Accenture Life Insurance Platform Achieving high performance through process enhancement

Transcription

1 Accenture Life Insurance Platform Achieving high performance through process enhancement

2 Meet today s challenges and position for the long term The Accenture Life Insurance Platform provides support across the full policy life cycle and integrates easily with existing systems, thereby providing true straight-through processing. Widely recognized as industry-leading, the Accenture Life Insurance Platform is a rules-driven system that enables true straight-through-processing. With highly advanced administration and processing tools, the Accenture Life Insurance Platform helps insurers lower operating costs and increase speed to market. A trusted solution for more than 50 leading insurers and distributors, the Accenture Life Insurance Platform has the scalability to meet the needs of major transformational and outsourcing programs, yet remain cost-effective for smaller initiatives. Backed by Accenture Software, an organization dedicated to developing differentiated software-based solutions, Accenture has a track record of helping life insurers weather shortterm challenges and position themselves to achieve high performance in the longer term. 2 Accenture Life Insurance Platform

3 Accenture Life Insurance Platform helps insurers to: Roll out innovative products faster and more frequently Helps meet today s industry demands and capture greater market share. Reduce development costs Uses the comprehensive support of complex product features, calculations and tables to ease product definition costs. Reduce costs through operational efficiency Introduces process automation and improved IT effectiveness. Improve consistency Provides more accurate information that is more efficiently accessible. Enhance customer interface Access to information allows for quicker response times. Better deploy IT resources Assists the overall business strategy, rather than spending time on system maintenance. Enjoy robust system functionality Is configured to support unique business processes and help increase the capabilities of a business rulesdriven environment. Support a global delivery model Balances the requirement for a centralized deployment of a common core system with the need to support local configuration to meet specific market needs. 3

4 The configuration factory The configuration factory the backbone of our solution helps insurers attain a level of operational performance that has proven to be decisive in a rapidly changing market. The backbone of the Accenture Life Insurance Platform is an integrated set of tools to support the configuration of product and business rules. The product rules engine helps simplify product definition; reduce the time and cost for introducing products; and allow for the rollout of complex insurance products. Similarly, the business rules engine enables the configuration of data entry and business rules across the system, allowing for the development of comprehensive (and automatic) orchestration of business processes. The product rules engine is delivered with a comprehensive set of product, feature and transaction templates that can be used as the building blocks for launching new products. These templates can be extended via configurable components, functions and tables. The actuarial, mathematical and statistical functions provide standard insurance formulas that can assist and support complex life insurance product calculations. These functions are particularly powerful for the calculation of premium, benefits, coverages and cash values for life insurance products. For new or complex calculations, userdefined functions provide a facility to leverage existing calculations, values and tables. Multidimensional tables allow for the support of any product rate table with any number of parameters. As a result of these product components, the product definition task is configured by a product user rather than by a programmer. Using the Accenture Life Insurance Platform, organizations can reduce product introduction time from months to weeks. The business rules engine supports the definition, management and execution of workflow, data capture, validation, and follow up rules across the system. Work orchestration and routing features include task box management, load balancing features and online reports. These configurable workflows can be used to route users down different paths based on many criteria such as user types, product types, distribution channels and even language of the user. Data capture rules support the creation and management of data capture processes via configuration such as application entry, policy changes, transaction entry, or addition of new clients such as insureds, owners and beneficiaries. Data collection is supported across one or many pages; each page is broken up into questions and answers that can be flexibly defined and presented. 4 Accenture Life Insurance Platform

5 Security Benefit rediscovers its form with Accenture Life Insurance Platform Security Benefit has been providing retirement plan services, investment products, life insurance products and other financial services for more than a century. Constrained by a complex, cumbersome life insurance and annuity administration system (that used two mainframes running COBOL and a series of add-on systems), Security Benefit s cycle of new product launches often stretch to 12 months or longer. Security Benefit replaced its legacy systems with a single platform: the Accenture Life Insurance Platform. While Accenture implemented the solution, Security Benefit rebuilt all the supporting downstream applications so that its entire enterprise-processing platform was based on current technologies and was integrated across all products. Within eight months, the new policy administration system was operational. The impact has been dramatic. Business costs have been reduced by approximately $7 million a year, and new products are developed and launched in as little as two to six months. Other benefits include: Contract volumes that are around 40 percent greater IT operating costs that are down almost 40 percent Service costs per policy that are reduced by approximately 30 percent IT and customer service staffing requirements that are down roughly 20 percent Faster time to conduct cost/benefit analyses in determining feasibility of product changes Better support for an aggressive business acquisition strategy With the Accenture Life Insurance Platform, Security Benefit has succeeded in capturing additional product revenue and is becoming a more competitive provider of life insurance and annuity services. Key features Process enhancement The use of a single configurable rules engine simplifies process design, helps reduce rules redundancy and increases processing power. It means that when a user changes a rule be it for a product feature, a business process or data validation that change is instantly applied throughout the entire platform. Even producers who use the Accenture Life Insurance Platform for disconnected electronic applications receive these rule changes the next time they connect to the Internet. The rules dramatically reduce the amount of human involvement in routine, but often complex, procedures. Our solution allows insurers to define how their business is administered and how work flows to pre-defined users both key contributors to the solution s efficiency. The rules engine controls all activities in each of the processes. It is a highly configurable tool that allows users to set up the workflow, without the need for programming, by specifying each step, each deviation from that step and the conditions that trigger the deviation. It links all of this together in a consistent, uninterrupted process that includes integration with other supporting processes and systems, and customers do not start from scratch in defining their business processes. The Accenture Life Insurance Platform comes with a rich set of functional processes and business rules that reflect industry-proven practices. Implementation costs are reduced by leveraging this baseline of rules and adjusting them to meet the unique aspects that differentiate your business. Simplified integration One of the most important features of the Accenture Life Insurance Platform is its ability to integrate with a company s existing systems as well as insurers business partners and vendors. Platform neutrality, a Service-oriented Architecture (SOA) and the ability to pass and accept ACORD-standard and proprietary XML standards facilitate smooth communication with disparate upstream and downstream systems. This extends the life of an insurer s existing software and allows them to transact and share information with any number of external systems. Accessibility is further enhanced by an architecture that incorporates industry-leading technologies and provides insurers with impressive networking and communications power. 5

