Last month, I shared the reasons why I believe large policy administration systems are a thing of the past. As a follow up to that post, I would like to offer some insight into what I think the next generation might look like. Certainly, the future solutions will leverage SOA and small re-usable components. Here [...]
If Policy Admin Systems Are a Thing of the Past, What’s Next?
August 27th, 2010The Game of Telephone: Why Does the Customer Rarely Get What They Want?
August 19th, 2010“Documents create illusions of agreement…100 different people can read the same words, but in their heads, they’re imagining 100 different things” – Jason Fried, “Rework” This is part of my series of blogs regarding how iterative development methodologies like Agile solve practical problems that have been haunting software implementation projects for years. Too often, too [...]
Fixed Price Waterfall Projects: Perception vs. Reality
July 25th, 2010Many years ago, my old company (which was a small software and services company that did large projects) got tired of the unpredictability of cowboy programming and we embraced a waterfall systems development methodology with the fervor of the newly converted. We would capture detailed business requirements that would let us determine the “whole cost” [...]
8 Reasons Why Large Policy Administration Systems Are a Thing of the Past
July 9th, 2010Today, it’s clear that insurers will stop placing big bets on large systems. They’re moving to a model where small components and web services combine with their legacy components in an incremental manner. Here are some of the reasons why: All systems want to be the “center of the universe”. In a future world of [...]
LOMA Lessons: Going Agile
June 3rd, 2010Attending my first ACORD LOMA conference this year was an eye-opener. Whether I was chatting with someone in the exhibit hall or attending a session presentation, a common theme was apparent: insurance companies are tired of doing things the same old way. Several people described system implementation horror stories – multi-year, multi-million dollar investments that [...]
Napkins
May 20th, 2010Last week I grabbed lunch at a local fast food place. I knew the drill. I ordered, paid, and filled my mega-cup with Diet Coke. Everything went as planned, until I attempted to get a napkin or two. Napkin dispensers are brilliantly designed to dispense napkins one at a time. But there is one simple [...]
Buying Another Policy Administration System: Negotiating Tips
April 29th, 2010Buying Another Policy Administration System: Negotiating Tips We recently met with some of the senior technology people at a life insurance company here in the US. After a long exhaustive analysis, the company was completing the selection process for a new policy administration system. They had narrowed it down to two leading systems from a [...]
Why Most Successful Companies Stop Innovating and 8 Ways to Avoid the Trap
April 21st, 2010Most companies start out with innovative ideas around products, services, or even processes to solving problems. Successful companies will get to that next level as a result of their implementing those innovative ideas. Then, why do so many companies stop innovating? Here are eight ways to avoid the trap.
Become a fan on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Download our RSS Feed