Minutes of IRIS User Group Meeting – 15 May 2007
Minutes of IRIS User Group Meeting
Held at Leadenhall Street
15 May 2007
List of AttendeesAxis / (AXS) / Ian Holland(IH)
Axis / (AXS) / Jon Downes(JD)
Axis (XIS BPO – Axis Guest) / (AXS) / Sarah Kilford(SK)
Ecclesiastical / (ECL) / Tracy Murden(TM)
Everest / (EVR) / Graham Titheridge(GT)
Great Lakes / (GLR) / Graeme Walker(GW)(Chair)
Illium / (ILL) / Jayant Popat(JP)
Liberty Mutual / (LIM) / Richard Fallon(RF)
Liberty Mutual / (LIM) / Richard Moonie(RM)
Novae Syndicates / (SVB) / Nigel Sheppard(NS)
QBE / (QBE) / Gina Dudeney(GD)
QBE / (QBE) / Nick Flaherty(NF)
St Paul / (STP) / Denise Wood(DW)
Tokio Marine / (TOK) / Simon Dunn(SD)
Also in Attendance
Global Insurance Solutions / (XGIS) / Alan Chisham(AC)
Daryl Yeats(DY)
Mick Hobbs(MH)
Robert Atkins(RA)
Sharon White(SW)(Minutes)
Apologies
Abacus / (ABA) / Nick Davy
Axis / (AXS) / Colin Pearson
HIH / (HIH) / John Mairs
IGI / (IGI) / Ban Pahlawan
IGI / (IGI) / Rachel Butler
IGI / (IGI) / Waleed Jabsheh
Illium / (ILL) / Russell Benzies
Liberty Mutual / (LIM) / David Westgate
Liberty Syndicates / (LSM) / Kim Groothius
Liberty Syndicates / (LSM) / Stuart Cleverley
Momentum / (MOM) / Mark Edwards
QBE / (QBE) / John Taylor
River Thames / (RTI) / David Grisley
St Paul / (SPSS) / Andy Holman
St Paul / (SPSS) / Michelle Hoey
Tokio Marine / (TOK) / Keith Maruyama
Tokio Marine / (TOK) / Steve Perkins
XL Bermuda / (XLB) / Madeleine DeSilva
XL Bermuda / (XLB) / Robert Gillies
XL London / (XLL) / Peter Sammons
XL Singapore / (XLS) / Caroline Wee
General
DY welcomed everyone to the meeting and said that GW had kindly agreed to act as Chair today.
GW welcomedJon Downes as a new representative for Axis and Sarah Kilford as a guest of Axis.
1.Previous Minutes
070319.001 – IH – Test Plans
IH had said that he would check with his audit department whether test plans were needed for audit purposes. IH apologized and said that unfortunately he had not been yet able to obtain this information. IH said that this item should be rolled over to the next meeting at which time he was hoping to have clarification.
ACTION 070515.001 IH
070319.002 – JT – System Test Procedures
At the meeting on 19 March 2007 AC had advised that Christine Moore was working on a project to review the system test procedures and that he would welcome any input from the IUG members in this area. AC had advised that unfortunately he had received no response from the IUG members. JT had advised that he would probably he able to supply some feedback in this area.
Unfortunately JT was not available to attend today’s meeting so this item will be rolled over to the next meeting.
ACTION 070515.002 JT
070319.003 – SW – Direct Debits IUG Bank Account
At the Council meeting on 12 March 2007 the Council had requested that Xchanging look into the possibility of setting up direct debits for the IUG account. DY advised that enquiries had been made in this area and that it would involve a one-off cost for the software for this process, plus there would be an additional transaction charge for each member transaction per month. The IUG members indicated that they would not be interested in pursing this course of action.
070319.004 DY – Slides
NS had requested delivery dates be shown on the development slides. DY confirmed that this had been addressed and that there were dates on the slides being shown today.
There were no further actions outstanding and the previous minutes were agreed as complete.
2.Treasurer’s Report
DY outlined the member payments as at end April 2007.
Abacus
Outstanding March & April 2007 (2 x £6328.08).
Axis
Up to date
Co-op
Up to date - Co-op did not reduce their standing order and overpaid. Have agreed that we will send a refund when their payments cease.
Ecclesiastical
Up to date
Everest
Up to date – standing order short by 10p each month. Have requested this be amended.
