Insurance software company Applied Systems announces it willrelease Epic 7, the upcoming version of Applied's agency andbrokerage management system, in the first quarter of 2013.

The release of Epic 7 marks the first time the Epic system willenter the Canadian market. Applied reports that in less than threeyears in theU.S.market, the product has been selected by more than500 agencies and over 17,000 users.

Epic's Microsoft .NET architecture makes the single-systemplatform scalable enough to meet a variety of needs from mid-sizedagencies and brokerages up to the largest enterprise-levelorganizations.

The application's interface, based on best-practice workflows,is designed to allow users to streamline business operations.

"Epic is at the heart of our growth strategy," says James Marek,president of the Stratton Agency in San Carlos, Calif. "A productlike Epic can truly change the way your agency operates and makeyou a much more profitable establishment."

Applied Systems plans for Epic 7 to enter controlled release forearly adopters in the first quarter of next year, with generalrelease in the second quarter. The company said Epic 7 will provideenhanced accounting, additional workflow functionality, newreporting capabilities, and ACORD form updates.

In addition, Epic 7 will provide enhanced capabilities for theCanadian market, particularly forOntarioandAlberta. The system willprovide support for international addressing, Canada-uniqueaccounting capabilities and language features that provide fordocument distribution in an insured's native language.

The release will supportCanada's Centre for Studies in InsuranceOperations (CSIO) interface and electronic documents, and it willseamlessly integrate withCompu-Quote,Canada's leader in comparativeinsurance rating solutions. In late May, Applied Systems acquiredCompu-Quote.

"Providing agencies with the most technologically advancedplatform for automating the business of insurance, Epic has quicklybecome the insurance industry's fastest-growing agency andbrokerage management system," says Applied Systems CEO Reid French."Epic's tremendous success in theU.S.market has driven significantdemand from the Canadian market, and we are pleased to introduceEpic inCanadawith the release of Epic 7."