Unitrin to Deploy Thunderhead NOW Platform

Unitrin, Inc's P&C companies have selected Thunderhead's NOW enterprise document automation and multi-channel communications platform for customer correspondence and insurance policy production, according to a Thunderhead source. Unitrin's P&C group comprises Kemper and Unitrin Specialty; and Unitrin Direct, which sells personal auto and homeowners insurance directly to consumers. Unitrin uses the Kemper name under license, for personal lines only, from Lumbermen's Mutual Casualty Co., which is not affiliated with Unitrin.

The Thunderhead platform will support consolidation of forms infrastructure for Unitrin's P&C units, according to Brice Garcia, director of policy systems, Unitrin Services Group. The solution is expected to drive significantly reduced operational costs through streamlined business processes, says Garcia, who adds that because business users can manage form modifications within Thunderhead NOW, the solution will also reduce demand on technical resources, facilitate quicker adaptation to regulatory changes, and foster greater speed-to-market.

Thunderhead NOW will be integrated with Unitrin's enterprise service bus in support of its service-oriented architecture. The integration will enable communication between the vendor solution and other business applications, such as the carrier's enterprise content management software.

"Thunderhead offers flexible, standards-based technology with broad functionality. Its ability to work with ACORD XML made the solution an easy choice for us and we look forward to completing the implementation," Garcia comments.

Anthony O'Donnell has covered technology in the insurance industry since 2000, when he joined the editorial staff of Insurance & Technology. As an editor and reporter for I&T and the InformationWeek Financial Services of TechWeb he has written on all areas of information ... View Full Bio