Benefit Solutions in all shapes and styles. AIG is the world's leading international insurance and financial services organization, with operations in approximately 130 countries and jurisdictions. AIG American General is a leading employee benefit insurance company that deals with employer-funded, voluntary and supplemental products. We are currently looking for you to join our sales technology team located in Houston, TX. Project Manager Key Responsibilities:
To qualify, you must have a college degree with at least 3-5 years of experience with demonstrated project management experience within a worksite environment. The candidate must have knowledge of electronic enrollment systems and enrollment processes and have the ability to communicate and “think” like a customer for both technical and non-technical clients internally and externally. For further consideration, please submit your resume to resumes@aigag.com with the position name in the subject line or forward a copy of your resume to AIG American General 3600 Route 66, Mailstop 4-A, Neptune, NJ 07753 or fax to 732-922-7149. Comprehensive Benefit Package with an excellent Compensation Program. For more information about AIG, please visit the AIG Corporate Website at: http://aignet.aig.com/hr/careers.
1. Fiserv Survey Finds Insurance Companies Seek Innovative Technology for Improved Effectiveness Customers expect simpler processes and carriers are looking for ways to make it happen July 02, 2007 09:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time BROOKFIELD, Wis.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISV), a leading provider of technology solutions, announced today the results of its online survey on property and casualty (P&C) insurance technology. Leading insurance carriers have become adept at dealing with customers and business partners online. However, virtually all carriers recognize that not only is there room for improvement but that they must continuously improve their underlying technology to better serve their customers and enhance their competitive position. The results from the Fiserv survey identify critical business needs and the projects and technologies insurance carriers have underway to address them. Seventy-five percent of respondents agreed that one of their next three large-scale projects would involve their core system for maintaining insurance coverage information. Access to complete and immediate information allows the carrier to respond more effectively and efficiently. Sixty-seven percent said that agency interface or comparative rating would be on their list of projects planned. Comparative rating enables agents to compare premium costs for various insurance carriers to get the best deal for the consumer. Billing and claims projects to make things smoother for the customer tied at 42 percent. Respondents noted that the top three most important technologies for their organization included a data access layer (67 percent) that allows easier availability of decision-making information, business process management (46 percent) to streamline processes for highest efficiency, and Java technology (42 percent). “The survey results show an increasing focus by P&C insurers on effectiveness as well as efficiency,” said Todd Eyler, chief technology officer of Fiserv Insurance. “The most important technology focus is now on data accessibility so companies offer the best insurance products for their markets and make better decisions using business intelligence/analytics applications. P&C insurers want to improve effectiveness in key areas like their pricing and rating approaches, their customer segmentation and marketing approaches, and their underwriting and claims outcomes. This level of focus on data and analytics is a new emphasis for most P&C insurers.” Survey responses indicated that improved customer service, enhanced business management and ease of conducting business with a carrier were the most important business requirements for innovation. “P&C insurers continue to focus on simplifying their operations between their customers and agents and their technology infrastructure,” said Gary Sherne, president of P&C Systems Solutions for Fiserv Insurance. “This focus is driving the interest in web-based rating and more efficient information sharing between insurance carriers and agents for prompt customer service.” Sherne added, “Greater efficiency and effectiveness are Fiserv’s goals as well. As has been the case for more than 20 years, we continue to identify key areas of focus to expand and enhance our capabilities to provide even greater value to our clients, helping them to compete more effectively and improve their underlying technology.” For more information or to request a copy of survey results, go to “What’s New” at www.fiservinsurance.com. About Fiserv Insurance Hundreds of Life, P&C, Health, and Reinsurance carriers, managing general agents, and administrators rely on Fiserv for innovative insurance technology, professional services, and outsourcing solutions. Fiserv solutions include insurance policy and claims administration, underwriting, rating, advanced billing and collections, point-of-sale technology and straight-through processing solutions. In addition, more than 3,000 clients use the company’s market-leading financial and compliance solutions. Fiserv can be found on the Internet at www.fiservinsurance.com. About Fiserv Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), a Fortune 500 company, provides information management systems and services to the financial and insurance industries. Leading services include transaction processing, outsourcing, business process outsourcing (BPO), software and systems solutions. The company serves more than 18,000 clients worldwide and is the leading provider of core processing solutions for U.S. banks, credit unions and thrifts. Fiserv was ranked the largest provider of information technology services to the financial services industry worldwide in the 2004, 2005 and 2006 FinTech 100 surveys. Headquartered in Brookfield, Wis., Fiserv reported more than $4.5 billion in total revenue for 2006. For more information, please visit www.fiserv.com. Contacts Fiserv Insurance Eddie Jones, 803-476-1468 Senior VP, Marketing & Product Management Eddie.jones@fiserv.com or Fiserv Corporate Contact: Lori Stafford, 262-879-5130 Assistant Vice President Corp. External Comm. Lori.stafford@fiserv.com or Fiserv Insurance Lori Soppe, 319-398-0548 Vice President-Public Relations Lori.Soppe@fiserv.com 2. FIMA 2007, Europe’s premier financial data management conference, takes place between the 5th and 7th of November at the Olympia Conference Centre, London. More than 350 senior financial data practitioners will meet to discuss key initiatives and future projects to enhance data quality and reduce operational risk across their businesses. With senior speakers from the likes of Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Morgan Stanley, Barclays Capital and Credit Suisse, nowhere else will heads of data projects be able to hear so many leading case studies and strategies across three value driven days. Leading Speakers Include: John Bottega, Chief Data Officer, CITIGROUP Peter Lunding, Chief Information Officer, NORDEA MARKETS Sally Hinds, Global Head of Enterprise Data Management, HSBC Jim Perry, Global Head Reference Data, GOLDMAN SACHS John Carroll, VP, Product Data Services, MERRILL LYNCH Philip Diggens, Head of Reference Data IT, CREDIT SUISSE Valérie Malaval, Global Head of Data Management, AXA INVESTMENT MANAGERS Ian Webster, Global Head of Market Data, BARCLAYS GLOBAL INVESTORS Graeme Muirhead, Managing Director Technology, DAIWA SECURITIES David Kane, Senior Vice President WSS Securities and Operations, JP MORGAN CHASE Karen Broadbent, Head of Data Quality and Remediation, UBS Jim McCarthy Vice President, Capital Markets Architecture & Engineering, DEUTSCHE BANK Supported by the industry’s leading solution providers, FIMA has established itself as the key meeting place for leading software and technology companies to showcase their solutions which can assist in the key data objectives of both the buy side and the sell side. Leading suppliers sponsoring FIMA 2007 include; London Stock Exchange, Ernest & Young, HP, Reuters and Avox/Deutsche Borse. FIMA 2007 is fully supported by leading investment banks and asset managers worldwide and speakers from both sides of the industry will deliver keynote presentations on their successes and visions for the future of data management. For more information contact Nicholas Dowdeswell, Marketing Manager, FIMA 2007 at WBR on +44 (0) 20 7368- 9413 or email at Nicholas.Dowdeswell@wbr.co.uk Nicholas Dowdeswell WBR- Anchor House, 15-19 Britten Street, London, SW3 3QL T: +44 (0) 207 368 9467 F: +44 (0) 207 368 9401 E: Nicholas.Dowdeswell@wbr.co.uk W: www.wbr.co.uk 3. PSS World Medical Announces 5% Equity Investment in and Exclusive Distribution Agreement With Athena health Unique Combination of Market-Leading Companies Expected to Accelerate Use of Technology in the U.S. Physician Market July 02, 2007 10:30 AM Eastern Daylight Time JACKSONVILLE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PSS World Medical, Inc. (NASDAQ GS:PSSI) announced today that it has made a $22.5 million equity investment, approximately 5% of current outstanding shares, in athenahealth, Inc., a leading provider of internet-based healthcare information technology and business services to physician practices. The Company purchased shares of the Watertown, Massachusetts-based athenahealth, Inc. from existing shareholders. Additionally, the Company’s Physician Business, Physician Sales & Service, has entered into a two-year exclusive distribution agreement with athenahealth, Inc. to market its web-based practice management, billing and electronic medical record (EMR) solutions to the U.S. physician market. athenahealth will also provide enhanced product and customer support services to the Company’s physician customers. Future product developments are expected to integrate customer ordering and inventory management functionality into athenahealth’s existing service offering. David A. Smith, Chairman and CEO of PSS World Medical, Inc., commented, “PSS and athenahealth have joined to deliver an innovative and low-cost revenue cycle solution to alleviate the complexity of insurance companies’ reimbursement to physicians. Additionally, athenahealth’s new EMR system goes beyond automation to also eliminate all paperwork generated from vendors outside of the physician office.” David M. Bronson, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of PSS World Medical, Inc., commented, “The investment we are making in athenahealth will more closely align the objective of the two companies in serving the physician market, and will also allow our shareholders to more fully participate in the success