Spreadsheet data achilles heel or critical link?

Using data correctly can offer substantial benefits to companies—but finding the best way of doing this can be a challenge, says Francis Fortunato, chief executive of CATEX

Over the years, CATEX has been involved in many projects involving data upload. These projects have included reinsurance brokers, reinsurers, delegated authority capacity providers and coverholders. Usually, the projects are focused on providing clients the ability to examine and analyse data better after it is loaded into the CATEX Pivot Point System.

As it turns out we have learned a thing or two about ‘data upload’ over the years. The first thing we learned was self-evident (one would have thought) and that is that one could have the finest system in the world for either bordereau or programme business management but that if the data being loaded into the system were corrupt or inaccurate then, inevitably, inaccurate results followed.

Since our systems are predicated on the intake of granulated risk level information, for both compliance purposes and better risk management, we have insatiable and omnivorous eating tendencies. The more data the better, because we believe the more the client knows the better off the client is.