May 9, 2008
KnowledgeCenter swept the team and individual awards at the Worshipful Society of Marketors Golf Day held at the prestigious RAC Golf Club near Epsom in April. A popular charity event with the City, the golf day is also well supported and attended from the sports world. The KnowledgeCenter team comprising MD Kevin Osborn, FD Jim Donoghue and Marketing Consultant and ex Lions and England star Matt Perry took the team prize whilst Jim won the individual competition. A second team comprising staff from the underwriter company Mitsui also competed whilst KnowledgeCenter sponsored the first hole. The prizes were presented by Austin Healey. The Rainbow Trust Children's Charity was the worthy beneficiary of the day.
Following on from success at the RAC Club members of the team joined KnowledgeCenter client Catlin's team and continued its winning ways by taking the honours at the Middlesex County Cricket Club Golf Day. The winning team comprised KnowledgeCenter MD Kevin Osborn, Tim Peters Group Head of Reinsurance Asset Management at Catlin, Steve Ryland of Swiss Re and Leon Douch of Ascot.
May 6, 2008
Old Colfeians Cobras sponsored by KnowledgeCenter won the Kent Sevens Championship at Canterbury. The Cobras swept through against some of Kent's best sides without dropping a point until the semi finals before beating Blackheath 35 -14 in the final. Well done to all the boys!
The team photograph also features John Gallagher the ex All Black full back and 1987 World Cup winner.
February 14, 2008
Technology is playing an ever increasing role in the insurance market. While there may well be those who describe the subscription market as having changed little in 300 years the processes behind it are unrecognisable from what they would have been two decades ago. But with the march of new technology has come new systems and new products so what do the IT managers of the brokers and insurers need to remember in order to ensure that their firms remain ahead of the technology?
The first consideration of any IT director or manager has to be that before you start to look for the product or your external partners you have to know what you have already and what you specifically need. The good IT manager does all the internal work before they start to look at the products externally. You have to ask yourself at the start of the process, exactly what it is you need to address. By understanding the need, be it systems to meet new legislation or a realisation that your workflow could and should be improved you cannot engage with external parties.
An area which is ignored by many is the legacy issue. What tools and skills does your company already possess and how can they be brought into what you are hoping to achieve.
Once you have a good understanding of what you need and what you have then is the time to consider the other drivers, the timescale and the budget. Ask yourself when you want to have addressed the issue and how much you are prepared to pay to do so.
Once the internal issues have been solved and the questions answered you should take a two tier look at the external market. You need to know who has successfully delivered what you want and who has the technology that you want? It might seem odd but the two are not necessarily the same companies. Often they have to be considered in isolation.
It is at this point that the less astute IT managers may take the “soft” approach. They will simply work with “someone they know” thinking it is an easy and quick win or they will simply look to acquire what they consider to be best of breed. Best of breed does not always work, because best of breed may well be a system or a firm which is used to working on contracts with very large organisations rather than those that are predominantly found in the London Insurance Market.
The market is a specialist one and high profile systems may not fit with what you want. If you are an IT manager which is happy or determined to spend a great deal of money on a high profile system then it might be the case that you get the system and then spend more money to try to make it fit with the ones you already have.
Ask yourself just how well the new system will be able to fit with your existing legacy system? The 'language' barrier is an important consideration. Ensure that the system will speak the 'language' that enables you to communicate with existing systems and those of your clients and your contacts. A system which does not enable the smooth transfer of information is not a system to choose.
In this market standards are key; will the system enable you to adhere and adopt standards such as ACORD or the needs of the market and the FSA?
How easy is the system to use? As IT manger you may well be aware of the how to work the system, but just how easy is it for the staff which will need to use it day in day out?
How easy is it to add and remove products and services from your system, In a market such as insurance the changing nature of risks and the products which cover them, any system must include the flexibility to enable you to make changes quickly and easily.
When it comes to a partner company support is everything. Ensure the company has the staff which can install and integrate the system and offer the ongoing support to ensure that going forwards the system will support internal and external business change. Make sure you are confident that when you get to the stage where changes need to be made that the firm you are working with are responsive to your needs.
Just how important is your business to your partner? The bigger the firm the further down the pecking order you may be depending on your own size. Make sure that you are comfortable that your provider has you as a key client and will ensure that when you require support it is there quickly and has the ability to deliver that promised support.
