Report Summary:

This report provides an overview of the available agency connectivity solutions for US insurers. The information in this report was collected directly from the solution providers using Novarica's proprietary universal RFI. The report contains a brief profile of each vendor solution listed in the contents, opposite.

The insurance industry has been experiencing a fundamental transformation of how communication with agents takes place. Over the last ten years, electronic communications have swiftly overtaken the traditional paper-based communications that have traditionally been used by both agents and carriers. Both agents and carriers would prefer to receive and provide information electronically, and process that information with as little human touch as possible, eliminating double entry. Real time upload, download and data translation deliver tangible benefits including reduced costs of handling, improved data quality, and improved turnaround time. But the multiplicity of agency management systems and carrier systems creates costly complexity in distributing data between agencies and carriers.

Agency Connectivity Solutions are software tools that facilitate the integration and translation of data between a carriers systems and a variety of Agency Management Systems. In its simplest form, a full Agency Connectivity Solution takes data coming out of a sending system, translates it into a consistent format that is compatible with the receiving system and maps the data to (and from) the appropriate fields so the receiving system can accept the data stream. This report describes the major types of solutions available to accomplish that task and key dimensions to assess.

We have categorized Agency Connectivity Solutions into three main solution types, represented by color in the Novarica Market Navigator Graphic and summarized below.

• Upload Solutions securely send data from an agency management system directly to a carrier system.
• Download Solutions securely send data from a carrier system directly to an agency management system.
• Data translation solutions translate data from a broad set of data types such as AL3 to another such as ACORD XML.

CONTENTS

Introduction…2
Market Overview…3
AgencyPort…5
AMS Services TransactNOW…6
AMS Services Transit Server…7
Appulate…8
Connective Technologies…9
iter8…10
IVANS…11
NxTech…12
SeaPass Solutions…13
Conclusions…14
About Novarica…15