Profiling the Vendors of Web Front-End Systems for Life/Health Carriers

Profiling the Vendors of Web Front-End Systems for Insurance Carriers

First comprehensive study of over 30 insurance Web systems vendors

Celent痴 new reports on Profiling the Vendors of Web Front-End Systems for Insurance Carriers provide insurers with detailed analyses of the offerings of over 30 vendors.

"Carriers are turning to vendors for web front-end technology projects," said Celent senior analyst Matthew Josefowicz, lead author of the two-volume report. "The major drivers for making the buy-versus-build decision are the same as they have always been: lack of internal capabilities, speed, and cost. In addition, a critical mass of vendor-supplied products is now reaching maturity."

Insurers are embracing the Web to increase efficiency and reduce costs in communications with agents, policyholders, and shoppers. Celent predicts that by 2005, the majority of U.S. insurers will offer agent and policyholder Web portals for new business, self-service, field-force management, and document distribution, and that most carriers will offer some features for online shoppers, if only to provide a "quick-quote" and refer them to an agent. Although perhaps 15-20% of carriers are likely to replace their old core policy administration systems with fully Web-enabled solutions over the next few years, far more carriers are seeking to create Web-based interfaces to their existing back-end systems.

The reports are designed to inform carriers who are considering launching or upgrading a Web front-end solution about the process they are facing and some of the major vendor-provided solutions that they should consider. The report is available in two editions, one each for property/casualty and life/health.

Eight vendor solutions, which serve both property/casualty and life/health clients, are profiled in both editions of the report: CheckFree, Duckcreek, DWL, edocs, FINEOS, Jacada, S1, and SAP.

The life/health edition profiles an additional 16 L/H focused solutions for a total of 24. These include solutions from: Allfinanz, CGI, Fipsco/Fiserv, Impactools, Insurance Technologies, NaviSys, Connecture, Connextions, eHealth Systems, Genelco, HealthAxis, Riverwood, Selectica, CSC, Global IQX, and InSystems.

The property/casualty edition profiles an additional 8 P/C focused solutions for a total of 24. These include solutions from: AgencyPort, Allenbrook, AscendantOne, CSC, ePolicy Solutions, SEEC, Sengen, and Sherwood International.

Each profile contains company background information, including size, location, and description of main business; specific product information and functionality including areas of focus; technical specifications including programming language, platform, and database types supported, as well as scalability testing; information on current clients and target client types; as much detail about pricing and deal as available; and brief summaries of client reference evaluations and impressions. In addition, each profile contains a detailed full-page functionality matrix.

Since the offerings of the vendors covered in these reports and the requirements of carriers vary so widely, it is impossible to rank or recommend specific solutions. The report provides comparative charts and tables for carriers to see critical comparative information at a glance: functionality breadth, technology, cost, and product maturity/number of clients.

A table of contents for both reports is available online. Click here for the life/health edition, here for the property/casualty edition.

of Celent Communications' Property/Casualty Insurance and Life/Health Insurance research services can download the report electronically by clicking on the icon to the left.