Recent deals for technology software and services
CHUBB EXTENDS CONTRACT WITH IMAGINATIK
Imaginatik plc, a Boston-based provider of collaborative innovation software and processes, reports that it has signed a two-year contract extension with Warren, N.J.-based The Chubb Corp. No financial details were disclosed.
Imaginatik's collective intelligence software platform and consultancy services have been supporting Chubb's innovation program since 2008, being used for idea management, new product development and cost reduction. Imaginatik's software, Idea Central, has facilitated open innovation by enabling collaboration between suppliers, agents and brokers.
SYMETRA SELECTS INSURANCE TECHNOLOGIES' FORESIGHT
Insurance Technologies LLC, a Colorado Springs, Colo.-based provider of sales illustration and point-of-sale solutions, reports that Bellevue, Wash.-based Symetra Life Insurance Co. has selected ForeSight Version 5.0 to illustrate its entire life product suite.
With ForeSight illustration software, Symetra independent agents and advisors can show clients how a life insurance product will perform over time in meeting their financial needs.
Symetra began working with Insurance Technologies as its sales illustration solution provider in 1999. The company currently illustrates term and universal life products on the ForeSight system. Symetra's move to ForeSight 5.0 will allow the company to make updates to the illustration software via its Web site for all new life products.
"We have had great opportunities over the past several years to help companies like Symetra highlight their life products," said David Fenimore, EVP-engineering and CIO for Insurance Technologies. "We are excited to continue our partnership with Symetra and to provide them with our latest version of ForeSight 5.0."
TWO CARRIERS OPT FOR TCCS PROCESSING SOFTWARE
Town and Country Computer Services (TCCS), Schenectady, N.Y., announced that two insurers are using TCCS's "INS PRO" insurance processing software to help write lines of business on programs provided by the American Association of Insurance Services (AAIS):
Great Lakes Mutual Insurance Co., Calumet, Mich., has agents throughout Michigan offering policies based on the AAIS Homeowners and Dwelling Properties programs. As of March 2009, all of the company's agent quotes and applications in affected AAIS lines have been processed through an INS PRO application.
Lincoln Mutual Insurance Co., Lincolnton, N.C., writes AAIS-based homeowners, dwelling properties and farmowners policies throughout the state. Live use of INS PRO for processing agent quotes and applications in those lines is imminent.
RSA CANADA SIGNS POLICY ADMIN DEAL WITH DUCK CREEK
Duck Creek Technologies Inc., a Bolivar, Mo.-based provider of software and services for the insurance industry, has signed an agreement RSA Canada, headquartered in Toronto.
RSA Canada offers personal and commercial products across Canada, writing approximately $1.9 billion in annual premium. RSA Canada has regional offices throughout the country employing more than 3,000 people.
"We selected Duck Creek Technologies' policy administration system as our strategic platform for commercial insurance operations because of its tremendous flexibility. More than just an administration system, this solution lets us better manage business processes and automate workflows, which improves underwriting discipline and drives efficiency," says Steve Knoch, VP of underwriting operations and CIO at RSA.
SOUTHERN FARM BUREAU CASUALTY PARTNERS WITH IDENTITY THEFT 911
Little Rock, Ark.-based Southern Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Co. announced that its Arkansas policyholders will receive comprehensive identity theft resolution and education services at no cost through Scottsdale, Ariz,-based Identity Theft 911.
Southern Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Co. automobile policyholders in Arkansas and their immediate household members will receive Identity Theft 911's LifeStages program for one-on-one resolution services and consultation, including credit and fraud monitoring tools, during various life events when they could be particularly vulnerable to identity theft. All recipients have dedicated online access to Identity Theft 911's educational material, including daily threat alerts, investigative articles, monthly newsletters, white papers and prevention tips.
"Through our partnership with Identity Theft 911, we are providing our policyholders with proactive education, one-on-one expert identity theft resolution services and, most important, the peace of mind that someone is there to provide on-demand guidance and personal assistance whenever needed," says Duff Wallace, SVP-state manager, Southern Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Co.
PEKIN DEPLOYS LIDP SOA WEB SERVICE SOLUTION
Pekin Life Insurance, Pekin, Ill., has gone into production with the LIDP SOA/Web service framework from Woodridge, Ill.-based LIDP Consulting Inc. Pekin is currently using the Web service connectivity of The Administrator, LIDP's policy administration solution, to quote values for their Web-based agency inquiry application, and also to provide values for an in-house application.
Pekin is already looking to expand upon its use of the LIDP SOA/Web Service framework by providing a death benefit quote for their agents. They also plan to leverage the Web Service capabilities of The Administrator to provide additional information to their sales force as well as inquiries for their policyholders.
"As we continue to develop our Web applications, the LIDP Web Service environment makes it easy for us to provide timely, accurate information to our customers," says Diane Johnson, programmer manager at Pekin.
ZURICH AND CSC SIGN IT and data SERVICES CONTRACT
Zurich Financial Services Group has signed a 10-and-a-half-year master service agreement with Falls Church, Va.-based CSC for data center and IT infrastructure managed services. The master service agreement provides the framework for country-specific agreements to be subsequently entered into by the local entities of each party. The master service agreement will become effective upon the signing of the first country-specific agreement. The contract covers global data center centralization and server virtualization and is designed to transform Zurich's existing data center environment into a fully modernized, flexible and highly virtualized operation.
