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Insurance & Technology: The Blog« December 2007 | Main | February 2008 » January 29, 2008Aflac's Other BlackBerry ExpertIt appears that Keith Brannen, second VP of IT - advanced technology group, isn't Aflac's only BlackBerry guru. I interviewed Brannen about the recently launched MobileAflac initiative for this month's feature story on mobile salesforce technology, but I didn't speak with Margaret Genet, an Aflac operations analyst that CIO magazine describes as the company's "technology concierge." Apparently Genet has been teaching the Columbus, Ga.-based insurer's executives how to be more efficient on mobile devices and applications. "I guarantee if you talk to [Margaret] for 15 minutes, she will tell you 30 tricks you didn't know that will save you time," Aflac CIO Gerald Shields told the magazine. Check out the article for the complete list of Margaret's BlackBerry tips and shortcuts, but here's a list of the tips we found most useful:
Posted by Nathan Conz at 04:22 PM | Comments January 28, 2008In-Flight Internet: It's About Time (so to speak...)One of the consolations of my October 2006 trip to India was Lufthansa's provision of in-flight wifi. Not that I couldn't simply have read a book during my inevitably sleepless flights, but having Internet access gave me the ability to do routine things such as keep up with e-mail and keep up with various news sites as well as to do really cool things — such as IM my wife from 38,000 feet over Karachi. Reflecting on that experience brought a smile to my face as I read that Southwest Airlines is planning to test satellite-delivered broadband (30mbs) on four of its planes. The carrier is working with the same provider that is working with Alaska Airlines to pilot (hard to avoid the word) in-flight Internet. Oddly, while I was genuinely excited to be able to use instant messaging while hurtling over the surface of the globe, I felt a certain sense of entitlement. Human nature has a way of transforming technological luxuries into necessities, and Internet access has become one of them. Using the Internet is part of how we live from minute to minute (at least in the case of journalistic wretches chained to their desks) and is more important, by far, than the telephone. That being the case, I have been convinced for a long time that it is ridiculous that in-flight Internet access is so rare. We are rightly deprived of some liberties on planes, but perhaps the habit of obedience these restrictions foster make us less likely to demand what it is ridiculous to be denied. Phone service has been available in the air for ages. It is seldom used, partly because it is considered over-priced but mostly because most passengers realize that hearing someone speak on the telephone is unpleasant for any length of time. Probably the average traveler is also happy not to have to talk on the phone constantly. But the Internet is different, not only because it is a vehicle for entertainment but also because solitary work is emotionally easier than work-related telephone contact and e-mail and IM. There's something to be said for the ability to tune-out when various parties are clamoring for one's attention, most blissfully unaware of one's other demands and some with an exaggerated sense of their priority. However, in a life tied more to deliverables than simply "being there," no downtime goes unpunished, so it's nice to have the option to catch up as one can. However, given that the technology is now available for deployment, in-flight Internet should be acknowledged as a "must-have" for business travelers, not a "nice-to-have." At the risk of appearing even more of a prima donna, I'll insist that merely providing broadband in-flight Internet is not quite enough. Connected or unconnected, business travelers trying to get work done are limited by another inconvenience, as this commenter on the linked article observes: I don't care if it's cheap or even if it's free, my laptop's battery wipes out after an hour. And of the many airports I visit every year, very very few have enough outlets to go around when at least half the travelers present need to charge. I'm grateful that many airports have indeed begun to provide places to charge up, so that I stand less of a chance of having to sit in a corridor if necessity demands. My home airport is better than any other I can think of in providing outlets in convenient public spaces, though I prefer the outlets in some of the commercial zones, and am indeed typing from one right now. Other airports lag in this respect, but at least they try — the service is simply unavailable on the vast majority of domestic flights. Lufthansa managed to provide it — even if I did struggle with my international adapter plug — and domestic carriers should start providing it too. Posted by Anthony O'Donnell at 11:24 AM | Comments January 23, 2008HP & Exstream: More Consolidation in Content ManagementMore big news in the document/content management space as HP announced that it will acquire Exstream Software. The last significant example of