Business in the (Electronic) Pipeline
When does a light bulb moment become a practical solution?
When
an organisation and its IT development partner share the vision. With
the introduction of QuickQuote, DDG and Resource Underwriting Pacific
have done just that.
Business in the (electronic) pipeline.
Intelligent
organisations know the value of streamlining their business channels to
improve flow. The really smart ones, like Resource Underwriting Pacific
Pty Ltd (RUPPL) are proactive in hunting down the solutions to realise
their vision.
RUPPL’s primary business is underwriting of
Professional Indemnity and Directors and Officers Liabilities
insurance. The bulk of their business is generated via a network of
independent insurance brokers who contact RUPPL (usually by fax) for
quotes on premiums. Preparing a quote is time-consuming, therefore
costly. How could RUPPL make this business conduit more efficient?
RUPPL
recognised that certain types of quotes are much simpler to prepare so
there was an opportunity to automate the process, to free underwriters
to work on more complex quotes.
With this vision RUPPL retained DDG to develop their concept and collaborate with them to deliver an appropriate IT application.
RUPPL
found that DDG shared their vision for an electronic
pipeline-connecting broker to underwriter. DDG’s challenge was to turn
a great idea into a practical, workable solution. With any software
application, it’s vital to strike a balance between being
easy-to-manage and sophisticated enough to do the job required.
The
first step for DDG’s Technical Service unit was a comprehensive
analysis of the key business processes involved. The overall vision of
the concept was refined resulting in the preparation of a detailed
Functional Specification document that defined the functional
components of the system and how they would impact on workflows.
DDG
then proposed QuickQuote, the IT solution that addressed all the
business requirements and, very importantly, is characterised by ease
of use.
According to RUPPL’s Managing Director, Paul Muller,
DDG’s Technical Services Unit, headed by Conal McClure, did a superb
job. “For guys who knew very little about insurance they really nailed
it quickly!”
QuickQuote is a web-based application, completely
accessible by brokers in any remote location via their own web
browsers. Being web-based there is no need for installation of
software, specialist system requirements or updates.
 QuickQuote
was developed by DDG using the latest Microsoft technologies on the
.net platform. DDG was involved in the full life cycle of this
development project including concept, requirements gathering,
specifications, product development, testing, roll-out and user
support. They host the supporting functionality as well as RUPPL’s
website which has also been re-vamped by DDG to strengthen the
organisation’s web presence.
The complex project took into
account the many overlapping processes required to effectively merge
the application with the client’s activities and business needs.
Delivered
on-time and to budget, QuickQuote now provides an express turnaround
time for quotes. Paul Muller explains, “Eventually we hope to have
30-50 brokers nationally using QuickQuote. We’ve only rolled out to a
few so far until we get our peripheral systems fully in place but the
indications are that QuickQuote will provide us with all the
volume-based functionality we hoped for.”
According to Paul,
QuickQuote is money well-spent. He expects the time and cost
efficiencies to show a return on the project investment quickly,
possibly within the next couple of months, with quote turnaround times
already reduced from 72 hours down to 12 hours in some cases. With an
anticipated volume of around 50 quote requests a day being handled by
the system, there is room for significant savings.
A bonus is
the higher level of data analysis RUPPL now has at its fingertips as
material going in and out of the system is logged and reported.
Always
looking ahead, RUPPL already have plans underway to add a future module
to QuickQuote to give further automation for certain target insurance
categories. “As before,” says Paul, “it will be about keeping it simple
and easy to use, so our brokers are comfortable using the system.”
Through
the collaboration of RUPPL and DDG, an intelligent business improvement
idea has seen fruition. A case of the electronic conduit turning out to
be much more than a mere pipe dream.
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