I do not have a copy of the full Aite Group report, but the issues addressed in Pat Speer's piece (below) are correct with a few qualifications.
Although I understand the horizontal cooperation observation, insurance industry standards cannot be compared to banking for consumers, credit cards and ATMs. The payload of data required for insurance is huge by contrast. I sometimes hear that the SWIFT banking messages are relatively static. Aside from some of the more simple transactions, SWIFT has a Standards Group as large as ACORD and they are kept very busy publishing and maintaining standards.
I'm glad that Troy mentioned the Plug and Play Consortium (PnP) and the ACORD Framework (Enterprise Models) because these types of initiatives and assets will help close the gaps in standards that result in varied implementations. Historically, software developers viewed industry standards as a means to eliminate 90% of the work and they focused on the extensions. This has become increasingly unacceptable in the emerging plug and play world where developers are integrating many systems. They also want a reliable ACORD Certification process as well.
As for the mission and delivering software, that ship has already sailed. We have been licensing utilities for decades, most recently releasing an ACORD eForm development tool for vendors that integrate forms into systems. Vendors in particular understand economies of scale and the difference between a utility and real value-add in their products. The new ACORD Framework will also become a great tool.
ACORD was created to publish standards and to assist members with implementation. The tremendous growth over the past decade resulted in a larger membership base and added lines of business crossing industry sectors/markets around the world. ACORD will always be an industry-owned nonprofit association publishing and maintaining industry standards. The process may change, but not the underlying mission. Our Standards Committee (Chaired by Monique Hesseling, Zurich), Steering Committees and Working Groups are comprised of our members. And as a recognized SDO (Standards Development Organization), we follow all the rules required for participation, process, Antitrust compliance and Intellectual Property protections.
The Board of Directors also approved the creation of an ACORD 2020 Advisory Committee this year (Chaired by Spero Zacharias, Chubb). It 's goal is to align with the vision, measure progress, identify impediments to implementation and recommend solutions. Doing more to get standards implemented with utilities and related services is becoming increasingly important. It will accelerate the ROI of our collective investment in standards and that's what our members really want to see.
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