Accenture announces enhanced insurance industry solutions

Accenture has unveiled newly enhanced claims and policy administration solutions designed to help property and casualty (P&C) and life insurers focus on operational efficiency and profitable growth by enhancing process automation and multi-channel distribution integration.

"As the markets show signs of recovery, insurers are broadening their focus from cost reduction to efficiency and profitable growth," said Gilles Biscay, managing director and head of Accenture's insurance industry software solutions. "By simplifying their internal operations while driving highly differentiated services, insurers can take advantage of the upturn to pull away from competitors. Proven software solutions play a pivotal role by providing advanced processing tools and reducing the time it takes to launch products across multiple channels."

The enhanced insurance industry solutions include:

• The Accenture Claim Components. Based on Microsoft .NET technology, the solution has been upgraded to more easily integrate with a wide range of standard applications, including mobile technologies. The upgraded solution allows insurers to rapidly and cost-efficiently launch claims management solutions for mobile devices. It also enables mobile field resources such as claims adjusters to collect and transmit information during on-site investigations. The solution supports rapid and easy deployment of Internet telephony connections between customer service and claims professionals through insurers' call centers.
• The Accenture Policy Components, Accenture's new generation end-to-end property and casualty (P&C) product and policy management solution. The new solution enables insurers to access leading-edge technology in a flexible, component-based product configuration and policy administration platform. The platform is built upon the same Microsoft .NET technology and components as the Accenture Claim Components. The Accenture Policy Components consists of independent but interoperable modules that cover the lifecycle of core insurance functions - from product creation to quoting and underwriting, through back-office core transaction processing. The solution is built to cover all lines of business and includes multi-channel and multi-country capabilities.
• The Accenture Life Insurance Platform. The upgraded solution enables insurers to bring new and modified products to market faster with enhanced actuarial, mathematical and statistical functions that support complex product calculations to facilitate configuration of new product requirements. The platform has also been enhanced to reduce implementation costs through more efficient product testing, additional configurable business processes and a common front-end.

Additional information on Accenture's newly enhanced insurance solutions follows.

Accenture Claim Components

The upgraded Accenture Claim Components features an entirely new user interface that enables faster access to information, enhanced productivity, reduced training time and increased collaboration for claims professionals. It features a highly customizable "look and feel," access to internal and external Really Simple Syndication (RSS) content, enhanced navigation and new collaboration tools for claim handlers, such as instant messaging and presence information. The enhanced user interface was built with Telerik's developer productivity toolkit, a solution that accelerates web-based applications development.

The new release of Accenture Claim Components also includes an optimized and automated supplier management function that allows claims handlers to quickly assign suppliers to assist customers according to factors such as claims type, service to be provided, location and distance. The enhanced solution also features a rules-based support for fully automated claims processing. This allows claims to be automatically assigned, reserved, paid, and closed - with no claims handler intervention - when user-specified claim patterns and profiles have been met.

Finally, the Accenture Claim Components has added new automated testing capabilities based on HP's Quality Center and Functional Testing software, enabling insurers to accelerate implementation and reduce related costs and risks.

Accenture Policy Components

The Accenture Policy Components is a newly architected end-to-end product and policy administration solution that builds upon previous generations of Accenture insurance applications, including the Accenture Insurance Solution, a core P&C policy administration solution and the Accenture Insurance Configuration Components, a product configuration application.

The new solution supports an incremental implementation based upon insurers' needs - whether a rapid product and distribution channel deployment to support growth, or a systems consolidation focused on cost reduction. In addition, the solution includes accelerators to reduce implementation time such as pre-configured product and processes for all major business lines.

The Accenture Policy Components is comprised of the following modules which can be implemented individually or as part of a broader migration strategy:

• Accenture Product Factory -- an insurance product development workbench that enables rapid product introductions and changes, utilizing third-party rules, rating and form production engines. The solution provides insurers with a platform to externalize the business logic that currently resides in legacy systems so it can be easily managed by business users that define the product. In addition, the application enables insurers to perform impact modelling of product changes to predict/measure their effects on portfolio performance.
• Accenture Policy Workstation, which features advanced screen design capabilities that support multi-channel delivery of products for new business and endorsement processing. The solution provides a common front-end platform that easily integrates with any back-end policy systems across multiple distribution channels and delivers real-time quotes, as well as full-cycle automation from submissions and quotes to renewals.
• Accenture Underwriting Desktop -- a robust and comprehensive underwriters' solution that helps support better, more consistent account management over time and more efficient processes resulting in opportunities for measurable bottom-line improvements. The solution also provides tools for underwriters to make informed decisions about risk acceptability and pricing.
• Accenture Core Policy Administration, which centralizes, on a single end-to-end platform, all P&C policy back-office operations across the full life cycle of a policy. The comprehensive solution is designed to handle multiple transactions in support of back-end processing such as mid-term adjustments and out-of-sequence endorsements, as well as the functions required for billing and collections.

The Accenture Policy Components features increased configurability and enhanced multi-channel and multi-country support required by insurers seeking to move into new markets or strengthen a global footprint.

Accenture Life Insurance Platform

Accenture has enhanced the Accenture Life Insurance Platform, its industry-leading life insurance policy administration platform, to accelerate new product launches, reduce implementation costs and enhance multi-channel communication capabilities.

It provides enhanced actuarial, mathematical and statistical functions and configurable user functions that support complex product calculations. The upgraded solution also enables better product documentation by allowing multiple users to define and review product components and calculations through a single user interface. A product testing workbench has also been introduced, which gives users the ability to test the details of a feature, transaction, or calculation, review interim calculations, and confirm product behavior.

Another enhancement in the Accenture Life Insurance Platform is an enhanced capability to reduce implementation costs. The enhanced solution includes an intuitive graphical user interface that can be integrated with insurers' existing insurance IT systems to provide a cost-efficient option to a full conversion. The new version features an increased number of administration processes supported through configuration rather than programming, which enhances the ability of insurers ability to quickly optimize business process flows and minimize training requirements.

Accessibility is further enhanced by an information technology (IT) architecture that incorporates industry-leading technologies and provides insurers with increased networking and communications capabilities. Direct access to the system is supported through a variety of devices - from desktop browsers to wireless laptops and mobile phones. An intuitive interface allows producers to submit applications and obtain status reports, while customers can query contract values and change their personal details—easily and at any time.

SOURCE Accenture

www.accenture.com