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It was around May 1994 that we decided to take action. I am a director of a medium sized commercial insurance brokerage in Southampton, and we were experiencing capacity problems with our green-screened central process unit driven computer.
But we've always done it this way, argued some of my colleagues. The future is out there somewhere and it allegedly works, I retorted, almost sure of my reply.
The problem we had concerned a special scheme we had introduced, where as well as carrying out the insurance broking function, we were also performing many of the tasks usually performed by the insurer. Hence our insurance broking software was not quite up to the task.
Fortunately, I had a friend in the business, who, although ultimately benefiting commercially from our decision to proceed, spent many long and patient hours explaining to me some of the jargon. - 386s 486s LANs, bubble jets and lasers, the full nine yards.
I then became that dangerous animal - an enthusiast with a little knowledge. Whilst we have no regrets with our decision to go down the PC route, looking back, part of the decision may have been my colleagues thinking I would never shut up until I got my way!
Mike helped us tremendously in choosing the right hardware for our needs, and in recommending a basic office software package (or is it a bundle in computer jargon!) - Microsoft Office Professional.
He also helped us find someone who could adapt Access, the database software, into something specific to our needs.
As I write, we are almost ready to go live on that particular project. It has taken longer than we expected to reach this stage, but that tends to be the way with most projects. The only way around that is if you are of sufficient size (were not) to either assign people full time, or throw vast amounts of money at the project.
What started off as a way of solving a record handling problem has broadened fantastically as we as a company, and I personally have discovered the power of windows based programs.
Some of the benefits have been the ability to produce at low cost flyers and newsletters for clients. Using products from a company called Paper Direct, we can and do produce our own, professional looking, short run brochures. These have paid for themselves time and again.
The quality of our presentations to clients has improved. Our old system offered us 2 fonts, we now have literally hundreds to choose from.
We have graphics, we can produce slides for OHP presentations, and my football club has benefited from the quality of production (if not editorial) of our weekly programme.
Yes, when we took our first faltering steps, I knew there was something out there. Until we tried it, I did not realise how much benefit current technology could be to our business.
Next steps? Fax modem, image processing, and surfing the Internet - see, I can speak the language.
I am intending to have another PC installed at home, then I can become a real computer bore!
Ian Ritchie is a director of H.C. Foreman Insurance Brokers based in Southampton, UK. He has worked in the industry for 26 years, and was a founding director of H.C. Foreman 16 years ago. He is a chartered insurance practitioner. Return To Text
In the computing world PC doesn't
stand for politically correct!
PC = Personal Computer, this is the type of computer you might be using in order
to read this e-zine. Often referred to as IBM Compatibles, these machines
are based around "8" series microprocessor chips, such as the Intel i80486 or the
AMD 80386 microprocessor. Return To Text
