But those shopping for a risk management information system in today’s market, will, in general, find few radical departures from traditional options. Rather, most current RMIS products are hybrid technologies that fuse the mature client/server technologies with more novel Internet applications.

David Tweedy, a former independent risk management consultant who now works as a national insurance principal for IBM Global Services in Barrington, R.I., describes today’s RMIS market as ‘‘a smorgasbord’’ of products.

Among larger companies, Mr. Tweedy estimates that about 75% of risk managers are using a system with some type of Internet application. ‘‘I can’t see how a risk manager can do his or her job without some kind of capability in that area,’’ Mr. Tweedy said.

Risk managers today want the ability to access information as quickly as possible, said Ronald Komas, vp of risk management for Kohl’s Department Stores Inc. in Menomonee Falls, Wis.

‘‘I think the Internet is definitely the wave of the future. Where it’s going to be down the road is anybody’s guess,’’ he said. Mr. Komas, who has been using a RMIS from Liberty Mutual’s RiskTrac subsidiary for seven years, became Internet enabled in the past six months.

Risk management information systems have gone through two phases in their development, said George Netherton, chairman of Risk Laboratories L.L.C. in Marietta, Ga. The first systems, mainframe computers, eventually gave way to the client/server technology, which could link various workstations through a network. Now, he says, the next technological wave is building up to systems that are totally Internet based and are not reliant on older technology to coordinate risk data.

‘‘RMIS are going into a third stage of technology,’’ said Mr. Netherton. ‘‘Two years from now, I don’t think anybody will be using client/server technology.’’

Alan B. Cantor, president of Cantor & Co., a risk management consulting firm in Beverly Hills, Calif., shares that sentiment.

In the not-so-distant future, Mr. Cantor forecasts that the client/server technology will be challenged by solutions that may come from outside the traditional sphere of risk management. Some RMIS vendors will find themselves in direct competition with other types of vendors, he said.

‘‘Someone who is already playing in cyberspace, but not necessarily (in) risk management, may drive the emergence of a new risk management system,’’ he said.

Risk managers shopping for a new RMIS consider Web enablement essential, said Anita Schoenfeld, a senior consultant in the RMIS consulting support practice for Tillinghast- Towers Perrin in Dallas.

The most common use of Web technology in RMIS systems is to provide a way to access the traditional client/server technology, said Ms. Schoenfeld.

Describing this type of RMIS as an ‘‘electronic environment,’’ she said risk managers can run and post reports to an area that looks like a Web site using the information stored in the client/server system.

‘‘It improves communications, supports loss control efforts. . . .(is) more thorough and easier’’ and gives users more control over safety efforts and costs, Ms. Schoenfeld said.

Mr. Cantor, discussing the use of Web-driven RMIS, said, ‘‘If you have high-speed (Internet) access, it’s really quite wonderful.’’

The Internet also offers RMIS users much more flexibility, he said.

‘‘When you have a non-Internet based system, you’re really much more limited in the number of people who can realistically use it concurrently,’’ said Mr. Cantor.

RiskFolio, an RMIS product designed by Risk Laboratories, combines client/server technology with the ease of electronic communications. By late 2000, Mr. Netherton anticipates that all aspects of the RMIS will be Web-driven.

‘‘What has always been the Achilles heel of risk management is communication,’’ said Mr. Netherton, who himself is the former director of risk management for The Coca-Cola Co. in Atlanta. ‘‘The Internet provides a wonderful tool for the risk manager to finally be able to communicate.’’

RiskFolio can collect incident and exposure data electronically, and will alert a risk manager if an incoming claim meets certain criteria set by the risk manager. It can also communicate with outside parties and distribute reports electronically.

Scott Crowley, director of risk management for Hudson’s Bay Co., a discount and department store retailer in Toronto, has been using RiskFolio since mid-October. He said the system enables the 600 individual Hudson’s Bay stores to use the Internet to enter their own claims, which can, in turn, be viewed immediately by the risk management department. Each store can also use this data to enhance loss control measures, he said.

‘‘We wanted to better manage our risks and have a platform that other departments could use to manage their exposures themselves,’’ said Mr. Crowley.

