Xactimate has enabled our success at Hawkins Research, Inc. so that makes them our friends instead of our competitor. We are not in the same “space” as they say today. I think we or any other vendor could address the needs of State Farm today and at the same time it is also harder for Xactimate to profitably meet the need of the smaller carriers as well other software vendors. Based on the thoughts of a active 20 year veteran in the executive side of things with several firms who I spoke with this week supported the view that Allstate will be moved to Xactimate sometime in 2007-2008 which was posted as a rumor on CADO back in 2006. When I directing asked a Xactimate rep about the continued stories about Allstate moving to Xactimate he would only say that it was only after ISO purchased them were they able to get Allstate interested in talking which really tells one nothing in a direct sense.
The point I started to make was DDS always wanted to be the next Xactimate and copied them in many ways. If it is true MSB has lost the Allstate account that will be the last major customer that they purchased in the Boston Ventures buyout move in 2001. Datsun (Nissan), Toyota and other car companies came into the US market without competing with the big three. Was that a mistake?
ALL companies miss read the markets or what they can get away within the markets at some point. When I saw the first Datsun Bluebird it was so laughable parked beside of our 1960 full size Chevy. If you graph the sales trend line of the Big 3 and against their Asian counterparts you will see a big X forming.
Where there is any validity to the above analogy remains to be seen. I do know if MSB was not meeting the needs of Allstate then they had no proven option but Xactimate. There are carriers that can not afford NOT to do business with Xactimate and there are carriers that can afford to do business with Xactimate. With the stories of the major carriers dropping policy holders in many states to reduce their exposure then they are just growing the tier 2 and tier 3 carriers which puts a smile on our face at HRI. The tier 2 and 3 carriers need the same access to the same types of claims management tools as the tier 1 guys but just in a more usable and cost effective solution. As the XML Open Standard in the property claims continues to gain steam it will become as established at it is in the auto claims software industry. We will see how Xactimate will then perform in a level playing field.
ISO then will not be able to control/own the claims data for well over 50% of all property claims files in the US with the ease like they do today I expect.