If you currently use a content management system, who does what in terms of process handling and layout design of documents? Do you have staff with expertise in HTML, CSS, and design? These are just a few questions insurers should ponder before making decisions around document management, according to a recent report issued by Boston-based research and consulting firm
In its report, “Document Automation: Solution Vendors for Insurers,” Celent profiled 10 document automation systems, and also named the winners of the XCelent Awards:
• Technology:
• Functionality:
• Customer Base:
• Service:
The IT tools used to compose documents have different attributes. Certain tools are more geared toward managing content, while others offer better features to support specific communication channels or manage document-related workflows. Today, most document automation vendors provide an array of similar features, including a WYSIWYG (“what you see is what you get”) interface for designing templates, both ad hoc and batch capability, componentized documents, a commitment to SOA, and various insurance-specific interfaces.
Ten vendors’ systems are profiled in the report:
The profiles contain information from the vendors, customer feedback and comments from Celent. After evaluating all of the information, Celent recommends that insurers raise the following five questions before making decisions around their internal organization, staffing and document automation system selection:
1. Do you currently use a content management system? If insurers already use a specific content management system, they can leverage their existing tool when they invest in a new document automation system.
2. Who does what in terms of process handling and layout design of documents? Rethinking the way documents are created and managed within an organization also means challenging the existing processes and skills.
3. Do you have staff with expertise in HTML, CSS, and design? Some tasks linked to the creation of specific designs and branding illustration can require dedicated expertise, and insurers need to assess whether they have these skills in-house.
4. Do you expect to equally use multiple channels for documents (e-mail, print, PDFs) or focus primarily on printing? A variety of communication vehicles play important roles, and some solutions on the market better suit this diversity than others.
5. Do you want to have a single brand/design maintained across multiple channels, or do you expect to design separate templates per channel? Document creation can be relatively complicated depending on the types of templates and brand/design to use and maintain.
http://celent.com/
