Mutual Benefit Group's Rick Laabs

After 26 years in various IT-related jobs in the insurance industry, Rick Laabs has gone from programming codes such as Assembler and 3GL to case tools to early client-server and object-oriented environments. "I've experienced it all," says Laabs, CIO at Mutual Benefit Group in Huntingdon, Pa. "And the new frontier doesn't scare me. In fact, I find it very exciting."

Laabs' excitement began when he took his first computer science course while a student at the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point. "I was intrigued by technology and its ever-changing dimensions," he says. "I enjoyed learning new things and figured this was an environment in which I constantly would be challenged to do that. Little did I know it would change as fast as it does."

His first challenge was with Sentry Insurance, where he worked as a programmer while earning a bachelor's degree in management information systems. From there, Laabs went to Heritage Computer Corp., leading projects involving conversion to real-time database rating, and then to Scottsdale Insurance, where he progressed to senior director. His next career stop was CIO at GAINSCO, where he directed commercial and personal lines IT shops in Texas and Florida and was later named chairman of the personal lines insurance operation. Before joining Mutual Benefit as CIO in June 2004, Laabs spent several years at AIG Technologies, serving as vice president of product development and general manager for software sold to AIG and non-AIG companies.

Laabs feels his lengthy experience at both large insurance carriers and vendors is a valuable asset for a regional property/casualty carrier such as Mutual Benefit Group, which is trying to roll out several new technologies across the organization in a short period of time.

"Coming from larger companies, I can bring a disciplined approach to development that makes IS more predictable and focused on corporate priorities," he says.

That disciplined approach should come in handy during the coming months as Laabs and his 16-member IT staff guide Mutual Benefit through several major IT projects. These include implementation of a Web-based ACORD XML standards personal lines rating
system, rewriting a direct billing and cancellation system, and designing and implementing an enterprise systems architecture. He expects all three projects will help Mutual Benefit increase efficiencies, improve productivity, provide flexibility, and reduce maintenance.

Laabs inherited the direct billing project but initiated the other two endeavors within the past year. The personal lines rating project follows a commercial lines rating system, called CLIR (Commercial Lines Internet Rating), Mutual Benefit implemented in 2000. The company plans to use Duck Creek Technologies' rating tool, with rollout of the personal-auto system anticipated early in the fourth quarter, followed by homeowners and smaller personal lines such as umbrella.

"The main benefit of this rating system is it is XML based, which in turn will allow agents to connect using multiple user interfaces," Laabs says.

Although the vendor is doing the majority of the work on the first line as a prototype, Laabs expects his department to handle the development for future lines of business. "Duck Creek's product is a tool to build it yourself. It will be exciting when we can take it over," he says.

The direct billing project involves rewriting code for a legacy AS400 system to automate manual processes, improve compliance, and provide audit trails and new payment options. Laabs intends to finish the programming by November.

The final–and most ambitious–project Laabs and his team are working on is planning and designing a service-oriented enterprise systems architecture. The multiyear project, which has only just begun, will involve several technologies, including Java, Microsoft .NET, and extending the AS400 legacy code.

"We hope to encapsulate a significant number of our existing legacy features and functions into Web service packages," Laabs says. "We've hired an enterprise systems architect, but we're still in the early planning stages."

He admits investing in such an extensive project is particularly challenging for a small carrier such as Mutual Benefit Group.

"When you're small, you don't have the luxury to experiment or be wrong with expensive technical decisions," he says. "In fact, you virtually have no opportunities to be wrong. You have to live with all the decisions you make."

Sharon Baker is a freelance business writer based in Charlotte, N.C.

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Mutual Benefit Group's Rick Laabs

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