21st century insurance payment

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Gartner Voice is a series of podcasts in which Gartner analysts share insights and expertise on current issues in business and technology. Podcasts are open forums between participants and do not constitute published Gartner research. The views expressed are those of the participating analysts only.

• Insurance Online Customer Self-Service
  Insurers have been investing in online customer self-service for years. As customers demand convenience and insurers look to drive down servicing costs and improve customer experiences, self-service sites will become an even bigger priority among life and property and casualty insurers. Listen and learn more.
• European Life Insurers' Policy Administration Systems
  As European life insurers and pension providers evaluate the market for packaged policy administration solutions, they often are met with unfulfilled requirements. Listen and learn more.
• Prescribing Online Care
  An emerging market called "online care" can facilitate real-time communication and care delivery between physicians and consumers. Although the potential benefits are significant for health plans, consumers and providers, many barriers must be overcome for online care to gain widespread adoption. Listen and learn more.
• Managing Information Overload: Erik Brynjolfsson, MIT
  Enterprise communications continues to evolve at a rapid pace and remains a critical source of competitive differentiation. However, these changes pose significant challenges as planners seek to optimize existing network and telecommunications investments. Listen as Gartner analyst Eric Paulak talks to Erik Brynjolfsson - Professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management - about some of the trends and technologies that will be the focus of his keynote address at the Gartner Enterprise Networking and Communications Summit in Orlando, FL from November 17th-19th, 2008.
• The Impact of Web 2.0 on Life Insurers
  A review of life insurers' Web sites in the U.S. and Europe shows a clear lack of Web 2.0 elements. Most Web sites don't create an exciting or engaging experience that stimulates consumers to become educated about insurance products or return to the site. Listen and learn more.
• Implications of Single Euro Payments on Life Insurers
  Many European insurers have not taken enough notice of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) initiative partly because of uncertainty about open issues and SEPA's future impact. Listen and learn more.
• Legacy Modernization Among Insurers
  Many insurers are replacing their legacy systems with packaged applications, and modernization is needed in parallel to improve functions from systems still in place. Listen and learn more.
• New Technologies for Life Insurance Agents
  Life insurance agents frequently receive new software to help them increase sales or improve efficiency and customer service. Listen and learn how to help realize those benefits and enhance agent adoption of new technologies.
• The Business Blueprint for the IT Platform
  Organizations entrust a large portion of their budget to the people who lead and manage IT infrastructure and operations. Reliable infrastructures that provide both operational excellence and the flexibility to respond to an enterprise's strategic changes can mean the difference between success and failure. Listen as Gartner analyst Mike Chuba talks to author and professor Peter Keen.
• Business and Technical Priorities for Life Insurers
  Many life insurers entering new product markets are finding that their existing policy administration systems do not support Medicare supplement, disability, long-term care and critical illness products. Listen and learn what business and technical priorities are key for insurers to successfully make this transition.
• Thinking by Numbers with Ian Ayres
  In a data-rich world, businesses are inundated with information. Yet used strategically, it can guide decision making and boost performance. That's why Business Intelligence (BI) is on every CIO's must-have list for 2008. Listen as Gartner VP and Distinguished Analyst Bill Hostmann talks to Ian Ayres - Yale Law School Professor - about his recent book,
• Can We Avoid the Internet Wiretap?
  Managing large-scale mobility systems when business models keep shifting is a challenge, and understanding how encryption within these systems impacts your organization is key. Listen as Phil Zimmermann - Creator of Zfone and Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) - shares some of his career challenges and successes.
• A Business Continuity Update
  IT organizations have a crucial stake in ensuring the continuity and resiliency of business operations in the face of business interruptions, changing market conditions and an array of manmade and natural disasters. Listen and learn more.
• The History of Information Architecture
  Leading-edge organizations are constantly looking for ways to improve their employees' abilities to innovate and create, and information architecture plays a critical role. Listen as Gartner analyst Whit Andrews speaks with Alex Wright - information architect for the
• Oracle Acquires BEA
  BEA Systems has agreed to be purchased by Oracle. If the deal gets the right shareholder and government approvals, Oracle will emerge as a peer to IBM and Microsoft, the current middleware market leaders. Listen and learn more.
• Business & Technology Priorities for P&C Insurers
  A recent Gartner survey of insurance customers found that policy administration continues to be the top priority among P&C insurers. The Internet, pricing accuracy and rating, and architecture are also top priorities in the coming year. Listen and learn more.
• Healthcare Payers: A Road Map to Service Excellence
  Healthcare payers must grasp the impact of pervasive consumerism on their operations, and champion essential changes necessary to anticipate and address increased consumer involvement in every key healthcare decision. Listen and learn why.
• Life Insurance Sales Force Automation Requirements
  Life insurance sales organizations seek greater efficiency and effectiveness through the use of sales force automation systems, but success depends on life insurers carefully matching fragmented market supplier capabilities with their business requirements. Learn why.
• The Changing Face of Enterprise Architecture
  Enterprise architecture (EA) is a constantly-evolving discipline that is intended to broadly influence and support investment decisions and organizational change. But your EA program must be properly resourced and well-run to achieve its promised benefits. Listen and learn more.
• Application Integration: A Key SOA Enabler
  As organizations strive to build loosely coupled systems based on service-oriented architecture (SOA) principles, data redundancy, quality and consistency issues are exacerbated and become significant barriers to successful integration efforts. Listen and learn more.
• SOA Tips and Traps
  Simply being aware of some common tips and traps may help your IT organization avoid several mistakes in developing a successful service-oriented architecture (SOA) program. Listen and learn why.
• Multichannel Integration in Insurance
  Property and casualty, as well as life, insurers will face multiple risks if they don't integrate channels. To avoid these risks, insurers must invest in processes and technologies to support cross-channel sales and service transactions, and establish integrated, intelligent channel architectures. Listen and learn more.