Accenture Releases Enhanced Life Insurance Platform with New Product Configuration Engine

May 22, 2007; 04:03 AM
Accenture (NYSE:ACN) has introduced the Accenture Life Insurance Platform, an enhanced version of the former NaviSys policy administration and new-business processing platform featuring flexible new product configuration tools designed to help insurers develop and launch new products more quickly and efficiently.

“One of the greatest challenges life insurers face is how to bring new products to an increasingly competitive marketplace more rapidly and cost-effectively,” said Pierre Seguin, head of Accenture’s life insurance solutions group in North America. “Our new release provides a highly sophisticated and flexible set of product configuration tools that can support even the most challenging hybrid product designs without sacrificing system performance or integrity.”

The new product configuration capability leverages Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX), a technique for developing interactive web applications, to allow users to drag and drop new-product rules at any point in the insurance policy administration process. The platform also provides services-oriented architecture capabilities to enable full access to the platform through Web services, to help streamline systems integration, and to allow the orchestration of policies through third-party software tools.

The Accenture Life Insurance Platform also features an upgraded user interface with more-efficient navigation as well as a range of technical enhancements. It is being demonstrated today and tomorrow in booth #1007 at the ACORD LOMA Insurance Systems Forum, Walt Disney World Dolphin Resort, Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

“Accenture is leveraging a much-awaited but very well-executed enhancement to the architecture of the former NaviSys platform to address what was one of the system’s few capability gaps,” said Chad Hersh, a senior analyst in the insurance practice at Celent, a financial services industry research firm. “In conjunction with the resources brought to the table by Accenture, the addition of a more flexible product development tool means this platform should return to near the front of the pack of life and annuity vendors.”

The Accenture Life Insurance Platform is a result of Accenture’s 2006 acquisition of NaviSys, a decade-long leader in policy administration and new business processing technologies for the life insurance industry with more than 50 customers worldwide, including 17 of the top 20 U.S. life insurers. The original platform is currently used by more than 30 leading insurance companies and insurance distributors. The people and technology of the former NaviSys now operate within Accenture’s Financial Services operating group, which serves 44 of the top 50 insurance companies worldwide.

About Accenture

Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. Committed to delivering innovation, Accenture collaborates with its clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. With deep industry and business process expertise, broad global resources and a proven track record, Accenture can mobilize the right people, skills and technologies to help clients improve their performance. With more than 152,000 people in 49 countries, the company generated net revenues of US$16.65 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2006. Its home page is www.accenture.com.