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News & Commentary
Content posted in January 2002
Allmerica Saves 25 Jobs, Signs Contract with Keane
News  |  1/30/2002  | 
Allmerica Financial saved 25 IT jobs by signing a seven-year development and outsourcing contract that it signed with Keane, Inc for property and casualty application development and management outsourcing. In all 139 Allmerica employees will transition to Keane.
InsureZone Partners With DigitalWork
News  |  1/30/2002  | 
DigitalWork has formed a strategic alliance with small commercial insurance agency InsureZone that will enable DigitalWork give its clients' small business customers access to commercial insurance product offerings, including business owners policy (BOP), workers' comp, commercial auto and umbrella liability.
Swiss Re Chooses PDCA For Weather Derivatives
News  |  1/30/2002  | 
Swiss Re has contracted with Longitude for the use of its Parimutuel Digital Call Auction (PDCA), with the goal of gaining increased liquidity in the existing weather derivatives market.
Fidelity National Consolidates Title Services to Increase ROI
News  |  1/30/2002  | 
In order to improve return on technology investments in its four title information services provider subsidiaries, Fidelity National Financial has combined the operations into a new company called Property Insights.
In Search Of Agent Locator Excellence
News  |  1/30/2002  | 
Since most casual online insurance policy seekers and rate hunters do not buy insurance products online, insurance companies must create a satisfying marriage between online and offline insurance services and offerings, according to a recent report from Gomez, Inc.
CRM Briefs
News  |  1/30/2002  | 
Pegasystems will acquire 1Mind to increase penetration into healthcare; Front-office CRM technologies will finally allow insurance companies to cut costs and stimulate business, according to Meridien Research; DataMirror software allows companies to integrate mainframe and CRM data.
DISTRIBUTION BRIEFS
News  |  1/30/2002  | 
Certified insurance counselors will be able to access various insurance products at CIC Select; BUPA chooses Pegasystems for customer complaint management technology; EducatorsMoney launches to help streamline retirement plan administration...
The Credit Scoring Paradox
News  |  1/16/2002  | 
Many online insurance customers abandon the quote/application process because insurance companies require sensitive personal information in order to receive an accurate quote. Insurers must learn to balance online insurance users' demand for accurate rate quotes with their reluctance to share sensitive information, according to Gomez, Inc.
MetLife Agents To Use Insurance Noodle Solution
News  |  1/16/2002  | 
MetLife General Insurance Agency, Inc, will provide over 600 of its property & casualty licensed career agents with a Web-based small commercial insurance solution from InsuranceNoodle that offers single sign-on and comparative quoting functionality.
The Hartford's Technology Foils Fraud Artists
News  |  1/16/2002  | 
Technology played a central role in uncovering a fraud conspiracy that led to a lawsuit that was filed on Monday by The Hartford against 27 residents alleged to have staged motor vehicle accidents in order to make fraudulent injury claims.
Capital Awards TriZetto Contract
News  |  1/16/2002  | 
The TriZetto Group, a provider of healthcare information technology products and ASP services, will host and manage its proprietary Facets managed care administrative software and provide provider-credentialing services for Capital Blue Cross.
HANSEN PROMOTED AT THE REGENCE GROUP
News  |  1/16/2002  | 
Susan A. Hansen has been promoted to vice president of membership and claims systems consolidation at The Regence Group. Hansen is currently overseeing a systems consolidation project designed to improve customer service and reduce costs.
CRM Briefs
News  |  1/16/2002  | 
Cathaylife selects Envox for a speech-enabled CRM solution; Group 1 Software partners with iWay to offer an integrated single-customer view solution; AscendantOne partners with Align 360, ConfirmNet, Maxim and Terrace Consulting to augment existing technology.
Gaining Competitive Advantage Through Internet Innovation
News  |  1/16/2002  | 
"Clicks-and-bricks" expertise, along with the ability to introduce innovation and change into the enterprise, are hallmarks of today's Internet/e-business success stories in financial services. Accordingly, Insurance & Technology, InSystems and META Group are partnering to initiate the Insurance Innovators Award.
Apostle Preaches New Gospel
News  |  1/10/2002  | 
Without leaving his desk, Paul Apostle started a new career.
ING's Integration Is Donovan's Goal
News  |  1/9/2002  | 
Following the acquisition of ReliaStar and Aetna Financial Services in 2000, ING faced a technology integration challenge that Paul Donovan, characterizes as "Y2K on steroids."
EXECUTIVE NEWS
News  |  1/9/2002  | 
Product & Services Showcase
News  |  1/9/2002  | 
Product showcase featuring SEEC, Applied Systems, CTI Group, and more...
Insurance Loses Jobs, But Not In IT
News  |  1/9/2002  | 
Tech execs say industry will fare better during tough economic times, and may even benefit from IT cuts in other industries.
Doing More with a Little Bit Less
News  |  1/9/2002  | 
Insurance technology budgets will increase—modestly—in 2002, with a continued focus on CRM, security and e-business, top tech execs forecast.
