Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM said today it will offer free technical resources to help insurers better access, integrate and manage ACORD standards-based XML data across the enterprise.
Database administrators and software developers running IBM DB2 9 data server software can now view an interactive demo and download a new DB2 pureXML industry bundle that includes scripts and examples at no charge, IBM explained.
The company said this will help insurers to begin seamlessly managing both conventional relational data and ACORD XML messages without having to reformat the XML data for consumption outside of the database.
Insurers are grappling with siloed business applications that run on multiple platforms from different vendors, each with their own unique data types, interfaces and routing capabilities.
Applications that support distinct lines of business include life, annuities, health, property, casualty and surety, and reinsurance–each store XML data in a proprietary fashion. As a result, developers spend considerable time and resources to break XML data into consumable pieces and store it in relational databases for use in other applications, making application maintenance highly complex, time consuming and costly, IBM said.
The DB2 pureXML industry bundle addresses these issues and simplifies data integration. It enables database administrators to load XML messages and schemas directly from ACORD and to define XML queries and indexes for business applications, the company said.
As a result, insurers using DB2 9 data server software can increase the availability, speed and versatility of their business information while dramatically reducing administrative costs associated with existing XML data management techniques, according to IBM.
"The DB2 pureXML industry bundle will help the industry rapidly adopt ACORD XML standards and help propel the use of SOA and Web services," said Denise Garth, vice president, membership and standards, ACORD.
She added, "Insurance companies can now reduce application development and maintenance costs, perform extensive analysis with XML data, and drive more value from existing information assets to better serve clients."
IBM said insurance companies can now get a single view of disparate XML data stored in personal life policy databases and personal auto policy databases, then analyze the data using analytics tools to uncover trends and make correlations. The information can then be shared as a service with other applications throughout the business.
"Insurance companies are demanding new ways to make business information available across multiple channels," said Arvind Krishna, vice president, IBM data servers. "Working with ACORD, the DB2 pureXML industry bundle can help the industry increase business flexibility, lower operational costs and bring new products to market faster."
Application developers can now download the DB2 pureXML industry bundles and use an interactive demo by visiting the IBM alphaWorks portal: http://www.alphaworks.ibm.com/tech/purexml.
The demo contains Feeds, RESTful services (Web 2.0), XFORMS and Web Services and can be accessed through Web browsers, feed readers, XFORMS viewers, custom clients and mashups.
More information about IBM insurance solutions is online at www.ibm.com/insurance.
ACORD (Association for Cooperative Operations Research and Development) is a global, nonprofit insurance association whose mission is to facilitate the development and use of standards for the insurance, reinsurance and related financial services industries.
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.