ISO Acquires Software Developer AscendantOne

NU Online News Service, March 13, 3:51 p.m.EST?Insurance Services Office, Inc. said it hasacquired the software developer AscendentOne Inc. for anundisclosed amount.

AscendentOne, based in Nashua, N.H., provides insurancepolicy-management and insurance-rating software applications andservices. Jersey City, N.J.-based ISO said the newly purchasedoperation and its staff of 40 professionals will remain in NewHampshire with the involvement of the same experienced team ofdevelopers, rating analysts and customer support personnel thathave built the company. AscendantOne was created in May of2000.

ISO said AscendantOne will continue to provide softwareapplications, which "seamlessly integrate" with the Jersey Cityfirm's core insurance information loss costs, manual rules andpolicy form information in its XML-based policy processing andrating applications.

AscendantOne's rating methodology and calculations conform topublished ISO manual rules validated by ISO's insurance experts foreach ISO line of insurance, the company said.

ISO said the new unit will also provide products insurancecompanies can use with their own independent insurance programs andnon-ISO lines of business.

"We acquired AscendantOne in response to our marketplace,"explained Frank J. Coyne, ISO's chairman, president and chiefexecutive officer.

"Our customers have been urging us to offer them our own policyadministration and rating solutions for some time. AscendantOne'sproducts and services provide a natural extension of ISO's coreservices by enabling us to deliver our analytical information usingpowerful applications and leading technology," said Coyne.

AscendantOne President Chuck Boodro said ISO, as a leadingsource of data and analytical pricing and underwriting informationfor the property-casualty industry, "is ideally suited to providepolicy-management and rating-platform solutions delivering timelyISO information directly to insurers through our flexible web-basedXML system."

Mr. Coyne said ISO chose to acquire AscendantOne "after adetailed exploration of existing and emerging technology platformsfor policy administration and rating. We believe AscendantOne hasthe best business-driven tool, which will allow our customers toeasily integrate ISO information."

Mr. Boodro said that as an ISO unit, "AscendantOne is fullypowered by ISO information and enjoys the strength of ISO'sfinancial resources and well-established name and reputationthroughout the property-casualty insurance industry."

Mr. Coyne noted that over the past ten months, ISO andAscendantOne have collaborated successfully on developing this newcomponent-based delivery solution.

Mr. Boodro added that "the two companies' strengths in providingtimely insurance decision support together with web-servicestechnology will offer insurers a new, cost-effective means ofassessing risk, acquiring new business, servicing theirpolicyholders and retaining their profitable accounts."

Mr. Coyne said AscendantOne will deliver value to insurers in avariety of ways by helping them achieve increased profitability andsignificant cost savings by eliminating manual input of ISOinformation into their rating and policy-administration systems aswell as providing compressed analysis and implementation time forISO program revisions.

He said the new unit will also allow for shorter developmentcycles and speed to market for new and existing products andexpedited regulatory filings and rate-change implementations.

ISO provides information, products and services related toproperty and liability risk. For commercial and personal insurancelines, ISO provides analytical and decision-support products,consulting, technical services, statistical services and dataprocessing.

ISO's products help its customers with sales and prospecting,underwriting, rating and quoting, customer management, policyadministration, product development, claims administration andfraud detection.