Mr. Crowley did not wish to disclose the cost of the system, but he said it is ‘‘pretty comparable’’ to other systems in the marketplace today.

RiskFolio’s cost, Mr. Netherton said, depends on the individual client’s needs. But as the technology improves, it likely will become less expensive, he added.

Mark Catapano, director of sales and marketing for RiskTrac Inc., in Portsmouth, N.H., said his company has a suite of 10 RMIS products, both client/server- and Web-based. RiskTrac is working on moving all of the products to the Web, he said.

‘‘The risk management community is living through this transition to the Web products with us,’’ said Mr. Catapano. ‘‘The technology of the Internet really sets the stage for them to have seven-by-24 access.’’

In addition to enhancing availability to the system, moving from a client/server platform to an Internet-driven application would reduce the need for dedicated modems and other computer equipment, Mr. Catapano said. This, paired with a reduced administrative burden, is where the cost savings of Web-driven systems lie.

‘‘There are hidden costs in the client/server world that are not obvious,’’ said Mr. Catapano. A Web-driven system, he added, is not ‘‘necessarily less costly to implement, but over time, it’s easier to maintain.’’

Although risk managers are not yet explicitly asking for this, Mr. Catapano said ‘‘the next real wave in this technology is going to be around bandwidth.’’ Greater bandwidth would speed the transmission of large volumes of data, and data would be less susceptible to breaches of security, he said.

The Internet is ideal for extending the reach of an RMIS into locations that might not otherwise be linked with the rest of the corporation’s systems, said Mark Dorn, president of Livonia, Mich.-based DORN Technology Group Inc. and vp of DORN’s parent company, Policy Management Systems Corp.

Al Hatten, executive director of the Washington State Transit Insurance Pool in Olympia, Wash., operates an RMIS for a consortium of 14 public transit systems throughout the state with just four full-time employees.

‘‘We needed an effective way of communicating and receiving information,’’ said Mr. Hatten.

After evaluating and assessing the enormous potential of the Internet, Mr. Hatten said the pool had to undergo a change in philosophy.

‘‘Typically, the use of computers was referred to as a resource or tool,’’ said Mr. Hatten. ‘‘We have changed it to a philosophy of a partnership’’ with the technology, he said.

‘‘We don’t see it as a physically depreciating capital asset,’’ but rather one that appreciates with improvements, he continued.

The pool’s system, which is a DORN product, gives each of the affiliated transit systems access through a browser. Although the system looks like an Internet site, the Internet connection simply acts as a gateway to the traditional client/server product that resides beneath it.

After 11 months of using the Internet to access the RMIS, the pool has experienced some frustration. While the Internet does give them access to the RMIS, the speed of the system is slow, Mr. Hatten said, due in part to the popularity of the Internet and increased traffic.

‘‘Until we go through the next hurdle and get into the higher speed, there are always going to be some limitations,’’ he said, noting that eventually, the pool hopes to equip each transit system with the tools to transmit its own claims information electronically. Currently, each system can add its own notes to claims filings.

Despite the system’s slow speed, Mr. Hatten has been very pleased with its cost. If the pool did not use the RMIS, it would have needed to hire additional staff to help with the administrative workload.

‘‘In the long run, it’s less of a cost than bringing on another person full time,’’ Mr. Hatten said.

Reliance Insurance Co. offers its RMIS as a value-added service to its policyholders, said John Gribbin, senior vp of the large accounts division in Philadelphia.

Recently, the company gave all of its clients, agents and brokers access to Insight RMS, an Internet-based risk management system.

Insight RMS allows users to view loss experience in real-time, monitor reserve changes, view claims-payment history and examine adjuster notes, said Mr. Gribbin.

‘‘The information is readily available, but it’s an interactive system,’’ said Mr. Gribbin, noting that users can directly e-mail the claims coordinator or the adjuster. ‘‘There’s nothing in that claim file that we know that our client doesn’t,’’ he said.

Although it does not have its own RMIS anymore, Willis Corp. does assist its clients in evaluating the systems in the market, said David Hanson, senior vp of RMIS and loss control for Willis in New York, a subsidiary of Willis Group Ltd.

One bit of advice Mr. Hanson said he offers clients is to use their insurer’s system.