the ongoing consolidation in this sector came at the turn of the year with EMC's agreement to acquire Document Sciences. Matt Josefowicz of Novarica suggests that the acquisition will build meaningfully on HP's very significant print output business. Exstream has carved out a very strong position in high-volume, complex document composition in insurance as well as other areas, and this move clearly strengthens HP's overall position in document creation and output," Matt says. "This is part of HP's general strategy of moving up the value chain in business technology into applications and value-added areas like business intelligence." HP is taking a different approach than others in the content management field, according to HP's David Murphy, senior vice president, Web services and software business, of the vendor's Imaging and Printing Group. Murphy sees many competitors adopting a strategy of attempting to distribute enterprise content management from a centralized location. HP's strategy, he says, "is not trying to shove it in one place but by focusing on the end product." The only competitors thinking in remotely the same way are client-oriented content players, such as Microsoft and Adobe, who have more of a relationship with the customer at the point of consumption. In terms of the value of its new acquisition in this regard, Murphy says, "We felt that Exstream brought us a set of connectors and a hardened environment to be able to pull information from ERP and CRM systems and legacy environments, leaving core data where it belongs, and taking advantage of it in some new way." Posted by Anthony O'Donnell at 05:43 AM | Comments January 22, 2008Is Insurance Sexy?It’s just a rhetorical question — of course insurance is sexy. But just how sexy is it? Very, according to Sean Bourgeois, the founder of Sexy Insurance, which he characterizes as “the world’s first international social networking site for the sexiest industry on the planet.” Perhaps sensing that it’s also the most cheapskate industry on the planet, Bourgeois’ blurb adds, “100% free. Put away your credit card.” What makes insurance so sexy, according to Bourgeois is that “it’s a big industry, it has lots of money and the financial centers it operates out of are pretty sexy—London, New York, Bermuda.” He left out Hartford, Des Moines and Omaha, but you get the picture. Speaking of Omaha, if you scroll down at the Sexy Insurance homepage you’ll see a portrait of Warren Buffett with a thought balloon saying, “I’m so sexy it hurts.” Bourgeois could have left out the words because, frankly, it’s written all over Warren’s face. Who can deny it? If Henry Kissinger is sexy, Warren Buffett is doubly so. What the site needs is a picture of Hank Greenberg saying, “I’m so sexy it hurts Eliot Spitzer.” As Bourgeois emphasizes, insurance’s sexiness is of an understated kind. Other industries, such as Hollywood and professional sports, clearly have more superficial sexiness. In all fairness, I&T is not likely to publish a swimsuit Elite 8 issue any time soon, as attractive as many of our honorees undoubtedly are. The point of the site, after all, is for those who know that they belong to the sexiest industry on the planet to interact. Social networking, if it makes sense at all, makes sense for just about any industry. However, it may make more sense for insurance than other industries, Bourgeois suggests. “Insurance is a very sociable industry and its interactions are often informal,” he says. “One of the purposes of the site is to help facilitate those interactions.” Though Sexy Insurance is open to anybody in the insurance industry, Bourgeois thinks that the site may have even more appeal for insurance technology executives. “Being tech savvy to begin with, I’d hope they appreciate the site,” he notes. “They are probably well versed with Web 2.0 and what social networking is about.” That may be a rash assumption, given the stunned reaction of attendees at I&T’s Executive Summit to keynote speaker Todd Masonis, founder of Plaxo. However, maybe insurance technology people are ready to adopt a social networking site that deals with their professional realm. Social networking gives participants an opportunity to share “war stories,” as Bourgeois’ site suggests, and getting to know a lot of people can be good for one’s career. The site has only been up for a couple of weeks and some guy in Georgia has already managed to find a job through interacting with another member. Having been raised by Scottish parents, I found the membership fees of Sexy Insurance consistent with my family values. I’ve gone ahead and joined up (I’m the guy holding the big fish), making Sexy Insurance even sexier than it was yesterday. Posted by Anthony O'Donnell at 04:04 PM | Comments January 15, 2008Older Workers Could Help Insurers Faced With Workforce ShortagesAt last November's I&T Executive Summit, Deb Smallwood (then with ICW group, now with Smallwood Maike & Associates) quickly polled the audience during her presentation. First, she asked how many in the crowd were baby boomers. Then, how many were a part of Generation