HOW HELVETIA INSURANCE USES SOA TO BOOST PROFITS /

by J. Gambon, published on November 6, 2006 in Baseline.

[...] To manage the software modules, Helvetia borrowed the bill-of-materials concept from the manufacturing industry, building into its eBusiness platform a "catalog" that acts as a central container for organizing the components. With software organized and stored by its function, such as data entry or claims, developers can pick the pieces of code they need to build new applications. This system has speeded up application development, with new Web-based products being churned out as much as four times faster than before the eBusiness Center's debut, thanks to the reuse of components and the ease of distribution, Beck says. In some cases, the development cycle has been trimmed from seven or eight months to two. [...]

[...] Many insurers have been around for decades, often supporting an overwhelming number of administrative processes such as claims management, billing and policy management. Products developed at different times are often isolated in legacy systems, which limits the amount of account and financial information available in real time and hinders a company's ability to collaborate with external partners, says Barry Rabkin, senior research analyst at Financial Insights, a consulting firm that advises the financial-services industry on technology.

"You can't be agile with six to 12 core administrative systems," he says. By using the SOA approach of open, standards-based systems and making use of reusable components to build applications, insurers can streamline operations and be better prepared to pounce on new business opportunities, Rabkin says. While some U.S. insurers such as The Hartford, Fireman's Fund Insurance and St. Paul Travelers have adopted SOA with some success, few European insurers have gone that route, he adds.

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