Operations News

Nekema, NetRate Systems Announce Partnership

Nekema Inc. of Jersey City, N.J. and NetRate Systems Inc. of Okemos, Mich., have announced a new partnership that combines the companies’ technology solutions to provide property and casualty insurance carriers with the ability to offer real-time, online rating, quoting …

OPTIS Partners Formed to Help Agencies and Insurers Optimize Performance and Financial Results

OPTIS Partners, LLC, a consulting firm that works with agencies, brokers and insurers to optimize performance and financial results, has been formed by four of the industry’s most experienced senior consultants. Based in Chicago, OPTIS Partners offers the insurance distribution …

RI3K Adopts ACORD Standards

The London-based RI3K Exchange, which specializes in offering reinsurers, cedants and brokers on line services, announced that it has joined ACORD, the international organization which is working to standardize global data processing for the reinsurance industry. “RI3K has become a …

Revolution or Evolution’ The Internet Goes Mainstream

At last, the gap between potential and reality is shrinking as agents explore their online options. The insurance industry is notoriously reluctant to change. So it was little surprise that the Internet—a tool that has the power to introduce cost-saving …

IIAA Urges Consumer-Friendly Credit Scoring

The Independent Insurance Agents of America (IIAA) is telling state legislators that persuading insurers to modify their business practices offers a more effective solution than regulation in the debate over the use of credit scoring as an underwriting tool. IIAA …

Management for the 21st Century

What ever happened to Total Quality Management (TQM)? Was it just another passing fad? Was it a concept that ended up on the trash heap of old management thinking? TQM has been around for a long time and will continue …

Web Enables Agents to Cut Processing Time for Small Business Accounts

When the prospect of selling insurance over the Internet first reared its head, one of the initial impressions it left was that it posed a threat to independent insurance agents and brokers. Futurists proclaimed a new world where consumers would …

ASP-hosted Technology-Trend or Fad’

Many vendors now offer agency management systems via ASP (Application Service Provider). The ASP model moves the agency database and management system software from the agency to a data center, and agency personnel access the system through the Internet. As …

Revolution or Evolution’ The Internet Goes Mainstream

At last, the gap between potential and reality is shrinking as agents explore their online options. The insurance industry is notoriously reluctant to change. So it was little surprise that the Internet—a tool that has the power to introduce cost-saving …

Management for the 21st Century

What ever happened to Total Quality Management (TQM)? Was it just another passing fad? Was it a concept that ended up on the trash heap of old management thinking? TQM has been around for a long time and will continue …