New Feature: PDF Generation via Interface in Consor Universal

Consor Universal now enables you to generate and deliver PDFs directly through an interface. This allows external systems to automatically access approved documents—fast, secure, and without manual steps.

What does this mean in practice?

The use cases are diverse and can be tailored to your needs. Here are two examples:

• Customer Portals: Policyholders can conveniently download their policy as a PDF. The document is retrieved in real time via the interface directly from Consor Universal.
• Claims Systems: During claims processing, the system can fetch the current policy to instantly display covered damages and agreed deductibles.

This new feature boosts efficiency, minimizes errors, and enhances customer experience through seamless digital processes.

New Feature: Flexible Ordering for Standard Fields

Previously, the order of standard fields was tied to the repository sequence. Now, you can define the order independently for each component—easily via drag & drop.

How it works:

Activate the feature by setting the Universal Property WITH_MANUAL_SFC_SORTING to true. After that, you can arrange standard fields in any desired order.

Why does this matter?

• In the GUI: Adapt the input sequence to your underwriters’ workflow for greater efficiency.
• In Output: Ensure that field order is logical and clear from the customer’s perspective—improving policy readability.

This feature offers maximum flexibility to meet varying requirements in both the user interface and printed output.

New Table Formatting Options

With extended formatting capabilities in Consor Universal, you can now design printed tables more flexibly and individually. New options include:

• Coloring columns for better visual structure
• Merging rows and columns to present complex content clearly
• Using vertical text to save space

These features help you meet the specific needs of different lines of business. Examples:

• Highlight insured vs. non-insured benefits with color
• Use vertical text for compact layouts in complex tables

More design freedom means your output documents are not only functional but also visually appealing and well-structured.

All these features are available from Consor Universal 8.3. Contact us, if you are interested in an upgrade. 

From In-House Power Plants to Centralized Energy Supply

A look back highlights the transformation: factories once operated their own power plants to generate electricity — costly, complex, and risky. Only with centralized power stations did companies gain access to energy that was simple, safe, and reliably delivered “from the socket.”

Today, the same applies to software: what used to be painstakingly managed in on-premise data centers can now be delivered as a SaaS solution — modern, secure, and always available.

BarmeniaGothaer – One Step Ahead

BarmeniaGothaer is among the top 10 insurers in Germany and one of the largest mutual insurance associations.

From the very beginning, BarmeniaGothaer chose the Consor Universal Cloud Service. Key priorities included IT security and high service availability. The solution’s ISO 27001 certification and DORA compliance were decisive factors. Since June 2025, BarmeniaGothaer has been live with industrial property insurance offerings.

The Key Benefits of Consor Universal in the SaaS Model

• Cost Efficiency & Predictability
  No more large investments in hardware or IT operations. Insurers pay only for what they use — clearly calculable, like an electricity bill.
• Always Up-to-Date
  New features, updates, and regulatory changes are delivered quickly. No extra projects, no delays — innovation reaches the customer automatically.
• Maximum Security & Availability
  Professionally operated, certified data centers by Amazon Web Services ensure top-tier security standards, redundant systems, and continuous availability.
• Unlimited Scalability
  From niche insurers to global players — Consor Universal adapts. Growing demands can be met quickly and flexibly.
• Focus on Core Business
  Shift away from IT operations and toward what truly matters: underwriting complex risks, product development, and customer engagement.

A Strategic Step Forward

Migrating to the Consor Universal Cloud Service is more than a technological decision — it’s an investment in competitiveness and agility. Insurers who choose Consor Universal as a SaaS solution secure a platform that runs reliably, evolves continuously, and supports every growth step.

Just as factories once shut down their own power plants to rely on centralized electricity, now is the time for a modern, efficient, and future-ready IT strategy in industrial insurance.

Ready to take the next step?

With the Consor Universal Cloud Service, you lay the foundation for successful underwriting — today and in the future.

Ruedi, why did you decide to join Consor in 2015?

I joined Consor as the successor to the founder, as a new investor, and as CEO. It was a unique situation.

At the time, I was specifically looking for a medium-sized software company in the B2B sector that was open to investment and had potential for growth. Not a start-up, but a company that was already established on the market. With Consor, I found exactly that.

Conversely, René Walter [editor’s note: the founder and former owner] was also looking for me and found me. He drew up a list of over 30 criteria. Among other things, his successor had to have studied computer science, be between 40 and 50 years old, and have already managed a medium-sized Swiss software company in the B2B sector. Coincidentally, I met almost all of these criteria, and we both quickly realized that it was a good fit.

