Sometimes I think that forms are the least appreciated and most misunderstood vehicle for transporting or transferring information between trading partners, even though they have done so for hundreds of years. A few facts about ACORD Forms. Now 35 years in use. Over 700 in the library. Used by about 1,000 P&C insurers and almost all 40,000 independent agents and brokers in one way or another. Licensed to over 100 software developers. Saved the industry hundreds of millions of dollars over the years. A real success story if I do say so myself.
Today we have EDI and XML Messaging so who needs forms or so the story goes. The first time I heard that comment was at an EDI meeting back in the 1980's. But the truth is that while forms are often replaced because there are better ways to transport or transfer information today, they also survive for many reasons. We have the niche markets that have yet to benefit by digital messaging. They are also used to gather information at the point of sale, for legal transactions or claims purposes. And in some cases, forms have been re-purposed as user interfaces rather than transfer mediums.
Users that connect elctronically with many trading partners would prefer seeing a standard user interface or screen (i.e. Form) rather than all the proprietary screens presented for gathering essentially the same information. This is less of an issue if you only use a single system for everything and that system connects to every other system including all the web services. But we do not live in a single system world and that's why we need standards today. The future is best of breed systems coupled by intelligent messaging.
The good news is that IBM, Adobe and Microsoft are getting into the electronic forms world with products that help to design forms that cannot only serve as a user interface but can also transfer the data electronically. Their point being that XML messaging is great, but humans need to be presented with some structured way to enter and view information. People do not look at XML message streams. So forms have received yet another reprieve from obsolesence as they become digital themselves. I was at an industry session last week and we talked about a default user interface template that could be extended as needed, but would simplify interfaces for end users.
I was approached by a trade association from a nation that skipped the forms era altogether by going directly to EDI and now XML messaging. And while they do transfer data electronically today, users are complaining about all the proprietary messaging and user interfaces required to do so. They want to move to industry (ACORD) standards and are seriously thinking about beginning to use ACORD Forms. Why? Because it would converge thinking about using Standards in a non-threatening way and would also provide a path to follow as ACORD eForms would be linked to electronic messaging in the future. Some proprietary forms are tied to front-end systems, so migrating to a standard of any kind can take time and that should be viewed as an opportunity rather than a problem. Standards are evolutionary, not revolutionary.
So before you throw the baby out with the bath water, think about what IBM, Adobe and Microsoft are doing. As a matter of fact, think about what they are doing to re-purpose ACORD Forms. There is no one simple way to frame everyones thinking around forms and eForms. My sense is that a position on forms or e-Forms depends on how and where one draws the line between people and machines. And that sweet spot is characterized in different ways by different people.
So what's your view on the future of forms and eForms?
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