we anticipate in working together with athenahealth.” athenahealth, Inc. is a leading provider of internet-based business services for physician practices. The Company’s service offerings are based on proprietary web-native practice electronic medical record (EMR) software, a continuously updated payer knowledge-base and integrated back-office service operations. For more information visit, www athenahealth.com. PSS World Medical, Inc. is a national distributor of medical products to physicians and elder care providers through its two business units. Since its inception in 1983, PSS has become a leader in the two market segments that it serves with a focused market approach to customer services, a consultative sales force, strategic acquisitions, strong arrangements with product manufacturers and a unique culture of performance. All statements in this release that are not historical facts, including, but not limited to, statements regarding anticipated growth in revenue, gross and operating margins, and earnings, statements regarding the Company’s current business strategy, the Company’s ability to complete and integrate acquired businesses and generate acceptable rates of return, the Company’s projected sources and uses of cash, and the Company’s plans for future development and operations, are based upon current expectations. Specifically, forward-looking statements in this Press Release include, without limitation, the Company’s expected results in GAAP EPS, revenue, operating incomes and operating margins for continuing operations for both the consolidated company and for each of its businesses in fiscal year 2008 and in future periods; the expected operational cash flow in fiscal year 2008 and in future periods ; the ability to sustain revenue growth and expected growth rates of the marketing programs in its Physician and Elder Care Businesses; the Company’s decision to not participate in the sale of influenza vaccine in fiscal year 2008; expected pharmaceutical product sales in Florida and all other of the 50 U.S. states in fiscal year 2008 and in future periods; expected sales growth from revenues derived from home care, hospice and assisted living customer, expected efficiency, customer acceptance and profitability derived from the Company’s global product sourcing strategy, expected revenue, income and profitability derived from the Company’s strategy to invest and participate in the marketing and sales of healthcare information technology products and services (HCIT), the expectation for acquired assets to meet performance, integration, revenue and profitability assumptions and targets, as well as other expectations of growth and financial and operational performance. These statements are forward ‧looking in nature and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially. Among the factors that could cause results to differ materially are the following: pricing and customer credit quality pressures; the loss of any of our distributorship agreements and our reliance on relationships with our suppliers and vendors; our reliance on a limited number of chain business elder care customers; the availability of sufficient capital to finance the Company’s business plans on terms satisfactory to the Company; lower revenue and earnings that may result from competition; the ability of the Company to adequately defend or reach a settlement on outstanding litigation matters and investigations involving the Company or its management; changes in labor, equipment and capital costs; changes in legislation and regulations affecting the Company’s business, such as the Medicare cliffs, changes in malpractice insurance rates and tort reform; future acquisitions or strategic partnerships; general business, competitive and economic factors and conditions; and other factors described from time to time in the Company’s reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Many of these factors are outside the control of the Company. The Company wishes to caution readers not to place undue reliance on any such forward ‧looking statements, which statements are made pursuant to the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and, as such, speak only as of the date made. The Company also wishes to caution readers that it undertakes no duty or is under no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. (NASDAQ GS:PSSI) - G 4. Bain Capital Deploys ClariFI’s ModelStation to Accelerate their Quantitative Strategy Research ClariFI is a newly acquired business of Standard & Poor’s Capital IQ NEW YORK, NY, July 2, 2007 – ClariFI™, a Standard & Poor’s Capital IQ business and leading provider of software and services focused on quantitative portfolio management and research, today announced that Bain Capital has deployed ModelStation™ in their Absolute Return Capital (ARC) affiliate as a way to accelerate their quantitative strategy research. ModelStation was chosen for its robust alpha research, backtesting, and portfolio construction capabilities, and ARC will leverage the technology to develop and manage equity strategies that meet their performance and risk requirements. ARC has standardized their quantitative portfolio management operations onto ModelStation, and they have integrated it with their proprietary database and third party optimization technology and risk models. “With ModelStation we can develop and test our factor construction and portfolio strategies more efficiently,” said Sylvia Han, who heads equity research and portfolio management at ARC. “The openness of the system also allows us to leverage the investments we have made in proprietary databases and other third party tools. Overall, I’d say that ModelStation is making our lives a lot easier and supports our goal to generate superior returns.” “We are excited to add such a prestigious firm to our client list,” said Donovan Goodreau, Vice President of Business Development at ClariFI. “We look forward to a long-term relationship with Bain where our products and services are able to give them a competitive advantage in the marketplace.” About Bain Capital and Absolute Return Capital Established in 1984, Bain Capital is one of the world's leading private investment firms with approximately $40 billion in assets under management. Bain Capital's family of funds includes private equity, venture capital, public equity, and leveraged debt assets. Our competitive advantage is grounded in a people-intensive, value-added investment approach that enables the firm to deliver industry-leading returns for its investors. Absolute Return Capital (ARC) is the global macro affiliate of Bain Capital. ARC manages assets in fixed income, equity, commodity, and currency markets to produce attractive risk-adjusted returns while maintaining low correlation to traditional and other alternative investments. The team employs a research-intensive, systematic approach to investing in these markets. ARC commenced trading in May 2004. About ClariFI and Capital IQ ClariFI™, a Standard & Poor’s Capital IQ business, provides software and services focused exclusively on helping quantitative portfolio managers and researchers decrease the time it takes to research, test, and put into production their alpha generating strategies. ClariFI counts four of the top five largest investment managers in the world, hedge funds of all sizes, and proprietary trading desks at leading brokerage firms and banks as its clients. ClariFI’s clients experience reduced operational risk, decreased time-to-market for their strategies, and a significant competitive advantage. Additional information about ClariFI can be found at http://www.clarifi.com. Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's, provides high-impact information and workflow solutions to over 1,800 leading financial institutions, advisory firms, and corporations. Its solutions are based on the Capital IQ Platform, a unique combination of global private and public capital market data and technology that enables end-users to draw deep market insights, generate better ideas, leverage relationships, and simplify workflow. Clients can deploy the Capital IQ Platform either as a standalone solution or seamlessly integrate its components into existing business applications and portals via systems integration and data feeds. For more information, please visit Capital IQ's web site at www.capitaliq.com. Standard & Poor’s is a division of the McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE:MHP). Press Contacts Eric Soderberg ClariFI 617-314-6938 esoderberg@clarifi.com Michael Privitera Standard & Poor’s 212-438-6679 Michael_Privitera@standardandpoors.com Eric Soderberg Vice President, Marketing ClariFI™ Office: 617-314-6938 Cell: 617-312-6754 Client Support: 888-417-0664 www.clarifi.com 5. Highly Anticipated Address Change Tool Available - NIPR's ACR Adds Uniformity and Cuts Processing Time KANSAS CITY, Mo. (July 2, 2007) - The National Insurance Producer Registry (NIPR) is pleased to announce the release of the Address Change Request (ACR), its newest online innovation designed to ease the burden of processing producer address changes. With more than 2 million licensed individuals holding more than 5 million licenses, producers and state insurance departments process hundreds of thousands address change requests annually. The old process to change addresses differed from state-to-state and often involved time consuming paper forms and manual entry. With ACR, a producer can leverage technology to electronically complete address changes for multiple states using only one form. The NIPR will not charge transaction fees for this service. “ACR has been the most anticipated product offering from NIPR because of the tremendous time savings it will offer state insurance departments and licensed producers,” said NIPR Executive Director Maryellen Waggoner. "The ACR is an important piece of the producer licensing puzzle and a pioneering development in support of the National Association of Insurance Commissioner's uniformity initiatives." Thirty-five jurisdictions are currently available. Producers and authorized users can view the complete list of participating states, and submit individual producer address changes through the NIPR Web site, www.NIPR.com. NIPR plans to have all 50 states and the District of Columbia accessible by the end of the year. About NIPR Incorporated in October 1996, the National Insurance Producer Registry (NIPR) is a non-profit affiliate of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). NIPR developed and implemented the Producer Database (PDB) and Electronic Appointments/Terminations (formerly PIN). NIPR is governed by a board of directors structured to include seven members representing the NAIC and six industry members representing a cross section of the insurance industry. For more information, visit NIPR on the Web at: http://www.NIPR.com.