6 Users can access the system securely through a variety of devices (from desktop browsers to wireless laptops and mobile phones) that take them through an intuitive interface. Producers can submit applications and obtain status reports, while customers can query contract values and change their personal details easily and at any time. Another feature of the Accenture Life Insurance Platform architecture is its layered, componentized structure. The layering separates services, presentation, process, components and storage, while the use of generically functional, interoperable components creates the building blocks of a highly efficient system. This structure facilitates: Customization all or only some of the components can be incorporated and easily integrated with thirdparty applications, such as a customer relationship management (CRM) system Flexibility components can be used in different ways and in different environments Low-cost maintenance components can be individually updated without the need for a big bang overhaul Celent describes the Accenture Life Insurance Platform as one of the most complete systems available. 1 1 Source: Celent, Policy Administration Systems: Life/Health/Annuity Vendors report Accenture Life Insurance Platform

7 Built for speed, designed to enhance The Accenture Life Insurance Platform (see Figure 1 on following page) addresses all of the eight basic steps in the policy life cycle: Step 1: Illustration and quotation A Web-based architecture and integration with a product database allow producers and agents to provide quotes quickly, anytime and from anywhere. Similarly, access to the business rules engine enables quick, accurate illustrations for the full range of insurance, annuity and bank products. The system can manage both multilife and individual advanced markets, as well as a wide variety of languages and presentation formats. The progress of the sale is not impeded by connectivity issues, as producers can work either on or offline, synchronizing their accounts and their data as soon as they connect to the Web. Business is concluded quickly, accurately and professionally. Step 2: Application and forms Applications are completed correctly and quickly, irrespective of the complexity of the product or the requirements. Forms predefined templates or interactive questionnaires can be configured without limit or linked to any number of other forms. The correct application is automatically presented, based on data supplied and other criteria, such as producer eligibility, while numerous validation messages, rules and response formats prevent invalid data entry and incomplete applications. The time to complete an application is shortened, while the application-to-issue cycle is dramatically reduced by the fact that underwriters receive only clean applications. This efficiency is allowing some insurers to achieve jet issue and, in some cases, instant issue at the point of sale. Step 3: Case management Case management enhances efficiency by proactively routing assignments to pre-defined people promptly so that they can perform the necessary tasks. It baselines the original application data and tracks tasks, impairments, requirements, case notes, related applications, reinsurance information and other essential case data. The rules engine automates tedious tasks such as identifying open requirements and reviewing received information. This automation allows case managers and underwriters to focus on productive case work rather than constantly review cases 7

8 Figure 1. The Accenture Life Insurance Platform s integrated product rules engine supports the full policy life cycle. Illustration and quotation Payout administration Application and forms Policy administration Product and rules engine Case management Customer service Underwriting Policy issue to manually determine whether all the information needed for an underwriting decision has been received. Step 4: Underwriting The Web-based underwriting process uses an automated decision engine that rapidly and consistently evaluates underwriting risk analysis. The process begins during application entry and continues through policy issue. Drawing on configurable underwriting guidelines and rules, it reacts to the customer s application responses by asking additional reflexive questions. It then makes a series of underwriting decisions, including whether to underwrite immediately, to automatically request additional information (often from external bureaus), or to refer the case to a suitably qualified underwriter. Automated interfaces to third-party partners further streamline and automate the underwriting process. This component increases the consistency and speed of underwriting, and frees up experienced personnel to concentrate on more complex cases. Step 5: Policy issue When the preissue requirements on a case have been met, this component automatically sends case data to the policy administration component to place a policy in force. The system automatically generates an initial premium payment transaction and an issue transaction to place the policy in force. It can also be configured to support the cash-on-delivery issue process. In addition, policy pages, amendments, post-issue administrative requirements, fulfillment documents and downstream tasks are triggered. Step 6: Customer service This front-end feature, independent of any specific policy administration engine, allows the insurer to offer its various users producers, customer service representatives, call center operators, reinsurers and even customers themselves access to consolidated policy, product and customer information. A single, easy-to-use front end that is closely tied to policy administration delivers the functionality of various back-office systems. The combination of an open, Web-based architecture, a published application programming interface, security features, and the use of XML provides a uniquely rich and meaningful service. 8 Accenture Life Insurance Platform

