First contract from Sherwood’s partnership with China Hewlett-Packard
ARMONK, NY–[December 17, 2002]–Sherwood International, the global insurance solutions specialist, and China Hewlett-Packard (HP) today announced the first contract arising from their partnership agreement to provide insurance technology to the Chinese market. Under the terms of the agreement Sherwood and HP will work with the Life division of the China Pacific Insurance Corporation (CPIC), CPIC Life, to pilot Sherwood’s flagship Amarta(tm) LIFE product aimed at replacing its current core business administration system.
Commencing as a pilot in November 2002, Sherwood’s flagship Amarta software will form the basis of a plan for a full system modernization in 2003. Amarta provides a core set of world class business processes that are commonly used by insurance companies around the globe because of flexibility and reusability that go beyond traditional pre-packaged software products.
With multilingual and multi-currency functionality, the software enables insurance companies to develop automated, highly scaleable business processes. Its unique business modeling driven approach ensures that the system can continually adapt to business change at a controlled ongoing cost.
Steven Bessellieu, North American president of Sherwood International, commented: “This contract with CPIC Life is the first we have signed jointly with China HP and is an important step in our move into one of the world’s most vigorous growth markets for insurance. CPIC is a very significant business. The objective of the pilot is for their Life division to validate our ability to help them in modernizing their internal processes and systems to support exceptional growth – great testament to the strength of both our technology solutions and the value of our partnership with China HP and InsIT, a Shanghai based Insurance technology specialist.”
Hong Tao, Chairman of CPIC Life said: “Introducing Amarta Life into CPIC Life for helping build a core life business processing system in the company is one of the big steps in implementing our strategic plan. We believe that the cooperation between CPIC Life and Sherwood will deliver as we expect.”
In June 2002, Sherwood International and China HP signed a memorandum of understanding to provide software and services to meet the expanding needs of the Chinese insurance market. “Sherwood and HP have had a long partnership, but this pilot takes this relationship to a new level. HP Consulting and Integration is taking a ignificant services role in the pilot as part of its focus on the insurance Industry,” states Richard Holling, HP Services Insurance Practice Manager.
About Sherwood International
Founded in 1970, Sherwood International is a leading provider of software solutions and services to the global financial services industry and UK government. Through major offices in London, New York, Toronto, Glasgow and Bangalore, Sherwood International serves over 120 clients in the Life & Annuities, P&C and Reinsurance sectors including international blue-chip companies in the wholesale and retail insurance industry.
Sherwood international (Symbol: SHC) is quoted on the London Stock Exchange.
Visit Sherwood International’s Web site at www.sherwoodinternational.com for additional information.
About China Pacific Life Insurance Co., Ltd.
Founded in 2001 in Shanghai, China Pacific Life Insurance Co., Ltd (CPIC Life) is a nationwide shareholder owned commercial life insurance company offering customers with a variety of life products. Its predecessor is the life division of the China Pacific Insurance Company (Group), Ltd. CPIC is headquartered in Shanghai providing quality services to customers through its branches and distribution units across the country, as well as its subsidiaries and representative offices in Hong Kong, London and New York. CPIC Life has developed over 100 products including life, annuity, health and accident life insurance. CPIC Life is also striving to improve its emergency assistance system and its 95500 call centre service.
Please visit CPIC’s Web site at www.cpic.com.cn for more information.
About HP
Headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif., HP was founded in 1939 when two young inventors, Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard, started their road of invention in a small garage at Silicon Valley with longing for future technology and passion to innovations. After 63 years of growth, HP now becomes a leading global provider of technology products, solutions and services. HP completed its merger with Compaq Computer Corp. on May 3, 2002. The merged company has combined revenue of approximately $81.4 billion annually and operations in more than 160 countries and regions, hiring 145000 employees worldwide. As an absolute global IT giant, HP takes the lead in a number of markets, including infrastructure solution, IT service, digital imaging and printing, as well as mobile computing.
HP entered into China in 1985 by establishing the first Sino-American high-tech joint venture in China – China Hewlett-Packard (CHP). With 17 years of operation in China, Chinese market enjoys an increasing importance in HP’s global strategy. Today, CHP has established 8 branch offices, near 40 customer service centers, and 2 factories in China. As a major part of its commitment to China, CHP has also established China HP Business School and HP IT Management School, aiming to train world-class IT people for the country.
