Maestro Maciag

A musical metaphor is appropriate when it comes to the work ACORD does in developing and implementing standards. In essence, the insurance industry is an orchestra, and ACORD's job is to create harmony amid the cacophony.

In that scenario, the conductor for the past 30 years has been Greg Maciag, who keeps faithfully waving his baton, endeavoring to convince everyone in this diverse business to stay in tune. I don't envy him his job.

I've always thought of ACORD as a sort of United Nations of the insurance industry, bringing together many disparate elements under one roof, asking everyone to put aside short-term competitive advantages for the long-term good of the business.

ACORD's goal is laudable–to cut costs, improve efficiency, boost productivity and ultimately make it easier to do business with carriers, producers and vendors.

ACORD has taken its share of abuse, as everyone–myself included–is impatient for faster progress.

However, after attending the past three ACORD LOMA Insurance Systems Forums, I've decided part of the problem is some critics expect ACORD to have an absolute end-game–that someday standards will be established across the board, and the organization somehow won't be needed anymore.

Anything falling short of that utopian vision is seen as a failure of effort or will, which leads to a cynical view that perhaps ACORD isn't really trying to settle the standards debate once and for all–that the organization is self-perpetuating.

I think it would be more accurate to view the standards campaign as a journey rather than a destination. With the industry and global marketplace forever changing, new standards challenges will arise, and ACORD is the only group positioned to keep the campaign on course.

That was basically the theme of Mr. Maciag's address at the Forum's opening general session last month in Orlando.

Warning “it is difficult to be a one-man band in a mashed-up world,” he urged attendees to be leaders and advocates in the ongoing insurance standards drive.

In his speech, Mr. Maciag conceded that significant barriers–behavioral, logistical and technological–must be overcome to achieve universal implementation.

“In some instances, we as an industry are still hampered by self-erected silos. We have barriers erected around companies, around products and even among some people,” he said.

Such a silo mentality persists at certain organizations despite great advances in standardizing forms and communication protocols, he added, because “some still see self-interest and a competitive advantage in erecting barriers.”

To cure such myopia, Mr. Maciag urged everyone to “future proof” their companies by looking at the big picture, in which the long-term value of standards become clear.

“In this increasingly interconnected world,” he said, “the true competitive advantage will go to those who break down silos and barriers and enjoy the cost and time savings inherent in the use of industrywide standards.”

He added that “regardless of what you hear, our world is not seamless. But a seam is just an interface opportunity. Standards don't eliminate these seams, but they enable the parties to interconnect despite them.”

Much like the United Nations, ACORD will always be a lightning rod for criticism when progress (on global standards, not world peace) is slow, or as snags inevitably result. It comes with the territory.

But if ACORD wasn't around to facilitate cooperation on standards among bitter rivals, this industry–still techno-challenged and bogged down by maddening operational inefficiencies–would be a lot worse off.

Bottom line, if ACORD didn't do this job, who would?