Improving Product Launches and Reducing Quality- Related Day 2 Issues

In the fast-paced world of insurance, carriers are constantly under pressure to launch new products on time, without compromising on quality. However, one of the greatest challenges they face in achieving these goals is ensuring the accuracy and completeness of transaction data files exchanged between systems. All too often, these data files are incomplete, inaccurate, or inconsistent, leading to prolonged quality assurance (QA) cycles, operational inefficiencies, and increased risks. In this blog post, we’ll explore how QMT TrueXML brings cutting-edge technology to the forefront, ensuring that ACORD® 103 XML data validation is seamless, accurate, and adaptable to meet the most complex business requirements.

 

The Data Challenge in Insurance Product Launches

For insurance carriers, the ability to move products to market quickly and efficiently is critical. However, the process of launching a new insurance product involves multiple complex steps, including the exchange of transaction data files between different systems. These files often contain vital information about policies, underwriting decisions, claims, and more. Ensuring that this data is complete and accurate is paramount to delivering a smooth customer experience and protecting the organization’s reputation.

 

Unfortunately, traditional methods of validating these transaction data files rely heavily on manual observation. QA teams are tasked with verifying the accuracy of XML-based data files, a time-consuming and error-prone process that is not scalable. As a result, many IT organizations resort to only performing cursory “sanity checks” on data files, increasing the risk of defects slipping through the cracks. This can result in reputational damage, lost revenue, and even churned distribution partners if the issue isn’t caught quickly.

 

Understanding the ACORD® 103 XML Standard: A Quick Overview

Before diving into QMT TrueXML, let’s first understand the significance of ACORD® 103. ACORD, or the Association for Cooperative Operations Research and Development, is a global organization that facilitates data exchange across the insurance industry through standardized messaging formats. The ACORD® 103 standard specifically deals with premium payments and remittance data, used to communicate between different stakeholders in insurance transactions.

The challenge for insurers lies in maintaining the integrity of these XML messages. A small error in a single XML file can lead to delays, miscommunication, and increased operational costs. For companies with high transaction volumes, this problem compounds, making data validation essential for streamlining processes.

 

Introducing QMT TrueXML: Advanced XML Data Validation for Insurance

Emtech QMT TrueXML is a state-of-the-art validation software designed to address the unique challenges faced by the insurance industry. It ensures that ACORD® 103 XML messages are validated with high accuracy and comply with established standards, reducing the risks associated with data errors.

 

QMT TrueXML automates the validation of transaction data files by dynamically comparing actual results with expected results for each executed test case. This eliminates the need for manual observation, significantly speeding up the QA process while improving data quality.

 

With QMT TrueXML, insurance carriers can ensure that their products reach the market faster, with fewer errors and a higher level of confidence in the data they rely on.

 

Automating Data Validation: A Game-Changer for Carriers

Automation is central to QMT TrueXML, streamlining the data validation process by eliminating manual verification. This reduces the risk of human error, speeds up the QA cycle, and frees up resources for organizations to focus on higher-value activities like refining product features and improving customer experiences.

 

With QMT TrueXML, insurance carriers can: Validate data completeness and accuracy: QMT TrueXML ensures that all data in transaction files is accurate and complete by automatically comparing expected and actual results. This provides peace of mind that the data being used in critical business processes is reliable and error-free.

 

Eliminate manual observation: Manual observation is time-consuming and prone to mistakes. QMT TrueXML automates this process, enabling QA teams to focus on more strategic tasks while reducing the risk of overlooking critical data defects.

 

Speed up product launches: By automating data validation, QMT TrueXML shortens the QA cycle, allowing insurance organizations to bring new products to market faster and with greater confidence in their data quality.

 

Ensuring Data Integrity Across the Entire Product Lifecycle

One of the key benefits of QMT TrueXML is its ability to continuously evaluate data integrity throughout the product lifecycle. This means that as new test cases are executed, the software automatically verifies the accuracy of the data, ensuring that any issues are caught early in the process. By providing an organized and automated approach to data integrity, QMT TrueXML helps insurance organizations identify defects before they become major problems, reducing reputational risk and improving compliance posture.

