Blythewood, S.C. — CSC plans to add 300 jobs in Blythewood, S.C. The Columbia area was selected from more than 225 cities to be the first CSC World Sourcing Service Center in North America due to the prestigious Blythewood facility, an attractive business environment, and the availability of well-trained IT resources in the community, according to the company.

Edison, N.J. - Sudhakar Ram, the chairman, managing director and group CEO of Mumbai-based Mastek, the parent company of Edison, N.J.-based MajescoMastek, has been honored as the 2007 CNBC Asia "India Business Leader of the Year."

Orlando - For the second consecutive year, Cognizant, a Teaneck, N.J., provider of global IT and business process outsourcing services, received Pegasystems' exclusive "Systems Integrator of the Year."

Thanks to new technologies, carriers are unearthing fraud such as "rent-a-patient" schemes and physician upcoding.

In a new 68-page report entitled 'BPO Opportunities in the Property & Casualty Insurance Sector,' analyst John Willmott finds that P&C insurers perceive themselves to be in a mature and highly competitive industry where process cost reduction and continuous service improvement are viewed as far more important mechanisms for achieving improvements in competitive positioning than process innovation.

New York and Chicago - October 10, 2007-- Insurance Networking News (INN) and Celent LLC, announce a partnership to deliver INN's second annual ranking of technology solution providers to the insurance industry, including several enhancements to last year's program. This second annual ranking, called the Insurance Networking News VIP Awards, will be based on a survey of executives and staff from North American insurance companies, including property/casualty, life/health--and new this year--reinsurance. These insurers will identify their preferred technology providers in several categories, such as enterprise platforms, point solutions, platform technologies and services. Also new to the second annual program will be additional rankings by respondent type. The 2008 INN VIP Award winners will be determined solely by insurance carriers, brokers, managing general agents and agents. In partnership with Insurance Networking News, Celent, the most respected source of independent insurance technology and business research and advisory services, will conduct and manage the program's survey distribution, data collection and analysis. In Part II of the INN VIP Awards program, the top-ranked solution providers will be offered an opportunity to nominate an insurance carrier customer as a "visionary" for its use of a specific technology, and is encouraged to illustrate the role, if feasible, that ACORD data standards plays as part of their business and technology success story. INN's readers, its Editorial Advisory Board, and Celent's top insurance research analyst will determine this top-ranked technology best practice in action. "The INN VIP Awards program will provide an important perspective that will contribute to insurance company technology decisions," says Matthew Josefowicz, managing director of Celent's insurance practice. "We hope that the structure of this year's survey, with categories based on respondent type as well as technology categories, will make the results even more useful for INN's readers." For readers of Insurance Networking News who depend on the publication as the independent authority on information on how technology supports insurers' business strategies, the 2008 INN VIP Awards ranking and its accompanying analysis will provide insights into the leading technology solution providers across multiple categories. "This year's enhanced program reflects an honest and factual assessment of the technology solution provider landscape," says Pat Speer, editor-in-chief, Insurance Industry News. "Equally important, the enhanced INN VIP Awards program evokes the necessary discussion of the "why" behind the ranking. By including a critical educational component, such as how ACORD standards have helped facilitate the leading technology's application success, insurers can map to their own success." Winners of this second annual ranking will be recognized at an exclusive black-tie event held in conjunction with the ACORD LOMA Insurance Systems Forum in Las Vegas in May 2008, and will be featured in a Special Report by Insurance Networking News in the June 2008 issue. The special report will also be distributed at the ACORD LOMA Insurance Systems Forum in Las Vegas and at the IASA annual conference in Seattle. The INN VIP Awards ceremony will also be included as part of the INN NewsCast video broadcast. "We are delighted to work with Celent," says Speer. "Celent's research and advisory professionals represent exceptional industry acumen, which means our readers and the industry at large will have direct access to the knowledge and expertise generated as part of our collective research efforts." With six senior-level analysts in the United States, and three covering Europe and Asia, Celent's breadth and depth of insurance technology experience dates back to 2001. Celent is the only analyst firm to publish comprehensive reports on insurance software sales volumes and in-depth rankings of vendor software. Celent also publishes the widely read annual CIO survey and popular Model Carrier report, making the firm uniquely position to understand the buyer's side of the industry's highly competitive landscape. Contact Josefowicz directly via e-mail at mjosefowicz@celent.com if you have questions about the INN VIP Awards ranking, or wish to participate in the survey. To participate, please go to: www.insurancenetworking.com. Technology solution providers seeking more information about the Insurance Networking News' VIP Awards, or information about how to post the survey link on their Web sites, can contact Holli Gronset at holli.gronset@sourcemedia.com or 312-983-6178. About Insurance Industry News and SourceMedia, Inc.Insurance Networking News is a trusted source for information on how technology is being implemented to support insurers' strategic business objectives, providing insightful analysis of - and case studies on - how technology is being innovatively utilized to automate critical processes. Every issue of Insurance Networking News is written to help senior insurance executives bypass the hype and get to the heart of resolving industry challenges. Readers rely on carefully researched content that is both engaging and analytical.SourceMedia, an Investcorp company, is the pre-eminent provider of timely and essential market information - including industry news, analysis, research and insights - for members of the financial services community, as well as related fields such as accounting and technology. Through its comprehensive library of professional publications, suite of industry-standard data applications, and in-depth seminars and conferences, SourceMedia (www.sourcemedia.com) offers its clients and subscribers a valuable and sophisticated range of products and services. About Celent LLCCelent, LLC is a research and advisory firm dedicated to helping financial institutions formulate comprehensive business and technology strategies. Celent publishes reports identifying trends and best practices in financial services technology and conducts consulting engagements for financial institutions looking to use technology to enhance existing business processes or launch new business strategies. With a team of internationally experienced analysts, Celent is uniquely positioned to offer strategic advice and market insights on a global basis. More information about Celent's insurance practice is available online at www.celent.com/insurance.asp Source: Insurance Networking News and Celent LLC

