Policy Works eMarketing Newsletter: Reusing the CSIO XML Standards

Companies and vendors see first signs of “re-use” of CSIO standards, brokers get the benefits
By Lorin McCaffrey, Senior Product Developer, Policy Works Inc.

Recently, multiple Canadian insurance companies and broker software vendors have started using CSIO standards to exchange commercial-lines information in “real-time”. This was made possible by the inclusion of commercial lines messages as part of the fourth version of CSIO XML standards published in 2006.

Although you might not have noticed, you were using these standards when you have used Policy Works’ eMarketing features to send your quote request to one of our partners’ web sites. eMarketing allows you to transfer your prospect’s information to an insurer’s quoting web site with a few clicks, reducing costly re-entry. Although it’s admittedly anticlimactic when you use it (a few seconds wait and your pre-populated quote request is displayed in your web browser), a fair amount of work went into making it that way.

For each of Policy Works’ Certified Data Exchange Partners (CDEP), the work involved small teams, one at the insurer and one at Policy Works. These teams were made up of business analysts, security specialists, and programmers. The teams were in constant communication, as there is a steep learning curve to the CSIO standards, and each insurer has different IT requirements. The first phase of a typical eMarketing integration project takes six months. Usually this first phase allows brokers to upload quote requests to the insurer’s website, with features such as download coming in later phases.

Six months just to allow quote requests?! Yes, it seems long.

However, there is good news. A report by Celent Communications, an American consulting group, showed that subsequent implementations of an XML standard, after the first one was out of the way, become progressively quicker. The proof is in the pudding: Policy Works is now finishing up the fourth integration in a year and a half. Also exciting is the fact that the benefits flow both ways: our first CDEP partner, ING, is now working on their second integration with another commercial management system. This is exciting!

Why? Because standards are designed for industry-wide usage; they are not proprietary. They are not meant to give one vendor or insurer a competitive advantage. The CSIO XML standards are intended to help streamline and improve the independent broker distribution channel. The ability to re-use skills and code from a previous project for the next one is one more reason companies are looking to use the CSIO XML standards. At Policy Works Inc., we’re excited that other data exchange integrations are taking place, because this moves the entire industry forward.

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