Great Lakes
Up to date
HIH
Up to date
IGI
Up to date
Illium
April outstanding 2007 (£5,397.52)
Liberty Mutual
Up to date
Liberty Syndicates
Up to date
Limit
Up to date
Momentum
Up to date
Novae
Up to date
QBE
Up to date
River Thames
Outstanding April 2007 (£3,722.52)
St Paul
Up to date
Tokio Marine, Malaysia
April 2007 outstanding (£3,512.33)
Xchanging/Tokio Marine
April 2007 outstanding (£2,201.16)
XL Bermuda
Up to date
XL London
April 2007 outstanding (£3,722.52)
XL Singapore
Up to date
3.Support
Service Notifications
AC advised that XGIS had been working hard to reduce the number of outstanding SNs and said that as could be seen from the slides there were now only a total of 34 SNs outstanding. AC said that this was the lowest number of outstanding SNs for the last 12 months.
GD asked if this included V7 SN’s? AC said that the figure was made up of all outstanding SNs and would include any items for V.7.
Installations
Company / Test / Live / BureauAbacus / 9.15 ENH 002 / 8.14 PTF 011 / LDEX
Arch / 7.13 PTF11 / 7.13 PTF11 / FTP GUI
Axis / 7.13-004 / 7.13-004 / FTP GUI
Axis, Atlanta / 7.13-004 / 7.13-004 / N/A
Castlewood (RTI) / 6.12-IGS / 6.12-IGS / FTP GS
Ecclesiastical Underwriting Management, London / 7.13-006 / 7.13-006 / FTP GUI
Ecclesiastical Insurance Group, Gloucester / 7.13-006 / 7.13-006 / N/A
Everest Reinsurance Ltd, London / 9.15 ENH PTF002 / 7.13-006 / FTP GUI
Great Lakes Reinsurance (UK) Plc / 9.15-ENH-003 / 7.13-010 / FTP GUI
HIH / 6.12 IGS / 6.12 IGS / FTP GS
Illium / 8.14-PTF-011 / 8.14-PTF-011 / N/A
International General Insurance (IGI) / 8.14 PTF-011 / 7.13-001 / N/A
Liberty Mutual Insurance Co (UK) Ltd / 7.13-006 / 7.13-006 / FTP GUI
Liberty Syndicates Management Ltd / 7.13-003 / 7.13-003 / LDEX
Limit Underwriting Ltd / 8.14-PTF0014 / 8.14-PTF0014 / LDEX
Momentum / 9.15-ENH-002 / 7.13-010 / FTP GUI
Novae Syndicates Ltd / 8.14-PTF-009 / 8.14-PTF-009 / LDEX
QBE / 8.14-PTF-014 / 7.13-ENH-010 / FTP GUI
St Paul / 9.15-ENH-002 / 9.15-ENH-002 / FTP GUI
Tokio Marine Global Ltd, London / 7.13-008 / 7.13-008 / FTP GUI
Tokio Marine Global Re Ltd, Malaysia / 6.12-002 / 6.12-002 / N/A
XL Re, London / 7.13-009 / 7.13-009 / FTP GUI
XL Re, Bermuda / 7.13-MOB / 7.13-MOB / N/A
XL Re, Singapore / 7.13-MOB / 7.13-MOB / N/A
AC advised that the IUG members were currently running the versions shown above. AC asked if there were any questions/comments? DW said that as would be seen, St Paul are currently using V9 (for run-off business). DW said that St Paul had found very few problems with V9 and had raised no major items. DW said it had been found to be very good and the users had reported that it is a much more stable version of IRIS.