Philadelphia - For nearly two decades, consulting firms, technology companies, R&D-driven corporations and other knowledge-intensive organizations have made significant investments in "knowledge management" initiatives. These initiatives are intended to facilitate the capture and transfer of company expertise as a way to spur learning and innovation.But research by Wharton management professor Martine Haas and Morten Hansen, professor of entrepreneurship at INSEAD, indicates that knowledge sharing efforts often fail to result in improved task outcomes inside organizations—and may even hurt project performance. However, organizations that plan carefully before launching a knowledge-sharing initiative, and support these efforts along the way, have a much better chance of adding value, the researchers say.

Washington - A notice published in the Federal Register seeking comments for a broad Treasury Department review of financial regulation is biased in favor of federal regulation of insurance and foreign business entities, according to the Alexandria, Va.-based National Association of Professional Insurance Agents (PIA).The specifics of the Nov. 11, 2007 published notice "raise critical concerns about the direction, purpose and intent of the review process itself, concerns we are compelled to address directly to you at this time," states PIA in a letter to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.

Miami - To deliver on the commitment to promote ecosystem-based innovation and collaboration, Walldorf, Germany-based SAP AG announced that the industry value network (IVN) for insurance will join 13 existing industry-focused IVNs hosted by SAP. The IVN for insurance will bring together independent software vendors, system integrators and SAP to co-innovate with insurers to help them improve profits, customer relationships and their competitive position through effective applications and a flexible IT environment. Members of the IVN for insurance will initially focus on issues facing property/casualty insurers in the North American market in the areas of claims, customer service, sales and distribution, and underwriting and policy processing.Plans for the IVN for insurance currently include key innovative partners in the insurance industry: Adobe, CGI, IBM, MSG, Opentext, Planetsoft and Skywire. The partners and SAP will initially collaborate to bring together industry expertise, knowledge and capabilities in a multi-vendor ecosystem to address the high-value business needs of customers. Customers will be invited to participate in the second phase of the IVN.

