Results from StoneRiver's Sixth Annual P&C Insurance Technology Survey

OAKLAND, Calif., Dec. 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- StoneRiver, Inc., a trusted insurance technology partner with substantial success in every line of business, today announced that its sixth annual P&C Insurance Technology survey reveals that the top business need driving 2012 IT initiatives is growth. Tied for second place were accurate risk pricing in underwriting and enhanced overall administrative efficiency. The StoneRiver survey asked Information Technology leaders at U.S. property and casualty (P&C) insurance carriers, funds and administrators about their companies' priorities, IT direction, and status of services and architecture. Survey results are available for download at www.stoneriver.com/content/2011-PC-Tech-Survey.

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In the survey, policy administration projects scored highest in the prioritization of large-scale projects (53%). Analytics/business intelligence projects were the second highest priority (47%).

Other notable findings included:

• A sizable increase in the participants interested in end-to-end solutions from a single supplier (up 24% to 47% in 2011) vs. best-of-breed systems from multiple suppliers (down 15% to 24% in 2011).
• The significance of System Interoperability, which retained its top ranking in as "very important" (2011: 50%, 2010: 42%). In the "important" category, Platform Flexibility (56%) edged out last year's favorite Data Accessibility (53%).
• A rise in the projected percentage of vendor-supplied applications and services in the next five years. This year 59% anticipate 50% or more of their technology infrastructure will be based on vendor-supplied applications. Last year only 38% anticipated that usage of vendor-supplied applications.

"The indicated business drivers of growth, efficiency and optimization were underscored throughout the survey from priority of business needs all the way through the expected technology infrastructure," states Chris Phillips, Chief Architect, StoneRiver, Inc. "The survey shows a strong theme of a desired IT agility and flexibility through the high priority placed on technologies such as SOA, componentized architectures and interoperability of systems. Evolving services capabilities and ongoing needs for open access to underlying data also support the targets of growth, efficiency, and optimization by enabling composite web applications and effective business process orchestration and automation."

About the StoneRiver Stream™ Solutions

The StoneRiver Stream solution set redefines the core system life cycle with the debut of the first, truly sustainable system. This all P&C lines solution set delivers an evergreen platform, pairing rich, time-tested business functionality with an advanced, open platform that encourages renewal and growth. With market leading offerings for billing, distribution, customer management and soon – policy, claims, and reinsurance, StoneRiver provides carriers a state-of-the-art, strategic core operational solution. StoneRiver Stream changes the way carriers do business by giving them the power to change the business itself.

About StoneRiver

StoneRiver delivers the industry's widest range of technology solutions and services to insurance carriers, agents, and broker-dealers. This versatile product group encompasses front-office, policy, claim, rating, underwriting, billing, reinsurance, financial and compliance solutions for all major business lines. Hundreds of companies rely on StoneRiver software and processing solutions to achieve a competitive edge. StoneRiver promotes client success by streamlining complex business processes. Visit stoneriver.com for more information.

SOURCE StoneRiver