"Why aren't banks innovating more?" asked an attendee during a presentation at the recent BAI Retail Delivery 2010 conference. The response from one banker was that the many recent regulatory changes and continued uncertainty combined with the high maintenance costs of existing products and systems. And either frozen or shrinking budgets make it difficult to find time and money for innovation. read more »

Karen Furtado, Partner, SMA Strategy Meets Action recently published an article discussing the new approaches available today to manage ISO rates and rules beyond the traditional system of record. The article reviews the benefits of ISO Electronic Rating Content™ and how state-of-the-art policy administration systems can and should do more than just quote, issue, and manage policy records.read more »

When you think about it, there are a couple of striking things about how an insurance company uses bureau content, aka rates, rules and forms. read more »

Gartner’s Kimberly Harris-Ferrante recently published a report titled Insurance Product Configurators: Rising Interest and Fragmented Market, which provides Gartner’s definition for product configurators, a market summary, a vendor comparison and market distinction review. read more »

As a sponsor of the Women in Insurance Leadership Forum, we would like to express our appreciation and kudos to Insurance Networking News and SMA Strategy Meets Action for pulling together a great event showcasing the success of women within the insurance industry and coordinating a roster of terrific speakers. Also, congratulations to all the winners of the 2010 Women in Insurance Leadership Awards. read more »

As the TV watching public and networks gear up for their Halloween scary movie marathons, it’s worth a look back at what used to horrify audiences before television and the movies. Back before all that computer-generated special effects wizardry, if we were in the mood for a little terror, we’d sit through circus or vaudeville acts specializing in that more dramatic expression of the skill of knife throwing: impalement arts. read more »

The recent Bank Systems & Technology Executive Summit in San Diego was a great reminder of the daunting breadth and number of issues facing today's CIO's and senior technology executives. Below is a partial list of the key issues that were discussed at the summit:read more »

Time is one of those elusive things in life where everyone wants more of it to accomplish all their tasks but no one ever really seems to find it. Has anyone ever examined how to do even more than before with less time though? Is it even possible?read more »

Novarica’s Karlyn Carnahan recently published a report titled Carrier Internal Processes for ISO Circulars, which profiles the typical processes, resources and costs associated with handling ISO circulars. According to Karlyn, maintaining rates, rules, and forms is a complex and labor intensive process within an insurance carrier. read more »

In the see-saw economy that’s defining business in the post-crash, mid-tier insurers are being tested to skill up their already well-practiced juggling skills. Yep, the economic reset has changed the props that these insurers will have to keep in motion over the next year. This year’s props are a bit dodgier than in the past...like knives, not beanbags. read more »