Insurance Media Association's
2007 Annual Meeting
“Messaging is history. The new world of marketing
is all about engagement. It's about creating conversations with
customers that build long-term relationships and deliver value on both
sides. Marketers need to become content providers.”
- - Paul Gillin, Author, “How to Survive and Thrive in the New World of
Social Media, The New Influencers, A Marketer’s Guide to the New Social
Media”
This
October 17th the Insurance Media Association offers a unique opportunity to
learn what web 2.0 means to and for insurance media professionals.
Web
2.0 (Coined by the O’Reilly Emerging Technology Group) is a
communication form relating to what is now the next generation of
digital interactivity and social networking that includes:
user-generated content, podcasting, blogs, wikis, virtual communities,
email, search, telephony, mobile devices, RSS Feeds and taggers. These
are just a few of the identifying labels and innovations that are being
used and considered.
Insurance Media 2.0 will be the Insurance Media Association’s 5th
Annual Meeting to be held in New York on October 17th, and
will offer professional training critical to an insurance media
professional's career and ability to deliver performance for their
employer or client.
The
goal of this conference is to elevate awareness. As the Internet
continues to evolve, insurance media professionals need to be prepared
to provide answers to big picture questions and issues that arise from a
discussion of next generation media options.
There is
little choice but to master the
strategies and tactics of new media. This conference will
bring together the industry leaders and top
academics in one place so that you can learn how to plan and direct your
projects into a successful outcome.
Registration Fee $145.00
The
registration fee includes all sessions, continental breakfast and lunch.
Who
should attend?
This
conference is designed for Insurance industry professionals that are
involved in the areas of: PR, advertising, branding & marketing.
Job
categories include: insurance company corporate PR personnel, agency
reps, insurance media reporters, journalists and free-lance writers,
advertising managers, branding mangers, marketing managers, and company
principals who do much of their own media work.
www.insurancemedia.net
6.
E-Z Data’s DataXchange Online Delivers Value to Growing Number of
Carriers and their Agencies
PASADENA, Calif.--(BUSINESS
WIRE)--E-Z Data, Inc., a leading provider of front-office
systems for insurance companies, general agents, banks,
investment dealers, agents, and financial advisors, announced
today that additional carriers have been added to its fast
growing community of DataXchange™ Online subscribers. West Coast
Life, Sun Life Financial, and The Phoenix Companies, Inc.
recently joined other top carriers using DataXchange Online, a
data aggregation solution for the insurance brokerage industry,
to electronically provide new business status, policy, and
commission information to their independent distribution
channels. “At West Coast Life, we put a
high priority on delivering the highest possible service to our
agencies,” said Doug Adam, President, West Coast Life. “Our use
of DataXchange Online supports this goal by giving us the
ability to push current underwriting activity and pending case
status to our distributors’ administration systems. Providing
this visibility significantly reduces the number of calls and
emails required by both parties to manage applications through
the approval process.” "One of our key strategies is to
deliver excellent New Business service," said Michele Van Leer,
Senior Vice President & General Manager, Individual Insurance,
Sun Life Financial. "A key to providing this service is to keep
the lines of communication with our customers open. DataXchange
Online provides our distribution partners with electronic
underwriting and case status updates. This electronic push
communication keeps everyone informed during the new business
process. Overall, this regular and frequent level of
communication helps us reduce the cycle time for our customers
from application received to policy mailed." DataXchange Online is used by
more than 45 insurance companies to exchange new business and
policy information with over 200 distributors nationwide.
Designed specifically to meet the insurance brokerage industry’s
unique data-integration needs, DataXchange Online provides a
managed and secure service for moving critical application- and
policy-related information among insurance carriers, information
service providers, third-party distributors, and insurance
agents and advisors. DataXchange Online facilitates the
many-to-many trading partner relationships associated with
independent distribution by allowing each subscriber to
electronically exchange data with every one of its many trading
partners via a single interface. DataXchange Online is
compatible with ACORD and NAILBA data standards and requires no
proprietary software in the carrier’s data center. About E-Z Data, Inc. E-Z Data, Inc., established in
1986, provides proven web- and Windows®-based practice
management, agency management, and relationship management
solutions to leading financial services organizations and top
industry professionals worldwide. E-Z Data solutions are used by
more than 100,000 advisors worldwide and over 50 leading
financial services companies, including Ameriprise Financial,
HSBC, MetLife, National Financial Partners, Prudential, and
Securian. The company’s domain expertise, coupled with mature,
industry-specific business solutions, results in consistently
successful customer implementations. For more information, visit
www.ezdata.com. Contacts E-Z Data, Inc. CaroleAnne Hardy, 626-585-3505 caroleanne@ezdata.com 7.
Secure Computing Chosen By Swiss Re To Mitigate Digital Risk World-Leading Global Reinsurer
Uses Webwasher to Provide Web Gateway Security for Protection
Against Digital Threats SAN JOSE, CA, June 26,
2007—Secure Computing Corporation (NASDAQ: SCUR), a leading
enterprise gateway security company, today announced that Swiss
Re, the world’s leading global reinsurer, has deployed the
Secure Computing Webwasher® solution to protect against digital
threats and ensure regulatory policy compliance. Swiss Re has chosen Webwasher to
further strengthen its strong security policies and practices at
the gateway, adeptly filtering Internet traffic, efficiently
blocking increasingly sophisticated inbound threats such as
spyware, phishing and other malware or fraud, and guarding
against outbound threats such as sensitive data leaks.
Webwasher is the industry's first
and only reputation-based Web gateway security solution. It
delivers reputation-based URL filtering for corporate users
surfing the Web, and bi-directional protection for enterprise
networks. It incorporates global intelligence from the company's
industry-leading reputation system, TrustedSource™, which
provides source-based reputation scores for web page content,
messages, attachments and images. This enables organizations to
detect and deter security threats often well in advance of
danger. Prior to deploying Webwasher,
Swiss Re had a security IT environment comprising of multiple
point products, which needed to be upgraded to provide an
increased level of protection or flexibility in an ever-changing
security environment. “The Webwasher technology and
appliance met our requirements best,” said Christian Bai, Senior
Systems Engineer at Swiss Re. “The appliance offers the highest
level of flexibility because of its ability to define very
granular rule sets and enforce them.” The deployment of Webwasher was
managed by Swiss security integrator InfoTrust AG with knowledge
transfer being carried out by Secure Computing’s sales
engineers. “The change went through completely unnoticed by our
users,” concluded Christian Bai. “In my opinion that’s the best
we could have achieved. Ever since the deployment, our Webwasher
appliances run smoothly and fulfill all our expectations.” “The Internet is an enormously
rich resource for content and communications — as long as the
right security measures are taken,” said Scott Montgomery, vice
president of Product Management, Secure Computing. “As the
threat landscape grows and evolves, mitigating inadvertent and
intentional digital risks is critical for businesses and
Webwasher is the strongest option.” About Webwasher Webwasher is a complete Web
security gateway appliance, providing best of breed
bi-directional protection against Web 2.0 security threats. It
protects organizations from malware, data leaks, Internet misuse
and related issues, while ensuring policy enforcement,
regulatory compliance and a productive application environment.
Webwasher is the number one rated solution on the market
offering best of breed content security. It features:
Reputation-based URL filtering
and advanced protection powered by TrustedSource Protection
against targeted malware attacks hidden in web traffic
Enforcement of security policy on encrypted SSL traffic
Protection against data leaks on all web protocols A high
performance proxy for enterprise deployments Rich graphical
reporting on all appliance functions Appliances “sized to fit”
the needs of organizations large and small As with all Secure Computing
products, Webwasher can be managed from a single, centralized
web interface, and the Webwasher Content Reporter offers
enterprise-class reporting across all products and most gateway
cache appliances and firewalls. About Secure Computing:
Secure Computing (NASDAQ:SCUR), a
leading provider of enterprise gateway security, delivers a
comprehensive set of solutions that help customers protect their
critical Web, email and network assets. Over half the Fortune 50
and Fortune 500 are part of our more than 20,000 global
customers in 106 countries, supported by a worldwide network of
more than 2,300 partners. The company is headquartered in San
Jose, Calif., and has offices worldwide. For more information,
see http://www.securecomputing.com. 8.
iDashboards Reports Substantial Growth in 2007
Vertical Market and Product
Rollouts Success Keys to Growth TROY, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--iDashboards
(www.iDashboards.com), the leader in Business Intelligence
dashboard software, today announced that in the first half of
2007 the company has recorded year to date revenue growth of
510% over Q1 and Q2 in 2006. This growth was fueled by
substantial traction in the financial services and healthcare
segments as well as an aggressive build out of its channel
program. In the past three months iDashboards has also signed
over 100 new customers. “iDashboards is off to a
fantastic start to the year,” said Shadan Malik, CEO and founder
of iDashboards. “Not only are we on track to increase revenues
significantly in 2007, we also have solidified our presence in
the vertical markets of financial services, healthcare and
manufacturing. We attribute this success to our continued
product innovation as well as our people, of course.”
