I just wanted to really quickly cover this topic as a new thread.  I've received several mails asking about the relationship between the Insurance Forms Reference Implementation (IFRI - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=E4DB6C80-4B5B-454B-8962-0441B61B521E&displaylang=en) and the Financial Value Chain.  So let me see if I can explain a little bit of this.

IFRI was started a year ago as a way to show how InfoPath 2003 could be used to capture data and feed it to transaction and workflow processing systems in the back office.  And then how that same user interface could give indications as to next steps in the workflow, needed items, as well as allow them to control where the information was routed.  It looks at the highly collaborative processes in homeowners insurance (including mortgage refinanciing/lending) and life insurance since those are typically not a one step process.  In so doing, we looked at ways to secure these messages, both using digital signatures, but also the Web Services Enhancements for .NET.  Once the message is submitted, it goes into a web services hosted by BizTalk Server where then from there messages are signed, encrypted, and routed to the appropriate actions and end points. 

Most any data capture experience can use this same architecture for capturing, routing and collaborating on data from an end user.  From there all it becomes is a change in schema and user interface and the same architectural principles can be applied.  That is why we hope to be able to extend the IFRI into areas like mortgage lending, auto lending, home appraisal and claims processing.  As any good architect knows, there are a few ways to accomplish any task using simple building blocks and flexible platform technology from Microsoft...but we believe after this last year of development on IFRI (and especially the latest additions these last few months) that this is a model architecture for the part of the Financial Value Chain that incorporates user input as an initiator to enterprise collaborative workflow.  The Financial Value Chain will leverage key concepts and techniques in the IFRI to explain that part of the architecture and message exchange pattern originating with the information worker.  In addition to that, it is also a model for industry standards schema architecture for lightweight transaction processing...but I'll get into that later. 

- Josh