Technology Decisions

Exploiting Excess Capacity

Horvath says the IT staff found there is a huge amount of underutilized capacity in desktopsone estimate is 95 percent of a PCs capacity is underutilizedand the carrier could tap into that capacity rather than investing in more servers. Think of all the time people are away from their desks and the PCs are unused, says Horvath. And even when we are using them, were not fully using the processing capabilities. The best part of the solution, she adds, is even when the PCs are being utilized for normal business, users arent even aware the PCs are computing for other jobs.

Gordon says GE Financial Assurance looked at all the vendors in the space and chose software called GridServer from DataSynapse. The software linked 100 GE PCs on a grid. We had anticipated a three-times cycle improvement in running these actuarial jobs, says Gordon. Were actually seeing cycle-time improvement of 10 times or greater.

GE conducted a training session for the actuaries, and at the start of the session, the IT staff took a job that normally was run overnight and started it at the beginning of the training session. By the time the session was over, 30 minutes later, so was the job. The actuaries quickly understood the power of grid computing.

If GE Financial Assurance had gone with the traditional mode of increasing server capacity, Horvath says, the carrier not only would have spent more money, but it would not have seen any improvement in cycle time.

What we replaced was a farm of 10 servers with 100 desktops we already had, says Gordon. We had no additional costs on the hardware side, and we are getting 10 times the cycle improvement.

No Limits

There is no limit to what a company can do using grid computing. Weve computed if we were to grid-enable 5,000 [desktop] computers, it would be equivalent to one of the largest supercomputers in the world, says Horvath. We dont actually have the need for that much capacity. But GE Financial Assurance isnt finished. The next phase could see 500 desktops used as a grid. The carrier is working with other departments including investment, capital markets, and risk management to see how those departments might be able to utilize the technology. The normal day-to-day operations could be conducted on the grid, but Horvath believes the greatest improvement a carrier would find from grid computing is in compute-intensive processing.

The GridServer software is the core of the system. It takes the jobs and provides the capability for the actuaries to kick those jobs off and for IT folks to manage and view what is happening in the environment, and it distributes the pieces of work across the different engines in a multiprocessing fashion, says Horvath. The software also monitors the grid, so if a piece of work is sent to a particular desktop and the worker happens to shut off the PC, the software acknowledges that situation and redistributes the work. Thats really the brains of the system, she says.
Installation of the software was pretty simple, according to Gibson. GE Financial Assurance took the models used by the actuaries to DataSynapse, and the vendor conducted the decoding and testing off site. DataSynapse returned a month later and spent a week with GE implementing and testing.

The Benefits

The great thing about this technology application is it gives benefits at the front end and the back end, says Horvath. At the front end are the lower costs IT is going to realize by reducing the amount of servers we are going to support and enabling the capacity that was underutilized. At the back end, we have better, faster business decisions, which is an even greater return on our investment.

GE Financial Assurance didnt run across anyone in the insurance arena using grid computing, Horvath says. Success breeds interest. GE Financial Assurance is the first of the GE financial businesses to utilize the grid. Adds Horvath: In true GE fashion, though, our other GE financial businesses now are exploring how they can kick this off. ROBERT REGIS HYLE

ONLINE LICENSING

Prudential Offers Paperless System For Brokers

Prudential Financial has introduced an automatic online licensing application for brokers seeking appointment to sell the companys insurance and annuity products. The electronic data collection tool, called Online Confidential Data Sheet (CDS), was developed for Prudential by BISYS Education and Licensing Services. The Online CDS streamlines the traditional paper-based appointment process and improves brokers speed to market.

Prudentials new electronic application is on the cutting edge in several respects, says George Hanley, senior vice president, chief compliance officer. The Online CDS makes Prudential easier for brokers to do business with while taking the company to the next generation of appointment processing and online re-cords management. All are important advantages in todays environment.

The Online CDS can be used by individual financial professionals completing their own appointment applications or by broker-dealers and firms seeking appointments on behalf of their producers. The paperless appointment request offers brokers the following advantages:
elimination of delivery time re-quired for a manual request;
a shortened appointment cycle timefrom as long as several days to as little as oneminimizing lost business opportunities;
a tailored questionnaire requiring completion of only those sections pertinent to the individual applicant;
electronic authorization, negating the need for wet signature;
automated license validation, eliminating the burden on the producer to provide a license copy;
e-mail to the producer allowing for instant notification of the appointment confirmation.

The Online CDS is innovative from both the companys perspective and that of the producer, according to David Odenath, president, Prudential Annuities, noting the company completes more than 100,000 state appointment requests each year. The Online CDS is an invaluable tool, offering improved efficiency and accuracy given the level of activity and the resources required to bring the Prudential and American Skandia platforms to new producers. This allows us to increase the level of service delivered through those platforms, he says.
John Howard, president, PruSelect Brok-erage, sees the advantages of the new application from the brokers point of view. The Online CDS enables Prudential to reduce drastically the new-appointment cycle time, allowing producers to close cases faster. Our distribution partners are sure to find this application an improvement over yesterdays paper-based process, he says.

WEB-BASED SYSTEM

Selective Offers The Touch of CLAS

Selective Insurance Group, Inc., completed the rollout of its commercial lines system known as Web-based CLAS (Commercial Lines Agency System). The system offers policy quote, issue, endorsement, and renewal processing for commercial lines products over the Web, directly from independent agencies.

CLAS provides independent agencies with the speed, convenience, and cost-effective power of straight-through processing, says Jeff Kam-rowski, senior vice president of business services for Selective. In addition, the system automatically reviews business transactions to ensure consistency with our underwriting guidelines. CLAS offers quote and en-dorsement capabilities at the point of customer contact, with automatic delivery of policies. Agents can access the same rate files as Selective regional offices and work simultaneously on accounts with their Selective underwriter. It also allows agents to access all of their Selective commercial policy activity through one system.