Highlights of iDashboards 2007
performance include: Significant success in the
financial services and insurance market: iDashboards announced
its largest deal to date this year with Navy Federal Credit
Union, the largest credit union in the world. The organization
chose iDashboards for its patented dashboard platform that is
highly user-friendly, robust and enterprise-class to meet the
needs of several thousand users. As for the insurance market, it
has signed deals with Swinton Insurance, Erie Insurance and
Trinity Insurance. Continued growth in healthcare
segment after signing deals with Affinity Health Systems,
Supplemental Healthcare, St. John Health and The California
Heart Center Foundation. Explosive growth in channels
through VARs and OEM Partners: iDashboards continues to be the
vendor of choice for ISVs as the OEM partnerships have grown
300% over 2006. “Our growth in the OEM space has been truly
amazing” says David Ferguson, Director of Strategic
Partnerships, “because of our enterprise capabilities, time to
market, and flexible programs, iDashboards is being integrated
at some of the largest software companies in the world to small
vertical niche vendors and everyone in between.” iDashboards'
international presence continues to expand with partners now in
every continent. Product upgrade: iDashboards
continued to enhance its product portfolio by introducing
advancements in version 5.0 that included connectivity to Excel
spreadsheets, customization for users, and an iDashboards
portlet. iDashboards also enhanced its visual capabilities with
full geographic support. As a result, data can be represented in
maps by county, state, country, continent, and/or region with
custom-built maps. The upgraded version also features enhanced
visual intelligence through an extensive chart library now
including bubble charts, configurable speedometer dials, metrics
chart with option to represent Euro symbol (€) and new
transparent legends. Recognition: iDashboards was also
selected as a CRN Emerging Tech vendor. The list captures
companies that are delivering high margins for solution
providers with innovative and easy-to-use technology that
undercuts industry giants. About iDashboards Through its award-winning
engineering and patented software, iDashboards helps companies
leverage information assets through visually rich, real-time and
personalized business intelligence dashboards to analyze, track,
and drill-down through a wealth of information. Global
enterprises such as Lockheed Martin, Navy Federal Credit Union,
Unisys, ADP, and Georgia Pacific are making quicker,
well-informed business decisions with the help of iDashboards.
The company is privately held and headquartered in Troy,
Michigan. To find out more about iDashboards’ solutions, please
call (248) 952-0840 or visit www.idashboards.com. Contacts LEWIS PR Vanessa Apicerno, 617-226-8840 idashboards@lewispr.com
9.
Farmers Insurance Life Policies Now eSigned with Interlink Electronics
Solution
Agents capture customer
esignatures on life insurance policies for a true end-to-end
electronic process. CAMARILLO, Calif.--(BUSINESS
WIRE)--Interlink Electronics (Pink Sheets:LINK) esignature
solution empowers Farmers Insurance to capture legally-binding
esignatures on life insurance policies. Using the IntegriSign®
esignature software and ePad™-ink, Farmers agents can
immediately submit the completed and esigned forms to
head-office for processing. With more than 8,000 now being
utilized within Farmers, this completely electronic solution is
one of the industry’s largest and most successful
implementations of electronic signatures to date. “Now that the transaction begins
and ends electronically, we can fully leverage our electronic
forms presentation and processing,” explains Mike Keller, Vice
President Life Marketing with Farmers Insurance. “We no longer
have to revert back to paper every time a signature is needed.
Today, we are realizing the benefits of more accurate and
efficient policy processing as well as an enhanced customer
experience.” According to Mr. Rod Vesling,
Vice-President of Sales and Marketing with Interlink
Electronics, many organizations are looking to esignatures as
the enabling technology for straight-through-processing.
“Looking out across the industry, this is an excellent
representation of the priority insurance companies are now
placing on electronic signatures,” continued Mr. Vesling. “In,
fact, a recent report by Robert E. Nolan Co., found that 95% of
Life and Annuity Industry respondents named esignatures as a
technology strategy they were very likely or likely to
implement. We were pleased to work very closely with Farmers in
developing this custom integration to meet their specific
requirements.” Interlink eSignature Technology
Farmers Insurance selected
Interlink’s IntegriSign® e-signature software and ePad-ink for
signature capture. IntegriSign encrypts and permanently embeds
the signature in the document along with other signature data
such as date and time. Although IntegriSign works out-of-the-box
with Adobe® Acrobat® as well as Microsoft Office documents, the
software developer Kit (SDK) can also be utilized to develop
custom applications that meet an organization’s particular needs
as was the case with Farmers Insurance. The ePad-Ink is an LCD electronic
signature capture device that provides interactive visual
feedback and an ergonomic design for ease-of-use and
true-to-life signature quality. Information such as name, time,
date and affirmation text can be displayed for greater signing
context. And the ePad-ink’s ability to capture the biometric
information associated with the individual’s signature (X and Y
coordinates, signing velocity and pressure) ensures the
signature cannot be repudiated. About Interlink Electronics Inc.
Interlink Electronics, Inc. (Pink
Sheets:LINK) is a global leader in the design, development and
manufacture of human interface products and technologies.
Setting tomorrow’s standards for electronic signature and
e-notarization products, advanced remote controls and consumer
electronics interface solutions, Interlink has established
itself as one of the world’s leading innovators of intuitive
interface design. With more than 80 patents around the world
protecting its technologies and products, Interlink Electronics
serves a world-class customer-base from its corporate
headquarters in Camarillo, California and offices in Japan,
Taiwan, Hong Kong and China. http://www.interlinkelectronics.com
All registrations and trademarks
are properties of their respective owners. IntegriSign is a
registered trademark of Interlink Electronics, Inc. This release
contains forward-looking statements that involve a number of
risks and uncertainties. The following are among the factors
that could cause actual results to differ materially from the
forward-looking statements: business conditions and growth in
the electronics industry and general economies, both domestic
and international; lower than expected customer orders; delays
in receipt of orders or cancellation of orders; competitive
factors, including increased competition, new product offerings
by competitors and price pressures; the availability of third
party parts and supplies at reasonable prices; changes in
product mix; significant quarterly performance fluctuations due
to the receipt of a significant portion of customer orders and
product shipments in the last month of each quarter; problems or
delays in reporting our results of operations to the public; and
product shipment interruptions due to manufacturing problems.
The forward-looking statements contained in this document
regarding industry and review trends, industry product and
technology acceptance, product mix and future business
activities should be considered in light of these factors.
Contacts Interlink Electronics, Inc. Nathalie Benoit, 805-279-2750 nbenoit@interlinkelec.com Investor Relations: Michelle Lockard, 805-484-8855
ext. 114 mlockard@interlinkelectronics.com
10.
CSC Licenses Legal Solutions Suite to State Auto Insurance
P&C Carrier to Streamline Legal
Expense Management and Communications with Counsel EL SEGUNDO, Calif., June 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/
-- Computer Sciences Corporation (NYSE: CSC) today announced
that Columbus, Ohio-based property and casualty (P&C) insurer
State Auto Insurance Companies has licensed CSC's Legal
Solutions Suite (LSS). State Auto will use LSS to streamline its
management of legal expenses and improve communication with its
panel of more than 500 external attorneys. CSC's Legal Solutions Suite,
formerly known as Litigation Advisor, is Web-based legal
management software comprised of Legal e-Bill, Legal Bill
Analyzer and Legal Matter Manager, which can work together or as
individual components. LSS increases efficiency by improving
collaboration with outside legal counsel. It also simplifies the
client/attorney billing process and promotes consistency and
best practices. State Auto will link LSS with its claims
management component of CSC's Exceed P&C insurance
administration system. "CSC's technology will help us
simplify our litigation billing process and reinforce company
guidelines to our large panel of outside counsel, promoting best
practices in legal matters," said John Melvin, State Auto's vice
president and director of Claims. "The Legal Solutions Suite
should also streamline review of legal invoices for quicker
payment." A CSC client since 1975, State
Auto also licenses CSC software to manage policy administration,
improve claims consistency, and provide real-time policy and
claims access for its agents across the Internet.
