December 2006

Cover Story The Future is Now As market expectations grow ever-more demanding and new rules-driven policy admin systems continue to demonstrate their viability, insurers see less reason to continue to shoulder the inefficiencies of legacy systems. Security Outlook Message Mania E-mail and instant messaging offer convenient communications and often boost productivity, but the technologies also can expose financial institutions to privacy breaches, embarrassment and litigation. To combat the threat, insurers are stepping up efforts to monitor e-mail and IM, and improve security procedures. From The Editor Lost Opportunities Security is costly, and failed security is even more costly. Spotlight Balancing Act Western & Southern Financial Group pursues IT initiatives that support growth while keeping expenses in check. Back to Business Provider IDs Scanning for Risks Hard Costs of Soft Fraud Portal for E-Claims Marketing On Demand Unisys Clears Processing Path

Update Paying for the Future On the Road Again Rewriting a Legacy Business Objects Buys ALG One Step Closer Contract News Alliances and Partnerships My Favorite ... Books Case Study Tracking Trouble To fix Web portal errors in real time and increase the productivity of its independent sales force, State Auto Insurance Companies taps TeaLeaf CX Solutions. Hearing the Call Natural-language solution helps Humana Military Healthcare Services improve call center capacity while providing service levels needed for customer acquisition and retention. Virtual Roundtable Making Successful Contact Insurers' contact centers are evolving into integrated facilities that provide both policyholders and partners with improved service and convenience, and offer revenue-generating opportunities. One on One More Bang for the Buck Andrea Randolph, CTO, MBIA Insurance Corp. "Lean and mean" is a guiding principle at MBIA Insurance Corp. (Armonk, N.Y.; $34 billion in assets), a financial guarantor of structured financings in the primary and secondary markets. For CTO Andrea Randolph, that means motivating her 38 full-time employees to take an enterprisewide approach to technology initiatives to enable the insurer to reuse solutions across its many divisions. Techwatch Names in the news Executive News Rubino Heads Hartford PMO NYL's Sanders Drives Change