What has changed internally at Consor since you took over?

A lot—really a lot. Consor was founded in 1979, and I took over in 2015. After 36 years under the same leadership, modernization was definitely needed.

We reorganized into cross-functional teams and switched to Scrum. We renewed our entire tooling and technology stack. We moved our data center to the cloud and now offer Consor Universal also as a SaaS model.

There were also many administrative changes. We updated our time tracking and CRM systems, reissued employment contracts, migrated personnel data to the cloud using a modern tool, strengthened our security processes, and achieved ISO 27001 certification. The list could go on almost endlessly.

Which technology or development has surprised you the most in the past 10 years?

Ten years ago, I would never have believed that Swiss and German insurers would move their business to the public cloud by 2025 and even adopt the Software-as-a-Service model. It was clear this would happen eventually—but I didn’t expect it to happen so quickly.

I know digitalization is very close to your heart. Where do you think the insurance market stands in this regard?

Insurance companies, along with banks and government agencies, were among the first to digitize their business—in the 1970s and 1980s. Unfortunately, many couldn’t capitalize on this first-mover advantage and are still running on host systems from that era. These legacy systems are stable and incredibly fast, but they’re expensive to maintain and lack flexibility. A 25-year-old entering the workforce today expects a web interface—not a black-and-green 25×80 character screen.

Overall, many insurers are lagging behind the IT developments of the past 10–20 years. Of course, all CIOs are aware of this and are looking for creative and affordable ways to close this digitalization gap.

Many are considering skipping certain technologies altogether. Instead of moving from host systems to client-server infrastructure, they’re jumping straight to SaaS providers.

The insurance business is traditionally seen as a conservative industry. How can industrial insurance foster real innovation?

It’s not the core task of an insurance company to be technologically innovative. Innovation in insurance typically arises through new offerings for customers. For example, parametric insurance or embedded insurance products like the new offering launched by Swisscom together with Zurich and AXA.

Doesn’t that also require innovative technology?

Absolutely. Especially in the field of technical insurance, there are many approaches that combine AI and the Internet of Things. For instance, wind turbines can be equipped with sensors, and using the collected data and artificial intelligence, predictions can be made about if and when a turbine might fail. HDI has launched a corresponding insurance product.

What does “digital responsibility” mean to you personally as a CEO?

The entire IT sector bears a special responsibility in this regard. On one hand, digital tools and applications offer huge advantages and efficiency gains in everyday life and business. On the other hand, it’s essential to ensure that sensitive data remains protected and isn’t misused. AI amplifies all of this—the great benefits, but also the potential risks.

This discussion goes far beyond the IT industry and affects politics and society as a whole. The much-discussed concept of digital sovereignty, in my view, is already an illusion. We are all dependent on large tech corporations. At the very least, we can try to spread the risks and not put all our eggs in one basket.

What personally drives you to give your best for Consor every day?

I still find it exciting to work with our customers and our team to develop new software solutions for emerging challenges.

I’ve been in the software industry for 30 years.

We’re driven by technology and almost addicted to new developments. Like surfers, we wait for the next wave and try to catch it as best we can.

What’s the current wave that needs to be caught?

Right now, everyone is interested in AI. In industrial insurance, we’re still seeing few solutions in this area. We have several ideas and want to develop prototypes together with our customers.

One idea is to feed the unstructured data from an insurance application into an AI and then make specific queries: What is the desired coverage amount? What deductible is requested?

What do you wish for Consor and its customers over the next 10 years?

I truly hope that products and processes will be designed and implemented more end-to-end. At many of our clients, we still see manual processes with lots of media disruptions. It would be great if more insurers shared our vision of bringing their entire process—from broker, risk assessment, quote, policy creation and changes, all the way to billing—onto a digital platform. Ideally, across all lines of industrial insurance. That would bring the greatest and most sustainable benefit to everyone involved.

Like the previous Datamart, the functionality can be integrated directly into the business transaction via a mapper. The mapper also defines the times at which the data from the business transaction is to be filled into the defined structure, e.g. on release.

There are already scripts that enable simple migration from Datamart 1.0 to Datamart 2.0. If you are interested in the new functionality and would like to know more, please do not hesitate to contact us for details.

The Decision

On Friday at 4 p.m., the time had come: the teams presented their results in final presentations lasting a maximum of 10 minutes. Everyone was amazed at what was possible in such a short time and laughed a lot at the funny demonstrations of the prototypes.