"As a long-time member of CSC's
users' groups, State Auto will add a valued and experienced
voice to our Legal Solutions Suite customer community," said Ed
Charlton, vice president of the Claims, Legal and Self-Insured
Solutions organization within CSC's Financial Services Group.
"With the process improvements and cost review capabilities our
legal management software offers, clients such as State Auto can
see improved operational results for both their policyholders
and stakeholders." About State Auto The State Auto Insurance
Companies, headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, are engaged
primarily in writing personal and business insurance products
through approximately 3,300 independent insurance agencies in 29
states. The State Auto Companies include State Auto Financial
Corporation (NASDAQ:STFC), and State Automobile Mutual Insurance
Company, which is one of only 14 companies rated A+ (Superior)
by the A.M. Best Company every year since at least 1954. State
Auto is proud to be a Trusted Choice company partner. More
information is available online at StateAuto.com. About CSC Computer Sciences Corporation is
a leading global information technology (IT) services company.
CSC's mission is to provide customers in industry and government
with solutions crafted to meet their specific challenges and
enable them to profit from the advanced use of technology.
With approximately 79,000
employees, CSC provides innovative solutions for customers
around the world by applying leading technologies and CSC's own
advanced capabilities. These include systems design and
integration; IT and business process outsourcing; applications
software development; Web and application hosting; and
management consulting. Headquartered in El Segundo, Calif., CSC
reported revenue of $14.9 billion for the 12 months ended March
30, 2007. For more information, visit the company's Web site at
http://www.csc.com.
11.
CSC Signs BPO Contract Extension With Swiss Re
CSC to Provide P&C Commercial
Insurance Business Process Outsourcing Through 2014 EL SEGUNDO, Calif., June 27 /PRNewswire/
-- Computer Sciences Corporation (NYSE: CSC) today announced a
seven-year contract extension with Swiss Re, the world's leading
reinsurer. Under the extension, which runs through March 2014,
CSC will continue to provide business process outsourcing (BPO)
services to support workers' compensation for Swiss Re's
Commercial Insurance. CSC will continue to provide
end-to-end processing services to support Swiss Re's
underwriting, rating, policy issuance and administration, cash
processing and reporting to independent bureaus and industry
databases. CSC administers the company's workers' compensation
business on Swiss Re's CyberComp platform, which CSC built based
on its POINT policy administration and Agency Link software.
CyberComp, which Swiss Re uses in 24 states, enables agents and
employers to underwrite workers' compensation coverage and
handle claims. Agents can enter data, obtain quotes and issue
policies online, all in a matter of minutes. "CSC's BPO services have allowed
Swiss Re to focus on delivering exceptional service and
world-class risk transfer capabilities to our clients," said
Jeff Argotsinger, CyberComp leader for Swiss Re's Commercial
Insurance. "As we expand, CSC's BPO staff and scalable systems
will ensure that our clients find us easy to work with."
"By continuously incorporating
process innovation within our scalable BPO operations, which run
on our POINT IN software, we are able to provide high quality,
cost effective administration of policies and products," said
Ray August, president of the Property and Casualty (P&C)
Insurance Division of CSC's Financial Services Group. "CSC's
customized insurance BPO services help our clients improve their
operational results, freeing them to focus on launching new
insurance products, managing underwriting risk and seeking new
business opportunities." CSC has been providing
outsourcing services to Swiss Re since 1995, including
supporting 2.6 million insurance policies representing more than
$1.7 billion in insurance premiums for Swiss Re Life & Health in
the United States and the United Kingdom. CSC's BPO services
provide full insurance operations support and processing for
more than 5.3 million policies representing more than $2.5
billion in P&C and $3 billion in life and annuity annual
premiums. About Swiss Re Swiss Re is the world's leading
and most diversified global reinsurer. The company operates
through offices in more than 25 countries. Founded in Zurich,
Switzerland, in 1863, Swiss Re offers financial services
products that enable risk-taking essential to enterprise and
progress. The company's traditional reinsurance products and
related services for property and casualty, as well as the life
and health business are complemented by insurance-based
corporate finance solutions and supplementary services for
comprehensive risk management. Swiss Re is rated "AA-" by
Standard & Poor's, "Aa2" by Moody's and "A+" by A.M. Best.
Swiss Re's Commercial Insurance
protects insureds with specialized needs in niche markets in the
United States and Canada. Products include property and casualty
insurance, professional liability insurance, excess medical
expense and risk management services. Swiss Re's Commercial
Insurance has served the primary insurance community since 1908
and is committed to providing service, creative solutions and
security for its clients. Swiss Re's Commercial Insurance
subsidiaries serve clients in property and casualty insurance,
professional liability insurance and commercial risk management
services. About CSC Computer Sciences Corporation is
a leading global information technology (IT) services company.
CSC's mission is to provide customers in industry and government
with solutions crafted to meet their specific challenges and
enable them to profit from the advanced use of technology.
With approximately 79,000
employees, CSC provides innovative solutions for customers
around the world by applying leading technologies and CSC's own
advanced capabilities. These include systems design and
integration; IT and business process outsourcing; applications
software development; Web and application hosting; and
management consulting. Headquartered in El Segundo, Calif., CSC
reported revenue of $14.9 billion for the 12 months ended March
30, 2007. For more information, visit the company's Web site at
http://www.csc.com. 12.
Alberta Motor Association Insurance Company Selects SunGard’s iWORKS
Policy Administration Solution
Alpharetta, GA – June 27, 2007 –
SunGard (http://www.sungard.com) today announced that the
Alberta Motor Association Insurance Company, a subsidiary of the
Alberta Motor Association (AMA), has selected SunGard’s iWORKS
FrontTier, a policy administration solution for property and
casualty insurance companies. SunGard’s iWORKS FrontTier is a
property and casualty policy administration system that offers
integrated business process management functionality to help
firms automate submissions, quotations, policies, rating,
billing, accounting, workflow, claims, documents and reports.
The iWORKS FrontTier tool set helps insurers adapt the system to
individual business requirements. The Alberta Motor Association
(AMA) required an insurance policy administration system that
would meet the criteria of its insurance operations. The Alberta
Motor Association Insurance Company selected SunGard iWORKS
FrontTier as its single, strategic platform to help administer
and support its mixed portfolio of property and casualty
products. iWORKS FrontTier will provide a wholly-integrated
suite of functionality for claims administration, underwriting,
rating, business analytics, financial reporting, billing,
reinsurance, document management, content management and
operational workflow management. In addition, it will manage the
extraction, analysis and porting of data into other parallel
systems used within the Association, providing a scaleable
business and technical platform. According to Ron Grieve, vice
president, AMA Insurance Services, “After going through a
rigorous requirements study, we chose SunGard’s iWORKS FrontTier
as our replacement solution because it meets our criteria for a
comprehensive business solution that supports our broad range of
products. We gain further confidence in working with SunGard
because of its depth of industry experience and financial
strength. Because it provides an integrated suite of
functionality and seamless workflow, iWORKS FrontTier will best
help us meet our business objectives.” Greg Webber, president of
SunGard’s insurance business, said, “We are very pleased to
announce the addition of the well respected AMA organization to
our iWORKS FrontTier customer base. We are pleased with the
working relationship we have established with AMA through the
selection process and look forward to enhancing this
relationship as we move forward in implementing and supporting
the system.” About Alberta Motor Association
The Alberta Motor Association is
a membership organization that, directly and through its
wholly-owned subsidiary companies, offers a variety of products,
services and benefits to members and customers related to
travel, insurance, financial services, automotive services,
emergency road service, driver education, advocacy and community
involvement. The AMA was created by Alberta Statute in 1926 and
is a member of the Canadian Automobile Association (“CAA”) and
the American Automobile Association (“AAA”). About iWORKS SunGard’s iWORKS is a
business-driven IT product family for the insurance industry in
each of the following major business lines:
life/health/annuities/pensions, property and casualty and
reinsurance. iWORKS offers a range of products and services
including front-office tools, policy administration,
reinsurance, actuarial calculations, financial accounting,
investment accounting, and reporting. SunGard partners with
customers to deliver products and services that align with
changing business and regulatory needs. About SunGard With annual revenue exceeding $4
billion, SunGard is a global leader in software and processing
solutions for financial services, higher education and the
public sector. SunGard also helps information-dependent
enterprises of all types to ensure the continuity of their
business. SunGard serves more than 25,000 customers in more
than 50 countries, including the world's 50 largest financial
services companies. Visit SunGard at www.sungard.com.
Trademark Information: SunGard,
the SunGard logo, iWORKS and FrontTier are trademarks or
registered trademarks of SunGard Data Systems Inc. or its
subsidiaries in the U.S. and other countries. All other trade
names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their
respective holders. 13.
