Sixth Annual Vanguards in Insurance Practices Voting Is Now Open

CHICAGO, Nov. 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- (http://www.myprgenie.com) -- Insurance Networking News, the independent authority on the latest technology to support insurers' business strategies, has kicked off its annual 2011 Vanguards in Insurance (VIP) awards program, in which carriers vote for their industry's top technology providers and these providers in turn nominate the most visionary insurance carriers.

The mission of the unique two-phase program -- administered in partnership with Celent, a division of Oliver Wyman, Inc. -- is to honor tech companies that have anticipated and exceeded the needs of this complex industry, while also highlighting the best practices of insurance companies in applying new technologies. Voting in the program's first phase begins today.

"At a time when the insurance marketplace is changing at a record pace, insurers depend on the most cutting-edge solutions available," said Pat Speer, editor-in-chief of INN. "INN's coverage of these best practices helps fuel further innovation within the industry."

Winners of both Phase One and Phase Two will be recognized at an exclusive event held in conjunction with the ACORD LOMA Insurance Systems Forum in Orlando Florida in May 2012. They will also be featured in a Special Report by Insurance Networking News in the June 2012 issue and on www.insurancenetworking.com.

Phase One

This phase, beginning today, invites executives and staff from North American insurance companies, including property/casualty, life/health, and reinsurance, to identify their preferred technology providers. Carriers can participate in the survey by visiting http://www.insurancenetworking.com/INNAwards/VIP.html/. Those who participate in the survey will be entered into a drawing for one of five $500 American Express gift cards. The deadline for voting is November 30, 2011.

INN modified this year's VIP Phase One honoree categories to reflect insurers' migration from a focus on products and data to one that places the customer at the center. The new categories include:

• Back Office Solutions & Technologies: software and services that cross functional boundaries to deliver enterprise value, such as SOA, networking, integration, and other technologies that support core solutions and decision support, and more.
• Core Solutions: Software and support for solutions that drive core business functions, including billing, policy admin, and underwriting, among others.
• Customer Experience Solutions: Front office technologies that drive customer loyalty, satisfaction and retention, for example social media, portals, customer service, distribution, AGENT, channel management, and more.
• Decision Support Solutions: Software and support that manage data capture, storage, search, mining, sharing, and analytics used to improve business processes and decisions, which include BPM, workflow, and BI, among others.
• Strategy Partners:  May include third party and outsourcing firms that provide consulting, analysis, and delivery services in support of IT projects.

Phase Two

The second phase of the INN VIP Awards program allows the top-ranked solution providers from Phase One to nominate an insurance carrier as a "visionary" for use of a specific technology. The honorees are, then, judged by INN's editors, its Editorial Advisory Board comprising technology leaders from across the industry, and insurance research analysts from Celent. As part of the judging process, solution providers are encouraged to illustrate the role, if feasible, that ACORD data standards play in their business and technology success story. This part of the program begins December, 13, 2011, and will close on January 20, 2012.

Celent, a respected source of independent insurance technology and business research and advisory services, will conduct and manage the program's survey distribution, data collection and analysis. 

"We are excited to be a part of this program because we believe that the meaningful intelligence garnered from the VIP results will help carriers make smart decisions on their technology spend going forward," says Craig Weber, senior vice president of Celent's insurance practice.

To further help insurers map their own success, INN and Celent will segment the results by respondent type and title as well as by how ACORD standards have helped facilitate the leading technology's application success.

About SourceMedia 

SourceMedia, an Investcorp company, is a diversified business to business media company serving the financial industry and the related fields of professional services and technology. SourceMedia offers its clients and subscribers professional publications and online information services, industry-standard data applications, and in-depth seminars and conferences.

About INN

Insurance Networking News is a trusted source on technology implementation to support insurers' strategic business objectives. Insightful analysis, industry case studies and news are provided through a magazine, web site and live events .  Every issue of Insurance Networking News is written to help senior insurance executives bypass the hype and get to the heart of resolving industry challenges.

About Celent

Celent is the only analyst firm to publish comprehensive reports on insurance software sales volumes and in-depth rankings of vendor software. Celent also publishes the widely read annual CIO survey and popular Model Carrier report, making the firm uniquely position to understand the buyer's side of the industry's highly competitive landscape.

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News Release Contact:
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Insurance Networking News
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Contact: Mendee Morgan, [email protected], 212-803-6572

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