Oracle Scoops Up Skywire

Redwood Shores, Calif. — Oracle Corp. has entered an agreement to purchase the application software operations of Frisco, Texas-based Skywire Software.

The deal, which is expected to close in the second half of the year, is the latest evidence of Oracle’s intent to round out its offerings to the insurance industry. Last month, Oracle announced it was acquiring Chester, Pa.-based policy administration solutions provider AdminServer, and creating a global business unit for insurance. Skywire’s insurance offerings include policy production, customer correspondence, rating, underwriting and agent/broker management.

“Buying Skywire is a very clear indication that they are serious about building a portfolio of applications,” Matthew Josefowicz, director of the insurance practice at New York-based  Novarica, told Insurance Networking News. “Skywire is a portfolio company, as opposed to a single application company.”

Josefowicz says the deal should put traditional vertical application providers on notice that the global giants intend to compete in the market.

In a research report released in May, Josefowicz and co-author Chad Hersh, a principal in Novarica’s insurance practice, noted that the AdminServer deal way well augur a push into the insurance vertical by players such as Microsoft, IBM and SAP. “Oracle is planting both feet in this marketplace,” Josefowicz says. “I’m sure this will not be the last thing they buy.”

Sources: Oracle, Novarica

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