Under the terms of the agreement, depending on the country-specific agreements entered into, up to approximately 1,000 Zurich employees will potentially transition to CSC during the first half of 2010.
ARGUS INSURANCE GROUP, IPARTNERS STRIKE BI DEAL
Miami-based Argus Insurance Group, a Florida provider of personal lines residential insurance, is in production with business intelligence (BI) technology from iPartners, a provider of on-demand business analytics solutions. The Insurance Scorecard suite, which includes iDashboards, iScorecards, and iControl, is designed to offer a complete analytics solution including: performance management dashboards and scorecards, ad-hoc detailed analysis, production reporting, and drill to detail. The evaluation process included a proof of concept (POC), which was successfully completed in just one week, validating Argus' decision and giving them the confidence to move forward with the iPartners implementation.
ISLAND HERITAGE UPGRADES WITH SSP POLICY ADMIN
Island Heritage, a property insurance company specializing in specialty lines and based in the Cayman Islands, recently upgraded to the latest version of SSP's policy administration solution, S4i.
An insurer of private homes, offices and condominiums in the Caribbean, Island Heritage says it invested further in S4i to support an agency base spread across 16 Caribbean islands and to accommodate plans for further expansion.
"This upgrade will allow us to further improve our performance and provides us with a great platform to develop our service offering to agents via our web portal," says Hugo Cardona, COO of Island Heritage. "With a geographically diverse client base and ambitious expansion plans, the ability to service clients efficiently and launch new products into new markets quickly and easily is key. SSP has consistently demonstrated an understanding of our business requirements and has delivered this significant project on time and on budget."
As part of the project, SSP also developed custom functionality designed to handle cover notes, client recording, claims recovery, renewal processing and exchange rates, which improves and enhances Island Heritage's complex policy processes. In addition, SSP configured three new products that will be launched in Island Heritage's newest territory. The move to the latest version of S4i provides Island Heritage with the ability to access more of the solution's functionality for agents and enables the company to gain process and performance improvements.
QBE SELECTS GUIDEWIRE
London-based QBE European Operations, selected ClaimCenter from San Mateo, Calif.-based Guidewire Software Inc. to deliver business support and service across its European Operations.
Guidewire ClaimCenter is an end-to-end claims system for property/casualty insurance. Its business rules enable claims organizations to optimize and monitor the claim process. Claims executives can define, enforce, and continually refine their preferred claim handling practices.
"The implementation of this new system will ensure that QBE remains at the leading edge of claims capability," says Andrew McBride, claims director, QBE European Operations. "This system is crucial to QBE's continued commitment to its clients to deliver an efficient, responsive and timely claims handling and settlement service."
GREAT WEST OPTS FOR ONLINE COMPLIANCE SOLUTION
South Sioux City, Neb.-based Great West Casualty Co. has opted for the Compliance & Requirements Management (PCRM) system from New York-based Rhoads Online Institute, a provider of Web-based compliance solutions.
PCRM Carrier reduces the complexity and time it takes to make certain compliance with state regulatory systems is achieved and maintained, the company says. The product is designed to manage internal compliance workflow, file appointments and terminations, track continuing education across all U.S. states and jurisdictions and provide secure linkages to carriers' internal IT systems and enterprise-level applications.
"As one of the largest insurance companies serving the trucking industry, Great West is driven to provide second-to-none service to everyone we deal with," says Great West's VP of Regulatory Operations and Compliance. "Since that service focus extends to the brokers and agents representing our lines, making use of a system that handles compliance matters, particularly appointments, with ease, speed and certainty is a necessity."
SOCIETY INSURANCE IN PRODUCTION WITH VALEN TECHNOLOGIES SOLUTION
Fond du Lac, Wis.-based Society Insurance, a provider of commercial insurance to Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa and Indiana, implemented Denver-based Valen Technologies Inc.'s UnderRight predictive analytics underwriting solution to improve its pricing strategies and profitability. Society is now using UnderRight for its workers' compensation line of business to positively impact the company's combined ratio by enabling improved underwriting decision consistency and efficiency.
"Valen's UnderRight solution offers us the ability to price risks more accurately - the fundamental lever we need to continuously improve the growth and profitability of our business," says Society's COO Rick Parks. "In addition to providing us with much greater pricing power in the marketplace, we are now able to focus our experienced underwriters where they are most acutely needed - to analyze complex risks and provide an even higher level of service to our independent agents."
MAX NEW YORK LIFE INSURANCE SIGNS 3-YEAR CONTRACT WITH GENPACT
Genpact Ltd. has been awarded a 3-year contract from Max New York Life Insurance Company Ltd. Under this arrangement, Genpact will provide Max New York Life with customer service related solutions in select geographies, employing multiple regional languages and sophisticated technology.
Max New York Life Insurance is a joint venture between Max India Ltd. and New York Life. The private life insurance company offers both individual and group life insurance solutions.
"We believe that Genpact's global expertise in insurance and customer service will enable us to deliver a high-quality customer service experience, which we envisage will be our strongest differentiator in this competitive market," says Rajit Mehta, COO, Max New York Like Insurance Company.
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