From Pain to Paradise

After its outsourcing agreement with Ft. Worth-based insurance solutions provider INSpire collapsed, Island Insurance Co. (IIC) had no plan for the future and an outsourced IT area in shambles.

In 2001 Honolulu-based IIC's ($90 million in premiums) new management team, faced with a sharply declining total premium amount as a result of poor customer service because of the lack of IT support, decided to pick up the pieces of the failed INSpire deal and form a new IT subsidiary, Hoike.net, an ASP that provides enterprise solutions via private and public networks. Hoike is also now the IT operation for IIC.

"We actually made out on the deal with INSpire," reports Riki Fujitani, president, Hoike.net and former vice president of IT at IIC. "We got a new data center and a new Avaya Basking Ridge, NJ call center switch. We inherited the infrastructure and office space and we decided not to waste it and turn it into a separate entity." In addition to continuing to serve as the IT operation for IIC, Hoike provides broadband, DSL, Web hosting, managed provider services, IT consulting and call center outsourcing to other companies based in Hawaii.

IIC also decided to launch Hoike to take advantage of favorable Hawaii tax laws that are encouraging venture capital and IT start-ups, among other new business ventures, says Fujitani. "We are a big partner of Documentum Pleasanton, CA," he says. "And we are looking for more partners," because by developing technology in the Hawaiian islands along with Hoike, the company would get a substantial tax break.

Greg MacSweeney is editorial director of InformationWeek Financial Services, whose brands include Wall Street & Technology, Bank Systems & Technology, Advanced Trading, and Insurance & Technology. View Full Bio