Whitehill Technologies announces out-of-the-box automation for New
Business Intake New Legal Accelerator for
Whitehill BPI for Legal lets law firms easily automate a
critical business process FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE LAS VEGAS - June 26, 2007 -
Whitehill Technologies, Inc. today announced a new "Legal
Accelerator" for Whitehill BPI for Legal, providing
out-of-the-box automation for the process of New Business
Intake. "Legal Accelerators are
pre-configured services offered with Whitehill's BPI for Legal
software," explained Rob Stote, Product Manager, Whitehill
Technologies, Inc. "These Legal Accelerators offer firms a quick
start to automating some of their most critical, time-consuming
manual processes." New Business Intake has
traditionally been a complicated, lengthy process for law firms.
Whenever a firm takes on new business, it must conduct numerous
checks to ensure there are no conflicts with existing matters.
These checks have traditionally been performed manually, leaving
the process open to missed steps and human error. "The new Legal Accelerator for
Whitehill BPI for Legal automates the process of taking on new
clients and matters," Stote continued. "Conflict checks are
performed more quickly, meaning firms can start billing the
client sooner. It also creates an audit trail, ensuring that all
the necessary steps have been performed." Whitehill continues to add more
Legal Accelerators to Whitehill BPI for Legal, automating
critical processes in firms. "Whitehill BPI for Legal is built
specifically with law firms in mind," said Carol Blundy,
Industry Advisor to Whitehill Technologies, Inc. "Whitehill has
spent many years working with firms in the areas of billing,
invoicing and reporting, so they know how the legal industry
works. They understand where the problems and opportunities lie,
and they are developing some exciting technologies that can help
firms grow their revenue and gain a competitive advantage." Whitehill Technologies is
exhibiting this week at the Thomson Elite User Conference, June
26-28th in Las Vegas. Please visit Whitehill at Booth 400 to
learn more about Whitehill BPI for legal, or visit the web site. About Whitehill Technologies,
Inc. Whitehill Technologies, Inc.
develops and implements document, compliance and process
automation solutions that help customers accelerate key business
processes. More than 1,000 professional and financial services
firms have purchased Whitehill software, including half the
largest 100 insurers in North America and two thirds of the
largest 250 law firms in the world. Headquartered in Moncton,
New Brunswick, Canada, Whitehill is a privately held company
with 200 employees in Canada, the United States and the UK. For
more information, please call 1-888-944-8344 or visit
www.whitehilltech.com. For further information, or to
arrange for interviews, please contact: Lynne Reid Media Relations Specialist Whitehill Technologies 888-944-8344 x521 lreid@whitehilltech.com 14.
Camilion Solutions Announces Latest Release of Product Development
Software for Insurance
ProductAuthority(TM) Features New
IBM Support, Product Compare Capabilities and Rule Building
Enhancements To Accelerate Product Development TORONTO, June 26 /CNW/ - Camilion
Solutions, a leading provider of product development and
next-generation policy administration systems to the insurance
industry, today announced its latest release of
ProductAuthority(TM) with features that will enable insurers to
further accelerate the development of products. This new release
provides: complete support for IBM's Insurance Application
Architecture (IAA) model, which provides product definition
templates based on insurance best practices; Product Compare
capabilities that enable users to compare the specifications for
any two products in ProductAuthority's central repository; and
enhancements to the solution's rule building functionality to
allow an insurer's product analysts to more easily create
product rules and test their impact on consuming systems, like
underwriting and claims, before a product is launched.
"Leading insurers, especially in
the Life and Annuities markets, are under tremendous pressure to
deliver innovative products that respond to the demands of their
sales channels and customers," said Ross Orrett, President and
CEO, Camilion Solutions, Inc. "This new functionality in
ProductAuthority will enable our customers to accomplish this
faster and more efficiently than ever, especially those who
utilize IBM's IAA model." Through its support of IAA,
ProductAuthority now enables: - Product analysts to fully
model products using IAA, without dependence on IT resources,
including the creation and management of Request, Rule and
Calculation specifications to significantly improve time to
market. - Automatic creation of
business friendly product specification documents from IAA
product models. - An IAA Product Test Facility
to validate product Request, Rule and Calculation specifications
to improve the quality of products and monitor the impact of the
product on other systems before deployment. - Product agility through the
reuse of individual product components when creating new
products. - Publish products based on the
IAA generic agreement enabling customers who adhere to the IAA
specification to simplify product integration with underwriting
and policy administration systems that support the IAA
specification. Recently, ProductAuthority was
integrated into IBM's Insurance Solution Lab (P&C) in Dallas,
Texas, as the product configuration solution that powers their
product lifecycle management solution. Through its product managers'
Workbench, ProductAuthority now also allows users to compare the
specifications for any two products. This "side-by-side"
comparison is provided in Adobe PDF format and highlights
differences between the products. Product developers can quickly
and easily ensure that all product differences have been
identified correctly, especially important if components from an
existing product are being used to create a new one. As well,
when insurers grow through mergers and acquisitions they often
end up with similar products in their portfolio, so Product
Compare will help expedite decisions around which products to
keep or retire. About ProductAuthority Built to capitalize on a
Services-Oriented Architecture (SOA), ProductAuthority
fundamentally changes the way insurers develop and implement
products by completely separating product from process. A "pure"
enterprise product configurator, ProductAuthority creates
agility by externalizing all product data and rules from
multiple, hard-coded operational systems into a central
repository, where qualified business users can build and modify
their own products. These reusable product definitions include
all important product information - eligibility, packaging,
underwriting rules and forms management - not just pricing or
calculations. The integration of product definitions with
important product-aware legacy applications, like Policy
Administration Systems, is simplified by using Web
Services. ProductAuthority also
incorporates a product manager's Workbench to automate product
development processes and test products prior to integration
with consuming systems; a Product Catalog that gives all product
stakeholders access to product features, rules and status; and
the ability to generate full product specifications directly
from the repository. About Camilion Solutions, Inc. With customers who are the
world's largest insurers, Camilion Solutions, Inc. is a leading
provider of enterprise product development solutions and policy
administration systems for insurance. Camilion uses its deep
knowledge of the insurance industry to develop software
solutions that enable insurers to launch new or modified
products more quickly and efficiently than competitors, automate
underwriting, enable straight-through processing for online
sales, and deploy an agile, modern technology platform to better
support current and future growth. Camilion is a privately owned
corporation founded in 2000 with offices in Toronto and New
York. For further information: Gwen
Lannaman, Camilion Solutions, T: (905) 489-0752, M: (416) 992-9557, gwen.lannaman@camilion.com 15.
Unisys Helps Clalit Deploy Business Intelligence Infrastructure to Lower
Costs and Enhance Service Quality
Clalit’s Innovative and
Insightful IT Architecture Recognized at Microsoft Business
Intelligence Conference BLUE BELL, Pa.--(BUSINESS
WIRE)--Unisys Corporation (NYSE:UIS) today announced that its
client Clalit Healthcare, Israel’s largest health maintenance
organization (HMO) provider and the second largest worldwide,
has been honored with the Enterprise Insight award at the recent
Microsoft Business Intelligence Conference in Seattle.
The Enterprise Insight Award
recognizes the outstanding achievement of those customers that
have adopted Microsoft’s end-to-end business intelligence
offering as an enterprise-class BI and performance management
solution. Clalit was chosen based on the results of its
innovative deployment of the Microsoft Business Intelligence and
Unisys ES7000/one Enterprise Server platforms. Clalit has approximately 3.8
million customers, 1,300 clinics, 14 hospitals, more than 400
pharmacies, and 8,000 physicians and care providers. The
organization was awarded this Enterprise Insight award based on
the results of its forward-looking implementation of an
end-to-end BI solution which uses the entire SQL Server 2005
platform, ProClarity, and data mining to provide an internal
information management tool for nearly 4,000 users (3,500
managers +350 analysts) to improve medical practices while
observing budgetary responsibility. Unisys expertise and technology
also played an integral role in the award-winning deployment at
Clalit, a Unisys client since 2001. Deployed with Microsoft SQL
Server 2005, ProClarity data analysis, and Citrix data delivery
software, the Unisys ES7000/one systems helped to centralize the
management of servers and dozens of key applications and
databases, including those supporting customer relationship
management and call center operations. This approach gave some 20,000
Clalit healthcare personnel a standardized and highly available
way to access and manipulate data on the Web, thereby
eliminating the inefficiencies associated with incompatible
systems and data formats. “We needed to unify resources in
a way that would allow all member organizations to easily share
and manage medical information,” said Mr. Hezi Calo, Deputy
Director General at Clalit. “Unisys and Microsoft were able to
work with us to create a Business Intelligence strategy that
required our team to rethink the way it manages the information
that healthcare providers use to make customer-care decisions.
