Getting the right fit in a policy administration system was im-portant for the Wisconsin-based Rural Mutual Insurance Company (RMIC). The personal and commercial lines carrier (affiliated with the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation) is a medium-size insurer but was operating on a mainframe platform that was more suitable for a much larger organization. When we compared our expenses to other Farm Bureau companies and our peers, our expenses were misaligned, says Todd Argall, assistant vice president of RMIC. That [previous] system was difficult for us to maintain, required us to have a large programming staff, and didnt have the flexibility we needed for the future. The bottom line was we were constrained by the significant expenses just to operate it, so it was hard to enhance [the old system].

As RMIC discovered, there is no shortage of vendors in this market. Working with the DEI consultant group, the first step was to form a visioning group of approximately 20 RMIC employees to focus on a strategy. We developed our business objectives and looked at things from a strategic point of view, says Argall. Requests for information were sent to 25 vendors, and the first cut narrowed the field to four. Those four were invited to Wisconsin to demo their solutions, and the field was cut to two. Then we did a road show, says Argall. We checked out references for each of the finalists. We looked at existing customers in person, we checked out [the finalists] financial health, and then we narrowed it to Tritech.

Tritech was invited back to Wisconsin where the software developer was asked to present a proof of concept. It was challenged to come in and, in a very short period of time, install its system and prove to us that it could provide some of the basic functionality it claimed it could achieve, says Argall. The insurer articulated its basic business requirements to Tritech, and a gap analysis was performed. Once the carrier was able to identify the gaps and get an idea of the cost to modify the solution, the two sides moved ahead with a formal agreement, ending a one-year search for a solution. Implementation began in March 2002.