Technology Decisions, October 2002, Tech Edge :

Candito adds: We made a strategic decision to have our customer information file [CIF] be the so-called gold copy of party data. All the party data resides in the legacy systems. The business challenge is its hard to match customers and product names and addresses. MetLife will extract the party information from the legacy systems and put it inside a customer information file. Hooks are built from the legacy systems to the CIF. So if the legacy system has a business process where [the business side] needs to put a client name on a report, they can use the CIF as the resident address, so to speak, Candito says.

DWL Customer will allow MetLife to integrate the data from all the legacy systems into one file, which will cut down on errors and redundant labor. If customers have five or six policies, they would do five or six transactions, Candito says. Once weve got all the data up on the gold copy, [customer service] will change it once, and the five other legacy systems, unless they need to know, wouldnt even care.

DWL Customer uses AIX and Solaris operating systems with DB2 and Oracle databases. The application server is Websphere, and the software platform is Java EJB and XML. DWL did not disclose pricing information.

Product: Geronimo
Company: Apex Data Systems
Web site: www.apexdatasystems.com

Apex Data Systems released its new policy administration software solution and named it for the Apache Indian warrior Geronimo. Using Oracle Designer and Developer 2000, the database solution can handle all forms of individual and group products.

Among its users is HPA, an insurer and third-party administrator. Gus Gentner, an IT consultant for the Rockford, Ill.-based HPA, says the company is currently running the software in parallel with its legacy system while implementation is completed. Target date for completion is February 2003.

We were sitting on a legacy UNIX-based proprietary software that was still terminal based, says Gentner. What we expect Geronimo to do is streamline policy issuance. With Oracle as its foundation for a relational database, it will connect our Internet-related policy issuance to streamline processes and gain efficiencies from a standpoint of money, material, and manpower.

Dwight Babcock, president of Apex, says Geronimo supports an array of life, health, dental, vision, disability, and LTC insurance. Geronimo is not only Web enabled, but also offers more features and functions than other systems, says Babcock.

Gentner sees improvements for HPA in data mining, data modeling, and data reporting, thanks to the Oracle connection. As we enter the HIPAA era, it should make our lives easier, he says. HPA has also shifted from UNIX to Windows and Intel technology. Our belief is well gain stability and predictability with our back-office system. The switch to Oracle is also extensive. What we needed was a rock-solid back-office application, Gentner says.

No pricing for the Geronimo system was available

Product: xpertProfiles
Company: Allfinanz
Web site: www.allfinanzinc.com

Allfinanz has released a new application for annuity companies to facilitate the electronic transfer of applications. Called xpertProfiles, the product was released in May, and Allfinanz CEO Mark Schwarzmann says, xpertProfiles is leveraging the new ACORD annuity profile standard. The company worked closely with ACORD and NAVA in the development of the new standards for application data exchange.

Rajiv Perera, IT leader for customer connectivity for the wealth income management group of GE Financial, says his company needed a product that could work with third-party aggregators so applications could be processed seamlessly. GE Financial offers multiple versions of its annuities, so it needed to move that data to aggregators selling the annuities. The front end that was traditionally on our system is now on a third-party system, says Perera. This gives the aggregators product rules so they are able to submit the application.

Product profiles are generated in ACORD XML format. The information is saved as an XML file and transmitted to the carriers trading partners. The partners can then process new and updated products without delay.

Schwarzmann says xpertProfiles is part of the xpertRules suite of products. The xpertProfiles tool can be purchased for $25,000 for a single-seat license, $40,000 for a three-seat license, or $75,000 for a site license.

Product: AFS-LINK
Company: American Financial Systems
Web site: www.afs-link.com

American Financial Systems (AFS) chief technical officer Alok Mehta characterizes the release of AFS-LINK for the Corporate Owned Life Insurance (COLI) marketplace as a natural step for us. The Web is clearly the right platform for our current technology. Based in Weston, Mass., AFS provides software and Internet tools for COLI offices.

Among the functionalities of AFS-LINK are the ability to do multi-tasking, so several runs can be submitted at one time; multi-user data sharing, which allows multiple users to form workgroups to share case data; and automatic updates.

Sam Chido, vice president of corporate and strategic marketing for the MONY Group, believes the product addresses the logical needs of his company to comply with the requests of clients, in this case brokers. It allows a crumbling of additional bureaucracy as it relates specifically to illustrations and other information [brokers] would need, relative to preparing a proposal for their client, Chido says.

Brokers have been ferociously dependent on carriers such as MONY, Chido explains, but now they can go online from anywhere and create their own illustrations. The real-time aspect applies even to support help for information from MONY. It shows us being responsive to our customer needs, Chido says. We felt it was in harmony with our clients most elemental needs so they can do business and make money.

Having a software developer familiar with CODI is also beneficial. The sales process in the CODI world is long, Chido says. This allows brokers to do iterations to help people get to decisions faster. They are able to do it themselves now without dependence upon us or our schedules. That has accelerated the buying process.

Pricing information on the product was not available.

shoppinGCART

Products: Phoenix, version 6.3
Company: Allenbrook, Inc.
Web site: www.allenbrook.com

Allenbrook, Inc., a provider of processing software and consulting services, has released version 6.3 of its Phoenix software for the property/casualty insurance industry. The new version offers a fully integrated policy processing and claims administration system for insurers.

Enhancements include Phoenix Assis- tant, which permits better navigation and use of the systems policy entry, policy manager, and client manager applications. Other features include 32-bit advanced rating technology, the Allenbrook rating application, and claims enhancements that consist of the ability to validate reserves against policy limits and improved month-end processing.

Peter Zale, Allenbrooks vice president of product management, says the continued investment in Phoenix ensures its position as the pre-eminent policy administration system in the industry.

Product: Insurance e-Nable, version 1.8
Company: e-Nable Corporation
Web site: www.e-nable.com

Westwood, Mass.-based solutions provider e-Nable released version 1.8 of its Insurance e-Nable Internet-based suite of products. New features include real-time MIB data, e-Nable pharmaceutical data, motor vehicle records, paramed orders, APS, and inspection reports. J. Scott Neumann, chief technology officer for e-Nable, says the new version allows users to order and analyze underwriting information online. Because of the sensitivity of data being exchanged, he says a virtual private network is established over the Internet, and data can then be transferred using the ACORD XMLife format. It provides full encryption of the data and all the security management around that, says Neumann.

The use of motor vehicle records for life insurance underwriting is pretty interesting from an underwriting standpoint, according to Neumann. Some companies just look at things like DUI as an indicator, but a lot of the scoring mechanisms will take into account a lot of violations. Theres a pretty good correlation with mortality.

Product: ClientBuilder, version 7.5
Company: ClientSoft
Web site: www.clientsoft.com

ClientSoft, the Miami-based provider of e-business solutions, has released version 7.5 of its ClientBuilder product for insurance and other business sectors. The release includes enhanced support for VT100 host access along with other terminal evaluation types, such as TN3270 and TN3250. This gives Client-Builder users access and the ability to re-engineer UNIX, LINUX, and other screen-based applications.

There are more than 25 enhancements to ClientBuilder, including an integrated development environment, enhanced team development, and improved performance and scalability. The ClientBuilder development modules have been consolidated into a seamless developer for the creation of new applications. The team development feature allows multiple programmers to work on the same development project while ensuring the integrity of the application.

ClientBuilder means speed, power, and flexibility to developers who want just one set of tools to create applications that capitalize on the value of legacy systems, says Andrew Wong, vice president of engineering for ClientSoft. It allows developers to learn one toolset to build both thick-client GUI applications as well as browser-based GUI applications.