From a technology perspective, its almost like the moons are aligning, muses John Kellington, senior vice president and chief technology officer at Cincinnati- based Ohio Casualty Group (OCG). We have ACORD and its XML standards, we have the Internet, and we have these things called Web services, and its all finally allowing technology to meet the demands of agents to make SEMCI [single-entry multi-company integration] a reality. He further asserts investments by a carrier in technology that makes it easier for agents to do business from within their own systems will yield rewards to the carrier of more business and less cost in addition to improved agency satisfaction.
Ohio Casualty writes auto, home, and business insurance through its member companies. Kellington is its top tech, since the insurer doesnt have a CIO. We de-cided to have the top technical officer carry the title of chief technical officer instead of chief information officer to stress our belief in the importance of technology to Ohio Casualty, its future, and its agents, he explains.
We have been working for a long time to improve our policy administration environment with a specific focus on improving the interface with our agents, he says. We heard Applied Systems really was going to push Transformation Station, and we wanted OCG to be a leader with that Web services technology. With our new technology platform, we were able to implement Transformation Station in only four weeks. He adds OCG also has worked with AMS and its TransactNow capability. SEMCI is very important to our agencies; we need to work hard to deliver what they need.
Kellington is relatively new as an employee and CTO at Ohio Casualty, but he is no stranger to the company. After studying engineering at the University of Cincinnati, Kellington joined IBM in 1984, originally working in the large computing division. IBM moved him to New York and eventually back to Ohio in 1987 as a systems engineer, supporting the insurance in-dustry. Later, IBM transferred him into its consulting division, still working with insurance carriers. In his role as principal and architect within the insurance industry practice, Kellington worked with many insurance companies throughout the United States.
One of IBMs customers was Ohio Casualty, and Kelling- tonstill with IBMended up as the chief architect of the sophisticated policy management system Ohio Casualty was building. Its called PARIS, he explains, which stands for Policy Administration Rating and Issuance System. Based on IBM models developed in Europe, Ohio Casualtys new system, several years in development, began its rollout (with OCGs general liability products) in April 2001. OCG has been going live with additional states and lines of business on a steady basis ever since. Kellington describes it as being very successful.
At the same time PARIS went live, Ohio Casualty offered Kellington the CTO position, and he didnt hesitate to jump the wall, he says. Ohio Casualty is a great company, with a strong commitment to its agents, and I already knew the top management and many of the technical staff with whom Id be working, so I jumped on the opportunity as soon as it was offered.
The opportunity brought him to a major company with a strong presence in the insurance industry. Member companies of Ohio Casualty Group operate in 49 states for commercial lines and 24 states for personal lines. OCG works with approximately 3,300 independent agencies and has approximately $1.1 billion in premiums. Kellington is responsible for the 330 IT employees (out of just more than 2,700 total employees nationally). He reports directly to president and CEO Dan Carmichael, a longtime insurance industry leader and former CEO of IVANS, a major provider of connectivity services to the industry.
Im basically a geek, Kellington admits proudly, pointing out he keeps a complete, current copy of the Websphere development toolkit on his personal workstation. My personal interest in the nuts and bolts of the technology has stood me in good stead over the years, especially in dealing with technicians and vendors.
And with the many projects going on inside Ohio Casualty, there are lots of technicians and vendors to work with. Besides the ongoing rollout of the policy administration system, the company is adding functionality to its agency Web portal and increasing the workflow capabilities of its imaging system. It also recently won a QualComm Large Company Impact award for what the insurer has been doing in the wireless areaenabling OCGs claims people with remote access to support applications, which boosted productivity and effectiveness.
So it would appear the moons Kellington has spoken of may be in alignment for him and Ohio Casualty for many moons to come.
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