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Letter to the Editor
This article originally appeared in the December 2000 Issue of INSIGHT
Making That Technology Decision
by Michael P. Williams
I don’t think there are any of us who are not faced with the challenges of technology. This is everything from telecommunications, to software and the Internet. It is hard to keep up with the pace of technology and understand all the nuances of each medium. Most of us are bombarded weekly or even daily with information or by people that challenge us on how we are utilizing this new technology.
I believe we all want to consider utilizing new technology if it would allow us to improve an aspect of our job, make us more productive, increase revenue for our business and allow us to have a better understanding of our data associated with our business.
How do you decide which of these technologies will benefit you the most? Should you partner or align with a company or Web portal to give you what you need, for example? Let me give you some thoughts to consider in approaching that decision.
Value Added Proposition:
What does this offer our business? How does this help our business? What enhancements or benefits are offered for the customer? What is the positive impact on the business bottom line? How long to achieve the results and is this acceptable? These are all questions each shop owner needs to ask himself.
Equipment
What new or additional hardware, memory, operating system, and databases will be required? What communication line speed is recommended? If a browser based application, is Hosting or an ASP (Application Service Provider) option offered? Do you already have the specialized required equipment and software or do you need to purchase it? These questions will make a big difference to the bottom line and with the user productivity.
Compatibility
Are CEICA or ACORD standards followed? Will you be able to utilize the data in the future or with other applications within your business? Do your processes match the application or is process re-engineering needed to implement? Do your insurance customers require you to share the data with them and is that acceptable? If problems arise here, they can be very costly to resolve.
User Friendliness
Is the application used by other shops, and has it been thoroughly tested? Were usability studies and load tests performed? Can you view the results and visit other customer locations? (This appears to be most important with business systems using data from your estimates.) Is there history and guarantees with performance and up time, especially on Internet Hosting or ASP applications? How much process re-engineering and training is required? What user guides and help processes are provided? It is very important to have a cross section of users from your shop involved in the decision process and implementation of the new technology. Having the user group "buy-in" makes the process go much smoother.
Expenses
What are the licensing, programming and equipment fees involved? Are they one-time, monthly, or transaction based? Is other software needed outside of the base product? How frequent are updates and what are the charges? Is transaction based pricing, giving lower cost of entry, an option that is offered? Are the license fees re-occurring each year or over a period of time? What are the maintenance (future enhancements) and support fees, are they required, and can they be cancelled after a period of time? Do you have the experience and the staff to complete the implementation work or does that need to be outsourced? What about the training expenses? Is process re-engineering needed? Make sure you look at all elements of the expenses, from the planning stage through the initial acquisition and rollout then into the maintenance phase.
Training
What is provided with the base product? Is training conducted in your shop and office or elsewhere? Are there self-study and help capabilities offered? Do they offer a "train the Trainer" approach? Is future training offered with new enhancements at no additional expense? Are your business practices incorporated into the training? Properly conducting the user training has a large impact on the user acceptance and the number of application errors that are produced.
Future Enhancement Plans
What are the vendors’ long-term goals and financial strength? How have they performed in the past on providing application enhancements? How often are enhancements provided? You want to work with a company that will be around in the future when you need them and allow your business to evolve as business needs change.
Take the time to do your homework and research all aspects prior to making a commitment. It will pay off and provide a much better experience.
The rewards can be big if the project is properly planned and executed. Good luck!
Michael Williams has extensive experience working in the Claims Industry and with technology projects associated with that industry. He has previously worked with Progressive Insurance, Frontier Adjusters, JW Software and Netrex Connects. Feel free to contact him at mpwilliams@onebox.comor at (773) 377-5000, ext. 8349.
Download our Technology Decision Evaluation Form in word doc format
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