Easier, Quicker Solutions Lead to Sustained Growth
By guiding each of its clients to success through Web-based systems, CGI fosters its own success.
For the carrier who relies on agents to bring in new business, one way to stand apart from the competition is to be the easiest carrier to do business with, according to Gordon Gaar, CGI’s Vice President for Global Insurance Sector Strategy.
BEST’S REVIEW: In terms of technology, have you seen any changes or trends in the industry as a whole?
GAAR: The primary business drivers in insurance are to profitably grow market share and retain existing clients. Carriers also need to reduce expenses. These pressures are causing companies to undertake new technology initiatives and conduct business differently. Our new product, CGI Edge™, is a complete rearchitecting of the INSideOUT product that has been so successful over the last 15 years. CGI Edge is an end-to-end solution for the policy lifecycle, and it is Web-based, allowing the agent and carrier to use the same user-interface. Agents and company representatives can process the full policy lifecycle’s transactions securely over the Web. The system will support all major personal and commercial lines of business. CGI Edge will go live with our beta client, Midwest Family Mutual Insurance Company, in November.
We also are seeing interest from carriers in environmental responsibility. “Going green” delivers business value by reducing expenses and helping the environment. Carriers eliminate costs by allowing customers and agents to retrieve documents online when they are needed, eliminating printing and mailing expenses. Carriers also are moving into energy-efficient buildings or initiating work-from-home programs. The technologies enabling this include VOIP and workflow and imaging.
Finally, another way to grow the business is to expand into new lines or states. With the burden of older Legacy systems, many carriers cannot respond quickly enough to capture new market opportunities.
BR: What are some of the other services that CGI provides?
GAAR: CGI can do everything in insurance except take risk. In addition to claims management services, we offer policy administration services, from new business to premium accounting, including customer service and call centers. We are a leader in providing fraud prevention, including a nationally recognized special investigative unit (SIU). We also offer services for statistical and regulatory reporting, document management and print and mail services, saving our customers the headaches and dollars in processing costs. CGI is unique in that we use our own solutions to deliver these services. CGI has a long history in process management and we’ve put that expertise into our solutions.
BR: Has a company you’ve helped expressed a fear that it will lose identity by putting so much of its business into your hands?
GAAR: CGI works with clients to make sure that our efforts are in line with their goals. We develop service levels that reflect the client’s values and priorities and plans for the future. We pride ourselves on our flexibility, adapting our actions to the client’s needs and giving them a level of comfort that their business is handled with the same care and urgency that they would give themselves. Our solutions give us the ability to deliver a higher quality of service at a lower cost.
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