Articles
Will the Circle Be Unbroken?: Connecting producers, carriers, and regulators needs to be a smoother process for life insurers
May 2010
A case study of OneAmerica and Sircon.
Read this Article
Weighing Your Options: Online Versus Classroom CE
January 2010
Both methods are readily available, but which one is right for you?
Read this Article
Complying with IT
December 2009
Technology is becoming a must-have in carriers and agents' tool belts for state and federal regulatory compliance.
Read this Article
Hot Insurance Tech Companies To Watch in 2010
December 2009
The insurance industry toughed it through the darkest days of the downturn by focusing on two perennial business themes — cutting costs and driving efficiency. But as the economy returns to growth, insurers are now aiming for business growth and profitable revenue.
Read this Article
Automated Onboarding by Replacing Manual Processes with Network Technology
April 2008
Although insurers have begun embracing electronic and Web-based approaches to recruiting, onboarding, and managing agents, most organizations have seen only patches of efficiency and cost savings. Scott Morrison, Sircon's VP of Product Strategy explains how leveraging Sircon's fully networked systems to automating "producer lifecycle management" can lower administrative costs and throttle up revenue.
Read this Article
Sircon Impacts Insurance Industry
April 2007
Internet technology has changed the way we live our lives. Online services have made everything from research to shopping faster and easier. Through the Web, Sircon has brought that same efficiency to the insurance industry. Recently named one of the Michigan 50 companies to watch, Sircon is utilizing today’s Internet technology to develop a nationally known powerhouse of services...
Read this Article
Electronic Licensing Gets Geico Stamp of Approval
March 2006
When Geico's business grew significantly several years ago the number of agent licenses it had to process doubled. As a result, the company switched from a time-consuming paper-based licensing administration process to an electronic one.
Read this Article
Producing Results
February 2006
This article addresses the elements of Producer Lifecycle Management (PLM) and the benefits of utilizing technology solutions for both carriers and producers to manage each step of the entire process. Sircon defines PLM as the sequential steps a producer takes to become licensed to sell insurance. The faster a producer is ready to sell, the more revenue is generated for the carrier. Technology solutions that facilitate this process with a great degree of speed and data accuracy also help carriers maintain the interest of producers during the recruiting process because these solutions dramatically increase speed-to-market for producers.
*Best's Review: February 1, 2006, Copyrighted A.M. Best Company, Inc. 2006, All Rights Reserved, Reprinted with Permission
The Spitzer Effect
September 2005
The fate of contingency commissions is up in the air, and large insurance brokerage firms are struggling to recoup that lost revenue. Meanwhile, carriers and smaller, regional brokers face inevitable technology and process fixes to accommodate new regulations and a shifting commercial insurance market.
Read this ArticleForrester Research Trends Report: BPO Services for Insurance
June 2005
Business process outsourcing (BPO) will be growing within the insurance industry, driven as much by increasing comfort with vendors as it is by the need to reduce costs. However, to date, insurance companies have been reluctant participants in BPO for both cultural and structural reasons. Overcoming this resistance is the pressure for profitability, vendor investments to develop insurance credentials, and the maturation of both carriers and service offerings. Because of these factors, the biggest growth will be seen in large carriers that will cherry pick BPO services around niche areas like agent activation and fraud detection. Smaller companies will outsource both niche areas and core business processes that are non-differentiators.
Read this ArticleForrester Research Trends Report: Drivers and Trends for IT and Insurance
June 2005
A soft insurance market combined with regulatory requirements and more sophisticated IT leadership is driving IT to make significant changes. During the next two years, we will see increased consolidation of systems and processes, as well as the application of point solutions for high-return/high-risk areas. Furthermore, in midtier carriers, we will see increasing deployment of packages to replace the core systems of policy administration and claims processing. Finally, both IT and business process outsourcing will increase slowly as the industry knowledge of vendors and the sophistication of IT leaders increases.
Read this ArticleFiling Gets Up To Speed
June 2005
Insurers have been pushing states for regulatory reform. If insurers are to remain competitive, they argue, insurance companies must get products to market faster. But they are stymied by redundant and cumbersome filing, licensing and reporting requirements across the 50 states.
Read this Article