International Business Machines Corp. has saved a key insurance standards group years of development time by giving it the code for more than 100 business process models and model definitions.[@@]
The standards group, the Association for Cooperative Operations Research and Development, Pearl River, N.Y., says the content is part of IBM's Insurance Application Architecture program. The program sets standards for IBM's own insurance software systems.
In addition to saving ACORD time, the move could help IBM, Armonk, N.Y., sell more "middleware" to insurers.
Middleware is software that helps computers communicate with other computers that are running different software. Insurers often use middleware to connect their old "legacy" computers to the Internet or to company networks.
IBM has spent about 20 years working with insurers to develop the IAA business process models.
ACORD will integrate the new processes into its standards and "plug holes, and build out areas where there hasn't been a priority by our members up to date," says Denise Garth, ACORD's vice president for membership and development.
The contributed IBM code includes:
o A hierarchy of about 100 processes with business definitions in English.
