Upgraded Accenture Claim Components simplifies processes, gives non-programmers new capabilities; Accenture Policy Components makes product configuration easier to manage
Accenture Unveils Enhanced Property and Casualty Insurance Software Platforms
SAN DIEGO; May 24, 2011 – Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has unveiled enhanced claims and policy administration software platforms with increased configurability and multi-channel support to help property and casualty (P&C) insurers react more quickly to changing market conditions and customers’ evolving needs.
The enhanced P&C insurance industry software platforms include:
- The Accenture Claim Components. Release 10 of this market leading software platform significantly increases system flexibility and enables business users to quickly reflect changes in business conditions through consoles that are easy to use for them, without extensive and lengthy modification requirements. The new release provides an easy-to-use configuration toolset that gives non-programmers unprecedented control over the application data, screens and processes and simplifies upgrades and maintenance.
- The Accenture Policy Components, Accenture’s end-to-end, component-based P&C policy and underwriting management software platform. The enhanced software platform enables insurers to extend the reach of their distribution channels and accelerate the time to market for their new and changed business products. Release 3.0 of the solution introduces enhancements to Accenture Policy Workstation, a highly-configurable, multi-channel quotation and issuance front-end component that easily integrates with any policy processing system. The new version also includes an enhanced product configuration toolset.
“Even as markets show sign of recovery, the environment for P&C insurers has changed,” said Gilles Biscay, global managing director of Accenture Software for insurance. “The economics are tougher, customers are more demanding and normally conservative insurers are under pressure to adopt a bolder approach toward technology. Proven software solutions should be considered by P&C insurers as key enablers of market differentiation. They can help insurers quickly launch products through the appropriate distribution channels that match consumers’ evolving purchasing behavior, and also better serve their customers by allowing fair and rapid claims resolution.”
Accenture Claim Components
Release 10 of the Accenture Claim Components software platform features leading-edge configuration capabilities and includes configuration consoles that provide insurance claims handlers the ability to configure the application to meet their requirements without any programming knowledge. The configuration consoles give business analysts the unique ability to edit new data fields – screen layout changes and event-based processing rules. They are totally independent from the software code.
More specifically, the configuration consoles enable insurers to:
- Change the application’s behavior through configurable rules and activities. Each major application event, such as new claim, claim closed, damages changed and reserve modified, represents an “action point” around which rules can be created to describe additional processing. This gives insurers the ability to create completely new, customized application behaviors.
- Create custom data fields that extend the existing standard database in Accenture Claim Components. This allows claims handlers to customize their database and add information as required by business changes, such as adding new lines of business, specifying catastrophe situations or requesting client service improvements.
- Configure the claims processing workflow through the creation of task templates. These define task ownership, timelines and order of priority and also link each task to their triggering events and business rules. This enables the creation of new workflows that can be made specific to an office, a subsidiary or a country.
- Change screens’ layout and behaviors, through simple “click and drag” operations. Using simple business rules, screens can be configured to display very specific data fields according to pre-defined rules. As a result, information such as customers’ vehicle registration plate numbers will not show up in home insurance claims and drivers’ license expiration dates will only appear in countries where it is needed. So, the solution enables the tailoring of data that will be displayed only as needed.
Accenture Policy Components
The Accenture Policy Components software platform 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 upgraded solution includes the following enhancements:
- An upgraded version of the Accenture Product Factory component which enables carriers to configure their products in a user-friendly environment and maintain these products in a consistent fashion. This upgraded version includes a facility to configure and maintain product data structures and rules as well as intra-product variations along common dimensions such as geography, channel or writing company. This upgrade enables carriers to drive a faster speed to market for product changes
- An enhanced version of the Accenture Policy Workstation component which provides a highly-configurable, multi-channel quotation and issuance front end, capable of supporting new business, endorsement and renewal transactions. This enhanced version utilizes product definitions published by Accenture Product Factory – the insurance product development workbench which is also part of the Accenture Policy Components – to drive processing without requiring duplication of product contents or rules in the Policy Workstation application. This version also includes enhancements to enable user configuration of Policy Workstation user interfaces.
- The connection between all the modules of Accenture Policy Components has been established in a way that enables each component, including the Accenture Product Factory and the Accenture Policy Workstation, to easily connect with multiple core policy administration systems, whether these are existing home-grown systems or systems based on other vendor software, such as TIA Technology. This connectivity allows insurers to introduce a common, front-end user experience regardless of the complexity or number of policy back-end systems.
“Accenture has more than 40 years of experience serving P&C insurers, and has been committed to the insurance software business for more than a decade,” said Mark Robertson, managing director of Accenture Property & Casualty Insurance Services. “Whether the software is implemented out-of-the-box with limited integration efforts or leveraged for more significant transformation projects, our software platforms are continuously enhanced to help our clients, from the largest P&C insurers to smaller carriers, differentiate themselves from the competition.”
Accenture’s P&C insurance software platforms are developed on Microsoft .NET and certified on Microsoft SQL Server, a comprehensive, integrated data management and analysis software platform. Out of the box, SQL Server enables insurers to cost effectively and reliably manage mission-critical information, gain faster insight from their business data, and confidently run today’s increasingly complex business applications.
Accenture Property & Casualty Insurance Services, a business service within Accenture’s Financial Services operating group, serves more than 70 property and casualty insurance clients worldwide.
About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 215,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. The company generated net revenues of US$21.6 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2010. Its home page is www.accenture.com.
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 215,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. The company generated net revenues of US$21.6 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2010. Its home page is www.accenture.com.
Accenture Software combines deep technology acumen with industry knowledge to develop differentiated software products. It offers innovative software-based solutions to enable organizations to meet their business goals and achieve high performance. Its home page is www.accenture.com/software
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