Stephen Korow, Vice President, Technology, Decision Research Corp.

“Insurers should take a step back before making a technology investment and verify that the solution they are investing in does not operate in isolation.”

Welcome back again this year Stephen. Last year’s successes?

Successful implementations were characterized by a commitment from the business side. Without buy-in from the user community most attempts to introduce new technologies will stall. On a technical level, a common, homogenizing layer has to exist that will allow data to flow freely between processes. Additionally, an orchestration layer has to exist that has the ability to access services as they are required. The requirement for frequent manual intervention will undermine any efficiencies gained from adding automation to an individual segment of the entire workflow.

Next steps?

A single IT investment has to have the potential to produce a multiple return on that investment. To achieve this goal, a common underlying set of technology standards must be in place. Additionally, software projects and purchases cannot be evaluated in isolation. The value proposition of SOA is that a single component can fit into multiple technology workflows to multiply the benefit derived from the initial investment.

Exciting technologies?

Technology initiatives such as SOA, business intelligence, and Grid Computing are driving increases in company productivity and profitability. These initiatives may appear to be advancements of disparate toolsets and products but common underlying forces are driving them all. Companies that understand the requirements and capabilities of these technologies are able to derive increased value from their investments.

Your one message to insurance companies?

Companies should take a step back before making a technology investment and verify that the solution they are investing in does not operate in isolation. It must easily integrate with other systems or it will stagnate and end up being replaced in a few years. Systems that have functionality that is easily accessible will provide long-term benefits and produce a longer return from the initial investment in license fees and training. To facilitate integration, the system should support open standards. This feature will better enable companies to provide tangible benefits for the business today as well as when previously unforeseen requirements arise.