Pipeline
IAB is founded on the principle of taking insurance product definitions in the form of XML Schemas, and automatically bringing an e-channel to life using those definitions, without the need to write any product specific code. The meta data approach to insurance product definitions has been around for some time, but their use to drive a runtime application around has not.
The RoR generator generates channel definitions (rhtml views and helpers) from XML Schemas. XML Schema is the technology used to embody the insurance product meta data definitions.
We have devised a 'pipeline' to control the sequence of processes used to create both a UI, and helper classes that support the underlying transactional application. This way, we have a sequence that we can control, interrupt, and add things in to. It's a running configuration, one that can use the output from one treatment stage as an input to the next. We DO plan to create a graphic UI for the runtime visualization and interruption of this pipeline - it will bring it to life!
IAB Application
IAB is founded on the principle of taking insurance product definitions in the form of XML Schemas, and automatically bringing an e-channel to life using those definitions, without the need to write any product specific code. The meta data approach to insurance product definitions has been around for some time, but their use to drive a runtime application around has not.
This approach works most efficiently where a rating engine is used usch that its logic can be expressed in terms of rules based on objects and properties that are derived from an XMLSchema.
ProductWriter from Polaris in the UK is an example of such a rating engine. ProductWriter is simply a rules engine with some insurance specific intrinsic objects and properties. XMLSchemas are used to create a ProductWriter dictionary of objects and properties, based on types and elements from the XMLSchema. Rules are expressed in terms of objects and properties.
Polaris make up to 30 commercial lines schemas available to help gain a head start. Equally ACORD schemas and bespoke schemas can be used.
The rating engine works by taking an instance (containing customer answers) of the product schema and firing at the rating engine. The rating engine will respond in XML (again adhering to a response schema) with the quote and a breakdown (or maybe a decline or referral).
IAB is designed to:-
- Present a set of questions to a customer (derived from those in the product definition XML Schema) using any number of interaction channels. Our primary one is Rails of course.
- Take the answers and create an XML instance document that adheres to the product definition XMLSchema
- Pass the document to the appropriate insurance process (NB, MTA, etc) using the applicable communication pattern (sync, async)
- Provide an instance of the appropriate process to handle the request. Each core process accesses libraries of complex business logic to fulfill the request.
- Provide processes with access to services that fulfill communication with backend systems (e.g. Policy Administration, Finance, and of course the rating engine)
There are two distinct parts to the IAB Application:-
- The Rails Application is for the most part generated by additional Rails generators known as the UI Pipeline. Like all Rails apps this code can be modified in the usual Rails way.
- The IAB Server is a series of Ruby components that are likely to be factored out as one or more gems.
This diagram shows the software stack. The Rails Application is one of the IAB channels (albeit the primary one).
