INN, Celent, Names 2010 VIP Winners

Insurance Networking News (INN) and Celent released INN’s fourth annual technology solution provider ranking for the insurance industry today at an awards event held at the ACORD LOMA Insurance Systems Forum in Las Vegas.

In the 2010 Vanguards in Insurance Practices (VIP) ranking, insurance carriers in the United States and Canada ranked the top insurance technology providers across several categories, including vertical and horizontal solutions, platform technologies and IT services. Insurers were asked to name the technology firms that represent the “best of the best” in terms of delivering value.

In partnership with Insurance Networking News, Celent, a respected source of independent insurance technology and business research and advisory services, led the survey development, data collection and analysis for the rankings.

“Celent’s research and advisory professionals bring outstanding insurance technology acumen to this program,” said Pat Speer, INN’s Editor in Chief, “and the knowledge and insight generated as part of our collective research will go a long way in fortifying insurers with the information they need to make critical technology decisions.”

Craig Weber, Senior Vice President responsible for Celent's insurance practice, notes that the 2010 VIP program’s objective, honest peer review and resulting insight represents more than just the “voice of the industry.” “The VIP program provides business intelligence that insurers need as they allocate precious budget dollars toward technology purchases. The vendors bringing value to our industry tend to bubble up in the rankings.”

The results, full ranking and related analysis will be available in the 2010 Vanguards in Insurance Practices supplement, included in the June 2010 issue of Insurance Networking News.

The top-ranked solution providers in Phase I of the INN 2010 VIP Awards are as follows:

Insurance Vertical Solutions

1^st – AMS360/Vertafore

2^nd – Sircon/Vertafore

3^rd - Guidewire

Insurance Horizontal Solutions

1^st – ImageRight/Vertafore

2^nd - Microsoft

3^rd - Hyland Software

Platform Technologies

1^st - Microsoft

2^nd - Dell

3^rd - IBM

IT Services

1^st - CSC

2^nd - SunGard

2^nd - Xerox

3^rd - Unisys

“As in years’ past, the 2010 VIP program reflects confirmation of the leaders comprising the technology solution provider landscape,” said Holli Gronset, INN’s Publisher. “These companies have earned a true vote of confidence from the industry and deserve special recognition for delivering outstanding products and services to the marketplace.”

Phase II of the INN 2010 VIP Awards program recognizes an insurer’s best practice for its use of a specific technology, and the role, if feasible, ACORD data standards played as part of their business and technology success story. The winners of the INN 2010 VIP Best Practices Awards are:

First Place: Cincinnati Insurance (Nominated by NxTech)

Second Place: Farmers Alliance Insurance Co. (Nominated by Jarus)

Third Place: Hertz Claims (Nominated by Innovation Group)

Honorable Mention:

American Modern Insurance (Nominated by Oracle)

The Hartford (Nominated by CGI)

Missouri Employers Mutual (Nominated by Guidewire)

The INN 2010 VIP Best Practices Award winners were formally recognized by Lloyd Chumbley, Vice President of Standards at ACORD at the VIP awards ceremony. “This award embodies a philosophy of efficiency --working smarter with standards, these insurers represent the ‘best of the best’ as chosen by a body of seasoned insurance industry professionals.”

In a special segment of the INN 2010 VIP Awards program, PilotFish Technology, Middletown, Conn., was recognized for software and services designed to enable integration of disparate systems using XML standards as the INN 2010 VIP “company to watch.”