October Techwatch
Document Scanners
Palo Alto, Calif. • HP introduced HP Scanjet 7800, a sheet-feed document scanner that captures images for insurance companies to comply with document retrieval regulations set forth by Sarbanes-Oxley, and to protect customer policy data, says HP. The scanners include customizable buttons to perform work-group tasks, such as e-mail, scan to PDF and copies.
Policy Administration
Edison, N.J. • NaviSys released an updated version of its Enterprise Platform policy administration system. The new version of Enterprise Platform is built on J2EE and extends service- oriented architecture strategies. It also supports three new ACORD standards, including new business submission. In addition, NaviSys' Enterprise Platform also uses enterprise service business for standardized communication.
PDF Automation
San Jose, Calif. • Adobe Systems and ACORD announced the availability of more than 150 ACORD insurance forms as PDFs. The ACORD PDF Fillable Forms can be filled out both online and offline to help insurance companies, agencies and vendors automate customer communication, capture data more accurately and securely, and reduce rekeying costs and errors.
Legacy Renewal
Mumbai • Patni Computer Systems unveiled Legacy X, a framework to help insurers develop and implement legacy renewal strategies. The framework includes guidelines and methodology for assessing an insurer's current and future IT environment based on business goals, tools and templates to adhere to project guidelines; and a reference architecture model to achieve the goals of automation, workflow, integration, ACORD- compliant data exchange and storage.
Web Interface
Toronto • Camilion Solutions launched AuthorityOnline for P&C carriers. The solution takes commercial and specialty lines of business online through a Web-based platform on which brokers can write business, get quotes and bind policies in minutes, says the vendor. AuthorityOnline is powered by Camilion's ProductAuthority, which processes data from a carrier's policy administration system to help quickly launch online products.
BPM
Plano, Texas • EDS released RADIENCE: Consolidation v2, a customer-centric business processing platform that allows insurers to manage customer information within multiple administration systems through a common user interface. The product features an improved user interface, integration with EDS SOLCORP's PathFinder business process management tool and adapters for compatibility with legacy systems.
IT Infrastructure Library
Islandia, N.Y. • CA unveiled CA Service Management Accelerator to help carriers implement IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) best practices. The product is a portfolio featuring a configuration management database that acts as a repository for all asset information. It also provides analysis and transparency of business processes, and includes a 13-day training program, according to CA.
Actuarial Grid
Armonk, N.Y. • IBM released IBM Grid and Grow for Actuarial Analysis, a packaged set of hardware, software and services for grid computing that includes DFA Capital Management's (Purchase, N.Y.) ADVISE, GGY's (Toronto) AXIS, Milliman's (Seattle) MG.ALFA and SunGard's (Wayne, Pa.) IWORKS Prophet. The products will help life insurance carriers' actuaries run complex insurance model scenarios more efficiently and accurately, according to IBM.
Portable Storage
Groveport, Ohio • StarTech.com introduced two new InfoSafe 2.5-inch On-The-Go Drive Enclosures, aluminum storage units that allow agents to make their 2.5-inch hard drives portable. The covers protect hard drives and provide agents with the convenience to transfer digital images or files from an external USB device to their hard drives while they are on the road.
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