9 Accenture Life Insurance Platform features include: State-of-the-art rules engine Improves flexibility for product innovation and process improvement. Advanced product rules engine Includes standard actuarial, mathematical and statistical functions to provide comprehensive support for life insurance and annuity calculations. Unlimited capability To define new calculations and table rates via user-defined functions and multidimensional product tables. Configurable process management Streamlines data capture and workflow, and enables straight through processing. Modern, Web-based user interface Provides manageable, controlled access to users. Global deployment Localizable, supporting multiple languages, currencies, business processes and product calculations within a single deployable framework. Open, Service-oriented Architecture XML standards facilitate integration with existing software and communication with business partners. Layered architecture Replaceable components confirm the system can adapt as technology and business requirements change. Single platform Based on J2EE, enables greater economies of scale and efficiency. Fast-processing, scalable solution Supports millions of policies across multiple customer segments, sales channels, products and business processes. All users producers or customers are able to access the information and functionality they need at any time, at any level of transaction volume and irrespective of the policy administration back-end system or systems used. Step 7: Policy administration In the same vein as the customer service feature, policy administration is designed to improve the insurer s operational efficiencies. It achieves this by helping to: accelerate the launch of new products; enhance innovation of existing ones; improve real-time data accessibility; increase productivity for customer service representatives; provide the scalability to manage high transaction volumes; reduce costs; and simplify the IT platform. Embedded process management, extensive automation, reusable components, enterprise-wide integration, an intuitive interface and an acclaimed insurance-centric rules engine all work together to help create optimized processes. This allows insurers to align their business processes with their business goals through a flexible rules engine for more effective business process management initiatives. Step 8: Payout administration This component supports the unique processes and nuances of immediate annuities, structured settlement, lotteries and other repetitive payment contracts. Like other components of the Accenture Life Insurance Platform, payout administration shares the common rules engine and uses the sophisticated data-driven architecture to give users the ability to design unique product features and business processes that are differentiated in the payout market. 9

10 Why Accenture? Accenture has 30 years of experience in the insurance industry with a dedicated business, Accenture Software, focusing on developing differentiated software-based solutions. For example, the Accenture Life Insurance Platform is used by 90 percent of the Life & Annuity providers in North America and 30 percent of the Life market in Italy is processed through our flexible, scalable, proven life insurance processing platform. Gartner rated the Accenture Life Insurance Platform a positive in the Marketscope for North American Life Insurance Policy Administration Vendors. 2 We develop advanced software, grounded in High Performance Business research and Accenture innovation. Our market leading products offer cost-effective, high quality solutions that can be quickly implemented. Additionally, both Accenture-owned and alliance assets are supported by a global network of solutions centers consisting of ten locations across seven countries. The Accenture Software team consists of 1,800 people globally; 3 and we are ready to help life insurers with product engineering and deep industry and technology knowledge. 2 Gartner, Marketscope for North American Life Insurance Policy Administration Vendors, June 24, As of February 1, Accenture Life Insurance Platform

11 Achieving high performance The Accenture Life Insurance Platform is an integrated Web-services platform that supports the full policy life cycle and helps insurers improve life insurance administration and new business processing. As a scalable, rules-driven core business system, capable of straight-through processing, our solution can help insurers on their journey to high performance. 11

12 Contact us Find out how the Accenture Life Insurance Platform can help your organization achieve high performance: North America Mitchel Ludwig Accenture Life Insurance Platform Solution Lead Nicole K. Michaels Accenture Software Sales Lead Europe, Africa & Latin America Andreas Thon Accenture Software Sales Lead Asia Pacific Glenn Rogers Accenture Software Sales Lead Copyright 2010 Accenture All rights reserved. Accenture, its logo, and High Performance Delivered are trademarks of Accenture. The MarketScope is copyrighted 2009 by Gartner, Inc. and is reused with permission. The MarketScope is an evaluation of a marketplace at and for a specific time period. It depicts Gartner's analysis of how certain vendors measure against criteria for that marketplace, as defined by Gartner. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in the MarketScope, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest rating. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. About Accenture Software Accenture Software combines deep technology acumen with industry knowledge to develop market-leading software products. A dedicated global organization, Accenture Software offers innovative software-based solutions and the unmatched skills of experienced professionals to enable organizations to meet their business goals and achieve high performance. About Accenture Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 181,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. The company generated net revenues of US$21.58 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, Its home page is