Ready To Roll
News  |  1/9/2002  | 
Farm Bureau Financial Services builds information technology to navigate the demands of rapid growth.
The New Look of Security
News  |  1/9/2002  | 
Security threats are changing rapidly and insurance companies are scrambling to adapt security systems and policies to cope.
Balancing between High-Tech & High-Touch
News  |  1/8/2002  | 
Insurers are walking a fine line, trying to reap the economic benefits of offering online self service, without alienating customers or intermediaries.
AXA Uses NewFrame For Data Transfer
News  |  1/8/2002  | 
Converts more than 300 million tables daily from back-end systems to customer-facing CRM application.
Afaria Manages AAL’s Field Laptops
News  |  1/8/2002  | 
Mobile management solution saves cash, maximizes network investment and solves business continuity problem.
Insurance Execs Get Tech Fever
News  |  1/8/2002  | 
Tillinghast-Towers Perrin study indicates top financial services executives believe technology has become key to making them better at business.
Lancer Recommends Tech Tool
News  |  1/8/2002  | 
Specialty insurer finds video systems can reduce driving risks and fraud.
Cyber News
News  |  1/8/2002  | 
PacifiCare Health Systems chooses SimplyHealth, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota will use edocs, Aetna has launched Healthwise Knowledgebase...
Kemper, Keyosk Serve NAWBO
News  |  1/8/2002  | 
Women business owners represent a growing market segment, which Kemper Insurance and Web-based financial services provider Financial Keyosk have teamed up to serve.
I&T Launches Conference Series
News  |  1/8/2002  | 
Learn best practices in customer-centricity, insurance standards.
Alliances & Partnerships
News  |  1/8/2002  | 
Captiva partnership, Spectra and iMerchants pact, S1 Corp. and McCamish Systems alliance...
Risks of Being on Bleeding Edge
News  |  1/8/2002  | 
Progressive discontinues real-time auto insurance pilot program.
Cool Sites
News  |  1/8/2002  | 
Craig Lowenthal's favorite websites.
Hot Products
News  |  1/8/2002  | 
Hot technology products from Vitria, Staffware and FinanCenter.
Pru Crosses IPO Finish Line
News  |  1/8/2002  | 
Demutualization drives massive data-cleansing effort.
Highmark Moves to Teradata
News  |  1/7/2002  | 
From traditional reporting to more sophisticated analysis.
Insurance.com Offers LTC
News  |  1/7/2002  | 
Partnership with John Hancock culminates 12 months of discussions.
New Contracts
News  |  1/7/2002  | 
SunAmerica contracts Infosys, UnumProvident Corp. selected Microsoft Exchange, Syntel signed a partnering agreement with Conseco Fincance Corp. ...
What Can Web Services Offer?
News  |  1/7/2002  | 
Is it all about business-to-business, or will Web services eventually replace EAI?
Converge This
News  |  1/7/2002  | 
This month's editorial on convergence by Katherine Burger, Editorial Director.
Keep the Faith: CIOs Forecast Some IT Budget Growth in 2002
News  |  1/3/2002  | 
The news on the technology spending front isn't great, but it's somewhat better than expected, according to new research from two major investment banks. According to a survey from Morgan Stanley, CIOs expect modest budget growth in 2002 and anticipate that spending will focus mainly on e-commerce initiatives, security software and enterprise application integration. Meanwhile, Merrill Lynch forecasts that corporate spending on technology will grow slightly—three percent—in 2002.
CRM Briefs
News  |  1/3/2002  | 
Applix releases Applix Integra, a real-time, enterprise-wide platform that integrates planning, analytics, business workflow, collaboration, exception alerting and forecasting capabilities; global retail CRM spending in financial services will stay essentially level in 2002 as compared to 2001, predicts Meridien Research; SPSS Inc. releases Clementine 6.5 data mining software.
DELIVERY BRIEFS
News  |  1/3/2002  | 
US carriers will spend more than $1.1 billion on new agent-focused extranet technology over the next two years, according to Celent Communications; Guaranteed Quotes will provide a Web-based system for tracking, storing and retrieving information to DataLife; BB&T Insurance Services teams with Access CoverageCorp to improve BB&T's client acquisition process; Insurance Technologies launches its newly designed Web site.
NEWS BRIEFS
News  |  1/3/2002  | 
Contracts worth L5.6 million have been awarded by ANFIS to Sherwood International Plc; Vitria and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Assn. enter into a five-year national agreement; John Loeser is promoted to CTO of the Web Technologies line of business for Healthaxis.
Using Integrated Technology Balance on the High Wire of Customer, Claims and Cost Expectations
News  |  1/2/2002  | 
New technologies are enabling your organization to improve the company's performance and to provide better levels of customer service around claims processing.
Vendor Management Best Practices For Successful IT and BPO for Insurance
News  |  1/2/2002  | 
This paper was developed to provide general background to assist insurance industry clients in decisions related to implementing vendor management best practices.


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