X. And as you might imagine, each question led to a significant number of raised hands. Finally, she asked how many considered themselves members of Generation Y. Only one hand went up. It was mine. Looking back, I shouldn't have been that surprised. After all, how many twenty-somethings do you expect to see at an event aimed at the CIOs, EVPs and heads of lines of business of the insurance industry? Still, it did illustrate an interesting, larger point: today's insurance industry is top heavy with older workers. I think that, for the most part, insurance execs have recognized that the industry is heavy on older workers and that, as those workers edge closer to retirement, their organizations could be at risk of a workforce shortfall. As a result, many insurers have launched "recruit and retain initiatives" to attract younger workers and keep them at the company. Many of those initiatives are specifically targeted towards young IT professionals – a relatively small group whose skills are highly sought after by just about any industry. While attracting recent college graduates and other younger workers will undoubtedly be a key to solving the potential problems caused the impending baby boom retirement blitz, a recent Wall Street Journal article has me wondering if insurers are largely ignoring an even more obvious part of the solution – retaining and recruiting older workers. Many experts, the WSJ's Erin White reports, say firms are overlooking older workers "who can be wooed to continue working" as potential employees. Consider the following excerpts from the article: Only 18% of U.S. employers reported having a strategy to recruit older workers, and only 28% cited a plan to retain older employees at their own firms, according to a survey of 1,000 U.S. companies in late 2006 by Manpower Inc., a staffing and employment-services firm. and Employers who ignore older workers now will suffer as boomers near retirement age, says Melanie Cosgrove Holmes, a vice president at Manpower. By 2012, nearly one in three U.S. workers will be over 50, according to AARP, a group for people age 50 and older. "Progressive companies that are looking ahead...are the ones that are going to be most successful," Ms. Holmes says. What's more, the article also identifies that, along with higher salary expectations and health care costs, many companies are hesitant to recruit older workers because they don't want to teach them new skills. Of course, for insurers' IT departments, many of which are still heavy on legacy systems and coding, older workers could be a blessing much more than a curse. Recent college graduates may know the latest and greatest in computer science, but they likely were never taught how to support a policy administration system that was implemented during Martin Van Buren's first term (ok, maybe not Mr. Van Buren, but perhaps Mr. Carter). Some insurers are already seeing the light. MetLife, for instance, is mentioned in the WSJ article as a member of the AARP's "National Employer Team." New York Life is also a part of the program. Under the "National Employer Team" label, older workers can search for job opportunities at those insurers through the AARP web site. As a whole though, most plans in place to curtail any pending workforce shortages focus solely on attracting younger workers. And while that is clearly the best long-term solution, insurers can still shore up immediate experience and employment gaps by taking a look at older workers… To use the 2007 I&T Executive Summit as an example: why go after the one representative of Generation Y, when there is a room full of baby boomers willing to raise their hands? Posted by Nathan Conz at 03:25 PM | Comments Hillary's Inspiring ExampleMountaineering is an activity so pure in its objectives, so absolute in its terms of success and failure that it serves as a metaphor for any kind of achievement. That being the case, the signature accomplishment of Sir Edmund Hillary—who died last week at 88 years of age — provides an enduring example for all who face seemingly insurmountable difficulties. That applies to insurance IT executives as well as anybody else. There may be further ground for analogy to IT in that mountain climbing, at least in its more refined forms, is a highly technical activity requiring expert knowledge of tools and environments. In the case of Hillary's successful 1953 Everest expedition, led by British Army Colonel John Hunt, it can also be a significant triumph of project management. The world remembers Sir Edmund and his colleague Tenzing Norgay (who died in 1986) but as The Telegraph's obituary of Hillary notes, the climb began with 362 porters, 20 Sherpa guides and 10,000 pounds of baggage. Not being the expedition leader, Hillary's concerns were more focused on execution than preparation. But technical judgment and planning were essential to his role. Once chosen for the final push, along with Norgay, he was given awesome responsibility, both in terms of the technical acumen required, and the magnitude of the consequences of bad decisions. In an age where rich tourists