New product allows companies to react to new business opportunities and to service
markets and channels more effectively than ever before
ARMONK, NY — June 4, 2002 — Sherwood International,
the global insurance solutions specialist, today announced the release of Amarta LIFE
Fast-Start, a new business processing solution based on its widely-adopted Amarta business process product.
Developed specifically for insurance companies seeking to
modernize and streamline their new business operations, Amarta LIFE Fast-Start combines
efficient, flexible administration with robust Web-portal technology.
Amarta LIFE Fast-Start integrates powerful, easy-to-use
technology and in-depth insurance know-how into a software solution that enables insurers
to launch new products and channel relationships quickly, and to process new business more
effectively. Amarta LIFE Fast-Start is designed to deliver better time to market and time
to issue, while lowering costs and increasing control in the back office.
The current release supports products as complex as UK
Universal Whole of Life and US Variable Universal Life.
Based on Sherwood International’s comprehensive life
insurance data and process models, Amarta LIFE Fast-Start is engineered for fast
implementation. And because it was created using Sherwood’s proven model-driven
development tools and templates, an Amarta LIFE Fast-Start system retains the flexibility
to be economically changed or extended as business needs evolve.
Mike Shinya, CEO Sherwood International, said: “In the
current economic climate there is a growing reluctance within the insurance sector to
embark on multi-million-dollar projects which have implementation phases running into
years and extended return on investment timescales. Businesses are increasingly looking
for a reduced up-front cost, quicker implementation and a faster return on investment. At
Sherwood we are working hard to produce solutions to meet these needs and we believe that
Amarta LIFE Fast-Start is the best-fit technology product available today for businesses
looking to take advantage of new business opportunities in a crowded marketplace.” He
continues; “This new business solution is part of a broader technology framework
designed to support the entire financial services marketplace, built on a base of
insurance expertise and best practice. We are enabling businesses to take control of their
processes and costs, and to continue to both establish themselves and take on-board new
business. With Amarta LIFE Fast-Start, organizations can introduce new products and
services quickly and efficiently, using a set of predefined life cycle templates, which
allows them to remain fleet-of-foot in an ever-changing climate and ride the storm without
the added headache of lengthy, expensive technology implementations.”
Based on Sherwood’s Amarta technology, Amarta LIFE
Fast-Start has an underlying toolset that gives insurance companies control, flexibility
and the workflow capability necessary to automate and control processes.
Amarta
LIFE Fast-Start facilitates the rapid development of new
products, by allowing product attributes and administrative processes to be mixed, matched
and modified. This enables a business to satisfy market demand quickly, precisely and
whenever it feels it is most appropriate. In addition, Amarta LIFE Fast-Start provides
high-volume, next-generation Web-portal technology. This means that Amarta LIFE Fast-Start
can connect the most vital business processes directly to an organization’s most valuable
customers, channels and partners.
Amarta LIFE Fast-Start comprises a solution for new
business and quotations as well as providing established, reusable template designs and
standards for the components needs to support these functions, including: audit, security
and control; MIS reporting; plan maintenance and communications. Amarta LIFE Fast-Start
not only provides the means to tailor functionality to businesses’ specific needs, it can
also form the hub of an end-to-end sales and administration system as it supports
interfaces with any existing or legacy system.
About Sherwood International:
Sherwood International, founded in 1970, is a provider of
software and solutions to the global insurance and UK government sectors, and is quoted on
the London Stock Exchange. Sherwood International’s clients include international
blue-chip companies in the wholesale and retail insurance industry.
Visit Sherwood International’s Web site at
www.sherwoodinternational.com
for additional information.