Theres a river of content moving through your organization every day, and the challenge has become to manage both how it enters your systems and where you go with it afterward. Content today is a more dynamic and competitively advantageous asset than its ever beenstatic forms and documents are out, and rich data, available anywhere and any time, is in.
By Robert Regis Hyle
In the evolutionary process of IT, first there was document managementwhere do you put all this paper, and how can you manage it throughout the operation? Next, there was content management. Documents no longer were solely on paper. There were electronic versions, and there was data being entered throughout the enterprise. Today, there is enterprise content management. All the information and documents you create, receive, store, and send out now are flowing throughout the enterprise. But the enterprise no longer is just a division or even a group of offices. The enterprise is virtually anywhere you want it to be.
Content and data are things the business logic and profit logic need for people to do their jobs, says Cynthia Saccocia, senior analyst in the insurance practice for TowerGroup. Content logic is where we see content management playing a large role in the flow of content from one step to the next. There is no shortage of work being done in this area. Although content management generally refers to more than simple document management, work with those documents certainly is the first step in any attempt to control the use of a companys content. There has been more adoption of document management tools than some of the other [tools], says Saccocia. Thats really been reflected in the number of insurance companies [the vendors] have on board and obviously the tools [vendors] can provide. Document management is easier and less costly than content management solutions, but content management does much more. Its an enterprise tool that allows you to move and store content, she says. You address content flow with content management applications, and records management is the storage and retrieval of that content.
Whatever you want to call it, though, insurance carriers are having success in controlling the paper and assorted content that flows through their companies each day as evidenced by the case studies below.
Enterprise Architecture
When Jaime Sguerra joined Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, one of the jobs he was handed was the development of an enterprise component-based architecture. Second vice president and chief architect at Guardian, Sguerra says, One of those components we looked at was content management. We felt it was important to have a tool that would allow us to manage content so content could be utilized in many ways. Guardian sought to use the content internally on an intranet or other internal-based applications and externally either to agencies over an extranet or to policyholders and the public on Guardians public Web site.
We went through a methodic process to look for a tool that would give us a user-friendly interface and a solid security base to protect content, be flexible enough to integrate with the rest of the architecture, and allow us to manage the type of content we were planning to store in it, says Sguerra.
Guardian deals with unstructured content. Were looking at storing Word documents, PowerPoint documents, Excel spreadsheets, PDF documents, he ex-plains. The solution purchased from Stellent offered Guardian the ability to use J2EE as well as a .Net perspective from the technical standpoint. From a business perspective, it not only handled the content but also was able to translate that content into other formsXML, HTML, etc., he says. The user-friendliness of the interface was key because the idea we always had was to empower the business users with content without involving IT every time they wanted to make changes.
Getting Closer
When Firemans Fund Insurance began its search for a content management solution, one of its objectives was to get closer to producers, which could differentiate the carrier from its competitors, according to Doug Ackerman, lead systems engineer. The solution we were trying to develop would allow Web access to policies from the producers desktops, he says. It [eliminates] the three-to-four-day mailing process per policy when it got printed. The second objective, he adds, was to look at reducing printing and mailing costsnot only to producers but also for internal users.
We were looking at going from a printed document to a document we could show on the Web, says John Glennon, IT product manager for Firemans Fund. We decided a PDF view of that document made the most sense and would be the easiest, not only for producers but internally, as well. We also were looking at future considerations. If we rolled this out to allow the insureds to access the system, what would their mechanism be? Again, we decided a PDF would be the most popular and easiest view to create.
Prior to this project, Firemans Fund had used a basic document-control facility from Xenos Group to take a composed form and make a PDF of the form for an internal forms-viewing system. That fit into the system architecture very neatly, Glennon notes, so when the carrier began looking at content management vendors, it went back to Xenos. We discovered we could reuse some of our font correlation pieces, so we didnt have to revisit that step in its entirety, he says. That was a major cost-savings initiative there. Also, looking at pieces of Xenos platform components, we could take our batch stream of AFP data [and] make some minor changes to it to incorporate a tag to identify a document break, a bookmark, and URLs for some of the more general forms that didnt have any customized data in them. We teamed with Xenos to customize the tool and seamlessly put the processes together.
There is a security layer on top of the application that will limit an agent to view only his policies, Ackerman points out. We do have full compliance using that security layer with the various regulations, he says. As we continue to talk about the evolution of this product going forward, we do see opportunities to open it up to our insureds and additional interests on the policies, such as lien holders, mortgagees, etc. We will be taking a look at those opportunities going forward but [remain] mindful of the security considerations we need to satisfy.