4.Development
AC outlined the status of the following development items:
Developments - Complete
Description / Budget / Release / Status / Specification Delivery DatePrintable Sys Admin Info (638) / Core / 10.16 / Complete / N/A
Policy Full & Snapshot Prints (649) / Core / 10.16 / Complete / N/A
GUI CBA Report (737) / Core / 10.16 / Complete / N/A
Multi-Company/Synd Security (505) / Core / 10.16 / Complete / N/A
Progression Triangle Enq (419) / Core / 10.16 / Complete / N/A
View All Lloyd's Prm/Clm Info (504) / Lloyds / 10.16 / Complete / N/A
EPI Analysis Report (741) / XGIS / 10.16 / Complete / N/A
Claims Analysis Report (749) / XGIS / 10.16 / Complete / N/A
Shared Reporting Components / Council / 10.16 / Complete / N/A
Developments – In Development
Description / Budget / Release / Status / Specification Delivery DateMoving Posted SCMs (959) / Lloyds / 10.16 / Coding / N/A
Policy/Claim Review Diary (310) / Core / 10.16 / Testing / N/A
Screen Design Utility (595) / Core / 10.16 / Coding / N/A
Full Policy History Enquiry (599) / Core / 10.16 / Testing / N/A
Progression Stats Report (748) / XGIS / 10.16 / Testing / N/A
Developments – Specification
Description / Budget / Release / Status / Specification Delivery/Reply DateCross Policy Generic Rules (984) / Core / TBA / Ready for Specification / 17/07/07
Authorities Level Checking (662) / Core / TBA / Specification / 26/06/07
Document Production (509) / Core / TBA / Specification / 19/07/07
Record Written, Earned Unearned Premium Figures (407) / Core / TBA / Specification / 23/07/07
Bx Message Loading (609) / Bureau / TBA / Specification / 15/06/07
Automatic Delinking Process (006) / Bureau / 10.16 / IUG / 25/05/07
Allow View Only Access to Bureau Closings module (982) / Bureau / TBA / IUG / 11/05/07
Control Entry of Risk Codes (983) / Lloyds / TBA / Specification / 25/05/07
Developments - Requirements
Description / Budget / Release / Status / Specification Delivery/Reply DateStudy into the Use of Acord Messages (977) / XGIS / NA / Complete / NA
Acord Message Viewer (977) / XGIS / Stand Alone / IUG / 25/05/07
Developments - Discontinued
Description / Budget / Release / Status / SpecificationDelivery Date
Enhancements to Flexible Business
Extensions (359) / Core / NA / Dropped / NA
Ccy Download from Bx (561) / Bureau / NA / Dropped / NA
Multiple Codes Selection (601) / Core / NA / Specification / 25/05/07*
New FSA Coding Structure / Core / NA / Specification / 18/05/07*
* Will be discontinued after specification stage
After discussing each item briefly, AC asked the IUG if there were any questions or comments?
GD asked if the Allow View Only Access to Bureau Closings module (982) item would be included in V10.16? AC advised that it was not on the original plan to be included but it was hoped that it would be ready and therefore be included; however, he could not confirm at this stage that it would be ready in time but Xchanging would make best endeavors.
NF asked what was the driver behind the release date? AC said that it was the delinking item which was due at the end of September. The V10 release had been rescheduled from 1st Qtr April 2007 to 3rd Qtr 2007 to include the delinking. NF said he would prefer to see some other enhancements in V10. AC advised that there are other enhancements planned to be ready at the end of the year but this would mean putting off the release of 10.16 until March 2008.
IH said that Axis would like to take 10.16 this October and then go live during 2008. IH said that this would give them time to put together a test plan and be live by the busy renewal period. IH said if the release was in March 2008 then they would not be in a position to take 10.16 until 2009.
NS advised that Novae are currently using a test version of 10.16 so would be looking to go live shortly after the release date.
DY advised that last year the V10 release had been re-planned at the IUG’s request to include those items already scheduled for inclusion in V10. She thought that it would not be beneficial to re-plan the same release, but was happy to receive members’ views with regard to V11.
She was also concerned that changing the release date would affect members who had already planned to take the release and wanted more timely releases. Additionally increasing the size of the delivery by including more items would increase the testing load on member companies and discourage upgrades.The IUG agreed that the release date for v10 should stay as currently planned
RF asked AC what the criteria was for dropping items from the development list? AC said it would be those with fewest votes. DY said that an email had also been issued,giving details of items to be dropped and the budget allocations to make the best use of the IUG funds,asking for member comments.
GD commented that she believed one such item was currency download and that she recalled several emails regarding the dropping of this item. AC confirmed that there had been no interest in this item and that it had been dropped. IH said that Axis had made alternative arrangements for currency download and that the item was no longer required by Axis. DY said that members could also re-vote for these items the following year if they required them.
NF said that he would like to return to the discussion regarding software release dates. NF said that he understood that Axis would like to upgrade this year, but were there any other members that would like to see further enhancements in the next release?
