Who's Buying What: Recent Deals For Technology Software And Services

PURE CHOOSES ONESHIELD FOR POLICY ADMIN SYSTEMPrivilege Underwriters Reciprocal Exchange (PURE), a startup with headquarters in Plantation, Fla., has selected software from Westborough, Mass.-based OneShield Inc. to support administration of new insurance products. PURE deployed OneShield's Dragon platform to manage the end-to-end policy administration of PURE High Net Worth Insurance personal lines product offerings.

The metadata-driven system has a well-defined, insurance-oriented data model ideal for meeting PURE's need for rapid application and deployment, the vendor says. In six months, PURE and OneShield worked together to customize the carrier's business rules, workflow and channel management. PURE also selected OneShield to serve as the host for Dragon and other core applications.

TWO INSURANCE COMPANIES WORKING WITH SUNGARD

Two companies recently purchased software from Wayne, Pa.-based SunGard Data Systems Inc.

One of the companies, South African-based Liberty Life, has completed the first phase of a single platform project with SunGard's iWORKS COMPASS, a group and individual insurance, pension and investment product administration system.

Kaiser Permanente, an Oakland, Calif.-based self-insured, integrated health care organization that administers workers' comp, will be using SunGard iWORKS EPS on an application service provider (ASP) basis with SunGard iWORKS eLINK, a managed hosting service. SunGard will provide Kaiser Permanente with managed hosting of the SunGard iWORKS EPS system at its facilities so that Kaiser Permanente will incur no new hardware purchases, no application license fees, no local network overhead and no IT maintenance costs, SunGard says.

THE CO-OPERATORS GROUP GETS GUIDEWIRE SOFTWARE

The Co-operators Group Ltd., a carrier with headquarters in Guelph, Ontario, is replacing a legacy claims system with Guidewire ClaimCenter from San Mateo, Calif.-based GuidEwire Software Inc. "Our goal is to migrate from our current legacy claims environment to a modern claims system that will be utilized by all of our property and casualty companies," says Rob Wesseling, Co-operators chief information officer.

The vendor says the new system will increase productivity for claims workers by automating manual tasks; allow access to real-time comprehensive claims information for insight into core processes, operating costs and market opportunities; automatically route claims tasks based on staff expertise and workloads; and streamline IT maintenance by moving to a modern platform across all lines of business.

KEANE COMPLIANCE TOOL PICKED BY FP MARINE RISKS

FP Marine Risks, an independent Lloyd's specialist marine insurance broker with headquarters in Hong Kong, has selected SCORE, a system from the Boston-based Keane Organization's Business Risk Management Solutions Division, to automate measurement and management of risk and compliance.

SCORE, a Web-based decision-support tool, automates enterprise risk management and compliance. The platform, which can be customized to meet specific needs, can measure, manage and monitor risk across the enterprise, the vendor says.

METLIFE AND KAMAKURA EXPANDING RELATIONSHIP

New York-based Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. has signed an agreement with Honolulu-based Kamakura Corp. to extend Kamakura Risk Manager software to include calculation and reporting of Basel II capital requirements. The insurer has been using the KRM software in its investment department and affiliated banking company.

MetLife also subscribes to the Kamakura Risk Information Services default probability and correlation service, the vendor says. "MetLife has steadily increased its reliance on Kamakura Risk Manager since the initial installation in 2003," says Rich Owens, vice president in the Portfolio Management Department at MetLife.

NINE MORE INSURERS SIGN WITH IMAGERIGHT

ImageRight, a Conyers, Ga., provider of insurance-focused content management and workflow, signed nine new clients during a two-month period this year, bringing the company's number of insurance accounts to 370, says Don Elias, company president. Companies that recently purchased the ImageRight system include the Argonaut Group, Burns & Wilcox, Continental Agency of Florida, Integrity Insurance Co. in Liquidation, Mid-Continent Insurance Co., New Jersey Insurance Underwriting Association, Strongwood Insurance Holdings Inc., Texas Property and Casualty Insurance Guarantee Association and United Equitable Group Ltd.

ImageRight, a subsidiary of Vertafore Inc., provides software that offers complete document and content management, coupled with advanced workflow automation that is scalable for insurers of all sizes, the company says.

WHITE HORSE GOING LIVE WITH FINEOS CLAIMS SYSTEM

White Horse Insurance Ireland Ltd. has gone live with a claims system from FINEOS Corp., a Dublin, Ireland-based software vendor. White Horse intends to use the system for travel claims management and payments, the company says. The software was implemented in less than six months.

"We chose FINEOS following a detailed evaluation of the leading claims and payments package systems within the global software market," says Steve Tighe, White Horse general manager. "They have been very responsive to our aggressive timeframe, and we accomplished the project on budget and on time." White Horse is owned by the MyTravel Group, a multinational travel.

ASSURITY CHOOSES COSS FOR WORKSITE ENROLLMENT

The Assurity Life Insurance Co., Lincoln, Neb., has chosen Huntersville, N.C.-based COSS Development to supply an integrated Web-based Worksite Enrollment system, including quoting capabilities for critical illness, cancer, hospital indemnity, disability, UL and term life. COSS is an employee-owned company that provides point-of-sale software. Coss solutions include product illustrations, electronic forms, worksite marketing, needs analysis, advanced marketing and interactive agent training.

"We are excited about continuing our relationship with COSS," says Susan Keisler-Munro, Assurity senior vice president and chief of operations. "Their technology and commitment to our long-term success made them a logical choice for this initiative."