Glennon believes the real key to this product is it supports both mainstream personal lines and commercial lines business. We write many large commercial accounts, and policies for larger multi-location, multistate accounts can run 100 pages per policy, he says. We found when there were questions about coverage, researching a possible claim, or the policy, our ability internally to research and respond to those questions was hampered in a lot of ways because we had paper everywhere. We wouldnt get to the source documentit was filed under someones desk in the back corner of the office. We felt by making this information available online with some basic query capabilities, our internal [staff] could respond quickly and accurately to questions about the policy. There was a big efficiency gain there as well as the expense savings of not printing and having to store the paper copies.
Firemans Fund anticipated a savings of almost $750,000 in its first year of the project, reports Glennon. The carrier brought the system online in April 2003 and continues to roll it out to additional agents. We think that $750,000 savings last year is growing to something in the range of $2 million to $2.5 million this year and subsequent years, he says.
It was important the carrier develop a solution that didnt require the producers to add another tech tool onto their desktop, Ackerman maintains. Most of these producers have Web access, and Acrobat Readers are readily available as a tool to download, he says. We password lock them so they cannot be manipulated. This is an electronic representation of a contract of insurance, so we certainly cant have people getting anywhere near changing it.
Having Content Handy
For AmCOMP, a workers comp carrier in Florida, disaster management and business recovery meant having electronic images of all its documents so it could stay in businesseven in a conference room in a nearby hotel. Marina Popovetsky, vice president, information technology for AmCOMP, believes creating an electronic archive was essential to getting the office up and running when hurricanes struck Florida this summer. As an insurance carrier we are obligated to keep all information on file for many years, which creates thick files for every policy and every claim, she says. By creating an electronic archive, that helped us gain control of our own environment and increased productivity. It eased the access to documentation and had a positive impact on our customer service.
AmCOMP found itself executing its business interruption strategy when storms hit both the company headquarters in North Palm Beach and the carriers backup facility in Maitland. When our Maitland office got hit, we were able to move our people to a hotel, set up in a conference room with thin-client access, and we were able to keep working, she says. By virtualizing the paper storage, our people were able to access this storage from a hotel room and continue working.
That ability to continue operations even under difficult circumstances reinforced the value of the content management program AmCOMP had undergone with software developer ImageRight. It was very critical for us to maintain a support level to our clients as much as possible, affirms Popovetsky. By being up, answering the phones, and processing claims, it really distinguished us in the marketplace.
Electronic World
Life insurer Ameritas wanted to move into the electronic world, states Kirk Dietrich, document composition analyst for the carrier. Being in insurance, well never move [completely] out of paper. Thats not even an option, he says. We want to reduce it, but nobody is going to get rid of it. We didnt have a good way to produce electronic documents. Plus, the systems we were operating on were using some older PC applications that couldnt do what we wanted to do.
Turning documents into a PDF file was the solution Ameritas went with through Exstream Software. Its just one of the options that comes out of Exstreams Dialogue software, Dietrich notes.
As far as creating the PDFs, its basically an output option out of Dialogue that Ameritas users select. All the PDFs we produce are per customer; were not producing giant PDFs that somebodys got to dig through, he says.
Dietrich does not believe printing is going to go away. Maybe its just insurance, he contends, but when you buy insurance, you want to have that piece of paper that says, Yes I have that. I purchased it. There always are going to be those people who want [paper]. Were not trying to turn it off. Were trying to reduce it, but were not going to force people to go online. We cant afford to do that. The industry isnt in such good shape we can tell people what were going to do. Were trying to react to what works for them. A lot of what we have seen is we can tell our captive agents to come [online] to get their financial statements or a copy of something instead of us mailing it.
Just the Facts
Apollo Casualty, a nonstandard auto insurer, doesnt take in much paper anymore, according to Marvin Himmelstein, president of Apollo. Paper that does come in is scanned into a system from ImageRight. Most of the communication between the carrier and brokers is done via fax. All our incoming faxes come in through a fax port and get imported directly into the ImageRight system. From there, we manage the document, he says. Theres nothing we cant do with the image file we couldnt do with pieces of paper except to bind them. We were handling [the paper] and could have continued to handle it, but [this is] just so much more efficient. My underwriters always have the documents right on their desk when the agents call. Theres none of this, Well, let me see if I can go find the file. When you call up with a policy number, we can look at the same document they are looking at.
Apollo has since brought the claims department online on a going-forward basis. Any file opened after April 1, 2003, is all online. Its made the adjusters so much more efficient, Himmelstein asserts. The file always is on your desk. You never have to go looking for a piece of paper. Our claims managers have organized it by type of document. Before, [a file] would go in the file right on top, just a chronological file. Now, [claims people] can put their hands on a specific document in a matter of seconds. We are taking digital pictures, and they are going right into the file.
