Three words sum up SilverStream Software's (www.silverstream.com) new way ofthinking: integrated services environment. That means the companywants to storm the Web services market and make insurance-specificfunctions Web-enabled.

Normally, the company claims, insurance organizations have todeal with isolated systems and information, inflexible processes,and problems with keeping pace with the industry. But SilverStreambelieves its eXtend Insurance platform will help carriers realizethe promise of networked business by making business functionsshareable and relevant to any application and any user on anydevice."

Partnership development is an emerging trend. As insurers lookfor new sources of revenues, software developers pounce with oftenheavy-hitting enterprise-wide solutions to meet ever-changingdemands. As the developers and carriers become more intertwined-andas companies become more and more reliant on the systems theyshelled out premium dollars to use-partnerships, strategicmarketing agreements, co-branding, and other 'one hand washes theother' plans take shape to keep the tech flowing and the companiesgrowing.

According to SilverStream, eXtend Insurance helps carrierssurvive by enabling them to leverage industry-specific strategicpartners. In doing so, carriers and business partners can openlyshare data across a variety of platforms, including IBM mainframes,CICS, MQ Series, IMS, AS400, Unix, and Vax. EXtend Insurance's XMLimplementation allows information sharing over the Web, and permitsreal-time interaction.

EXtend Insurance also deals with workflow: Users are able to setthe flow of information from the quoting and rating engines to theunderwriting workflows to the back end for binding.

According to SilverStream president and CEO David Litwack, "Thepromise of networked businesses and the maturation of enablingtechnologies and systems have brought about an incredibleopportunity for insurance organizations to reengineer workflows andoffice processes, enhance customer satisfaction, and develop newavenues for expanding product distribution."

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