Introducing Insurance & Technology's Policy Administration Resource Center

It may be true that insurance is sold, not bought, but the real foundation of the business is the policy -- the contract that represents what often is a lifelong relationship between customer and carrier. The terms, pricing and administration of the policy reflect not only the needs and financial circumstances of the policyholder, but also the performance and compensation of an agent or distributor; the capabilities of the insurer, in terms of underwriting, product development, billing and customer service; and the regulatory environment. No wonder there's so much debate about when, how and why to replace legacy policy admin systems and migrate to new systems. The stakes are high, and the proverbial risks and rewards are huge for companies that make the right -- or wrong -- choices about solutions, vendor and integrator partners, and platforms/operating environments.

To that end, Insurance & Technology is launching the Policy Administration Resource Center, an online forum for analysis, debate and education about policy administration and the next generation of solutions and technologies that can help insurers maximize their investments in this area.The goal is to provide insights into the product news, research and leadership that is shaping policy issuance and administration in today's more competitive financial services environment that is characterized by higher risk, more demanding and information-sensitive customers and multi-channel distribution.

Key to the Policy Admin Resource Center will be open discussion among industry leaders -- CIOs and other technology executives, line-of-business heads, analysts, consultants and solution providers.

That's why I'm launching my I&T blog in conjunction with the Resource Center. I'll be weighing in regularly with my observations and questions about what's happening in our industry, and I hope you'll join in the conversation with your own opinions and insights. What are you seeing in the policy administration solutions segment or legacy systems upgrade space that's impressive, infuriating, ridiculous or confusing? What needs to happen -- specifically in terms of policy admin, or more generally in terms of IT strategy or corporate culture -- for carriers to become more profitable, productive and competitive? This is your forum to "tell it like it is."

Posted by Kathy Burger, Editorial Director

Katherine Burger is Editorial Director of Bank Systems & Technology and Insurance & Technology, members of UBM TechWeb's InformationWeek Financial Services. She assumed leadership of Bank Systems & Technology in 2003 and of Insurance & Technology in 1991. In addition to ... View Full Bio