Our commercial lines system provides a secure and easy-to-use platform that helps agents build their business by offering quick response time and enhanced customer service while enabling Selective to grow our business and increase productivity, says Kamrowski. In 2004, we expect agents to self-service seamlessly 40 percent of certain commercial lines new-business, renewal, and endorsement transactions.

CONFERENCE

Annual IASA Event to Examine Future of Technology in Financial Services

IASA 2004, the annual education conference and business show focusing on technology in the insurance industry, will be held June 6 to 9 at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. One of the highlights of this years program is a technology super session led by Daniel M. Yellin, director of the IBM research software technology department.

Yellins session will focus on how insurance carriers will implement technology over the next decade, what particular technology will emerge to solve industry issues, and what types of gadgets will appear that will assist technology professionals, both personally and professionally.

There also will be an accounting super session on the state of the insurance industry with Frank Coyne, chairman, president, and CEO of Insurance Services Office, and Derek Smith, chairman and CEO of ChoicePoint.

Keynote speakers will include Scott Adams, creator of the Dilbert comic strip and books, and Eric Shepcaro, vice president application networking for AT&T Business. Featured entertainment at the annual dinner will be TV star Jim Belushi and the Sacred Hearts Band.
For more information on registration to the event, go to www.iasa.org.

SALES PLATFORM

Safeco Hopes New Web Site Makes for Easier Customer Contacts

Safeco has a mission to make the experience of buying, selling, and owning insurance easier with Safeco than with anyone else. The carrier launched Safeco Now for property/casualty insurancean online sales platform that integrates personal and small-commercial in-surance products, saving independent distributors time and driving increased cross-selling opportunities.

Safeco Now is a streamlined Web site for independent agents and brokers that gives them access to 90 percent of their daily online work tools with just one click. The highlight of the system is the sales tool that allows distributors to quote and bind seven major lines of P&C and surety business in a matter of minutes. The lines include personal auto, homeowners, business owners policy (BOP), commercial auto (fleet and nonfleet), workers compensation, business umbrella, and surety (notary, license and permit bonds, court bonds, public official bonds).

All major product linesfrom personal watercraft to commercial multiperilwill come online by the end of 2005. Commercial multiperil will begin its rollout during the fourth quarter of this year.

The single-platform interface is an expansion of the companys successful small-business sales tool introduced last year. That new-business interface helped jump BOP sales in 2003 by 50 percent, the carrier reports, and commercial auto by 39 percent after its summer introduction onto the sales tool.
No company focuses more closely than Safeco on the products independent agents and brokers sell most, says Mike LaRocco, president and chief operating officer for Safeco Personal Insurance. By bringing our personal lines and small-commercial products together on Safeco Now, easy-to-use technology complements product breadth and quality. With this new capability, were a must-have partner for growth-oriented independent distributors.
Wrapped around the new-business hub is a menu of online tools for agents to use in de-livering customer servicefrom claims and billing inquiry to policy changes. And supporting it all will be a leading-edge security service, set for introduction during the second half of 2004.
According to Safeco, more than 650 independent agents and brokers played a part in designing Safeco Now, advising the company on everything from the design of the sales platform to the streamlined home pages. The insurer asserts their requests are most notable in the ease with which Safeco Now delivers cross-selling capabilities. As agents shift within the six P&C products, customers personal information automatically shifts, too.

WHOS USING WHAT

Jefferson Pilot Financial, Manulife USA, and Ohio National Financial Services have licensed the Visual Product/Modeling System from Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) to speed the design and development of new insurance products. Conseco Services has licensed three integrated CSC software products to streamline back-office processing. CSC has licensed its nbAccelerator to AEGON Group to automate life insurance policy application submission, underwriting, and issuance processes. Allianz Australia has signed a three-year IT services contract with CSC to provide infrastructure support for the carriers mainframe, LAN, and desktops.

Austin Surplus Lines; Landscape Contractors Insurance Services, Inc.; NCRIC Group, Inc.; and Union Mutual of Vermont have chosen ImageRight to provide document management.

Penn Independent Corp. has selected Optical Image Technology and its DocFinity suite of products to replace Penns paper policy files in the underwriting and brokerage units.

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans has implemented The Administrator software solution from LIDP Consulting Services to support the carriers universal life and variable universal life products.

Nodak Mutual Insurance and The Main Street America Group have opted for Millbrook Inc. to provide technology and industry knowledge. Nodak has licensed Millbrooks Management Information suite, while Main Street implemented data warehouse, data marts, and online analytical processing tools.

AEGIS Insurance Services has selected the Commercial Intellisys property/casualty policy processing services and software platform from Insurity Inc. Georgia Casualty & Surety also has licensed Commercial Intellisys for its workers comp, commercial auto, general liability, commercial package, and umbrella policies. Capital City Insurance has chosen Commercial Intellisys to support its regional commercial property/casualty business.

TIAA-CREF has licensed Home Office, the policy administration software from NaviSys, Inc., to support deferred fixed and variable annuities marketed to individuals.

UnumProvident Corporation has purchased the learning management system from Pathlore Software Corporation for delivering and measuring training over the Internet. UnumProvident also has decided on Symantec Managed Security Services for its 24/7 monitoring and management of its infrastructure.

Concord Group Insurance Companies has opted for Duck Creek Technologies for its Example Platform product suite to improve product development and delivery to the Web.

Partners Mutual Insurance Company has chosen Results International Systems to provide a Web-enabled policy processing system for personal and commercial lines.