New award will recognize insurance e-business leaders
San Antonio, Texas, June 4, 2001 — InSystems, a leading provider of e-business
solutions to the global financial services industry, META Group (Nasdaq: METG), a leading
research and consulting firm focusing on information technology and business
transformation strategies, and Insurance & Technology, the resource of
technology strategies for insurance leaders, are partnering to initiate the Insurance
Innovators Award. The creation of the new award was announced at the IASA Annual
Educational Conference & Business Show, June 3-6, San Antonio, TX.
The Insurance Innovators Award recognizes the use of Internet technologies to
improve business relationships. The new award is intended to recognize an innovator
(individual or group/team) who has acted as a change agent by advancing Internet
education, and/or the adoption of Internet technology, in an insurance company or
insurance industry association. Among the criteria for determining the winner, who will be
announced in June 2002, are the following:
-
Led the development of new products/processes around the Internet;
-
Led use of the Internet to improve relationships with customers,
distribution channel partners and regulators; -
Initiated use of the Internet to stimulate new business opportunities; and
-
Achieved cost reductions and productivity gains through Internet-based processes.
“Successful insurance companies in the 21st century are effectively responding to
a new ascendancy of customer expectations, complex business relationships and greater
financial accountability,” according to Andrew Jackson, senior vice president,
Marketing, InSystems. We are launching the Insurance Innovators Award in partnership with Insurance
& Technology and META Group to recognize industry leaders who are responding to
these challenges by driving the implementation and application of Web-based technology.”
“Despite uncertainty and doubt created by the current Internet market downturn,
insurance and financial services companies must integrate appropriate e-business processes
and technologies into their business plans over the next two years to develop the
efficient, customer-centric value delivery chains necessary to be competitive in the
post-2000 insurance industry,” according to Chuck Johnston, vice president and
director, Insurance Information Strategies, for Stamford, CT-based META Group. “The
days of vaguely defined, separate e-business initiatives are over and insurers must
instead find insurance business leverage points and apply these new technologies to
improve or change the fundamental business processes. Unlike previous technology focused
awards, The Insurance Innovators Award will not necessarily go to the best technologists
in the industry, but to those who can apply these technologies to make the greatest business impact.”
“As insurance e-business and e-commerce initiatives evolve into
‘clicks-and-bricks’ models, new benchmarks, metrics and measurements of success
are emerging,” adds Katherine Burger, editorial director, Insurance &
Technology. “Concurrently, the ability to effectively introduce innovation and
change into the enterprise is a key competitive advantage. Insurance & Technology,
InSystems and META Group are partnering to initiate the Insurance Innovators Award in
recognition of how these trends are transforming the insurance industry.”
The deadline for applications will be April 1, 2002. For details on the award program,
and to obtain/request an application form, visit the Web sites of InSystems
(www.insystems.com),
META Group (www.metagroup.com) or
Insurance & Technology (www.insurancetech.com).
For more information, contact:
Janet Bendon Fabri of InSystems, 905-513-1400, ext. 3349, [email protected], or
Katherine Burger, Insurance & Technology, 212-600-3062, [email protected].
About InSystems:
From its corporate head office in Markham (Toronto), Canada and its U.S. headquarters
in Roanoke, Virginia, InSystems (www.insystems.com)
has become a leader in providing relationship-centric, e-business solutions to the global
financial services industry. Leveraging 12 years of experience developing and marketing
software solutions, InSystems eXtended Relationship Management (XRM) solutions enable
organizations to more effectively manage business critical relationships with customers,
distribution channel partners and regulators. InSystems XRM gives them a new way to
purchase, service and deliver products over the Internet. InSystems has more than 350
customers in 24 countries, including 51 of the top 100 insurance groups in North America
and over 55,000 life insurance agents and agencies.
About META Group:
META Group is a leading research and consulting firm, focusing on information
technology and business transformation strategies. Delivering objective, consistent, and
actionable guidance, META Group enables organizations to innovate more rapidly and
effectively. Our unique collaborative models help clients succeed by building speed,
agility, and value into their IT and business systems and processes. Connect with
(www.metagroup.com) for more details.
About Insurance & Technology:
Every issue of Insurance & Technology
(www.insurancetech.com), a member of
CMP Media’s Financial Technology Network – the only group of print and online
publications covering the financial services industry –delivers analysis and
real-world scenarios to guide insurance industry leaders through technology challenges.
Through news analysis, case studies, executive/company profiles, opinion pieces and
in-depth analytical features, Insurance & Technology provides timely,
authoritative and exclusive information that helps insurance technology executives
transform their companies into effective competitors. Insurance & Technology also
produces the Executive Summit (December 9-12, 2001, Arizona Biltmore Hotel, Phoenix), an
exclusive networking event to senior insurance industry executives and leading technology
providers; and Insurance & Technology News, a biweekly email newsletter that provides technology
decision-makers in the insurance industry with news and analysis of events that impact their business.