Now, our organization can simply use point-and-click technology
to build the same type of query that used to take days, and get
information back in seconds, enabling us to better service our
customers. “Furthermore, the solution
powered by Unisys servers and Microsoft software has also
enabled us to reduce the need for duplicate medical testing in
patient assessments — resulting in a savings of more than $1
million (USD) per year,” Calo added. In addition to reducing Clalit’s
costs, the ES7000/one and Microsoft Business Intelligence
platforms have provided Clalit decision makers access to
sophisticated business intelligence tools that can sort through
the group's vast amounts of data, making questions that used to
take up to 30 minutes to process take only seconds to handle
instead. As a result, Clalit managers and physicians can analyze
data online and keep close track of length of hospitalization,
facility admission waiting times, medicine usage by clinic or
hospital, the performance of specific doctors, and more. Most
important, they can use the organization's data warehouse to
improve its service to customers. Clalit’s solution exemplifies the
spirit of the Microsoft Business Intelligence Customer awards,”
said Bill Baker, GM, Office Business Intelligence Applications
for Microsoft. “They were selected as the winner based on their
commitment to using Microsoft’s end-to-end business intelligence
offering as an enterprise-class solution, and their success in
implementing a world-class performance management solution that
enables pervasive business intelligence, deployed throughout
their organization. Unisys played a critical role in bringing
important skill and expertise in scalable BI implementations.”
“Clalit certainly deserves to be
honored for its progressive business intelligence framework,
showing how a performance management infrastructure can
transform the business of healthcare,” said Jim Boak, vice
president, Microsoft and Intel Global Alliances, Unisys. “We
take great satisfaction in knowing that our long-time
collaboration on enterprise server solutions and technology
expertise help deliver tangible benefits to the millions of
Clalit network customers and healthcare providers.” Clalit's experience underscores
the growing use of business intelligence in a variety of
industries. Business intelligence allows organizations to
analyze information to identify patterns or trends. As business
intelligence tools evolve, companies are finding that they can
drive improvements ranging from enhanced responsiveness to
faster sales cycles. About Unisys Unisys is a worldwide technology
services and solutions company. Our consultants apply Unisys
expertise in consulting, systems integration, outsourcing,
infrastructure, and server technology to help our clients
achieve secure business operations. We build more secure
organizations by creating visibility into clients’ business
operations. Leveraging the Unisys 3D Visible Enterprise
approach, we make visible the impact of their decisions—ahead of
investments, opportunities and risks. For more information,
visit www.unisys.com. RELEASE NO.: 0627/8791
http://www.unisys.com/about__unisys/news_a_events/06278791.htm
Unisys is a registered trademark
of Unisys Corporation. All other brands and products referenced
herein are acknowledged to be trademarks or registered
trademarks of their respective holders. Contacts Unisys Gail Ferrari Marold, 919-342-5376 gail.ferrari@unisys.com or Voce Communications Tiffany Curci, 208-725-2062 tcurci@vocecomm.com 16.
Norwich Union Insurance Implements Clear Technology’s Strategic
Solutions across the Business
DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Clear
Technology Ltd, a global software provider to the insurance
industry, announces their engagement as strategic supplier to
the UK’s largest insurer, Norwich Union Insurance. Norwich Union Insurance
successfully implemented Tranzax®, Clear’s patented software
development platform in Claims Recoveries and quickly saw that
the benefits derived from Recoveries could be extended across
all areas of human intensive processing domains. Norwich Union
Insurance and Clear are currently engaged in further projects on
Third Party Claims Management, Commercial Underwriting, and
Household Claims. This strategic partnership will
allow Norwich Union Insurance to improve cross-segment
cooperation and create efficiencies resulting in enhanced
processing capacity, streamlined claims management and policy
administration, and reduced processing costs. Ultimately, the
relationship will serve to further enhance the overall customer
experience; helping Norwich Union Insurance to build upon their
commitment to providing exemplary service to every customer.
Clear has been working with
Norwich Union Insurance since 2001 to leverage best practices
already existent within the insurer’s business. Clear has mapped
the knowledge and everyday work strategies of Norwich Union
Insurance’s best performing employees throughout the
organization, and this people expertise has been configured into
Clear’s software solutions. The result is a set of new systems
that will lie at the heart of business-critical areas within
Norwich Union Insurance. Clear’s software will leverage
data from Norwich Union Insurance’s existing IT platforms;
integrating claims, policy systems, and external supplier
systems to create a single-user interface for Commercial
Underwriting, Third Party Claims, and Household Claims. The
software is designed to guide employees on the most efficient
route through their workload by automating mundane clerical
tasks and delivering cases to the desktop when actions are due.
Relieved of the administration burden, Norwich Union Insurance
employees will be able to focus on the highest value components
of their work, such as customer service; ensuring that customer
requests are resolved as efficiently and swiftly as possible.
“Clear was the obvious choice to
assist Norwich Union Insurance in improving and streamlining
operations, based on their initial success in Claims
Recoveries,” said Alex Robinson, chief information officer,
Norwich Union Insurance. “Their people-based approach
makes the most of our internal expertise while leveraging our
existing systems to create maximum benefits with minimum cost
and disruption to our business.” Robinson continued, “We chose
Clear to apply their proven capability in managing and
automating internal processes, to enable our workforce to
concentrate on what they do best; providing customers with the
most competitive products and services in the market both
swiftly and accurately.” Graham Dawkes, managing director,
Clear Technology commented, “Norwich Union Insurance were early
adopters of our technology and approach, recognizing the
benefits we deliver to our customers. Our work with them has
demonstrated the diverse range of core business processes within
insurance where our solutions offer significant value.”
About Norwich Union Insurance
Norwich Union Insurance is the
UK's largest general insurer with a market share of around 15%,
with a focus on insurance for individuals and small businesses.
It is a leading provider of life,
pensions and investment products and one of the largest
Financial Adviser (FA) providers. FAs provide over 70% of the
company's long-term savings business in the UK. Norwich Union
Insurance's news releases and a selection of images are
available from Aviva's internet press centre at www.aviva.com/media.
About Clear Clear Technology, a global
software provider to the insurance industry, offers software
solutions that streamline employee tasks by automating
repetitive manual activities and guiding employee
decision-making. The company’s people-driven approach to
software development transcends traditional solutions, enforcing
consistency from employee to employee and office to office,
leading to dramatic reductions in operating costs and
significant improvements in productivity for companies in the
insurance industry. Clear Technology is based in
Denver, Colorado, with its European headquarters in London. For
more information about Clear and its suite of innovative
insurance software products, visit http://www.clear-technology.com.
Contacts Clear Technology, Inc. AJ Workman (303) 583-4100 aj.workman@clear-technology.com
17.
WLT Releases Work Flow Processing for the MediClaims for Windows Health
Claims Benefit Processing Solution Clearwater, FL – WLT Software
Enterprises, Inc., a leader in providing claims processing
solutions, has announced that Work Flow Processing is now
available in the MediClaims for Windows System. This new
functionality is designed to increase productivity and reduce
paperwork associated with claims processing. The new Work Flow Processing
release enables processors to easily route and track electronic
claims, manual claims, calls, pre-certifications, letters, and
more. These same tasks can be defined on a group by group basis
to automatically route if certain criteria are met. Supervisors
have the ability to view all tasks assigned to processors, and
can redistribute the workload as needed. “Recently we have had the
opportunity to try the new “Work Flow”,” remarked Trisha Back of
HSR Administrators. “We love it … I truly appreciate all that
WLT does to make my job easier.” Streamlining a benefit
administrator’s daily work flow is one of the many examples of
how WLT continually strives to provide its Clients with the
tools needed to remain leaders in an ever competitive market.
Work Flow Processing increases productivity and increases the
orderliness of processing tasks for improved communication. About WLT Software Enterprises,
Inc. For over a quarter of a century,
WLT Software has been an international leader in providing
employee benefits, managed care, workers’ compensation, claims
editing software, and professional services solutions. Developed
with innovative and advanced technology, WLT’s claims
administration software is designed to provide fast and accurate
real-time claims processing. WLT’s willingness to go the extra
mile to service and support its products and to assist its
partners in the day-to-day operation of their businesses has
positioned WLT where it is today, one of the leading insurance
software and service providers in the world. WLT’s systems are
now more powerful than ever, with features such as MICR Check
Encoding, FSA Debit Card processing, Electronic Funds Transfer,
Document Imaging and more. Visit www.wltsoftware.com for more
information. 18.
