The new Web services focus of the technology really kind of automates the front-end process, Spring continues, and the insurer will be upgrading. The functionality fits perfectly for a company such as Meadowbrook with different systems for its business units, he asserts. Integration is an absolute key to our strategy, he says. We have the front end, but we also have a different system for data repository. We need to integrate all our front-end systems into one place.

Meadowbrook is not a typical insurance carrier, Spring adds. Its kind of a hybrid of traditional insurance company products, program business, and alternative markets. Its various acquisitions brought with them a different landscape in terms of software products and people. As much as we can and where it makes sense, were trying to look for some uniformity in terms of what we do, he says.

The new QuickSolver Web Services is packaged as part of the Revision 2.0 release of INSTECs Integration Extensions (IE), first introduced in 1999. With 30 installations to date, INSTECs IE allows for bi-directional data and control communication between QuickSolver and a variety of third-party and legacy software. The enhanced 2.0 release of IE includes a collection of Web services that enable:

QuickSolver rating software to be controlled programmatically by external third-party or legacy software without user intervention.
QuickSolver software to control other Web services.
QuickSolver to guide external software in its interaction with the user to perform rating and policy administration that is compliant with an insurance providers filed programs.

We have long believed the best solutions for insurance providers are those that allow them the flexibility to customize for their unique business models while also offering a foundation to build on, says Pat Walsh, vice president with INSTEC. Quick-Solver originally was designed with a commitment to high functionality, extensive flexibility, and a system that would stand the test of time. And these latest extensions to our solution are representative of our commitment to our original vision. INSTEC users still can take full advantage of their existing INSTEC solutions while gaining the advantages offered through the newest technologies enabled by the Web and easily integrating to other best-of-breed solutions for a more streamlined end-to-end insurance process, he adds.

INSTEC introduced the new version during the recent TechDEC 2003 conference in Seattle, Wash. Microsoft hosted a reception at its campus in Redmond, Wash., for the product introduction.