San Jose, Calif.--one of Switzerland's largest health insurance organizations for private and corporate customers, Christian & Social Health and Accident Insurance (CSS), has deployed more than 1,900 Linux-based thin-client devices at its headquarters in Lucerne and regional branch offices. This deployment of devices from Wyse Technology, replaces a previous solution at CSS from a competing thin-client vendor.The Linux-based thin-client solutions provide CSS with an adaptable alternative to the standard PC that is inherently resistant from viruses, and helps CSS' distributed organization to save a significant amount of time, money and IT management resources, according to Wyse Technology.

Northbrook, Ill. - Allstate Insurance Company has engaged ProcessClaims, Manhattan Beach, Calif., to develop and test new claim-related quality assurance technology. The software is being designed to streamline quality assurance processes and ensure accuracy in vehicle estimate preparation. The companies are also exploring broader new technology approaches to drive e-business in the rapidly evolving collision repair inter-industry. ProcessClaims is a provider of software connectivity and business process automation for the property and casualty industry.

The decision to send IT operations overseas is often viewed in the pejorative by IT line personnel, who feel they must continuously "skill up" or face the unemployment line. Though carriers are often reluctant to publicize their strategies, sources indicate it's definitely a topic of executives' conversation.IT offshore outsourcing, i.e., offshoring, has intensified, and from a business driver perspective, its discussion is becoming more commonplace in the boardroom, where it holds less controversy.

Do the numbers 705/4 mean anything to you? What about the name Ronald Katz? If not, you may want to pay more attention to what's happening in the patent world.The numbers 705/4 represent the U.S. Patent Office classification for insurance inventions. And, according to industry sources, carriers are woefully oblivious to the spike in patents filed under that classification over the past few years.

A survey conducted by AIIM, a Silver Spring, Md., enterprise content management (ECM) association, reveals that while cost reduction is still dominant in driving ECM decisions, compliance and payback are growing in popularity.AIIM surveyed more than 1,200 end users and potential end users of content and document management technologies in nine countries: the U.S., U.K., Ireland, Germany, Australia, and the Benelux countries (Belgium, Netherlands and Luxemburg).

In the late 1990s, when insurance firms were running high loss ratios (from 110 to 130), Lombard Canada Ltd., one of the oldest property and casualty insurance operations in Ontario, hired a consulting firm to assess its underwriting and claims leakage while it sought to improve IT and drive down expenses.With the firm's help, Lombard's loss ratio started dropping. While other Canadian firms were still grappling with hefty loss ratios, Lombard moved on to major technological decisions.

Since the beginning of the decade, it's been pedal to the metal for AAA Life Insurance Co.. The organization, which offers term and universal life products, fixed annuities, and travel accident insurance to AAA members, has grown from 75 employees in 1999 to a staff of 400, supporting more than 800,000 customers and more than $1.1 billion in assets.As AAA Life's business began to accelerate at breathtaking speed, the organization's managers began to see some treacherous bumps and obstacles on the road ahead. The company lacked an enterprisewide system for watching and managing costs within the various business units. With relentless hiring and increasing costs of doing business, managers needed a clear, single view of where more gas needed to be applied to boost business, and where the brakes needed to be applied to curb spending.

Insurance companies are under constant pressure to acquire new business to respond to market demands and competitive pressures. Insurers realize they must improve the efficiency, scalability, and flexibility of their new business processing applications. The IT infrastructures of most insurers are not geared to handle these improvements, being minimally integrated, minimally automated, or both.Many insurance companies are now embracing the concept of straight-through processing (STP) for new business. STP applies enabling technologies such as document imaging, rules engines, and workflow to automate new business processes.

New York - More than 90% of risk management executives are building or want to build enterprise risk management (ERM) processes into their organizations, but only 11% have completed such a task, according to a recent report issued by New York-based The Conference Board. The Board, in conjunction with Mercer Oliver Wyman, a New York financial consulting firm, surveyed 271 risk management executives from a variety of industries across North America and Europe.

Needham, Mass. - U.S. insurers may face a tough road to better aligning business processes, data, and content to help to drive more profitable, competitive, and differentiated services for growth, but as insurers advance their capabilities, the demands for straight-through processing will drive them toward more open business architectures that will help produce reusable assets, services, and business modules.

