(Editor's note: Occasionally, we ask an insurance technologyleader a single question to elicit a response that will enlightenand inform the technology channel readership. If you would like toparticipate, contact the editor at [email protected])

Heather Peacock is executive vice president of OneShield.

Question: What can insurers do to take the risk out ofcore administration systems?

Peacock: Configurability is the key to takingsignificant risk out of core administration system implementations,but needless to say, there can be drawbacks if strong technologyand design governance is not enforced on the project. Since thepossibilities for configurability can be limitless, it is importantto stop and consider what complete configurability can mean to yourorganization.

Additionally, it is equally important to consider the safeguardsthat must be put in place for the implementation and long-termmaintenance of a highly-configurable system. And, while thepower to make changes across the enterprise is certainly beneficialand crucial, insurers must additionally decide whether acentralized or decentralized maintenance team is the bestapproach.

As the market moves toward preference for a componentized suitefrom a single vendor, configurability provides hope of minimizingproject risk through integration and interoperability, withoutreliance on expensive IT resources or outside consulting. In thisprocess, verifying the components of a single vendor suite aretruly integrated is critical.

For a system to be truly configurable, the components must sharethe same data model and should not require changes to theindividual components throughout the product maintenancelifecycle. This is especially true for release management andbackward compatibility of the individual components.

All too often, insurers find they need to be on a currentversion of each of the components if they want to upgrade onecomponent. Is this important to insurers? Absolutely. Allcomponents need to work seamlessly together, and it is best if thesystem is accessing a single customer file across all components toreduce the risk and complexity of maintaining a single holisticview of your customer.

Unfortunately, keeping all components current is a costly andtimely requirement that probably will not reflect project timelinesand introduces unnecessary risks to product maintenance. So, whatcan you do to reduce risks when implementing a configurablesystem?

In considering how to proceed with a core administration systemimplementation project and what degree of configurability is rightfor any given company-specific situation, insurers must also makecertain the system selected provides:

• Extensive pre-existing content, which speeds up implementationsand lowers costs;
• High re-usability of meta data for sharing across products,territories and distribution channels;
• The ability to easily perform an impact analysis of changes tothe modifications and the downstream effects;
• True customer-centricity across all components, without relyingon a complex synchronization process that could introduce risk asthe system evolves over time; and
• Robust and comprehensive release management tools for managingthe meta data of the system across all environments.

By following the above criteria and implementing a strongtechnology and design governance approach, you will greatly improveyour chances for project success.

Heather Peacock is the executive vice president ofOneShield, Inc. She can be reached for further comment via email at[email protected].