Making 1 + 1 = 1.Putting together two information technology systems and getting them to work efficiently is difficult for any company involved in a merger or acquisition. It's particularly difficult for the information-intensive business of insurance. "For one thing, there hasn't been much evolution toward standardized standardized pertaining to data that have been submitted to standardization procedures. standardized morbidity rate see morbidity rate. standardized mortality rate see mortality rate. systems in insurance," said Mike Connolly Mike Connolly (1914 - November 18, 1966) was an American magazine reporter and primarily a Hollywood columnist. A Chicago native, Connolly attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and was the Daily Illini's city editor in 1937 and 1938. , vice president of strategy and technology consulting firm Noun 1. consulting firm - a firm of experts providing professional advice to an organization for a fee consulting company business firm, firm, house - the members of a business organization that owns or operates one or more establishments; "he worked for a Booz Allen Hamilton Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc., referred to as Booz Allen is one of the oldest strategy consulting firms in the world.[1] The firm formerly had two consulting divisions: WCB (Worldwide Commercial Business, also known as “The Commercial Side”) and WTB . "Almost everyone's system is custom." So, the big choice is what to get rid of and what to keep. "You would like to take the best of breed, but the components are so complex that you can't do that," Connolly said. Another consideration is that a goal of every merger is to improve overhead costs overhead costs see fixed costs. , and technology is a huge component of overhead costs. "So companies expect benefits in a year or two," Connolly said. In "Connecting ...," our cover story this month, executives of insurance companies that recently experienced a merger or acquisition talk about how they converged their IT systems and what steps they think are most important for success. "You can be sure every CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. is thinking about the technology piece in a merger or acquisition, maybe not from day one, but certainly from day two." Connolly said. "In my experience in the industry, when we looked at potential acquisition targets, we knew what their technology infrastructure was and took that into consideration in selecting targets before we entered discussions with them." Connolly advises executives to develop a technology playbook for the acquisition, describing the phases they're going to go through. Things to consider in making the playbook are the underlying complexity of the architectures of the two systems, the skill sets of the organization and other demands on the organization. "You can't get prepared on the fly," he said. Also in this issue: new, extensive fists of insurance professional designations, organizations that award the designations, bachelor's and master's degrees master's degree n. An academic degree conferred by a college or university upon those who complete at least one year of prescribed study beyond the bachelor's degree. Noun 1. with insurance-related majors and the colleges that award those degrees. Look on page 69 to see the many educational opportunities available to insurance professionals. Sally Whitney Sally Whitney is editor. You may reach her at (908) 439-2200, Ext. 5340, by writing to A.M. Best Co., Ambest Road, Oldwick, NJ 08858, or by e-mail at sally.whitney@ambest.com. The e-mail address See Internet address. e-mail address - electronic mail address for Best's Review is bestreview@ambest.com. |
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