Technology Update
E&S Work Group issues Roadmap on Websites; proof of concepts demonstrations

A paper providing a roadmap to guide development of general agent websites; proof of concepts demonstrations showing that information can be transmitted electronically from a retail agent’s management system to a general agent’s using currently available software, and reviews of ACORD application forms for duplicate data are among the recent accomplishments by the Retail Agent/E&S Working Group.

The IIABA's Agents Council for Technology (ACT), AAMGA, and NAPSLO formed the Working Group to improve the efficiencies for Retail Agents interacting with Managing General Agents and wholesale brokers in the Excess &Surplus market and to promote the standardized electronic exchange of data between the partners. The group recently published a newsletter reviewing their activities and is available to download.

The website roadmap paper, put together by the Working Group’s General Agent subgroup, was recently released and is available to download. The paper is expected to help prepare general agents (GA) to be able to accept standardized interfaces from the retail agent (RA) systems, transfer the data into the backend GA systems (i.e. Agency Management System, Rater, or Carrier System), and return the results to the RA systems via download, completing the round trip, without the need to re-key. 

The paper reviews components of the various generations of websites and what is needed to move to the next generation:

• Generation 1 is a website with basic marketing information.
• Generation 2 adds login capability with a quick quote or indication generator.
• Generation 3 provides for straight-through-processing from the GA website with emphasis on backend GA systems.  At this point, the GA can work to reduce/eliminate paper and implement digital workflows.  Data extracted from GA systems can be batch downloaded to RA systems.
• Generation 4 would offer Real Time, Straight-Through-Processing to/from the RA management systems (upload and download) by integrating with the GA environment so the Retail users do not need to leave their agency management system environment to start and complete transactions.
• To get to the third and fourth generation the General Agent subgroup has been working on data transmission streams between RA systems and GA systems with emphasis on automating the flow of data. So far this year the group has had several Webinars in which vendors demonstrated their technologies to automate the transfer of data from retail agent systems into GA management systems.

Building on these webinars, and discussions at the AAMGA Technology Conference, several vendors industry volunteered to develop working Proof of Concepts for the importing of data from RA systems into GA systems and these were unveiled at the Scottsdale Insurance Company’s technology conference in June 2009. Following that meeting, the Subgroup will hold Webinars to demonstrate the Proof of Concepts to interested parties. Additional details on the demonstration will be posted in the Technology section of the website.

The Retail Agent (RA) Interfaces subgroup has been working on the E&S Carrier supplemental applications to review non-standard data requirements and move the industry to utilize ACORD standards and applications as much as possible. A draft of a few E&S supplements were developed to validate that they could become ACORD supplements.  ACORD is now seeking volunteers to participate on an Excess and Surplus Lines Working Group.  If you are interested, please register for a User name and password on the www.acord.org site and send an email to workinggroups@acord.org requesting that you be added to the E&S working group.