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Defining The Business Value Of Technology
September 27, 1999
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Company Policy: Reach More Clients
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Hartford Insurance Group, a $15 billion international insurance and financial-services company, is using data warehousing to understand and communicate better with its customers and to cross-sell products, says David Annis, group senior VP of IT. But, he says, the company can't go into detail on these proprietary projects for competitive reasons.
In other strategic initiatives, Hartford is using Web technology to strengthen its operating models, Annis says. By leveraging its mainframe systems and creating interfaces to connect policyholders and agents to information in those systems via the Web, Hartford agents can quickly give clients quotes, and policyholders can perform billing inquiries and obtain insurance information over the Web.
Before implementing Semci-Single Entry Multi-Carrier Interface-Hartford agents had to enter client information into their branch-office systems. They would then send that information to Hartford, where employees would reenter the information into Hartford's main systems to produce a quote. The process, which now takes a few minutes, was taking agents a few days to complete. The proprietary system, called InterComm, is being used to issue bond insurance, which gives contractors insurance to cover the completion of jobs should problems arise. InterComm will be tested in the fourth quarter for personal insurance, including automobile and homeowners' policies.
Hartford policyholders, meanwhile, can use InterComm to obtain auto-insurance quotes and perform fund transfers and billing inquiries. A service called Special Delivery Billing lets the company's large commercial customers download billing information, which could run hundreds of pages, directly into spreadsheets on their PCs. "The whole area of E-business and E-business infrastructure is the fastest-growing technology, and we want to leverage that technology with what we already have to strengthen our current operating models," Annis says.
Another way Hartford is leveraging the Web to serve its clients and agents better is via its Xtranet system for life employee benefits. The extranet lets agents, brokers, and small-business clients submit quotes for group disability insurance and view their own commission reports to gauge how they're meeting their quote targets.
Chubb Corp. is also pursuing Internet initiatives. The $6.3 billion insurance company has spent considerable time developing standards for its hardware and software to move many of its applications to the Web for customers and partners to access. Last month, the company began offering homeowners' insurance quotes over the Net to independent agents in France, giving them easier access to billing and quote systems. The @Chubb Web site caters to agents who want to enter customer data onto the site once to receive casualty insurance rates or automobile umbrella insurance premiums. This eliminates the need to enter data on both agents' desktops and Chubb's business systems.
None of these initiatives would be possible without a solid IT staff. Insurance companies ahead of the IT curve have savvy ways for retaining and attracting IT talent. Marsh, for example, has decided to use outsourcing companies for all noncritical IT projects, such as system maintenance and support. "We keep the interesting projects for ourselves," says CIO Wilson. "This gives our IT staff incentive to stay because they're able to work on interesting projects and know that we value them as employees."
The company also has a stock-purchase plan and a $2,500 referral award for employees who refer IT professionals to Marsh. Jobs outside the IT department garner only a $1,000 referral fee.
Marsh also hosts an exchange program in which an IT professional can work in one of its overseas offices for a year or more. The company initiated a compensation-adjustment plan, under which it assesses all of its IT professionals' compensation, along with their skills, years of experience, and geographic location, to determine whether they're underpaid. If so, Marsh raises its salary levels to ensure that its IT staffers are paid competitively.
In addition, Wilson is creating a new position within the IT department-the client executive. Each IT project team will have a client executive, whose job will be to communicate with the business side and ensure that the IT department understands the parameters and business requirements of IT projects. The client executive will also work to ensure that business executives understand the limitations and requirements of the IT personnel. It's this type of innovative thinking that will give IT-savvy insurance companies like Marsh a competitive edge.
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