Technology's changing value proposition.

Despite billions of dollars spent on information infrastructures in recent years, only 15% of insurers and financial services firms actually derive value from technology, said Bill Pieroni, chief information officer for Aon Corp. and a keynote speaker at the A.M. Best Co.'s Insurance and Technology Conference, E-Fusion 2005, in Philadelphia.

But there seemed to be an abundance of value derived from technology shared by speakers and E-Fusion Award finalists who spoke about challenges and accomplishments in various technological developments and infrastructures.

This year's E-Fusion Awards recognized some of those developments in six categories: agent/broker, claims, customer management, productivity management, special coverage, and underwriting and pricing. "The scope, caliber and competitive excellence of this year's E-Fusion award presentations reflect the deep commitment that the insurance industry is giving to the use of technology to leverage business value," said Paul Tinnirello, A.M. Best executive vice president, chief information officer and conference chairman. "Voting was extremely close in each category and all finalists should be commended for their outstanding achievements in their respective organizations."

Award recipients and finalists, as well as highlights of conference sessions, appear on the following pages.

Insurance/Reinsurance Transactions By the Numbers

One of the highlights of E-Fusion 2005 was a survey of approximately 150 insurance professionals. Some of the survey results are given below. Others are on page 36.

42% Say brokers and agents are the driving force behind adopting e-signatures.

66% Report they market insurance electronically.

76% Say they don't use a completely electronic process with e-signatures.

45% Relate that producers' technological expertise is way behind the industry's needs.

35.1% Report marketing online not better than print or personal contact.

48% Don't use rich media in marketing.

44% Believe there will be no lasting effect on the insurance industry from Eliot Spitzer's investigations.

Sharing ways to find new value:

JOHN RYAN ESIS Inc.

DENISE HOLZKA Heidell, Pittoni, Murphy & Bach LLP 

DONALD JACKSON JCG Group

KEVlN MCKENNA The Credo Group

ALAN KATZ WellPoint Inc.

PATRICIA SAPORITO Information Builders

LISTENING AND LEARNING: Jim Bain, left, and Tom Shea of New York Life Insurance Co. represented their company at E-Fusion 2005.

LEADING THE WAY: A.M. Best Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer Paul Tinnirello, left, served as chairman of E-Fusion 2005. Lee McDonald, A.M. Best Vice President of Communications, served as program chairman.

LUNCH TALK: James Polcyn, left, from WEA Member Benefit Trust, and Dennis Daniel, North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Co., shared ideas atone of the conference luncheons.

MORE FOR LESS: Scott Eisdorfer, Navigators Group; Piyush Singh, RLI Corp.; and Brian Mauck, American Fidelity, left to right, told attendees about strategies companies can use to get the greatest return from a limited IT budget.

About the E-Fusion Award

The E-Fusion Award recognizes outstanding resourceful uses of Internet technology by insurance organizations. Awards are offered in six categories: agent/broker, claims, customer management, productivity management, special coverage and underwriting and pricing.

Who Can Enter: Insurers, reinsurers, third-party technology providers working with an insurer or brokerage or related financial services engaged in insurance.

Judging Criteria: The criteria were divided into two categories: business and technology. The business category included assessments of return on investment, return on relationship and return on recognition. The technical category assessed technical complexity and technical innovation.

Judging: Judges were Denise Holzka, a partner with Heidell, Pittoni, Murphy & Bach LLP;Thomas A. Meyers, senior vice president and chief financial officer, New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance Co.; John Pogas, vice president, Internet & E-Commerce, Affinity Insurance Services division of Aon Corp.; John Ryan, senior vice president, Marketing and Strategy, ESIS Inc. division of AceUSA; Patricia Saporito, Insurance Industry Practice manager, Information Builders; and Craig Weber, senior analyst, Celent LLC.