are practically carried up Everest, it is easy to underestimate the difficulties associated with being the first to summit. Hillary had to rely on his experience to determine whether the snow would support him, he had to rely on his skill to determine the best routes and techniques, sometimes on a step-by-step basis, and he had to continually calculate not only the odds associated with external conditions, but also those based on estimates of his own endurance and that of his oxygen supply. At one point, in his published account of the final push to the summit, Hillary, having temporarily disengaged his oxygen tube noted, "I was greatly encouraged to find how, even at 28,700 feet and with no oxygen, I could work out slowly but clearly the problems of mental arithmetic that the oxygen supply demanded. A correct answer was imperative — any mistake could well mean a trip with no return. But we had no time to waste." Later, after he and Norgay had ascended above 29,000 feet, Hillary "made another rapid check of the oxygen —2,550 pounds pressure (2,550 from [a maximum of] 3,300 leaves 750, 750 is about 2/9; 2/9 off 800 liters leaves about 600 liters; 600 divided by 180 is nearly 3 1/2)." Such calculations, as important as they were, were only a baseline from which to make further decisions on which his and his partner's lives depended. Later climbers, beginning with Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler in 1978, reached Everest's summit without oxygen. But that's beside the point. Habeler begins the account of his and Messner's final ascent saying, "The tracks of our predecessors, which could be seen in the snow, served as an excellent orientation guide." He meant, of course, climbers who preceded him and Messner by hours or days rather than a quarter century, but it may have been a subtle nod to the pioneers. It is also beside the point whether the only fall one is threatened by is a fall from favor, or whether the only rarified atmosphere one struggles in is that of the corporate boardroom. Anybody attempting novel accomplishments against daunting obstacles can draw inspiration from Hillary's example. Posted by Anthony O'Donnell at 12:10 PM | Comments January 08, 2008New Sources of AdviceResearch conducted by I&T, Bank Systems & Technology and Wall Street & Technology toward the end of 2007 suggested that most insurers will enjoy spending increases in 2008, so it may be fortunate that some new advisory firms have emerged over the holiday season to help guide them in their choices. Matt Josefowicz’s move from Celent to Novantas has resulted in the launch of new research and advisory services subsidiary Novarica; and former TowerGroup analyst Deborah Smallwood has left her carrier executive post at ICW and teamed up with IBM alumna Cindy Maike to launch Smallwood Maike & Associates. These firms’ advisory offerings differ, but they have in common a hybrid approach to advice, mixing elements of their founders’ analyst background with other elements. Novarica departs from what Josefowicz refers to as the dominant "Gartneresque" advisory model based on research subscription for one based on an annual retainer that gives clients access to the analyst or consultant. "We see the opportunity to provide information, insights and perspective on technology strategy issues for CIOs with a bit more flexibility in terms of how those insights are delivered," he says. Depending on the needs of the client, published research may be the best option for conveying information, Josefowicz elaborates. In other cases, however, "it's more effective to trade e-mails or have a conversation with the person who has done the research and has the insight," he adds. "If one’s business model is based exclusively on published research, it's hard to capture the value of those interactions—which is where a great deal of the value is created within an advisory relationship." Josefowicz sees the hybrid character of the Novarica approach in its combination of the economics of a subscription relationship with the personalization of traditional consulting. Smallwood Maike & Associates seeks to combine the research expertise of analysts within a more traditional consulting format, and unlike Novarica, will place heavy emphasis on the business rather than the technology side, according to Deb Smallwood. In Smallwood’s vision, the insurance industry is poised for transformative change, but recent advances in technology have ironically reinforced the business/IT divide in important ways. "We believe that services-oriented architecture [SOA] is a way to help facilitate change, but SOA must not be understood as an IT breakthrough," she argues. "It’s not just about technology, it's about business solutions. If executives can think about their business in terms of services, then they can reach the agility that everyone is talking about." Smallwood plans to leverage best practices from the traditional consulting world and combine them with the benefits of the analyst’s research acumen. "We want to build the best of those worlds into an advisory firm that works with businesses