Investing in Tufs

Case Summary Investing in TUFS The case refers to a company called Northern Insurance and their huge enthronement on TUFS (Technical Underwriting Financial System). That frame was the largest investment ever made on IT by Northern Insurance and it was supposed to assist the company by streamlining the underwriting process and providing strategic e- note capabilities. Yet, after a couple months, TUFS became the constitute-center of the company, spending well-nigh $4 million, and therefore the CIO, Martin Drysdales job was on the line.He had a run across with the CFO, Melissa Freeman, to discuss the reasons why the system was not providing the benefits it was supposed to and whether to contain investing on it. Discussion Questions 1. TUFS was a great idea that would assistant the company a lot. It was supposed to help streamlining the underwriting process and therefore with cost nest egg. However, the technicians did not get any participation from the underwriters.Also, the depa rtments were not in the same(p) page in the creation of the system, and the result was a lot of coin had to be exhausted on fixing underwriting errors that kept appearing all over and over again. Additionally the senior underwriting managers still insisted on old reports sooner of just looking it online, one of the benefits of TUFS. And lastly, there was a lack of business involvement in decisions, which contributed to the disappointment of the system.In conclusion, most of the resource of the company was spent on addressing underwriting issues that could have been prevented from the beginning if the underwriters and technicians had worked together (or did not lack in communication). 2. The IT people from the TUFS and the underwriter managers must get together and change the system so the whole situation with fixing one mistake and conclusion many others is prevented. Also, the system needs to be created (or changed) in such a way that it is easy and comfortable for the underwr iters to use.To help with the transition to using the TUFS, a training program for the underwriting department would be perfect. Furthermore, the company needs to rank all the projects and apply deadlines to them so they have a clear listen of what and by when to do it. 3. The benefits can be measured by examine the amount of time spent using the old system and the new-fangled one (including training). And also, the company could have some kind of cost savings scorecard, and again compare the old system with the new one.