A March 14, 2002 news item appearing on the Insurance Journal's Web site featured this headline, "ACORD Selects ebix.com to Build Web Site." The news item reported, among other things, "the next generation of the Web site will include improvements to the overall site look and feel, enhanced navigational capability as well as more dynamic content and functionality."
In commenting on the site's redesign, ACORD's Greg Maciag expressed optimism that ebix.com would "develop a more comprehensive Web site that better represents our leadership position in setting technology standards…." And ebix.com CEO Robin Raina was quoted as saying, "…we intend to make the ACORD site a technology showpiece in the industry."
It's not everyday that two well-known industry entities announce their collaboration on a Web site redesign project, so I decided to look into the story further. I asked both Maciag and Raina if they were willing to answer several questions that would shed some light on the site redesign project, and they were.
Motivating factors
SB: Greg, what where some of the motivating factors behind the decision to rebuild the ACORD Web site? You didn't just wake up one day and say, "We need a new Web site."
GM: Actually, we have been constantly upgrading the ACORD site. We have been adding features and partnering with others who supply components that we plug into our site. Take a look at our annual conference or the streaming presentation sections as examples. So, no, we did not wake up one day and decide to rebuild our site. We've been doing it all along.
SB: It's obvious to those of us who follow industry developments that ACORD has been expanding its mission and reach beyond its earlier North American P&C focus. Since Sounding Line believes that a sound Internet strategy should reflect business strategies and goals, how do you see your new Web site fitting into that line of thought?
GM: That's a good question. Not unlike any small organization with participants around the globe, the cost of staying connected with everyone off-line is expensive and time consuming. If ACORD gets criticized for anything, it's usually that we do not move fast enough. So, we believe the Internet needs to support all of our activities from educating novices to supporting complex implementations of the standards. We're even doing more virtual meetings with members using the Webex meeting platform. We intend to leverage the Internet in every way possible to support our mission of setting and implementing standards.
The collaboration
SB: How did ACORD go about selecting ebix.com as the site builder? What went into the selection process?
GM: Speaking for myself, Robin Raina and I have been talking about Web sites as long as I have known him. Initially, he offered to assist us by providing plug-in components like streaming video to enhance the user experience. That led to his offer to link to some pages designed by ebix.com. Ultimately, our internal developers began working with ebix.com developers on the look and feel of the site. So our relationship with ebix.com and their overseas developers was a gradual one, not an overnight decision. Finally, their willingness to provide such added value to our site at no cost or at cost was a factor. Web development is a big part of ebix's business and they do quality work.
RR: ACORD had been closely watching our efforts to produce new cutting edge technology for the industry. Greg and I met at Orlando in a hotel garage and went into a prolonged discussion on our vision for the insurance industry. Greg talked about the technology vision that he had for ACORD, and I reminded him that ebix.com had built and implemented a lot of this futuristic vision already. That discussion resulted in Greg getting his staff to take a detailed look at how ACORD could move forward quickly and explore various options. After a few months and several meetings later, I committed to support ACORD in the development of their new site.
SB: So, it sounds as if there was a meeting of the minds pretty much from the beginning and that you both sensed some mutual interests.
RR: That's right. The decision to work together was mutual. Ebix was keen on helping ACORD and building
a technology showcase for the industry, while ACORD was interested in having an experienced player implement its future vision in an expeditious manner and within a tight budget.
SB: Tell me about some of the objectives of the site redesign. As you've both alluded to, ACORD's expanding vision seems to be an important reason why this project was undertaken.
GM: You're right. Our mission has expanded, both domestically and globally, so we expect our new Web site will reflect that. But, with respect to some of the nuts and bolts, we also hope to have a new look along with improved navigation. Actually, we've taken some heat from users. They say we have lots of great information, but it's not easy to find. We've got to improve that. Deeper changes to the site that involve integration to our internal association management systems will take us a bit longer to complete.
RR: To add to Greg's comments, yes, ACORD has a global vision. But ebix.com also has a global base plus experience in building multi-lingual systems across five continents. In fact, we've put that capability to work on this project. To get the Web site built quickly and in a cost-effective manner, ebix.com decided to use a mix of U.S. resources and offshore resources from its software lab in India. The India base gave us an ability to have round the clock development work - 24 hours a day, as an 11-hour time difference means that evenings in the U.S. are mornings in India.
Technology showcase
SB: Robin, the Insurance Journal article quotes you as saying, "We intend to make the ACORD site a technology showpiece in the industry." Please elaborate. What does that mean? What features and capabilities will be included in the new ACORD?
RR: ACORD is the recognized leader in the global development of standards for the insurance industry. Their new Web site needs to support that vision. It has been developed using the latest Microsoft.NET technology. The site is easy for users to navigate and use and will include features like ACORD TV, which will increase ACORD's ability to communicate to members.
Without getting into all the technical issues, suffice it to say that we believe the site incorporates a number of advanced features. For example, the ACORD Web site uses n-tier architecture that has been developed on ASP.NET using C++, VB.NET, and ADO.NET, with SQL server 2000 as the relational database. The site seamlessly integrates XML and some of its related technologies, including XPath, XSL Transform-ation, and XML HTTP. The well-integrated combination of .NET and XML will give ACORD the tools required to create a highly scalable Web site, which integrates with Lotus Notes and Cold Fusion in real time. In fact, XML constitutes the key element for the greatly improved interoperability of the ADO.NET object model when compared to its predecessors.
SB: Well, that was a mouthful. I'll take your word for it that the new ACORD Web site will indeed be high-functioning and enable ACORD to better fulfill its mission.
GM: The important thing to keep in mind, Steve, is that we believe our new Web site must demonstrate ACORD's role and commitment to industry standards and technology. You and others who've read the press releases, archives, and other content on our site know that we've written quite a bit about a number of related subjects. We've come a long way over the past few years at ACORD and we are very proud of the organization and all of our members who led the way. And that's perhaps the best reason of all to update our Web site, to talk about our new programs and our new members from all over the world.
Postscript
According to Raina, the ACORD-ebix.com collaboration began in the fall of 2001. Raina estimates that ebix.com will deliver phase one of the rebuild project to ACORD by late May/early June 2002 after putting in 59 man-months of development effort into the project. Additional features and functionality will be rolled out in subsequent phases.
A final comment: I'm eager to see the new ACORD site. While Maciag commented, "Actually, we've taken some heat from users. They say we have lots of great information, but it's not easy to find," I've never found the ACORD site to be difficult to navigate. Perhaps that's because I visit the site regularly and am familiar with things. Nevertheless, in my opinion, the ACORD Web site is among the best in the industry with respect to content, organization, ease of use, and fulfillment of purpose. While the site does appear somewhat dated with respect to graphics and general look and feel, those elements are subjective in nature and can be easily updated. By comparison, the ACORD 2002 Conference site appeared more contemporary and presented a cleaner and crisper design. Thus, since I already have a favorable opinion of the current ACORD site, my expectations have been raised. Perhaps a follow-up review of the new site would be appropriate.
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