Once the system has been chosen and integrated the biggest threat to success is the reluctance of staff to realise its benefits. It has long been the case in this market that the pace of technology has been slowed by the refusal of some to adopt the systems in their day to day business. As an IT Manager you will need management buy in from day one and to be able to articulate the benefits to your organisation so that all stakeholders understand the need. Remember, that adoption of new systems can often change areas of impact of the workload, so understanding why is essential. Once they see the specific benefit to them they will be far more accepting of the system.
February 7, 2008
2007 was a tremendous year for KnowledgeCenter. Set out below are some of the milestones:
January 30, 2008
KnowledgeCenter are delighted to announce the sponsorship of Debbie Bennett who drives in the Ginetta racing series in 2008. The Ginetta series is run in conjunction with Formula 3 and benefits from Sky and Motor Channel coverage. England rugby star Mark Regan is Chairman of the Sponsors Group and will be hosting a number of sponsor's events in the City.
KnowledCenter's sponsorship leads off a "slip" which is being promoted around the market for individuals and companies to subscribe and sponsor Debbie this season. Sponsorship starts at as little as £300. Individual and corporate packages will also be available at major race tracks Silverstone and Brands Hatch. If you or your company are interested in "writing a line" please contact us via our contact page. Debbie is the daughter of Bob Bennett IT manager at CNA Europe, who is a well known and familiar figure in IT circles in the London Market.
December 12, 2007
KCBinder Manager is an "End to End" solution for Brokers of all sizes who place or manage Facility, Binder or LineSlip business. Utilising market leading products that include "Kcenter" for document management and process control and "Exari" for document assembly, as well as ACORD XML output for interoperability, KCBinder Manager provides a fully process managed, compliant and extendable capability presently unique within the market.
For ease of use KCBinder can be deployed through a tightly integrated Microsoft Outlook environment for a familiar and intuitive user experience and/or via a web browser for those users that need/want to work away from the office.
Key benefits of the offering include improved business corporate performance through the provision of a faster turnaround for submissions; a consistent approach to managing Binder type business and the significant reduction in the duplication of data.
November 28, 2007
KnowledgeCenter and Watertrace are delighted to be joined by England hooker Mark Regan in hosting a post Rugby World Cup lunch on Monday 26th November. This follows the very successful lunch hosted with former England and Bath full back Matt Perry prior to the World Cup quarter finals in October. Mark has been involved in the last two World Cup finals, has 42 England caps, represented the British & Irish Lions and plays in the Premiership with Bristol Rugby. We look forward to further insights into the incredible journey England took to the Final and into some of the ‘dark arts’ of the front row forward with one of the legends of the game as well as the good company of some of the markets senior executives.
November 27, 2007
On the 16th December 2006, Warren a veteran of nearly 20 years with the Old Colfeians RFC 1st XV - suffered a stroke during a first team match. The stroke has seriously inhibited his right hand side and speech. Whilst he has made good initial progress at Kings Hospital, he is shortly to return home where his rehabilitation will continue for the next 18 months to 2 years. Warren and his partner, Samantha, have a two year old son and sickness pay from his employers will end shortly meaning his family will then be reliant on social security. As a result Old Colfeians RFC has opened a fund to help support his treatment and family during this time.
Contributions from events such as a City Lunch and Auction and donations from outside the club - for example from the Front Row Union Club (ex international front row players) - have been hugely important and gratefully received by Warren and his family. If you would like to make a donation that will make a huge difference to Warrens life, please send your contribution to:
HSBC Bank
Sort Code: 400415
Account No. 91722786
Reference: OCRFC re Warrens Evans.
November 16, 2007
KnowledgeCenter and Watertrace are delighted to be joined by England hooker Mark Regan in hosting a post Rugby World Cup lunch on Monday 26th November. This follows the very successful lunch hosted with former England and Bath full back Matt Perry prior to the World Cup quarter finals in October. Mark has been involved in the last two World Cup finals, has 42 England caps, represented the British & Irish Lions and plays in the Premiership with Bristol Rugby. We look forward to further insights into the incredible journey England took to the Final and into some of the ‘dark arts’ of the front row forward with one of the legends of the game as well as the good company of some of the markets senior executives.
November 14, 2007
KnowledgeCenter are pleased to announce their support for and congratulate the PRA on its 10th Anniversary. Kevin Osborn, KnowledgeCenter MD said 'we fully endorse and support the excellent work done on behalf of its members and within the game'.