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As the exclusive media partner of the event, INN presents the important takeaways and revealing sound bites.
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Core Systems Strategy Roundtable

Catherine Stagg-Macey, SVP, Celent (right) asked panelist Keith Sievers, SVP, CIO, Kemper Services Group (left), to share his vision of creative disruption in the industry. "The world is changing very rapidly," he said. "And if you do a good job of trying to anticipate how business is going to be done 5-10 years from now, it will be disruptive."
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Core Systems Strategy Roundtable

Panelist William Ball, assistant VP, Inforce Operations and Financial Control, Operations and Information Technology, John Hancock Life, explained some of the challenges: getting people to think years out, but also getting people to think beyond their areas of expertise, especially in insurance where you have well-trained people in a particular field. A broad team is important.
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Core Systems Strategy Roundtable

Panelist Rafe Offer, entrepreneur and marketer, told the audience that thinking differently is about cultural permission—starting with the CEO and sustaining itself in the way people work together. It may take years to turn the ship around, but it can be done. The vision needs to be enforced and memorable.
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Core Systems Strategy Roundtable

Kemper Services Group’s Sievers reflected on his recent discussion with IBM about call center technology. “The disruptive thought was ‘what if there is no such thing as a call center in the future?’ What if you could use Watson and other technologies that are in the labs to actually put a call center on an iPhone or iPad. Now you’re really starting to think disruptively.”
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Core Systems Strategy Roundtable

William Moss, president & COO of Delphi Technology Inc., took the opportunity to ask the panelists for feedback on how to disruptively utilize new technologies without exposing the business to commoditization and having the consumer looking at just the price. John Hancock Life’s Ball responded by saying insurers need to find that “something,” or a value-add that differentiates the commoditized product, and turn it into a new product or offering. Adding a feature is a way to eliminate the potential for commoditization. Sievers used another example of telematics in the auto insurance industry as a differentiator. "Personal auto is heavily commoditized, but through telematics," he said, "it can create a customized price and service.”
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Core Systems Strategy Roundtable

Dennis Maroney, Insurance Industry Practice Head, Tata Consultancy Services, wondered whether IT departments will exist in the future, saying the virtual insurance company is getting closer and closer every day. He asked the panelists to share thoughts on this fundamental sea change. Kemper Services Group’s Sievers doesn’t see a day when IT departments will go away, but he could see them change dramatically with respect to architecture. The role will be more about architecture and integration and less about development.
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Ask the Vendors

Michael Fitzgerald, senior analyst, Celent, explains that the “Ask the Vendors” session was designed to be an open discussion on how vendors and insurers can work together to spur creative discussion and that no questions are off limits.
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Ask the Vendors

In response to a question on how a vendor can help an insurer improve the requirements-gathering process, panelist Nicole Michaels, principal, Ernst & Young, tells the audience to challenge the vendors. “Some of the best discussions I’ve had result from when I’ve said to the insurer ‘give me some background on where you want to go, and then give me an hour to help you think about where you might take it and how we’ll get there.’”
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Ask the Vendors

Panelist Larry Stern, VP, AQS, said that in order to establish a successful vendor-carrier relationship, the vendor has to understand that every company has a different culture, and how the different departments interact. Also, the vendor needs to get the key implementation players—the project manager, lead business analyst, etc.—involved in the discussions very early in the process. And, the insurer should ask for those introductions if they’re not offered.
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Ask the Vendors

To better engage with the carriers and help them with creative disruption, panelist Erik Stockwell, SVP, MajescoMasteck's North American Life & Annuity unit, said that vendors need to build trust and provide ideas about where the business will go. “We have to show the carriers we understand their business, the competitive pressures and economic forces they’re dealing with today.”
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Ask the Vendors

Panelist Peter Zale, VP, business development, Vertafore, addressed the problem of over-emphasizing consensus during IT projects. “The worst installation I’ve ever been involved with was driven by a 20-person business team. They had to have consensus on everything, and every time someone on that team switched out they revisited all their prior decisions.”