HERITAGE UNDERWRITING PICKS AIR CAT RISK SYSTEM

Heritage Underwriting Agency PLC, a London-based Lloyd's insurer focused on underwriting worldwide property and non-U.S. liability risks, has licensed catastrophe risk management systems from AIR Worldwide Corp., which has headquarters in Boston.

AIR's catastrophe risk modeling systems will allow Heritage to monitor Caribbean and U.S. exposures with greater accuracy, while AIR's embedded mapping tools and risk hazard profiles will assist Heritage in examining exposure details. Heritage also will use AIR Loss Estimates in Real Time (ALERT) to estimate the risk to their portfolio as actual events unfold.

"Effectively assessing and managing catastrophe risk is critical in times of environmental uncertainty," says Nick Jones, active underwriter at Heritage Syndicate 1200.

ARBELLA USES AGENT PORTAL FROM AGENCYPORT SERVICES

Arbella Insurance Group, Quincy, Mass., is using AgencyPortal and AgencyConnect, two software packages from Boston-based AgencyPort Insurance Services, to help their independent agents transact business over the Internet. Agents can now transfer policy data directly from several agency management systems to Arbella, where AgencyConnect pre-populates and launches the AgencyPortal application framework at Arbella.com. The new software allows Arbella's agents to obtain quotes and electronically submit new business and endorsements.

"With our agent portal, more than 70% of our new business and endorsement transactions for our largest line of business are now electronically submitted by our agents and processed untouched by human hand," says Chris Steward, Arbella CIO.

CHUBB AUTO CLAIMS SERVICE IMPROVED BY SCENEACCESS

The Chubb Group of Insurance Cos., Warren, N.J., has improved its Masterpiece Auto Preference Services by installing an auto claims dispatch platform, the carrier says. The SceneAccess platform, developed by Rochester, N.Y.-based Scene Genesis Inc., electronically links Chubb and its network of preferred auto body repair shops, expediting the claim settlement process. When a car is dropped off at a repair shop, information about the vehicle and the customer will be available through the shop's computers.

"We've taken time, complexity and hassle out of the process for our customers," says William S. Crowley, Chubb worldwide automobile claim manager.

OKLAHOMA FARMERS UNION CHOOSES FISERV FASTTRACK

Oklahoma Farmers Union Mutual Insurance of Oklahoma City, has licensed the Fiserv FastTrack BPM system and Java-based suite of core processing solutions, including Policy STAR, Claims Workstation and Fiserv Advanced Billing.

The vendor, Fiserv Insurance Solutions, a unit of Fiserv Inc., says the carrier will rely on the software during rapid business expansion. Based on open service-oriented principles, the architecture of the core processing suite is Web-based and platform-flexible, providing scalability for property and casualty carriers of all sizes. Written in Java to the J2EE specification, the systems are designed to increase operational flexibility while driving down costs, the vendor says.

EDS SET TO MANAGE IT FOR ITALIAN INSURER

Milan, Italy-based Fondiaria-Sai Insurance Group, that country's second largest insurance company, has signed a 10-year, $463 million agreement for IT infrastructure management by EDS, which has headquarters in Plano, Texas.

EDS will manage and maintain the insurer's IT infrastructure, a mainframe and midrange computer server environment of approximately 500 midrange servers across Italy. EDS will also manage the company's communications network, transform its core software applications development, and manage and provide helpdesk support for the carrier's desktop computers for more than 5,000 employee users, says Fausto Marchionni, CEO of Fondiaria-Sai.

CAPITA PICKS TOTAL SYSTEMS TO MANAGE POLICY ADMIN

Capita Insurance Services has chosen Total Systems plc as preferred provider of general insurance policy administration outsourcing on the Ultima system. Both companies are based in the United Kingdom. Capita chose Total Systems for cost-effectiveness, the ability to accommodate all insurance products and the ability to bring new products to market quickly, says Dermot Joyce, managing director of Capita Insurance Services.

"Total impressed us enormously with their knowledge of our market and the needs of both customers and underwriters," says Joyce. The system delivers customer self-service via the Web, mobile Web and SMS and newer channels, such as interactive TV, according to the vendor.

U.S. RISK CHOOSES SKYWIRE FOR AGENCY MGT. SYSTEM

Dallas-based U.S. Risk Insurance Group Inc., a managing general agency and surplus lines wholesaler, is using the Policyware agency management system from Skywire Software, Frisco, Texas. The Web-based system helps the insurer standardize business processes and increase productivity at its headquarters and nine branch offices throughout the United States, says Mac Wesson, president of U.S. Risk Insurance Group.

"By aligning our operations on a centralized system instead of using multiple systems for correspondence, quoting, binding and billing, we have not only improved operational efficiencies but we've gained insight into overall business performance," Wesson says.

UTICA MUTUAL USING ISO FOR WORKERS' COMP SERVICES

ISO Properties Inc., based in Jersey City, N.J., will provide Workers' Compensation Information Services (WCIS) to Utica Mutual Insurance Co. The company, based in New Hartford, N.Y., is a subsidiary of the Utica National Insurance Group.

Under the agreement, Utica will provide transactional workers compensation premium and loss information from their source systems to ISO. ISO's Workers Compensation Information Services will compile the summary reports required by regulators and submit them on the company's behalf to workers' compensation rating bureaus and statistical agents in the states where the carrier writes workers compensation business.

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Core systems Customer experience Digital distribution Claims Policy adminstration Workforce management Data security Data and information management Analytics Security risk
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