Mixing different insurance software solutions to work seamlesslycan make juggling chainsaws seem like a cute hobby. The key, ascarriers have learned, is integration. Getting disparate solutionsto work seamlessly is the goal insurance IT leaders strive toachieve. In the case of CAA Insurance (Ontario) it took strongpartners and good fortune, but it was accomplished.

CAA Insurance South Central Ontario purchased the OnBaseenterprise content management system about five years ago as theinsurer looked to change its legacy imaging system to achieve theadditional benefits such as improved workflow, according to MattTurack, vice president, insurance for CAA.

In late 2011, the insurer selected Guidewire InsuranceSuite toreplace its enterprise system and kept the OnBase solution for itsimaging and document fulfillment needs.

“We needed OnBase not just for imaging and workflow, but fordocument creation and fulfillment to our printer,” says Turack. “Itwas a 14-month project involving both OnBase and Guidewire toreplace everything—policy admin, rating, and claims.”

CAA built an enterprise service bus to connect to pieces such asOnBase and Guidewire integration, explains Turack.

“We use those pieces to facilitate integration between the twosystems from an imaging standpoint, document viewing standpoint,pushing XML data, and to create fulfillment of letters, dec pages,and notices,” he says.

ImageSoft is the integration partner for Hyland and workedclosely with CAA on document fulfillment. The carrier had documentsand 140 templates that needed to come out of the OnBase system.ImageSoft was able to put them in the right format and create thetool that allowed CAA to manage them in a user-friendlyfashion.

“The whole creation and conversion of any fulfillment we had wasmade simple,” says Turack. “The workflows triggered the rightcommands. Adding new modules expanded our abilities from anenterprise imaging standpoint and from fulfillment. All thedocuments from Guidewire flow into OnBase and ImageSoft worked withthe CAA team to take the XML outputs and bring it into OnBase,create all the templates that were necessary for productionoutput.”

AThe integration between the two platforms has been phenomenal,according to Turack.

“It has been a collaborative partnership with us, ImageSoft onthe OnBase product, and with Guidewire as well,” he says. “One ofthe biggest benefits has been a collection of core systems herethat gives us the right tools to do our jobs and provides not onlyour internal staff but our customers with increased service andproduct offerings.”

Turack describes it as a closed integration so when frontlineusers perform a task or make a change to a policy, thecorresponding data element is transmitted directly to OnBase.

“They don't have to go to OnBase or a separate system to viewthe documents—they can launch that through an integrated portalwith Guidewire,” he says. “The launching pad allows the adjuster tostay with a single screen and not jump to different systems. Wewent live in December of 2012 and we've seen efficiencies from userengagement to time savings that show us we have shaved a couple ofminutes in servicing a transaction just by creating a single pointof view. It works in a real-time fashion.”

CAA had a tight timeline of 14 months to roll out the Guidewireenterprise system and Turack points out such a quick installationis difficult with multiple integration touch points, whether it isregulatory constraints or just internal adoptions from anintegration perspective.

“It was an aggressive and optimistic plan, but that's whereImageSoft came to the table with us and helped us get it donewithin the timeline we set up,” he says. “It was a verycollaborative discussion. They worked closely with Guidewire andwith us. It wasn't a massive team. At its peak it was 35members—internal and external. There was dedication and commitmentto hit the milestones we set out on the date they were due and wewere able to adjust to unforeseen issues.”

CAA also has seen good organic growth in the business, both fromnew business and from retention. Retention has gone up each of thelast three years.

One of the most critical things for any insurance carrier isretaining the customers we want to retain, explains Turack.

“It means we provide the right experience for our customers.That involves having the right tools,”he says.