Hosted Web-Based Solutions

The benefits of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) can seem far removed from the unique IT and business needs of the financial services and insurance sector. Nevertheless, fuelled by the pervasiveness, availability and speed of the Internet, companies in the insurance industry are increasingly using Web-based solutions to drive down IT costs, improve operational efficiencies and enhance speed to market of new products and services. The SaaS model of application delivery — in which applications are hosted by a vendor or service provider and made available to customers over a network — is growing in interest and popularity. According to IDC, worldwide spending on SaaS solutions will continue to increase over the next five years at a 21% annual growth rate.

The insurance industry regularly stores and manages business-critical and highly sensitive data. For this reason, some may feel the idea of allowing external-hosted control over these resources is far too risky. For Coons Insurance, the need to quickly improve IT and business processes, as well as maintain a competitive advantage and thriving customer base, led the company to become an early adopter of hosted Web-based technology.

COONS INSURANCE: SAAS CASE STUDY

As an independent insurance broker management firm, Coons Insurance wanted to focus on its core business of selling insurance and servicing clients instead of concentrating on technology management. Coons has more than 4,500 clients, so it was important for the company to find a new software solution that didn’t require the time, difficulty and expense of installing new upgrades and keeping track of new features and functionality.

As a small business, Coons Insurance had limited funds and resources for major technology upgrades and maintenance. Until 2000, the firm used a DOS-based broker management system called TABS. The dumb terminal system offered rudimentary and limited features and functions; it was becoming frustrating and time-consuming to service and maintain the system. In turn, this was making it difficult for Coons to keep up with the tempo of today’s fast-paced business climate.

The insurance industry is increasingly dependant on the most current technology to keep up with today’s thriving economy. Traditionally, the main drawbacks of business software applications have been the direct costs of licensing and implementation. The benefits of hosted software — limited upfront investment in capital and staffing, as well as rapid deployment — were a huge driver for us in adopting the technology.

A recent study released by Access Markets International (AMI) Partners Inc., a New York-based “market intelligence” firm, predicts that Canadian small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) will increase IT spending this year by 16-17%, specifically on hosted/SaaS solutions. SaaS adoption is being driven by growth in the number of Web-based software offerings and the development of enablement programs to help independent software vendors (ISVs) take advantage of the SaaS opportunity.

With SaaS, insurance brokers can employ and maintain software at a lower cost. SaaS means the provider will bear the costs of software management, including automatic patching and upgrading. This allows brokers to reduce IT implementation risks and pitfalls.

SWITCHING TO HOSTED BMS

Coons Insurance deployed Signassure, a hosted application featuring industry-specific accounting, personal and commercial lines policy management, customer management and marketing and reporting tools. Running on Microsoft-based technology, the hosted program can be accessed securely by the firm’s brokers anywhere, anytime from any Internet browser.

The hosted Keal Broker Management System (BMS) solution has made a huge difference in efficiency levels, and significantly improved file management and organization. The model securely protects data, requires no maintenance, no overnight processing, no broker involvement and all transactions happen in real-time, so that our brokers have complete visibility into business processes.

Switching to the hosted Keal BMS tool also helped Coons from an IT maintenance standpoint: while Coons used to be responsible for daily back-ups and maintenance, now Keal handles all the IT maintenance remotely, so there is no work required on Coons’ end. As a largely Microsoft IT shop, Keal’s solution features the same look and feel as Coons’ existing Microsoft Office system and Windows Vista applications — key software that Coons’ brokers use on a day-to-day basis.

As the only Gold Certified Microsoft partner in the BMS space, Keal is also a supporter of Microsoft’s Software + Services strategy. Software + Services is Microsoft’s expansive view of SaaS, encompassing technologies and approaches to software delivery that offer customers the best of both worlds — the choice to buy the software license or deploy the software as a hosted, Web-based solution.

Ultimately the move toward SaaS offers brokers a broader choice: the ability to benefit from support, deployment services and a fully-packaged solution. This means brokers ultimately spend less time on training and installation and more on providing customer service. Brokers now have a more seamless method to communicate with their clients via the Web.

That said, SaaS isn’t necessarily an application panacea. Right now, for example, Coons plans to maintain a hybrid of in-house and hosted software within our IT environment. From a flexibility standpoint, SaaS is an application delivery model that is highly scalable, a means to reduce overspending in IT for small organizations and enables firms to concentrate on delivering products and service rather than improving or fixing technology. Organizations seeking to reduce capital expenditure, speed IT deployment and reduce software management responsibility should look to the application delivery model to maintain that ever-so important competitive edge.