ImageRight Expands Customer Base with Nine New Insurance Clients Conyers, GA – In April and May of
this year, ImageRight, a leading provider of insurance-focused
imaging, content management and workflow solutions, signed
contracts with five additional insurance organizations, bringing
the company’s total customer base to more than 375 in number.
“More and more insurance
organizations today are looking for ways to comply with
regulatory requirements, enable straight-through processing, and
streamline processes,” said Don Elias, president of ImageRight.
“The ImageRight system offers all of those benefits and more,
including imaging, content management and workflow, which is why
we are able to help so many insurance organizations compete in
this aggressive field.” Companies who recently purchased
the ImageRight system include: Bass Underwriters – is a
Plantation, FL-based agency that specializes in excess and
surplus lines and that has twelve offices in Florida,
California, Texas, Georgia, Mississippi and New York. (www.bassunderwriters.com)
Conway E&S Inc. – is an
independent insurance brokerage firm that functions as a
wholesale insurance broker between insurance carriers and retail
insurance brokers based in Warrendale, PA. (www.conwayes.com)
Demetriou Group of Companies – is
a professional wholesale insurance agency based in Hempstead,
NY, servicing producers in the Metropolitan New York/New Jersey
area for over eighty years. (www.demetriougroup.com) The Flood Group, LLC – is a
Flushing, NY-based full-service provider of insurance solutions,
specializing in personal and commercial lines insurance,
employee benefits and financial services. (www.thefloodgroup.com)
Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance
Company – was founded in 1934 and has grown to include insurance
products for auto, life, home, business, and farm in addition to
banking and other financial services and products available
through local offices and agents from its corporate office in
Indianapolis, IN and throughout the Hoosier State. (www.infarmbureau.com)
Odyssey America Reinsurance
Corporation. – is a leading worldwide underwriter of property
and casualty treaty and facultative reinsurance, as well as
specialty insurance based in Stamford, CT. (www.odysseyre.com)
Max Specialty Insurance Company.
– is a subsidiary of Bermuda-based Max Capital Group
specializing in excess and surplus lines insurance and located
in Richmond, Va. (www.maxspecialty.com) OnPoint Underwriting, Inc. – is
based in Atlanta, GA and focuses on specialized risk management,
alternative risk financing, actuarial studies and captive
management. (www.onpointunderwriting.com) Conservation & Liquidation Office
– was created by the California Commissioner of Insurance to
assist with duties including conservation and liquidation of
insurance companies in the state of California. (www.caclo.org/perl)
Arlington/Roe & Co., Inc. – was
founded in 1964 as a managing general agent and excess and
surplus lines insurance broker and currently maintains offices
in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee. (www.arlingtonroe.com)
For more information about this
release or any of ImageRight’s products and services, please
visit the ImageRight website at www.imageright.com, or contact
us via phone at 770-860-0065 or email at inquiry@imageright.com.
About ImageRight Conyers, Ga.-based ImageRight is
a wholly-owned subsidiary of Vertafore, Inc., a leading provider
of specialized software solutions and information for the
insurance industry. ImageRight provides complete document and
content management solutions coupled with advanced workflow
automation that is scalable for insurance operations of all
sizes, and that has been implemented at more than 375 companies
within the insurance industry. For more information, please
visit ImageRight on the web at www.imageright.com, or contact an
ImageRight professional via phone at (770) 860-0065 or via email
at inquiry@imageright.com. 19.
MEDecision Solutions Deployed by HCSC to Create Integrated Care
Management System across its Four Health Plans WAYNE, Pa. — June 26, 2007 —
MEDecision, Inc. (Nasdaq: MEDE), a provider of software,
services and clinical content to health care payers, today
announced that Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC) has
completed deployment of the MEDecision Collaborative Care
Management solution suite as part of a single, integrated
patient care management program for its health plans in
Illinois, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. Collaborative Care Management
will allow HCSC to apply a comprehensive set of medically
established clinical rules and protocols to a compilation of
claims data, health care provider records and self-reported
patient information, and identify best-practice intervention and
prevention treatment opportunities. It will also enable HCSC to
identify opportunities to reduce care redundancies and recognize
best outcomes among physicians to encourage optimum care levels. “We are excited and proud to work
with HCSC on its care management efforts,” said John H.
Capobianco, MEDecision president and chief operating officer.
“Moving four plans representing more than 11 million members to
one consolidated platform in about 18 months is an
accomplishment that may be unique in our industry. HCSC’s vision
and determination will benefit its membership greatly.” MEDecision’s Collaborative Care
Management suite is comprised of a number of technical solutions
designed to optimize data analysis, automate workflow processes
and electronically connect patients, health care organizations
and physicians to give each a shared view of a patient’s current
and historic medical information. MEDecision believes that this
greater breadth and depth of patient data can lead to better
clinical decisions, increased operational efficiencies and
better overall health care. About Health Care Service
Corporation Health Care Service Corporation,
a Mutual Legal Reserve Company, is the largest
non-investor-owned health insurer in the United States and the
fourth largest health insurer in the country overall, with 11.5
million members in its Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in
Illinois, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. HCSC has a rating of
AA– from Standard and Poor’s, A2 from Moody’s and A+ from A.M.
Best Co. HCSC is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and
Blue Shield Association. About MEDecision Founded in 1988, MEDecision
provides health care payer organizations with software, services
and clinical content that allow them to increase administrative
efficiency and improve the overall quality and affordability of
their members' health care. A provider of Collaborative Care
Management, MEDecision's technologies analyze data, automate
payer workflow processes and electronically connect patients,
providers and payers to give each a common view of the patient's
medical history, helping to foster better clinical decision
making. MEDecision believes that, in the aggregate, its
customers insure or manage care for approximately one in every
six people in the U.S. with health insurance. For more
information, please visit www.MEDecision.com. MEDecision is a trademark of
MEDecision, Inc. The MEDecision logo and product names are also
trademarks or registered trademarks of MEDecision, Inc. Other
product and brand names are trademarks of their respective
owners. MEDE-G CONTACT: Tracey Kohler Costello MEDecision (610) 540-0202 Tracey.Costello@MEDecision.com Laura Paden TECHMarket Communications (818) 597-0480 Laura@TECHMarket.com 20.
SunGard’s iWORKS COMPASS Identified As “Best Choice” for Many Carriers
by Research and Advisory Firm, Celent
Atlanta, GA, June 26, 2007 –
SunGard (http://www.sungard.com) today announced that SunGard’s
iWORKS COMPASS, a group and individual insurance, pension and
investment product administration system (http://www.sungard.com/iworks),
has been identified as “not only the best choice, but the only
choice”, for many carriers looking for a group administration
system in its target space, according to Celent’s Policy
Administration Systems 2007: Life/Health/Annuity Vendors report.
In this report, Celent, LLC
profiles Life/Health/Annuity policy administration systems
available today. Chad Hersh, author of the report and senior
analyst with Celent, stated in the report: “SunGard’s North
American target for iWORKS COMPASS is straightforward: tier 1
group insurers in the US, and tier 1 group insurers and
retirement services providers in Canada.” He concluded: “Celent
believes that few systems even come close to the kind of deeply
ingrained group functionality offered by COMPASS. Celent
believes that for many carriers in COMPASS’ target market,
COMPASS is not only the best choice, but the only choice.”
Greg Webber, president of
SunGard’s insurance business, said: ‘We are pleased to have
received such a strong assessment from Celent which is a
reflection of SunGard’s commitment to serving the insurance
industry. SunGard strives to provide systems that help customers
improve efficiency and profitability.” About SunGard iWORKS SunGard iWORKS is a
business-driven IT product family for the insurance industry in
each of the following major business lines:
life/health/annuities/pensions, property and casualty and
reinsurance. SunGard iWORKS offers a range of products and
services including front-office tools, policy administration,
reinsurance, actuarial calculations, financial accounting,
investment accounting, and reporting. SunGard partners with
customers to deliver products and services that align with
changing business and regulatory needs. About SunGard With annual revenue exceeding $4
billion, SunGard is a global leader in software and processing
solutions for financial services, higher education and the
public sector. SunGard also helps information-dependent
enterprises of all types to ensure the continuity of their
business. SunGard serves more than 25,000 customers in more
than 50 countries, including the world’s 50 largest financial
services companies. Visit SunGard at www.sungard.com.
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