance Launches Online Buyer’s Guide
eHealthInsurance.com has launched the Interactive Health Insurance Buyer's Guide, an online resource for consumers.
Dell to Acquire Perot Systems for $3.9 Billion
Dell to acquire Perot Systems for $3.9 billion; companies together represent $8 billion in services revenue in deal that is likely to have an impact on insurance IT marketplace.
Five Things You Should Know Before Selecting a BPO Partner
Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), the end-to-end outsourcing of a business line or process, can boost business performance by reducing costs, increasing the quality of processes, accelerating transformation throughout a business, creating a more flexible response to sudden external stresses, or through a combination of several benefits.
Patni Announces Cloud Services Strategy
The vendor's The Cloud Acceleration Program (CAP) is designed to contain customers' IT costs, protect critical assets, plan for disaster recovery, integrate global business processes, and advance business continuity and business agility.
New Version of Sircon for Carriers Released
Sircon has released a new version of its Sircon for Carriers platform for managing producer relationships.
Honor Roll: This Week's Top Insurance Blogs (Sept. 13-19)
Our favorite insurance technology-related blog posts from around the Web (September 13-19, 2009):
Video: Esurance's New Bollywood Video
Esurance has yet again leveraged its Erin Esurance character in a multimedia ad marketing campaign that makes heavy use of Web 2.0 concepts like shared video and customer interaction.
Insurers, But Evidently No One Else, Happy with Baucus Health Care Plan
When all is said and done, the best health insurance plan, I always say, is "Don't get sick." But short of that we need to find the best way to insure the greatest number of people at the least cost.
Chubb Provides Paper-Free Solution to Agents
Chubb Commercial PaperFree, available to agents using Applied Systems or Vertafore agency management systems, improves on the former procedure of agents receiving a paper copy of documents through the mail or accessing them via Chubb's Web site prior to scanning them and uploading them to their agency management system.
Farmers Creates iClaims Mobile App for Customers
Provided free of charge to customers, the application enables policy holders to store their agent's contact information and report claims from the scene of the loss from their iPhone or iTouch.
Wawanesa Insurance to Implement Guidewire ClaimCenter
The Winnipeg-based P&C carrier expects ClaimCenter to enhance customer service capabilities, automate processes for operational efficiency and reduced cost, and to provide its staff with a modern, easy-to-use system, according to a joint source.
Georgia Municipal Association Chooses Innovation Group’s Workers’ Comp Claims Solution
GMA will use Innovation WORKS to manage claims more efficiently for approximately 500 municipalities or municipal authorities in Georgia, according to the administrator.
HealthInsight Enters Market With "Value-Based" Healthcare Administration Platform
The Minneapolis-based vendor's new offering for payers, TPAs and employers aims to reduce costs by identifying higher-value and lower cost treatment options and providing incentives to individuals to change unhealthy behaviors and take preventive measures.
CSC Launches FS Mobile Solutions, Partners with Blackberry
CSC has announced the launch of Financial Services Mobile Solutions, which includes mobile software applications, consulting and management services.
Bob Ingram Will Oversee Heavy Tech Investment as The Hartford’s P&C CIO
The former Safeco CIO's priority initiatives include agent capabilities, policy admin replacement, systems simplification, remote work enablement and business intelligence.
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