The strategy that is most in favor these days -- at least among the analyst and the vendor community (no surprise) -- is to invest in a flexible, services- and/or rules-based packaged solution. Yet many insurance technology executives think that implementing a package can turn into a kind of back-door in-house development project once all the necessary integration and customization has been accomplished.
I guess I've never understood how people could get so excited about first buying a system and then having to build it. I thought we'd figured that one out a long time ago.
This is the first article I've seen that doesn't revere rules engines and SOA as a magical, one-size-fits-all silver bullet that solves all of your problems. It's also apparent that those "insurance technology executives" who have tried a "rules-based packaged solution" are being more public about their disappointment.
There has been an astronomical amount of money spent on solutions like these, without a single conversion block of any substance to point to. Someone's going to get called on it, and soon.
Stay tuned. I predict this is only the first crack in the dam.
