AUGIE: Standards Via Group Therapy?
Ever since ACORD announced the birth of AUGIE (the ACORD-Users Groups Information Exchange) and sent me a warm and fuzzy stuffed dog to remind me of it, Ive been trying to get a handle on just what the heck this group is about and why it exists.
My search for AUGIE enlightenment has not been an easy one. Ive reviewed press releases, talked to many of those involved, and visited the official AUGIE Web site (www.augie.cc). I discovered that AUGIE "is comprised of agency user groups whose members own or use software provided by ACORD member organizations." I was told that the group includes user groups, vendors and carriers–and that its purpose is to establish standards that enable insurance systems to speak the same language.
So far, so good, but we here at National Underwriter began to wonder if this latest effort to get all parties on the same standards page was yet another case of lip service, particularly to agents who desperately want "single-entry" transactions to become the default.
In a May 21 editorial, we talked about agents many years of frustration with such efforts, and while we hoped for AUGIEs success, we also hoped it wasnt another case of everyone saying the right things and nobody delivering the needed solutions. We also pointed out that AUGIE had no mission statement that we were aware of, and had set no deadlines for action, which made us a bit dubious of its chances for success.
After the editorial appeared, NU was roundly criticized by ACORD for casting AUGIE as being "a new SEMCI thing." ACORD said that single-entry was "only one of many issues and opportunities" discussed by this group.
Since I myself have pronounced SEMCI dead as a technology issue, I wont use that term, which seems to upset some of those involved with AUGIE.
Unquestionably, however, the need for single-entry transactions remains a crucial one for some, if not all of the parties involved.
ACORD also said: "The single-entry issue cannot be viewed as a project with milestones and target dates." Translation: Since we dont have stated goals, you cant expect us to set target dates for completing them.
That was altogether reasonable. Still, it bothered me that a group with such a useful purpose couldnt quite identify itself or its mission in concrete terms. So my search continued. I was promised a one-on-one session with AUGIE luminaries to clear up my "fuzzy" thinking, but it hasn't happened.
At about the same time, however, I attended a session at the ACORD Technology Conference that dealt in part with AUGIE. It was then that I came to fully understand this group. One member of the panel, to whom the industry should be forever indebted, cleared up my confusion (and I daresay that of many others) by using two words to describe AUGIEs purpose: "group therapy."
Suddenly, it all became clear! AUGIE is not an organization in the sense that we in the business world understand that word. Like a group therapy gathering, it is a place where several constituents with their own unique problems can come to vent their frustrations and receive moral support, and where other members of the group hopefully offer valid solutions.
The evidence for the above comes from ACORDs own statement that the group would enable participants "to discuss the future of technology and how to work together." To be sure, some issues will be relevant to more than one constituent, but, like most groups, AUGIE is a collection of participants who have their own "issues." One biggie for agents is single entry.
"Single entry is definitely one of the issues," said Dirk Boudreaux, president of the AMS Users Group, in discussing AUGIE. "We dont want to talk about [issues like] the future agency. If SEMCIs" (his word, not mine) "not the direct issue, we still need to resolve it. We dont want to just have everyone saying the right things at the right times, then going off and doing their own thing. A lot of frustration has built up. The users group presidents are trying to make sure this is not just a nice talking group."
Summing up agents frustration and desire for concrete solutions, Mr. Boudreaux quipped, "We dont need any group therapy anymore. Weve been on the couch too long."
Agents arent the only AUGIE participants expecting results. "Call it SEMCI, once-and-done, straight-through processing–the issue is using up-to-date standards," asserted Hugh Anderson, enterprise architect, electronic marketing/agency interface, for The Hartford. "We dont want this to be just a dialogue group. We have to learn something and act on it. Something needs to at least start to happen by the fourth quarter of this year."
Well, that sounds rather like a deadline. In fact, Mr. Anderson assured us, "you will see a set of industry recommendations, then its up to each player to decide whether they agree or will invest."
So while AUGIE is, in a very real sense, a therapy group, some of its members are clearly looking for much more than a place to vent and emotional support. This is a group that wants real action and real results–not more smoke and mirrors. Like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, they dont want to come to an AUGIE meeting in 2002 seeking answers, only to hear a disembodied voice intone: "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!"
If AUGIE turns out to be nothing more than a feel-good exercise, it will have served no purpose, and it may, in fact, exacerbate existing tensions and frustrations among the parties.
If, on the other hand, it can translate its activities into practical solutions that benefit agents and other parties, it will have been a stroke of genius. The proof will be in the pudding, but the chefs will not be patient.
Group hug! Kumbaya!
Senior Editor Ara C. Trembly is NU's resident tech guru. He can be reached at atrembly@nuco.com.
Reproduced from National Underwriter Property & Casualty/Risk & Benefits Management Edition, August 6, 2001. Copyright 2001 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.
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