Different Strokes
Getting control of content on the enterprise level is difficult, Saccocia points out, and few companies actually can credit themselves with doing it. We still are rooted in silos or lines of business, she says. Its costly to go after [content management] on an enterprise level. What we try to drive toward is choosing applications that scale or provide you the ability to scale as you become more enterprise-centric.
CONTENT MANAGEMENT TECH GUIDE
3SG Corporation
Dublin, Ohio
877-761-8394
www.3sg.com
Accutrac Software
Los Angeles, Calif.
213-626-3000
www.accutrac.com
AcroSoft
Columbia, S.C.
803-699-7778
www.acrosft.com
AQS, Inc.
Hartland, Wis.
262-369-7500
www.aqssys.com
Atlatl, Inc.
Durham, N.C.
800-768-0907
www.accu-rater.com
Blue Frog Solutions
Pompano Beach, Fla.
800-861-8908
www.bluefrogsolutions.com
Bowne Insurance Division
New York, N.Y.
212-924-5500
www.bowne.com
Bridium
Atlanta, Ga.
866-448-1776
www.bridium.com
Business Software Solutions
Mount Laurel, N.J.
856-866-5601
www.bssnj.com
CCH Insurance Services
Riverwoods, Ill.
800-525-3335
www.cch.com
CGI
Andover, Mass.
952-542-2145
www.cgi.com
Corporate Systems
Amarillo, Tex.
806-337-3343
www.csedge.com
COSS Development Corp.
Mequon, Wis.
262-241-8989
www.cossdev.com
CSC
Austin, Tex.
800-345-7672
www.csc.com
dakota imaging, Inc.
Columbia, Md.
800-833-3137
www.dakotaimaging.com
Data Dimensions Corporation
Janesville, Wis.
608-757-1100
www.ddcsolutioncenter.com
Delphi Technology, Inc.
Cambridge, Mass.
617-494-8361
www.delphi-tech.com
Docucorp International
Dallas, Tex.
800-735-6620
www.docucorp.com
Document Imaging
Greenwood Village, Colo.
877-732-8278
www.docimag.com
Document Sciences Corp.
Carlsbad, Calif.
760-602-1400
www.docscience.com
DST Output
El Dorado Hills, Calif.
800-441-7587
www.dstoutput.com
Easy Link Services
Piscataway, N.J.
800-828-7115
www.easylink.com
ePolicy Solutions
Torrance, Calif.
310-819-3200
www.epolicy.com
Esker Software
Madison, Wis.
608-273-6000
www.esker.com
Exstream Software
Lexington, Ky.
859-296-0600
www.exstream.com
Facts Services, Inc.
Coral Gables, Fla.
305-284-7400
www.factsservices.com
FileNet
Costa Mesa, Calif.
704-875-1934
www.filenet.com
FINEOS Corporation
South Portland, Maine
207-879-0400
www.fineos.com
GMC Software Technology
Braintree, Mass.
800-250-1850
www.gmc.net
Hexaware Technologies
Jamesburg, N.J.
609-409-6950
www.hexaware.com
Hoike
Honolulu, Hawaii
808-441-2000
www.hoike.net
HomeTech, Inc.
Seattle, Wash.
800-377-5147
www.hometechinc.net
Hyland Software, Inc.
Westlake, Ohio
440-788-5834
www.onbase.com
ICICI Infotech Limited
Vashi Maharashtra, India
91 22 5592 8000
www.icici-infotech.com
Imagemax, Inc.
Valhalla, N.Y.
800-873-9426
www.imagemax.com
ImageRight
Conyers, Ga.
770-278-2016
www.imageright.com
InSystems Corporation
Markham, Ont.
905-513-1400
www.insystems.com
ISIS Papyrus America
Southlake, Tex.
817-416-2345
www.isis-papyrus.com
Merrill Corporation
St. Paul, Minn.
800-688-4400
www.merrillcorp.com
Optical Image Technology
State College, Pa.
814-238-0038
www.docfinity.com
Perceptive Vision, Inc.
Shawnee, Kan.
800-941-7460
www.imagenow.com
SAP
Newtown Square, Pa.
800-872-1727
www.sap.com
Silverlake Software
Eastampton, N.J.
609-267-3882
www.silverlakesoftware.com
Stellent, Inc.
Eden Prairie, Minn.
800-989-8774
www.stellent.com
SunGard Workflow Solutions
Birmingham, Ala.
205-870-4100
www.workflow.sungard.com
United Systems and Software
Lake Mary, Fla.
407-875-2120
www.ussincorp.com
Valley Oak Systems, Inc.
Alamo, Calif.
925-552-1650
www.valleyoak.com
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