Agents Look to the Cloud
for Flexibility, Cost Savings
Bowen, Miclette & Britt and Hoffman Brown Co. share benefits,
challenges of implementing cloud-based solutions
BY MICHAEL P. VOELKER
AS INSURANCE COMPANIES and agencies search for solutions to address their business problems,
looking to the cloud may be among the answers, according to such industry consultants as Bob Hirsch, a director at Deloitte
Consulting.
And by delivering technology capability
on demand, cloud computing has indeed
started to become an attractive option for
agencies wishing to reduce the costs of
maintaining IT infrastructure. Cloud computing also delivers true mobility, allowing
agents to access data and applications anywhere, from an Internet-enabled device.
Agency software vendors, recognizing
the increasing appeal of this approach,
have continued to configure their solutions for cloud delivery, make investments
in cloud infrastructure and create cloud-only offerings (see sidebar on page 16).
“Our agency customers are increasingly aware that they can get access to
their applications from anywhere they
are,” says Mark Layden, COO at Applied
Systems, an insurance-focused cloud-computing vendor. “That’s important, because
they need to sell to and service their customers from anywhere.”
The following two case studies offer
up-close looks at a pair of agencies that
have turned to the cloud—detailing the
benefits, and some of the challenges, they
are realizing as a result.