‘‘You cannot get more accurate data than that coming from the source,’’ said Mr. Hanson. ‘‘If you want to manage your claims, you’ve got to know about them’’ on a timely basis. ‘‘In most cases, you can’t get that instant notification of claims using a third party.’’

For Alan Berdal, safety and loss control manager for Moll Industries Inc., a plastic products manufacturer in Knoxville, Tenn., Reliance’s system has been very helpful.

Instant daily updates of information allow Mr. Berdal to track claims coming from each of Moll’s 17 locations. ‘‘I don’t always get the information from the location, but I am able to look it up on the system,’’ he said. ‘‘Sometimes I can look up information before they’re in the office.’’

STARSWeb is a Web-enabled system that operates as a companion product to the traditional client/

server technology, said Patrick O’Neill, STARS sales manager and a senior vp for Marsh Inc. in Atlanta. STARS is sold by Risk Management Technologies, an operating unit of Marsh Inc.

STARSWeb allows risk managers to search and view claims using either an intranet or the Internet. The system also allows electronic claims reporting.

Plans are in the works to move all of the STARS products to the Web, said Steve Fischer, STARS development manager and senior vp for Marsh Inc. in New York.

Although the Web may present new opportunities for RMIS users, Mr. Fischer said there are disadvantages to departing from the client/server approach.

In general, Mr. Fischer said, the disadvantage of Web-based RMIS today is that ‘‘you can do more interesting and more creative user interfaces through Windows (software) right now. . .though this technology on the Web is getting better and better.’’

Because of this limitation, now may not be the right time for all risk managers to use fully Web-driven systems, Mr. O’Neill said. Instead, he recommends using the client/server technology coupled with the Internet for communicating information.

‘‘The Web is still a maturing technology,’’ said Mr. Fischer. ‘‘And it still has a ways to go.’’

Others say the Web is already capable of greater things than simply supporting client/server software.

Purely Web-driven systems, those with no applications or hardware on the client’s desktop, are cutting-edge among RMIS today, Tillinghast’s Ms. Schoenfeld said.

One example of this type of technology is Amarillo, Texas-based Corporate Systems Inc., she said, which calls itself an ‘‘application service provider.’’

As an ASP, Corporate Systems hosts the RMIS application for clients, who don’t purchase any software but access it via a browser for a monthly fee, explained Marc Sollosy, vp and chief information officer for Corporate Systems. Corporate Systems servers host 2 million to 3 million transactions per day, he noted.

‘‘Organizations are deeming that it is no longer necessary or economically viable to purchase and maintain and support a business application,’’ said Mr. Sollosy. ‘‘Client/server (technology) did not deliver everything it promised to deliver.’’ It was expensive to maintain, it strained company system infrastructures, and it was challenging for companies to attract and retain information services support, he said.

One tremendous advantage of Web-based systems is that a risk manager needn’t worry about hardware becoming obsolete, she said, and the only application needed to access the RMIS is a Web browser.

The downside, Ms. Schoenfeld said, may be costs due to upgrades, maintenance to the system and individualized client needs.

‘‘The cost is really all over the place,’’ she said. ‘‘With the increased cost for the Internet solutions, there is a reduction of headaches and maybe less cost for internal staff (support). It’s a good solution and may be the future for a good number of companies.’’

Security is a major concern for the users of any RMIS that incorporates Web technology, industry observers say.

At Moll Industries, Mr. Berdal said he is the only person who has access to the RMIS. He runs monthly reports for key personnel, which he either sends in hard copy or electronically.

Having assurances that the system is thoroughly secure helps, said Kohl’s Mr. Komas.

‘‘Let’s face it—there’s a lot of hesitancy on the part of companies because of the security of the information,’’ he said, noting that in addition to claims data concerns, companies are also transmitting personal medical information. ‘‘I think it’s really at the beginning stages. You have to feel very comfortable that your company is secured.’’

While some risk managers and RMIS vendors are making extraordinary efforts to protect sensitive information from outside corruption, Mr. Sollosy said a larger problem is corruption from inside the organization, such as from a disgruntled employee.

‘‘There is very little security breach (from the outside),’’ said Mr. Sollosy. ‘‘Who wants the information, and what would they do with it?’’