October 17th - 19th, 1999
Hyatt Regency Baltimore, MD

E-Commerce:
Paul Tinnirello, Senior VP, Information Services, A.M. Best Company
Tuesday, October 19th, 3:00-3:30 a.m.

"The Fastest-Growing Online
Segment: E-Expectations"

The only areas developing faster than e-commerce may be the expectations and myths surrounding what e-commerce can accomplish, Paul C. Tinnirello, senior vice president for A.M. Best's information services division warned insurers.

The address, labeled "Truths, Trends & Tidbits for Insurance E-Commerce," was the closing session for "Continuing the E-Volution," the three-day conference held Oct. 17-19 in Baltimore. "We're not sure the products we're selling today will be the products we sell tomorrow," he said.

Tinnirello summed up the conference by outlining a series of observations and predictions, including:

-- Becoming e-commerce capable isn't a goal, but a process, since e-models will change again and again.

-- Not being first to develop e-commerce initiatives isn't necessarily a bad thing, because valuable lessons are being learned daily from others' mistakes.

-- Insurers face the problem that insurance sites are not an obvious destination for many online visitors. For now, most of the online glamour will continue to be captured by the retail and entertainment industries.

-- Developing and implementing e-commerce will continue to escalate in cost, but e-commerce initiatives are soon to be judged as part of the overall operation. "We're going to see more revenue strategies that talk about lowering (overall) costs," Tinnirello said.

-- Predictions of the growth and impact of e-commerce can be contradictory, and are often self-serving, since they're often generated by advisors advisers with direct stakes in the outcome.

-- Some insurers may be focusing too quickly on the wrong indicator -- online sales. In fact, the major initial benefit of the Internet to insurers may be in expanded abilities to support functions already deployed.

-- The role of chief information officers is migrating from technician and project leader to that of becoming a key member of companies' business strategy leadership teams. "Based on some surveys, the title and the function may go away in the future," Tinnirello said.

-- Recruiting technical help will remain a challenge. Currently, the U.S. business community is about 400,000 people short of meeting its need for technical workers. "There is a gap and it's growing," he said.

-- As e-commerce expands, the role of support is becoming ever-more critical. The experience of online auction site ebay.com is a warning to those looking to compete in e-commerce. "If your business is really hung on the Internet, how much did you lose in that last five hours of downtime?" Tinnirello asked.