Cover Story

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the Big rethink

In wake of the economic crisis, financial risk managers will need to rely on process and technology innovation, as well as a dose of introspection.

Page 18

explaining Annuities

12Insurers took to the Internet and interactive tools to help demistify their retirement products.

A Wide View

14microsoft’s Cfo shares insights on nacsent technologies, including cloud computing.

PAs Replacement

26With a third of p&C insurers planning, evaluating or conducting policy administration replacement, there’s much to learn from the experience of peers.

Back-End Changes Equal
Front-End Benefits

In a drIve To Improve
billing processes, carriers, such
as missouri employers mutual
and Catholic mutual, are
implementing single, flexible
systems to offer customers more
of the services they’re
demanding, such as consolidated
billing and multiple payment
options.

By Carrie Burns

>>BIllIng & PAyMen T sys TeMs

Story on page 34

It’s All About Trade-Offs

In an age of rapId technological progress, the operational and competitive costs of maintaining obsolete hardware are becoming steeper. an insurer hobbling along with an aging infrastructure will be at a disadvantage to a highly virtualized and energy-efficient competitor. and, with delivery channels and customer preferences mutating rapidly, insurers need to ensure they can run tomorrow’s business applications.

While a clean-slate approach
to hardware replacement is
highly improbable for most
insurers, new options are
available that can help IT
managers determine the optimal
time to implement new systems
or retire old ones. Insurers can
deploy IT asset management
systems to help with the
decision-making process on
hardware, gain greater control
of their infrastructure and reduce
risk. In addition, an effective
IT governance process can
help managers balance
regulatory compliance with IT
cost and timing.

By Bob Violino
Story on page 8

>>IT Asse T MAnAgeMen T

Diverse Distribution

32modern tools- and rules- based systems enable smoother multiple-channel management.

INN Online Insurancenetworking.com • enterprise Technology Integration Key to Claims • Agencies Warm to IT spend • Insurers to be Affected by sAP-sybase Deal