The jury, consisting of Ruedi Wipf, Martin Nokes and Bettina Niklaus, assessed the projects based on the following criteria:

• Degree of innovation of the idea
• Business value
• Functionality of the implementation
• Innovation of the implementation
• Pitch and final presentation
• Likes from Consor employees

The winning team impressed the jury with their clever integration of an AI-based chatbot, which you can ask your questions about Consor Universal directly in a chat instead of contacting a person from Customizing. The team was awarded a surprise prize and a trophy engraved with their names. After the award ceremony, the success was celebrated with an aperitif.

Conclusion

The Hackathon 2024 was an inspiring event that impressively demonstrated the innovative strength and team spirit of our employees. We would like to thank all participants and are already looking forward to the next edition!

Congratulations on your silver medal in Paris! How did you feel when you crossed the finish line and knew that you had won a medal?

I was mega happy and proud and honestly quite emotional too. It was an incredible moment to actually know what I had achieved. Of course I was also exhausted, it was a tough competition.

What were the biggest challenges on your way to the Olympic Games?

The most difficult thing was not losing focus over such a long period of time. You know that you have to get the best out of yourself every day for many months. At the beginning of 2023, around 1.5 years before the Olympic Games, I had a serious injury, a fatigue fracture in my hip. I couldn’t do any running training for over three months. I was able to do swimming training, but the injury kept me out of the qualifying races during the competition phase. I was happy when I was able to get going again and then met the requirements to take part in Paris.

Can you take us through a typical training day? What does your training schedule look like?

We basically have two different training days, which always alternate: One day focuses on swimming and cycling, the other on running.

The usual swim/bike days start with a 90-minute swim training session with a different focus on speed or endurance. After breakfast and a short break, a shorter, intensive bike training session starts in the morning to build up strength. After the lunch break, there is a second cycling unit in the afternoon, which tends to cover longer distances. The evenings are usually relaxed and then it’s early to bed.

The following running day also begins with a short bike session to wake up the body and then the first running training session in the morning focuses on speed. The afternoon session again concentrates on endurance, so that the body gets used to running even with tired legs. The running training is often followed by a relaxed swimming session to get the lactate out of the body and loosen up the muscles. And so the days always alternate. This means that the bones are not challenged every day by the demanding running training and can recover well.

How do you prepare yourself mentally for a competition as demanding as the Olympic Games?

I have been working with a sports psychologist since the beginning of the year. The mental aspect plays an extremely important role; you have to develop strategies on how to deal with the physical stress of the competition as well as uncertainty or nervousness beforehand. I used to be nervous before the competition – nowadays I make checklists and work a lot with visualization. It’s important for me to know the surroundings and the environment so that I don’t have to look for things before the competition. It also helps me to know how to turn the pain into something positive when the competition gets tough. These are all small things that you can try out in training and then get better at over time. Good preparation is crucial here in order to deal with your own nervousness. You always have to concentrate on the next step. So there’s no point thinking about cycling while you’re swimming.

Especially for the Olympics, I talked a lot with Nicola Spirig [editor’s note: 2012 Olympic triathlon champion] beforehand, who shared her valuable experience with me. That also helped a lot in terms of being as well prepared as possible for the competition and minimizing additional stress.

Were there moments in your career when you thought about giving up?

I’ve actually never wanted to stop triathlon. I’ve been doing it for so long that I can’t imagine my life without it. There are days when you don’t feel like training as much. But after a few days without sport, I really miss it and want to get going again.

How does triathlon influence your private life? How do you manage to find a balance between training, competitions and your personal life?

Triathlon is a very big part of my life. In intense times like preparing for the Olympics, friendships and other contacts have to take a back seat. At that moment, the most important thing is to prepare as well as possible for the competition. You make certain sacrifices and spend less time with friends. For example, I was in St. Moritz for two months straight, whereas I actually live in Zurich. But after Paris, I had a few days in Zurich and was able to catch up. I need that as a balance and then the evenings get longer and training starts later. It’s important to know what’s good for you and when.

What role do your family and environment play in your career?

My family and my environment play an extremely important role, especially my sisters, who both also do triathlons. I’m currently in St. Moritz with Nina and it’s really nice not to be alone and to be able to train together. She went through the whole preparation with me and supported me a lot, even when things got difficult.

