MIB and New York Life found a perfect fit in each other, asserts Bouchard. [MIB] is a very crucial partner of ours for the integration of medical information, he says. One major area of agreement in the partnership was the use of the ACORD model and the standards organizations communication principles. Having the right people working with each other also was beneficial. In MIB, we were able to have access to [the companys] chief visionary, David Olsen, he adds. Whenever a problem was arising, we had access to the top people to get the ball rolling and not have to wait by going through an intermediary level.

With the introduction of the MIB Web-enabled solution, MIB will begin phasing out outdated technologies and has announced effective Dec. 31, 2006, it will no longer support legacy connectivity for MIB-TERM, MIB-COMM, Fast Track, and MIB-LINK/Plus V2.

Among the features of the new Web-enabled solution are the security model, which has SSL 128-bit encryption and digital certificate authentication utilizing PKI technology; easier network integration through standard Internet protocols; standardized data transactions using ACORD TXLife; improved data semantics to enhance search accuracy; and improved ability and performance of MIB systems and communications.
The new MIB solutions include WEB-TERM, WEB-DIRECT, WEB Services, and Insurance e-Nable. WEB-TERM offers MIB data services on a single-record basis via a Web browser. Among the available services are MIB Checking Service, Insurance Activity Index (IAI), Disability Insurance Record Service (DIRS), Alpha Index Service (ALPS), and Security Alert Services.

WEB-DIRECT is ACORD compliant and offers system-to-system connectivity for LAN and mainframe server environments. Services include the MIB Checking Service, IAI, and DIRS.
WEB Services is offered as an adjunct to MIBs security alert services, linking directly to the Web sites of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and Canadas Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions.

Communication is what everyone wants to have but has the least of, says Bouchard. Being able to have the nomenclature and standards, which were set up by a third party, allowed us to be very straightforward and avoid a lot of miscommunication. ROBERT REGIS HYLE

SURVEY

CEOs Objective: Turn Toward Revenue Growth
After years of trying to bolster profits by making budget cuts, CEOs apparently have come close to reaching bottom and decided the best way to improve the profit structure at their companies over the next three years is to increase revenue growth. Some 80 percent of CEOs surveyed by IBM Business Consulting Services agree the primary objective of their business is to grow revenue. To achieve this growth, 90 percent of the 450 global CEOs questioned say they expect to transform their business to become more responsive, particularly to customer demand, within the next five years.

Cost reduction hasnt disappeared completely, though. Over 60 percent of survey respondents, nearly 16 percent of whom are involved in financial services, listed cost reduction as the second key focus area for strengthening financial performance. Asset utilization and risk management were next on the list, each with approximately 40 percent.

There are roadblocks to expanding growth, the survey revealed. Eighty percent of the CEOs responding to the survey dont believe their companies are agile enough to identify and chase new market opportunities. Other barriers and the percentage of responses included: balancing risk vs. reward (25 percent); high implementation costs affecting return-on- investment periods (21 percent); unclear benefits for change projects (18 percent); obsolete technology requiring updating (15 percent); stringent business case requirements (12 percent); short-term planning (12 percent); and limited partnering capabilities (10 percent).
The CEOs believe the area offering the greatest opportunity for revenue growth is in new products or services. This was followed by new markets, customer intimacy, new channels, and diversification.

Clearly CEOs are keen to transform their enterprise to improve responsiveness in order to go after growth objectives and new market opportunities, but they feel they are at a crossroadswhere there is strong desire but limited capability, says Ginni Rometty, managing partner, IBM Business Consulting Services. Most CEOs feel significant deficiencies in skills and capabilities, both inside and outside their organization, may threaten the growth agenda.

WHOS USING WHAT

Allied Insurance has signed a contract with Castle Data Services to provide the insurer with replacement-cost data through Castles online estimator.

The California State Automobile Association (CSAA) has launched a new-business issuance system from Steel Card. The insurer will use Steel Cards Apogee platform that extends online quoting and provides the CSAA sales force with the ability to issue and bind new automobile policies in California.

New York Marine and General Insurance Co. has signed a licensing agreement with Allenbrook Inc. to use the software developers integrated policy processing and administration system.

The Maryland Automobile Insurance Fund has upgraded its business intelligence capabilities through the use of the Bladeworks software from Infoglide Software Corp.

Amlin plc, an insurer operating in the Lloyds market, has selected MicroStrategy Inc. as its enterprisewide business intelligence platform.

Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi has reached an agreement with MD On-Line that will provide the health carrier with electronic claims submission services.

United India Insurance Co. has reached an agreement with Sun Microsystems to license 10,000 seats of Suns StarOffice office productivity software.
Nationwide Life Insurance has licensed the Visual Product/Modeling System from Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC) to help the carrier develop and implement new insurance products. Country Insurance & Financial Services has licensed two CSC products, nbAccelerator and Automated Work Distributor, to streamline its life, health, and annuity operations. Aviva Life Insurance Co. has licensed Automated Work Distributor to streamline operations at the carriers two processing centers.

UnumProvident has selected Good Technology as its corporate standard for wireless messaging and corporate data access.

Everest National Insurance Co. has implemented CS ClaimSuite from Corporate Systems, Inc., as a claims lifecycle management and reporting solution.

Universal Underwriters Group, a part of Zurich North America, has reached an agreement with NAT, Inc., to deploy the NAT SCS Automotive Platform to streamline and automate Universals aftermarket products.

The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association has signed a national agreement with Connecture to provide members of the association with an insurance sales automation solution to be implemented in Web-based distribution strategies.

New York Central Mutual has selected ISO HomeValue from the Insurance Services Office to provide the insurer with estimated residential replacement values.

ImageRight has signed agreements to install its document management and workflow solution with the following insurers: Midwest Insurance Co.; Kay Insurance Co.; Stonewood Insurance Co.; Garbor Insurance; Home State Insurance Group; and Mountain States Insurance Group.

United Farm Family Life Insurance Co., based in Indianapolis, Ind., has selected Philibert Software Group, part of the COSS Development Corp., to develop an illustration system to be used by Uniteds sales force.

Western United Life Assurance Co. has implemented the Aquilan Groups Patriot Manager software to manage the insurers USA PATRIOT Act compliance across its insurance operations.

The Regence Group, an affiliation of four leading health plans in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, has decided to deploy Macro 4s application availability software to support the development and testing of business-critical mainframe server applications.

Amica Insurance has implemented the Nexsure agency management system from XDimensional Technologies.

MONY Group has completed its implementation of a new corporate compliance solution from AXS-One, Inc., a provider of e-business solutions.

First American Property & Casualty Insurance recently implemented Tech21 Web-enabling technology from Fiserv to provide the carriers agency force with self-service capabilities using the Specialty System via the Internet.

Security Mutual Insurance Co. has gone into production with the SURE automated underwriting system from IDP. The system was installed as part of IDPs Acies/one integrated insurance system. Security Mutual is using it to process BOP lines and will add additional lines.