Princeton, N.J. -- American Re-Insurance Co. was named "Best Overall Reinsurer in the U.S." in the 2005 survey of cedant perceptions about reinsurance and reinsurers conducted by Flaspohler Research Group, a Kansas City, Mo.-based business-to-business research. American Re received the same recognition in 2003, the last time this survey was conducted."We are enormously proud of the results of the Flaspohler Survey. Retaining our No. 1 ranking in the "best overall reinsurer" category clearly demonstrates that we continue to be judged as the best reinsurer in this market by our clients - by far the most important arbiters of our performance," said John Phelan, Chairman and CEO of American Re-Insurance Co.

Boston - Although its financial services sector is still small compared to the United States, Europe, or Japan, China's rapid growth rates and huge potential make it a critical arena for expansion for both insurers and solution providers, according to Celent Communications. In its latest report, Insurance in China: Market and IT Overview, Celent predicts IT spending by insurers in China will jump from $2 billion in 2005 to more than $5 billion in 2009.

Brookfield, Wis., - Fiserv, Inc., a financial management and compliance software provider, released a software system designed to be compliant with the Sarbanes Oxley Act. The Nautilus SOX solution is a tool that uses document management technology for enterprise-wide compliance with the 2002 federal legislation, and similar provisions that the National Association of Insurance Commissioners is expected to embrace for non-public insurers. The software provides an automated, searchable system for documenting internal controls and business processes to help ensure SOX compliance. With Nautilus SOX, users can create, collaborate, log, execute and conclude business transactions in a structured, efficient environment. It also provides users immediate access information regarding a process or project, including all outstanding issues, approvals, statuses, discussions and communications. The system's framework of pre-defined indexes and templates enables users to monitor and record all external and internal events affecting SOX compliance--from risk assessment to controls testing and remediation. Notifications and scheduled reviews can be set up to ensure that important deadlines are met, and the system can automatically route content between collaborating participants.

Kansas City, Mo. - The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) warns that significant market disruptions could develop with the Federal Terrorism Risk Insurance Act's (TRIA) expiration on December 31, 2005, the law's current sunset date. The economy's current strength reflects the ability of businesses to cover affordably catastrophic terrorism risks.

El Segundo, Calif. - Ohio Mutual Insurance Group, a Bucyrus, Ohio, insurance company, has experienced a 13 percent increase in staff productivity over the previous year, thanks in part to software from Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC), El Segundo, Calif. Previously known as the Ohio Mutual Tornado, Cyclone and Windstorm Insurance Assoc., Ohio Mutual today provides auto, home, farm and business insurance. The implementation of CSC's property and casualty insurance software follows its move last year to replace its legacy system with CSC's POINT IN policy administration and claims components. The POINT IN policy administration component provides Ohio Mutual with an integrated, paperless system for rating, underwriting, reinsurance, and billing and collection. The advanced claims component automates claims assignment and tracking. The company, which writes more than $120 million in premiums each year, reports a surplus of more than $67 million. CSC reports that the carrier also achieved the largest annual net operating profit in the company's 104-year history.

Our readers have told us that their operational silos of the past have been replaced with a demand for a holistic, collaborative, unified approach to using technology to solve business problems.This approach has its roots in the countless changes currently taking place in the insurance industry: the new face of governance, Sarbanes-Oxley, various state reporting requirements and a host of other issues that affect an insurance organization's ability to acquire and retain a competitive advantage.

When politicking for change, there's likely to be a few stumbles along the way. But an organized approach that includes consistent communication with all parties involved should help you stay on the path to getting business buy-in.That was the message presented by Mike Byam, vice president, e-business and technology at The Hartford, Hartford, Conn., during the "Managing Change" session of the ACORD-LOMA Insurance Systems Forum held in Orlando May 22-24.

In software buys that have risen fairly steadily over the past eight quarters, core systems appear to be carriers' priority, according to a report released by Celent Communications Inc., Boston.Celent's goal in conducting its research, "Insurance Software Deal Trends 2003-2004," was to find out what types of insurers (by size and lines of business) purchased application and infrastructure packaged software during that time period. The study also looked at the business processes supported by these deals, as well as some of the broad trends in terms of deal activity.

Think back to 1978. Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds had his 3,000th major league hit. The first test tube baby was born. Poland's Karol Wojtyla became Pope John Paul II. Nearly 1,000 people committed suicide in Jonestown, Guyana. And Egypt and Israel signed the Camp David peace accord.In the same year, the P&C industry made its last profit from underwriting for 25 years. That's right: Not until last year did the industry's combined ratio again fall below 100-which means for more than two decades, P&C losses exceeded premium earnings.

Washington - The Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA), a temporary program introduced after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, has served its purpose and is probably stunting the development of the private insurance market, Treasury Secretary John Snow wrote in a letter to the Senate Banking Committee summarizing the agency's conclusions regarding TRIA.