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FINEOS Corporation, a provider of core processing systems for life, accident and health insurance, has introduced the FINEOS Administration Suite, which the vendor calls a full-service policy, claims, and billing software solution. The suite is designed to provide best in class functionality for group, voluntary and individual policy administration on a single platform while also supporting self-admin, full-admin and TPA models, according to the vendor.

FINEOS’s new product announcement comes at a time when the group insurance segment is now facing a remarkable confluence of events that has the potential to create both significant new opportunities and risks for those who fail to keep pace, according to According to Robert McIsaac, Senior VP of Research, Novarica (Boston). The impact of regulatory changes, most notably in the form of the Affordable Care Act, are fundamentally altering how both plan sponsors and members think about, shop for and fund benefits he reports.

“Changing work patterns make benefit portability and convertibility the norm rather than the exception,” McIsaac says. “Data is pervasive and can now be used to manage both experiences and financial performance as well as loss analysis in completely new ways. And, with all of that, 2015 is now forecasted to be the year when the number of Millennials overtakes Baby Boomers and will never look back. Be prepared for disruption!”

(Related: Technology Key to Tapping Millennials’ Propensity to Buy Life Insurance, Retirement Products)

FINEOS CEO Michael Kelly characterizes the launch of the product as filling a gap in the life, accident and health insurance industry. “The FINEOS Administration Suite offers insurers the opportunity to introduce a modern, customer-centric insurance system into their complex, legacy insurance architectures with less risk and more immediate business value,” Kelly says.

FINEOS cites its prominent global market presence as a provider of claims software as a source of many years’ experience solving customer problems for employee benefits insurers, as well as deep insight into the challenges insurers face with legacy systems and outdated processes. FINEOS reports that its expansion into billing and policy systems builds from the capabilities of the FINEOS Digital Platform, which the vendor describes as a powerful customer-centric and business services platform that is proven at over 50 insurance customers globally and incorporates over 20 years domain expertise.

“Market pressures to introduce new product/distribution models have necessitated new front office systems that can be implemented quickly, accurately and cost effectively,” commented Chuck Johnston, FINEOS’ chief marketing officer, speaking at the LIMRA Enrollment Technology Seminar yesterday in Boston. “However, this drive to transform the front office has put immense pressure on back office systems to such an extent that insurers may not be able to service the new channels and products with good standards of customer service.”

The challenge for insurers is will be to finding a way translate their front-office vision into a back-office reality, Johnston proceeded. “FINEOS advocates a bookending approach where critical customer-facing and product systems are replaced first with a focus on strategic targeted projects with good risk/reward mix,” he said. “The FINEOS Administration Suite is designed to be implemented in this way, allowing insurers to introduce new capabilities and modern systems while leveraging existing applications which can be replaced over time, reducing risk and increasing immediate return on investment.”