TM said that if V10 is not released in 2007/2008 then they will have to take V9 due to resource. TM said that they could not take an upgrade after September.
IH said that as previously mentioned Axis would be keen to take an upgrade this year, as they would need six to nine months to bed the upgrade in before going live. IH commented that it was good to see that other members running V9 are happy with it.
IH said that the Axis auditors would insist on a three month parallel run on any upgrade and that this would be a huge drain on their resources particularly as it would mean doing this between two key reporting periods.
5.Acord Study
DAY said that a number of meetings of the Acord sub group had been held and that as a result of the Acord study, it had been agreed with the subgroup members that, as a first stage the initial development will encompass the Acord Placing message (phase 1). The development would have the ability to download, view/print, enquire upon and archive the messages. The business requirement for this development is currently with IUG members to review.
IH said that he would be reviewing the document and that he would send through his comments during the following week.
IH asked if the development is only based around the messaging? Would it encompass other market changes such as peer to peer? IH said that the market is changing very rapidly and that brokers are trying to look for a solution where they can feed information electronically to underwriting companies. IH said that Aon are working on this, and that they are looking for a solution that picks up all data around their slips so that it can be electronically sent to underwriting companies.
RA advised that the Acord study is the first stage of the process that IH described. RA said that the items would not be downloaded into IRIS at this time as there was currently not enough information on the message to populate the required fields, however, the advantage of the message viewer was that data could be received from brokers and it would not matter how much of the message data had been populated, making for a more flexible solution.
IH said that he thought that Xchanging were sending out a good message and were looking to move forward with the market.
MH described the work that had been done with the Broking User Group for the sending of messages and said that Xchanging were in a unique position as they were involved in both ends of the process. Ian Summers from Aon has agreed to meet MH to discuss their involvement in the process.
IH said that he thought that this was very refreshing to hear.
6..NET Strategy
DY said that as IUG members would be aware there had been quite a lot of discussion surrounding .NET over the last year and that RA and MH had come along today to discuss this item with the IUG.
Rob Atkins outlined Xchanging’s proposal for migrating IRIS to .NET:
It was proposed that Xchanging would fund the migration of the current IRIS VB6 functionality to .NET if Xchanging could use the Council and XGIS budgets to supplement this funding. Initial investigations had suggested that the migration to .NET would be in the region of at least one year’s IUG core and bureau development budgets; Xchanging’s proposal would therefore enable the IUG to make full use of the total IUG core and bureau development budgets whilst the .NET conversion would be funded in part by Xchanging. Additional functionality built on top of the current migrated functionality would be funded by the User Group in the normal way
Xchanging wished to share their proposal with the IUG before embarking on the full estimation and planning process, therefore the timeframes are not yet firmed up and it is not yet known if the project could be completed in 2008, or whether it may be necessary to take some time and budget in 2009.
RM and GD asked how this would affect support and would the developers mainly work on .NET? RA said that the .NET migration would be no different from other releases of IRIS; Xchanging would prefer IUG members to upgrade to the latest version but have been very flexible in supporting earlier versions of the product.
GD asked what would happen to green screen functionality? RA explained that the .NET project would be to convert from VB6 and would not encompass any GS functionality as this was in RPG not VB. The design and redevelopment of GS functionality to .NET could be funded in the normal way by IUG members if they wished.
IH asked that, if the project were to go ahead, would it be 2008 -development year, 2009 - release year. Do Xchanging envisage a release early in 2009? GD and NF asked which version of IRIS the .NET version would be released in? Would it be the release following 10.16 or the release after that? RA said that it was too early to tell at this stage. RA said that Xchanging were still at the planning stage of the project, but would update the IUG before the next IUG meeting in October.
IH said that ideally Axis would need to take any new release during the first quarter to enable them to go live by the end quarter, before the renewal period.
SD asked if .NET would make it easier to do future enhancements as there would be newer technology? DY said that moving to a .NET platform would enable the development of new functionality such as web access, integration with other Microsoft products, support of the new messaging standards (XML, SOAP), more easily than in VB.
GT asked if it would be possible to use the web based policy development? AC said this is an example of something that would be easier to do within the .NET framework. GT said he thought that this item would be a great benefit to members and also a potential selling point for new users.