Even if you stand alone at the start line – you didn’t get there on your own. That’s why it’s so important to surround yourself with people who challenge you on the one hand, but who can also give you a sense of calm. It’s also important for me to have a place where I feel comfortable. St. Moritz is like a second home to me, which really helps me to concentrate on my training.

In addition to the full triathlon program, you also completed an ETH degree. How do you do that? Do you get support from ETH and what are the biggest challenges of such a double burden?

I completed my degree in food science at ETH about 1.5 years ago. It was a perfect timing because I was able to concentrate exclusively on sport for the last year before the Olympics. During the semester it was always a challenge, especially during the exam period – usually the exams are in the summer, so at the same time as the competition period. It wasn’t always easy to reconcile this, but it helps to make a good schedule that gives you structure throughout the day. It was also a good balance, because you can’t think so much about training during your studies and vice versa.

I was able to complete the intensive foundation year at ETH in two years instead of one, which helped a lot. For me personally, the corona period was actually an advantage because I no longer had to go to ETH in person, but could use the time to train and then watch the lectures later in the day as a recording. I was also given more time to write my Master’s thesis, I was able to write it in 8 or 9 months instead of the usual 6, so I had less pressure. The fact that I was already in the national squad was an advantage here and ETH was very accommodating. Of course, you don’t get any easier exams, but you have a bit more time to complete your studies.

What do you do to relax and unwind when you’re not training or competing? Do you have any hobbies or interests that have nothing to do with sport?

I like to read to relax. It also forces me to sit on the sofa and just do nothing. Apart from that, I also enjoy going out for coffee, which has become a bit of a hobby, finding a nice café in new places. I also really enjoyed the mountain lakes in St. Moritz over the summer. I like to do something active, but I don’t go as full force as I do during training.

What role do sponsors play in your career?

Sponsors are extremely important in order to finance my sport. I studied alongside sport for a long time, I couldn’t have worked here on the side, that wouldn’t have worked out. Fortunately, I also have the support of my parents, so I can live in Zurich for free, for example. You don’t get rich from triathlon, especially at the beginning you can’t live off it. Of course, it helps a lot if you can focus on the sport – especially at a younger age – and don’t have to worry about finances. I don’t do triathlon for the money, but because it’s my passion and I love the challenge, seeing how much I can achieve gives me a lot. But of course you also have to make a living.

How do you see the future of triathlon, especially for women?

I see it in a very positive light. It’s a cool sport, also because women complete the same distances as men. In most cases, the prize money is also distributed equally among the professionals. There are more men at the start of the popular triathlons, but if there are more female role models who show how good you can become, maybe that will change at some point. I hope I can make a contribution here too. In endurance sports in particular, the difference in performance between men and women becomes smaller and smaller as the competition progresses. In Switzerland, the sport of triathlon is also quite well known and has a good community. Triathlon is therefore on the right track – especially for women.

Is there any advice you would give to young female athletes who dream of a career in triathlon?

Don’t give up and give yourself time. I started triathlon very early on and have only now, at 27, reached the pinnacle. I’ve learned so much over the years and it hasn’t always been easy. That’s why the most important thing is not to give up and to create a good environment.

When you look back on your career so far: Is there anything you would do differently?

I would believe in myself earlier and really give it my all – in other words, concentrate exclusively on sport. That was rather difficult alongside my studies. But I’m still young and can still go “all in” for triathlon.

What does success mean to you? Has your definition of success changed over the course of your career?

The greatest success for me is when I know that I have given 100% in a competition. Even in preparation, you have to give your best and do everything right in order to really show what you are capable of on the race day. Results and numbers are also important, but if you know you’ve given your best, then it doesn’t matter whether you come 2nd, 10th or 15th.

Finally, is there a message you would like to give to the people who have supported you along the way?

A huge thank you for walking the path with me and hopefully continuing to support me in the future. As I said earlier, you never walk the path alone and everyone therefore has a contribution to your success.

Dear Julie, thank you very much for talking to us! We wish you continued success and look forward to the next training session with you and Nina.

The interview was conducted by Barbara Jonietz on 28.08.2024.

Christopher was CEO of HDI Germany until the end of 2022 and in this role was also responsible for digitalization and IT modernization. Previously, he was Chairman of the Management Board of Gothaer Allgemeine Versicherung AG and held various positions at the Allianz Group.

Christopher is the founder and Managing Director of The Mulberry Ventures and supports companies in the successful implementation of their business models and growth strategies. With more than 24 years of experience as a manager and board member in the insurance industry, Christopher brings extensive expertise and market knowledge that is very valuable to us as a company.