 

This continuous evaluation of data integrity is particularly important for organizations that deal with high volumes of transaction data. By automating the process, QMT TrueXML enables these organizations to test more than just the “happy path” – the ideal scenario where everything goes
according to plan. Instead, they can test a wide range of scenarios and edge cases, ensuring that their products are robust and reliable.

 

Pinpoint Issues Quickly with Detailed Reports

In addition to automating data validation, QMT TrueXML also provides easy-to-understand, detailed reports that help QA teams quickly identify and address data issues. These reports feature unique result codes and color-coded indicators that highlight missing or inaccurate data, making it easy for teams to pinpoint defects and take corrective action.

 

By streamlining the process of identifying and correcting data defects, QMT TrueXML not only improves QA efficiency but also enhances distributor satisfaction. When data defects are caught and addressed early, distributors can be confident that the products they are offering to customers are of the highest quality, reducing the risk of post-launch issues that could harm relationships and damage the organization’s reputation.

 

Shifting Left: Improving QA Through Early Defect Detection

QMT TrueXML embraces the concept of “shifting left” in software development and testing. Shifting left means addressing potential issues earlier in the development process, rather than waiting until later stages when defects are more costly and time-consuming to fix. By rapidly discovering defects during the data validation process, QMT TrueXML enables insurance organizations to deliver products with a higher level of data integrity, significantly increasing QA throughput and reducing cycle time.

This shift-left approach is crucial for organizations looking to get more business on the books sooner. By catching defects early, QMT TrueXML helps carriers avoid embarrassing post-launch errors that could negatively impact distributors and customers. Instead, they can launch products with confidence, knowing that the underlying data is accurate, complete, and ready for production.

 

Eliminating Embarrassing Post-Launch Errors

One of the biggest risks insurance organizations face when launching new products is the possibility of post-launch errors. These errors, often caused by incomplete or inaccurate transaction data, can result in dissatisfied customers, strained relationships with distributors, and reputational damage. In the worst cases, they can even lead to lost revenue and churned distribution partners.

 

QMT TrueXML eliminates this risk by automating the validation of transaction data files before a product is launched. By ensuring that the data is complete and accurate from the start, QMT TrueXML helps organizations avoid the costly and embarrassing errors that can occur after a product goes live. This not only improves distributor and customer satisfaction but also protects the organization’s reputation and bottom line.

 

Feature Overview of QMT TrueXML

QMT TrueXML offers a range of features designed to address the specific challenges insurance carriers face in ensuring data quality. These features include:

•  Evaluation of actual vs. expected results: QMT TrueXML dynamically compares the content of transaction data files with expected results, providing a robust and automated approach to data validation.
• Simplified mapping configuration: The software simplifies the process of configuring and updating tests, making it easy to verify data accuracy even as applications change.
• Continuous data integrity evaluation: QMT TrueXML continuously verifies data integrity with each executed test case, providing confidence in the accuracy of key business flows.
• Codeless, automated verification: QMT TrueXML eliminates the need for manual development and maintenance of validation scripts, saving time and reducing errors.
• Detailed reports: The software provides easy-to-understand reports with color-coded indicators and unique result codes, helping QA teams quickly identify and resolve data defects.

 

Final Thoughts

In today’s competitive insurance landscape, ensuring data quality is more important than ever. Incomplete or inaccurate transaction data can lead to delays, defects, and reputational damage, putting both carriers at risk. Emtech QMT TrueXML provides a powerful solution to this challenge by automating the validation of XML-based data, improving QA efficiency, and ensuring data integrity across the entire product lifecycle.

By leveraging QMT TrueXML, insurance organizations can bring new products to market faster, with greater confidence in their data accuracy, and with fewer post-launch issues. The result is improved customer satisfaction, stronger distributor relationships, and enhanced business outcomes.

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