European Policy Administration Systems 2005: General Insurance Vendors

Detailed profiles and comparisons of 11 vendors with limited profiles of an additional 8 vendors.

The landscape for general insurance policy administration systems has changed significantly in recent years, with a number of new entrants offering solutions based completely on new technologies. These standards and technologies such as .NET, Java, SOA, Web services, and ACORD XML now feature in almost all vendor offerings, even those that have been around for decades.

There are more options than ever for the buyer. There is now more flexibility as pricing moves away from per server/user licensing to number of policies processed or a percentage of the premium. Technical flexibility has increased. Solutions offer multiple integration options, and most operate on more than one platform. Comparing products by total cost of ownership and implementation times shows just how competitive this space has become.

A new report from Celent, " ," is designed to help insurers understand this marketplace through detailed profiles of 11 policy administration systems and limited profiles of 8 additional systems. The report uses Celent痴 new ABCD Vendor View, which is a standard representation of a vendor marketplace designed to show at a glance the relative positions of each vendor in four categories: Advanced technology, Breadth of functionality, Customer base, and Depth of client services. Unlike a simple "four-quadrant" map, solutions in the upper right are not necessarily the best solutions擁n an area as complex and idiosyncratic as policy administration, there is no one "best" for all cases. Insurers should consider which factors in breadth, technology, experience, and client service are most important to them, and use the profiles and comparative tables in this report to generate their own short lists. Only the fully profiled vendors are included in the ABCD Vendor View.

"These are interesting times for a buyer," comments Catherine Schmitt, author of the report and senior analyst at Celent痴 Insurance practice. "Whether an insurer is interested in a component replacement or a rip-replace approach, there are several interesting offerings to be taken into consideration."

The vendors with full profiles are 3i Infotech, Accenture, Anodas, CGI, Harlosh, Intech Solutions, Sirius, Software Solution Providers (INSIGHT and Insure+), The Innovation Group, and TIA Technology.

Vendors with limited profiles are CSC, eBaoTech, Koukia, Guidewire, SAP, Tata Consultancy Services, Unisys, and Xchanging.

The 67-page report contains 4 figures and 59 tables.

of Celent's Property/Casualty Insurance research service can download the report electronically by clicking on the icon to the left. Non-members should contact info@celent.com for more information.