Standards Vision and Action

When you hear ACORD standards, what comes to mind? Those things the guys in IT use to let systems talk to each other? Or an integral component in an enterprise business and technology plan for your company's future?

If you thought of the former, then it's time to take a fresh look at standards and how they support your company.

Standards solve specific data communication issues and enable systems, both internal and external, to communicate. But that's only the tip of the iceberg.

The deeper value of standards is in preparing for the future. In our rapidly changing world we need to be ready for whatever comes next, and standards, specifically the Standards Framework, can be a key component in your enterprise planning.

As a recent Gartner report put it: "Consider the ACORD XML standards as a fundamental requirement for internal application integration and communication with external partners, and ensure that all new projects support the corporate XML standards."

Imagine if each time you took on a new business partner, or acquired a new software solution, wherever in the world the partner may be, you both spoke the same "standards" language so communication and integration are faster and easier. That should be our goal; after all, this should be about the business of insurance, not the plumbing.

As companies grow by selling new products and expanding into new markets, there's an increased demand for reduced costs and increased flexibility. This means standards need to further support those efforts and do so in a way that's even more responsive and agile. Increased agility and responsiveness is the vision for our industry and for ACORD standards.

Everything starts with vision. From the simplest widget to grand theories, they all start by visualizing something new, different, and more powerful to improve business or life. The same holds true for ACORD standards. They require vision, and for those of us with experience with them, it may require a new perspective to see them in a new light.

Standards aren't just a business solution, and they're not just a technology solution--they're an enterprise solution. They're part of an enterprise view for your company and your future. That's why we're focusing on business requirements, technical requirements, and implementation requirements to make the visions more accessible and real.

We see the industry changing and growing. We see new product possibilities on the horizon that you may be selling. We see a growing international membership that requires a global reach with local knowledge to make ACORD standards work for it. It's a new vision of what ACORD standards are and can be to our increasingly diverse community.

Today, our standards are mostly siloed. While there are cross-domain standards, we primarily are segmented by our three domains: life, annuity, and health; property and casualty/surety and reinsurance; and large commercial. But the vision of tomorrow is increased collaboration, coordination, and consistency across the groups. That's the vision, and the ACORD Standards Framework is working to make that vision a reality.

You need to plan for your future and how your business may grow. It could be adding new products, taking on partners from around the world, adopting technologies, or tapping into an emerging market.

Standards need to be part of both your business and IT visions, bridging those worlds.

Bottom line: Standards can only benefit you once they are implemented. So, it's time to take action and get going.

Over the past few years, ACORD has worked to make implementation resources not only more efficient but more accessible. From online reports and guidelines to OARS reporting and Testing and Certification Facility, we've been working to make your standards implementations easier and more efficient. Now it's up to you to take advantage of them.

So, what can you do? The short answer is: participate, implement, and report. Or, to quote Gartner once again, "Actively engage in standards creation by joining ACORD, and require your key vendors to adopt standards....Ensure that core application vendors can send and receive messages based on ACORD XML standards. Do not consider this 'nice to have'; it should be a core requirement for your major vendors."

More explicitly...

o Get involved--Become a member, join working groups, come to events, vote on standards.

o Download the standards--ACORD standards are there for you to use. Download them, use them, and understand how they will benefit you and your company.

o Learn about implementation--ACORD makes available a wide array of tools and resources to help you get the most out of standards implementations. Take advantage of the implementation guides, best practices, educational/training videos, and all the other tools at your disposal.

o Implement the standards--Take the vision and make it a reality. Implement standards and help them spread across your enterprise. Be sure your partners and vendors are all implementing standards so you all speak the same language.

o Report your implementations and get certified--We want to know how you're doing and what you're doing, so we ask that you report your implementations in OARS. This also lets other members of the industry see your successes and positions you as a leader. Once reported, be sure to apply for certification, as well.

You can learn all about this at www.acord.org.

Once you are part of ACORD, you are part of the solution to industrywide communication.

We have great challenges ahead, both as an industry and as an association. But with great challenges come great opportunities. The new, broader vision of standards will support you in these challenges.