Louisville, Ky. — SHPS Inc., a Louisville, Ky.-based health advocacy and health benefits solutions provider, expanded its partnership with Delta Health Systems, a Stockton, Calif.-based independent third-party administrator (TPA), to offer SHPS' integrated care management solution. The solution is designed to enable TPAs to integrate utilization management, case management, disease management and wellness programs into a seamless medical management experience.

Armonk, N.Y. and Ottawa - IBM and Cognos have entered into a definitive agreement for IBM to acquire Cognos, a publicly held company based in Ottawa, in an all-cash transaction at a price of approximately $5 billion or $58 per share, with a net transaction value of $4.9 billion. The acquisition is subject to Cognos shareholder approval, regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. It is expected to close in the first quarter of 2008.The acquisition of Cognos supports IBM's Information on Demand strategy, a cross-company initiative announced on Feb. 16, 2006 that combines IBM's strength in information integration, content and data management and business consulting services to unlock the business value of information, according to IBM. Integrating Cognos, the 23rd IBM acquisition in support of its Information on Demand strategy, will enable new business insights to be delivered to a broader set of people across an organization, beyond the traditional users of business intelligence.

Needham, Mass. – New research from Needham, Mass.-based TowerGroup Inc. finds that in today’s global business model, electronic commerce is no longer a “nice-to-have” capability, but a necessity, yet the insurance industry continues to hold onto the traditional paper-based, wet-signature contract execution model.

Los Angeles – In the 1980s, Ronald Katz secured approximately 50 patents related to what would otherwise be considered a rather simple solution: technology that links a telephone to a computer. And if you operate a call center that uses telephony integration or interactive voice applications patented by Ronald A. Katz Technology Licensing L.P., you are probably familiar with the power of his technology—and the might of the licensing behind it.

Westlake, Ohio - UK-based Wilton Re signed a multi-million dollar administrative services agreement recently with Westlake, Ohio-based BPO provider Antares Management Solutions and GeniSys.

Brookfield, Wis. — Fiserv Inc. is selling substantially all of its health businesses to Minneapolis-based UnitedHealthcare, a business of United Health Group, one of America’s largest health care companies, for $775 million in cash, the company reports.The Brookfield, Wis., provider of information technology services to the financial and insurance industries worldwide, said that the transaction is anticipated to close by the end of 2007 or in the first quarter of 2008, subject to required regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.

Much like soccer, the concept of bank insurance or "bancassurance" enjoys a much higher profile outside the United States than within.While the idea of banks offering insurance products is not new, in much of the world, the practice is, and has only taken off in the past two decades. In parts of Europe, such as France, Italy and Spain, the adoption of bank insurance has grown steadily as consumers have become accustomed to their bank as a distribution channel for insurance products.

JACKSON LAUNCHES BENEFITS CENTERThe Living Benefits Selection Center (LBSC) from Jackson National Life Insurance Co., Lansing, Mich., is designed to enable registered representatives to get instant, client-approved output based on a client's profile information after answering a handful of qualifying questions. The tool also features multimedia presentations, fact sheets and side-by-side comparisons of Jackson's optional living benefits.

Chicago – Citing increased competition and falling rates, insurance brokerage Aon Corp., said yesterday that it will cut 2,700 jobs, or approximately 6% of its workforce, as part of a restructuring plan.The broker made the announcement as part of its release of its 3rd quarter financial results.

David Sampson, the newly appointed president and chief executive officer of the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI), a Des Plaines, Ill., group comprising more than 1,000 insurance company members, outlined his vision for the association at the organization’s annual meeting this week. More than 1,600 CEOs and senior executives from PCI member companies and global reinsurers participated in the 2007 meeting in Boston, setting records for attendance at the event.

Southern California — Two major insurers are going the extra mile to help their policyholders affected by wildfires by deploying mobile response vehicles to the disaster area. Los Angeles–based Farmers Insurance Group of Cos. is helping thousands of its customers as they file claims and begin returning to their normal lives. Farmers is trying to make it as easy as possible to file a claim by continuing to offer mobile command centers and its Mobile Catastrophe Claims Bus to serve the most customers before they are allowed to return home.