Underwriting is a difficult, multifaceted and oftentime-consuming task for insurers, but software manufacturers haveno shortage of solutions designed to speed up and enhanceunderwriting processes.

From straight-through processing to services-orientedarchitecture, new technologies are typically part of the picture asthis product category continues to develop.

This article will examine some of the new introductions andupdated solutions announced during 2007.

o DRC earlier this year announced the introduction and generalavailability of "DecisionMaker Assistant" (DM Assistant), thelatest addition to DRC's DecisionMaker solution suite, whichenables real-time automated underwriting at point of sale.

According to Honolulu-based DRC, with DM Assistant,property-casualty insurance companies can offer distributionchannels "once and done" real-time service for quoting,underwriting rules and point-of-sale policy fulfillment.

"Unlike traditional environments where rule changes requiretime, programming and additional sales training, with DM Assistantbusiness users are empowered to very quickly and easily promote newrules, forms and output throughout distribution channels," thecompany said.

DM Assistant automates the sales process, with any inadequate orconflicting information quickly identified, resulting in thenotification to the point-of-sale to allow for correction andresubmission, said DRC. Once approved, a policy declaration pageand insurance identification cards are printed atpoint-of-sale.

"The closed loop and streamlined process provided with DMAssistant ensures enforcement of best practices and a 'once anddone' method for policy fulfillment," the company noted.

Pricing for DM Assistant starts at $50,000 and is licensed bybusiness and state, a company representative said. Further detailsare available at www.decisionresearch.com.

o Duck Creek Technologies introduced a new feature, "Portfolio,"within their policy administration system that helps underwritersview "at a glance" a presentation of all quotes and policies for acustomer's account.

Portfolio allows data to be shared across quotes and polices forease and consistency when entering and updating information,according to Bolivar, Mo.-based Duck Creek. The feature facilitatespolicy updates and endorsements by allowing simultaneous processingof transactions on any or all policies within the portfolio.

Portfolio is available in the new 3.1 release of EXAMPLEPlatform, Duck Creek's policy administration solution, which rangesin price from $300,000 to $1.5 million, the company said.

According to Duck Creek, Portfolio increases underwritingworkflow by making underwriting risk more visible to theunderwriter. The underwriter gains more control of the underwritingdecision processing by having multiple views of data between quotesand policies.

"The underwriting process is automated, leaving the underwriterto concentrate more on exception-based underwriting," the companynoted. "A carrier can increase their underwriting processing;re-keying errors can be eliminated, and more consistentunderwriting decisions can be made, consequently reducing theoverall underwriting workload."

The Portfolio feature's architecture also provides the abilityto rewrite rules about the interaction of policies within theportfolio, said Duck Creek. Further details are available atwww.duckcreektech.com.

o FirstBest Systems Inc. announced last fall the generalavailability of its advanced Underwriting Management Systems(UMS).

Based on Web 2.0 technologies, the FirstBest UMS addressed "theentire underwriting life cycle, enabling commercial insurancecarriers to profit from better underwriting," stated Lexington,Mass.-based FirstBest.

Provided as an on-demand, Web-based platform for underwritingall lines of business, the UMS delivers straight-throughprocessing, exception-based underwriting, real-time collaboration,knowledge management and an execution platform for predictivemodeling--all in one integrated solution, the company said.

"Carriers deploying this solution benefit from closeragent-underwriter relationships, management visibility into theunderwriting process, and the continuous capturing and sharing ofunderwriting experience and best practices," said FirstBest.

Advanced collaboration capabilities provide all users with areal-time view of the underwriting process, the company said.Business rules and workflow are highly configurable and can beadded or revised in real-time.

FirstBest added that UMS co-exists with carriers' existingsystems, including legacy and external systems, and that it adheresto the latest standards in Web services and SOA.

"Where carriers have legacy systems based on older technologies,the FirstBest UMS adapter architecture allows the legacy system tobe integrated with minimal effort," the company noted.

Pricing starts with a $250,000 per year subscription as part ofa multiyear contract, a company representative said. Moreinformation is available at www.firstbest.com.

o ISCS Inc. announced this past year that its SurePowerInnovation product was upgraded to include a rules-based datawarehouse, an improved document imaging client tool for broaderindexing and LDAP standards-based security.

According to San Jose, Calif.-based ISCS, the Web-based"SurePower Innovation" policy administration system usesservice-oriented architecture to "automate personal and commerciallines underwriting, policy management, claims management,reinsurance, customer billing/remittance processing and financialreporting, all with integrated document management."

SurePower Innovation is a third-generation solution forinsurance processing and management, said ISCS. It uses Java/J2EE,model-driven architecture, service-oriented architecture andmodel-view-controller architecture.

The technology allows companies with an active informationtechnology staff to make their own modifications easily, thecompany said.

While optionally empowering IT staff with a state-of-the-arttoolbox, however, "SurePower Innovation remains a solution forinsurance companies that do not have IT resources," the companystated.

"SurePower Innovation is designed for real-office use," said TimShelton, an ISCS principal. "It's a complete system, ready toprocess your entire insurance business."

The minimum base price for SurePower Innovation is $300,000, acompany representative said. Further details are available atwww.iscs.com.

o Valen Technologies last year introduced two products forcarriers that want to "improve underwriting results and improveunderwriting discipline and consistency."

According to Denver-based Valen, rather than relying onsubjective and intuitive underwriter judgment, Valen's underwritingsolutions use "proven, predictive analytics science to objectivelypinpoint the expectation of loss for an individual policy."

The first product--"Tier Right"--uses predictive analytics toplace policies into different tier schedules (ultra-preferred,preferred, standard and nonstandard, for example), the companysaid.

"In doing so, policies will be priced more accurately," saidValen. "By placing risks more accurately in the appropriate tier,your book will witness loss ratio improvements and profitablegrowth."

The second product--"Schedule Right"--uses predictive analyticsto provide schedule rating indications that advise underwriters ofany debits or credits to apply to achieve price adequacy. Bypricing to risk more precisely, carriers can be "more competitivein today's softening market," the company noted.