Microsoft and Policy Management Systems Announce Plans For Strategic Alliance
, April 14, 1998 — Microsoft Corp. and Policy Management Systems Corp. (PMSC) today announced a plan in which the two companies will work together to deliver enterprise and electronic-commerce solutions based on the Microsoft® Windows NT® Server operating system and the BackOffice® family of products.
PMSC is the leader in providing enterprise and e-commerce application software to more than 1,000 insurance and related financial services companies worldwide. The company produced revenues of $582.7 million in 1997 and employs 6,000 people in more than 30 countries, including the United States.
Key objectives of the relationship are scheduled to include the following:
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PMSC plans to deliver five products in 1998 that run on Windows NT and Microsoft SQL Server
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: Point+, DecisionWise, Re+, LoanXchange and ViLink/ECP. -
PMSC’s flagship property and casualty and life insurance solutions, S3+ and CyberLife, currently support Windows NT and will support SQL Server in 1999.
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PMSC will train 4,000 service and software development professionals on Microsoft BackOffice technologies over the next 12 months.
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PMSC will assign developers to participate in the Windows® Distributed interNet Applications architecture for Financial Services (Windows DNA FS) initiative and support the architecture, allowing PMSC applications to integrate with other products and legacy mainframe systems.
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Microsoft will assign dedicated technical personnel to work with PMSC to coordinate product development and future technology planning.
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Microsoft and PMSC will work to incorporate support for the ACORD OLifE and ObjX initiatives into PMSC products.
Bill Gates, chairman and CEO of Microsoft, said, “We believe the experience and leadership of PMSC in the insurance industry, combined with Microsoft’s COM-based technologies, will provide insurance and related financial services companies with best-of-breed software products that will be easier to use, have a lower cost of ownership and provide a higher level of service for their customers. This alliance will help PMSC’s customers build sensitive digital nervous systems that increase internal efficiencies and improve customer service a critical element in the industry’s current competitive environment.”
G. Larry Wilson, CEO of PMSC, said, “PMSC values Microsoft’s leadership role and focus on advanced technology. I believe our customers will benefit from Microsoft’s being involved in our development efforts. Microsoft’s leading platforms, like Windows NT Server and Microsoft SQL Server, will bring PMSC additional capacities that will help our customers transition to the world of electronic commerce.”
PMSC and Microsoft plan to engage in a series of initiatives that include cross training for each company’s products, joint sales and marketing activities, strategic product planning, technical briefings and demonstrations at financial services industry events, including the ACORD Technology Conference ’98, May 17-19 in Orlando, Fla.
Within the past four months, PMSC has announced the general availability of four insurance industry applications CyberLife, S3+, Point+ and Re+ that support Windows NT Server. PMSC has been a Microsoft Certified Solution Provider (MCSP) member since 1995.
PMSC, headquartered in Columbia, S.C., is the leader in providing enterprise and electronic-commerce application software, professional services and outsourcing designed to meet
the needs of the global insurance and related financial services industries. Information on PMSC and its products and services can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.pmsc.com/ .
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing every day.
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