to leverage mature technology and get them to think differently about their business operations," she says. Posted by Anthony O'Donnell at 02:57 PM | Comments How Insurers Can Help Customers Help ThemselvesIn the business world and maybe even within the much smaller world of insurance technology journalism there's always a tendency to over-hype the latest and greatest, whether that be in terms of a new technology or a new trend in the marketplace. That said, there's one trend that I'm seeing that seems to be under-hyped: how growing numbers of consumers, when considering a new purchase, first turn to the internet in an effort to educate themselves on a given field or topic. As this “self-help” trend continues, there may be opportunities for insurers to turn their web sites (and the consumer-facing tools within it) into major drivers for brand loyalty, by not only providing service to existing customers, but more information to the general public. If a recent study from eHealth, the parent company of eHealthInsurance, is any indication, there certainly is a need for trustworthy, informative web sites that consumers can turn to when looking to educate themselves in preparation of making an insurance product decision. According to the study, less than one quarter of respondents said they were very sure of what the terminology in their health insurance policy actually means. And forget all terms, even basic industry acronyms like HMO (36 percent), PPO (20 percent) and HSA (11 percent) are a mystery to many of the 1,010 U.S. adults that were surveyed. So what does it mean? Well eHealthInsurance, not surprisingly, suggests that side-by-side comparisons of policies would be a good place to start (and their study backs that up). But I think the answer might be simpler. If an insurer created web tools that focused on educating consumers -- perhaps in designated areas of their web site that went easy on the cross-sell and up-sell -- it might be able to establish itself not just as a trusted source insurance products, but as a first-choice destination for general insurance questions and information. Posted by Nathan Conz at 01:26 PM | Comments Extreme Weather Gives Insurers Cause To Look At Role Of Technology For Catastrophe ResponseIt’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good, as the adage goes, and weather sufficiently foul to damage property is an opportunity for Insurance & Technology’s reporters to take a look — always with sensitivity toward the victims of these events — at the role of technology for catastrophe response, risk selection and geographic exposure management. In this regard, the winter of 2007/2008 has been an embarrassment of riches, if the reader will excuse such a perverse use of the phrase. We’ve seen a repeat of last year’s Pacific Northwest “storm of the decade,” and numerous snow and ice storms and other weather related events involving landslides, floods and other hazardous conditions. Waves of snow deposits have brought special dangers. According to a report on Northwest Cable News, 13 people have died in avalanches already this winter, eight of them in Washington State. In the last week of December a highly experienced snowboarder jumped beyond the safety zone and landed headfirst into the deep snow of a tree well. It took bystanders 15 minutes to free him, by which point he had suffocated. On the one hand it’s heartening to see the latest press release from Farmers, et al., showing that the CAT team is on the job; on the other hand, its distressing to see so many events that require their services. The primary concern is for the people harmed by these events, but the greater frequency of these occurrences also raises questions about insurers’ ability to predict them and to vary the price of risk accordingly. Insurers have made significant progress with the use of GIS (geographic information systems) technology, and also in the analysis of claims data to refine rating and underwriting. But it is in the nature of these tools that they can be used in increasingly refined ways as insurers get more comfortable with them and incorporate more and more experience into the way they are applied. There are limits, of course — insurers will never be able to anticipate every possible landslide or avalanche. However, there is room for optimism about how well insurers can leverage technology to build a much more refined risk picture, according to Pat Saporito of Business Objects. “The available tools bode well for better protection of policyholders’ assets and a better understanding of exposures and their impact, on the part of insurers,” Pat remarked to me during a phone chat yesterday. As insurers continue to build their geographic risk expertise they may even be in the position to provide novel services, according to Ms. Saporito. “Exposure analysis could be a value-added service provided by a carrier’s agent, perhaps even part of the real estate process when the customer is looking to buy a home,” Pat speculates. Posted by Anthony O'Donnell at 12:11 PM | Comments
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