OpenQuote becomes OpenUnderwriter

There has been something of a hiatus in OpenQuote 2.0 development lately, but the break has allowed us extend the scope of OpenQuote which is something we're very excited about. In fact the scope has been extended to the point where the name "OpenQuote" is now simply too restrictive. So we've renamed the whole project.

The new name is OpenUnderwriter.

OpenQuote still exists, but it is now a component application within OpenUnderwriter. Along with the other component applications: OpenActuary, OpenPolicy and OpenClaim.

Extending the project to cover areas outside of quotation is something that we have been working towards for sometime. OpenQuote focuses on new business and whilst it's functionality could support other areas (quoting for new business is not so dissimilar from quoting for mid term adjustments or renewals for example) the support has never been built out. We now have the project structure in place to do this.

So, what kept us busy during the hiatus? The Ghanaian Insurance Industry Database project. Our website has the full story, but essentially this project allowed us to add an actuarial facility to OpenUnderwriter. The project has now been delivered into pilot and is viewed by all those involved as a complete success. From our perspective as well as being a technically interesting project and one that allowed us to work closely with a very talented and committed team in Ghana, it was also a good demonstration of the benefits of open source.

As a result of the project, OpenActuary has been developed. It is covered by our normal GPL license and can be downloaded and used by anyone who is interested in it's features.

So now the team is focused on 2.0, what is now known as OpenUnderwriter 2.0. Right now that work is concentrated on upgrading the platform from Liferay 6.1.1 to the latest release: 6.2.0. Most importantly for us Liferay's support for WebDAV is much improved in 6.2.0. That had been something of a blocker for us and had lead to a set of lengthy and rather painful work arounds being necessary in order to make product development possible at all. Under 6.2.0 the process is a lot (and I mean an awful lot!) smoother.