Data and information management

Microsoft and HP today announced a $250 million technology development partnership and a series of software/hardware/service rollouts that HP CEO Mark Hurd called "the deepest level of collaboration and integration" in his company's history.

Though relatively unfazed by the financial crisis, a continuing soft market will present problems for property/casualty insurers, a new report finds.

After declining 8.2% in 2009, Forrester predicts IT spending in the U.S. will grow a healthy 6.6% in 2010 to $568 billion. Global IT spending, which fell 8.9% in 2009, is expected to rise even further, by 8.1% in 2010 to more than $1.6 billion.

Business analytics software as a service is expected to grow three times as fast as the total business analytics software market in the 5-year period between 2008 and 2013, according a new study from market researcher IDC.

A.M. Best, Fitch Ratings, Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor's announced ratings updates. The following are some of the most recent:

Two insurers prove that SOA has finally reached a stage of maturity that allows it to address real business problems.

The amount of data we have is growing faster than our ability to store it, and that spells trouble for enterprises.

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.

The good news is there are signs of economic improvement. The bad news is A.M. Best is maintaining its negative rating outlook on the life/health industry.

With 2009 reviews and prognostications thankfully behind us, it's time to get our feet back on the ground and get back to listening to our readers.

An Aberdeen Group study of data management for business intelligence finds a wide gap between best in class companies and the industry average, especially in the areas of data cleansing, search query optimization and master data management (MDM).

Trust representing homeowners asks for compensation for damages due to mold exposure.

Gov. Patterson announces his intention to revive a state-based reinsurance network.

Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Aetna and WellPoint are the first of a handful of insurers expected to certify for compliance with the initiative in Q1 2010.

Insurance technology vendor fills an in-house gap in a unique category of master data management.

S&P withdraws its A+ FSR of Nationwide Life Insurance Co. of America and Nationwide Life & Annuity Co. of America, and Moody's assigns ratings to the multi-issuer, multi-seniority shelf registration of The Travelers Cos. Inc.

As usual, the federal government chooses a sledge hammer to swat a fly, which means we all get squashed.

With the change from Bermuda to Ireland, the global insurance broker expects to see economic benefits that will help ensure continued global competitiveness.

The MGA’s new business, Goss Reinsurance Brokers Inc., will operate as a specialty reinsurance broker for medium to small insurance carriers, captives, self-insurance funds, risk retention groups and other similar specialty insurance operations.

Carriers increasingly are using e-learning techniques to boost efficiencies, improve claim results and better serve both employees and agents.