Webify Helps Insurance Carriers Stretch Legacy Apps - ' ROI Expectations ' (
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FFICs business objectives included reducing duplicate entry and problems associated with a proprietary interface. The companys system requirements were to connect directly to the agency management system, to its internal billing and policy systems, as well as to support an Internet-based interface for agencies that do not have agency management systems.
Another goal was to further FFICs new Enterprise Partner Integration platform with an enterprise service-oriented architecture by using industry standards and business-grade Web services for all internal and external integration points.
FFIC selected Webifys service-oriented business applications on IBM middleware to fulfill this business need for on-demand connectivity and agility.
Firemans Fund expects the business ROI (return on investment) to include increased market share—through agent preference and loyalty by being easy to do business with—and reduction in call-center volume, through both direct machine-to-machine connections and Web-based self-service.
Additional advantages are expected to be quicker time to market with new insurance products and processes through an on-demand process and transaction provisioning model; improved business visibility and control through BI (business intelligence) reports; and overall cost reduction through incremental modernization of heritage IT assets delivered as business Web services.
As part of its Enterprise Partner Integration EPI initiative, FFIC plans to incrementally roll out new processes and transactions as multimodal Web services that support both browser and direct connections.
When the system becomes fully live in December, the company will be able to process billing information for all of its 59 operating offices in 26 states, and will begin installing additional applications from Webifys Insurance On Demand Applications. FFIC and Webify also plan to broaden the scope of agency management systems and are in discussions with AMS/TransactNOW.
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