We are delighted that Christopher is joining Consor in an advisory capacity and helping us to keep our product close to the needs of the insurance industry and at the cutting edge of technological development.
If you would like to get to know Dr. Christopher Lohmann: He will be our keynote speaker at this year’s User Conference on 12.06.2024. You can register here directly.

Many people find IT security an tiresome and difficult topic. What does IT security mean to you personally? What fascinates you about this topic?

I actually find it a very exciting topic because it is constantly evolving and on the move. In general, IT security has recently become more important in the EU and also in Switzerland. This can be seen, for example, in the fact that security certifications are also becoming more important for medium-sized companies. Even small companies are realizing that they need to take care of IT security and are facing up to the challenges. As a company, we may not specialize in security issues, but we are still affected by them. It helps us a lot to set up structures that support us in the best possible way and I really enjoy this challenging task.

You have been Chief Information Security Officer at Consor since 2023. What does this role entail? How is it practiced at Consor?

In principle, I am responsible for all security issues and must ensure that they are practiced accordingly in day-to-day operations. Security is not a one-off action, but must be anchored in the corporate culture, which is a constant process. My role therefore not only has an impact on software development, but also on all areas of the company. That’s a very interesting aspect of my job as CISO: it’s very diverse – from software components to management and HR, you have contact and insights everywhere.

As we were already very well positioned as a company before our ISO 27001 certification, the changes for employees were minimal. The aim was not to make day-to-day work in the company more difficult while at the same time enforcing the necessary regulations and standards. Finding a good way to do this was a challenge.

How important are data protection and information security at Consor?

These topics are very important to us, as you can see from how much we have already implemented. Our management is completely behind my mission and is itself interested in constantly improving and developing Consor in the area of IT security. We have literally spared no expense or effort here in order to position ourselves in the best possible way.

Consor has been ISO 27001 certified since 2023. How did this come about? How did this project and the certification go? Who are your partners in this area?

As we offer Universal as a Service and thus become a software operator, we are responsible for our customers’ data. Nowadays, the ISO 27001 standard is considered the gold standard for IT data security, even for SMEs. Our customers are also asking more and more about this topic, as it is becoming increasingly important to them. We were already very well positioned before the certification, so that nothing stood in the way of an official certification process.

The project started in March 2023. We quickly realized that we could not manage the extensive certification alone and therefore looked for a professional partner on an equal footing to provide support. Secfix is a startup that aims to make the certification process as lean and automated as possible. This was very much in line with our way of working and our values, which is why we chose this partner. The framework and project plan for certification was very well defined by Secfix and saved us a lot of time and work. We were able to complete the certification within six months. The effective certification body at the end was Certivation. The collaboration with them was also very constructive and efficient.

Consor Universal is also offered in the Software as a Service model. Is this a big step for Consor? What impact does this have on security and processes?

This was a very big step for Consor – not necessarily technologically, but due to the fact that we are becoming a software operator and thus taking responsibility for the data and systems. Our internal infrastructure has already been in the cloud for years. However, our customers have traditionally operated Consor Universal “on premises” or in a cloud themselves – also due to their increased need for security when it comes to data. The entire operational aspect and also access to the data (keyword: authorization concepts) has been revised and redesigned from a security perspective.

In general, the switch to Software as a Service means more standardized processes and greater security. The certification and the ISO 27001 standard raise awareness within the company for the operation of such a platform. We are now even more aware than before of the areas in which we need to pay particular attention.

What are the benefits for your customers?

We can prove to our customers that we implement IT security professionally, correctly and holistically. Large insurance companies in particular have high security requirements and can therefore meet their compliance obligations more easily and quickly. In addition, customers now have a dedicated contact person at Consor for security issues.

You are never “finished” with security. What are the next upcoming and planned steps and improvements? Where will the journey take us in the future?

That’s absolutely right – you’re never finished. Our roadmap still has many points that we want to tackle. We are currently implementing a single sign-on authorization concept for internal applications. The experience we gain here will then benefit our customers. In the area of software development, we activated a so-called Renovate Bot just a few weeks ago, which automatically updates libraries from third parties, and have already had very good experiences here too. We have been able to significantly improve and expand our regular automated vulnerability scans.

Overall, we can say that when it comes to IT security, we can no longer act reactively, but proactively. We recognize problems at an early stage and can take active action against them. Certification is not a one-off action, but a constant improvement process that is practiced in the company.

The interview was conducted by Barbara Jonietz.