Many (most?) financial services companies operating in the insurance sector are bound by legacy applications. These are characterised by old technology, poor database design, and (usually) poor documentation. Resulting in expensive maintenance and support services.
As such, modernising legacy systems is usually on the agenda for CIOs. An article on eWeek.com reports on a survey conducted on this topic.
However, financial services organisations face special challenges when looking at modernisation. Insurance is a complex domain, and while it is easy to identify the key objects in a data model (client, policy, transaction, etc.), there is scope for immense variation at detail levels. And since insurance companies delight in making products complex and opaque, the complexity within the system grows over time. Poor documentation only exacerbates the problem.
Many companies come to a choice. They can replace the system with a package with all of the inherent risks around vendors, system suitability, and migration. Or they can take a lipstick-on-the-pig approach, layering a web front-end (or whatever else is the current flavour) over the top of the existing back-end database and code. Each has it's advantages, although you could argue that the package solution is probably a better way to go, as it allows the insurance company to focus more on the business and less on being an IT development shop.
Tuesday, 16 June 2009
Monday, 15 June 2009
ITSM & SaaS
An interesting article proposing the suitability of SaaS for implementing ITSM. As the author points out, most ITSM packages have ended up being much of a muchness.
SaaS, with it's emphasis on continuous improvement/development does mean that there is opportunity for innovation that has been lacking in previous systems.
The article also touches on the risks of losing some functionality by moving to a web-only client. This is balanced by the availability of ongoing system improvement that should come from the SaaS model.
One key point raised in the article is the desire to have data stored wherever the customer wants it. In the cloud, or locally within the organisation. For financial services companies, it is likely that "local" will be the preferred option - there is still a significant conservatism around access to and protection of data. Although since in this case we are concerned with data on service processes, this may be a less critical issue than in other areas (e.g. SaaS CRM).
SaaS, with it's emphasis on continuous improvement/development does mean that there is opportunity for innovation that has been lacking in previous systems.
The article also touches on the risks of losing some functionality by moving to a web-only client. This is balanced by the availability of ongoing system improvement that should come from the SaaS model.
One key point raised in the article is the desire to have data stored wherever the customer wants it. In the cloud, or locally within the organisation. For financial services companies, it is likely that "local" will be the preferred option - there is still a significant conservatism around access to and protection of data. Although since in this case we are concerned with data on service processes, this may be a less critical issue than in other areas (e.g. SaaS CRM).
Wednesday, 10 June 2009
Oracle Revenue Management for Insurance
Oracle has launched a new component for their Insurance coverage, a Premium Collection module called Revenue Management and Billing for Insurance.
On first look (there is little information available on the website so far), this looks to be a consolidator that will integrate multiple admin systems with multiple collection channels/banks. And Group Billing functionality is included.
However, it appears to stop short of the processes needed to manage the follow-up processes with final lapse notice/APL processing, etc. From what I have personally seen, Oracle's approach is being driven in a US context, and primarily looking at P&C rather than the wider insurance market (a presentation for a Life Claims management solution in Asia was delivered using a US demo of a P&C claims system).
On first look (there is little information available on the website so far), this looks to be a consolidator that will integrate multiple admin systems with multiple collection channels/banks. And Group Billing functionality is included.
However, it appears to stop short of the processes needed to manage the follow-up processes with final lapse notice/APL processing, etc. From what I have personally seen, Oracle's approach is being driven in a US context, and primarily looking at P&C rather than the wider insurance market (a presentation for a Life Claims management solution in Asia was delivered using a US demo of a P&C claims system).
Tuesday, 9 June 2009
Versions of ITIL
There is an interesting discussion around the multiple versions of ITIL standards, on Juan Jiminez's blog at ITP. Possibly one of the most interesting comments he makes in the discussion is:
"...the architecture and goal of the framework have radically changed. The idea is no longer to achieve alignment, but instead to achieve integration with the organization. Instead of just a supplier, the goal is to become a partner with the organization’s and/or customer’s management."
This links back to a common theme across financial services - how can IT become more relevant/important/etc in the business. While ITIL has been a good step, with it's system thinking and service focus, it pushed people to think more as an internal supplier. This introduces an extra "distance" in the relationship between IT and the business - not always a good thing. It will be interesting to see how V3 works in practice as it is implemented and settles down. Important not to lose the discipline involved, but at the same time achieve tighter integration.
"...the architecture and goal of the framework have radically changed. The idea is no longer to achieve alignment, but instead to achieve integration with the organization. Instead of just a supplier, the goal is to become a partner with the organization’s and/or customer’s management."
This links back to a common theme across financial services - how can IT become more relevant/important/etc in the business. While ITIL has been a good step, with it's system thinking and service focus, it pushed people to think more as an internal supplier. This introduces an extra "distance" in the relationship between IT and the business - not always a good thing. It will be interesting to see how V3 works in practice as it is implemented and settles down. Important not to lose the discipline involved, but at the same time achieve tighter integration.
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