DURHAM, N.C., May 19, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- The Insurance Accounting & Systems Association (IASA) is pleased to announce the winner of the inaugural IASA Technology Achievement Award -- Columbia Insurance Group.
A panel of distinguished industry experts, including Deborah Smallwood of TowerGroup, Frank Cerne formerly of Insurance Networking News, Kimberly Harris of Gartner Group, Richard Penberthy of IDMA and Ara Trembly of National Underwriter, judged this year's entries, and by a unanimous vote, Columbia Insurance Group's entry was selected as the winner of the 2005 IASA Technology Achievement Award.
At the 2004 IASA Press Conference, the association announced a new award designed to recognize an IASA member company for achieving measurable business impact through the innovative application of technology to solve a business challenge -- The IASA Technology Achievement Award. This marks the first time that this award has been presented.
The award presentation will take place at the IASA Press Conference on Sunday, June 5, 2005 during the IASA Annual Conference & Business Show in Anaheim, CA. Representatives from Columbia Insurance Group will receive an award plaque; a full conference registration; and recognition in the IASA Monthly E-News.
In today's competitive marketplace, insurance companies are currently being challenged to find new ways of becoming "easy to do business with" while improving internal workflows and efficiencies. Columbia Insurance Group has conquered these challenges with their "straight through processing" solution targeting 40% of their commercial policy count. With a mix of new development and "legacy" integration, Columbia has hit a home run for their agents and internal business users.
Finally, as the winner of IASA's Technology Award, Columbia Insurance Group will have the opportunity to present a technology session at this year's IASA Annual Conference & Business Show. Attend Session 476, "Extending Legacy Systems for Straight Through Processing: A Case Study," on Tuesday, June 7 from 1:45p.m. to 3:15 p.m. to learn how Columbia Insurance Group describes the business problem the winning case study solved, the solution they selected, the challenges they overcame, and the positive business benefits they've achieved.
For more information on the IASA Technology Achievement Award or the case study session to be presented by Columbia Insurance Group, please contact Ernie Pearson, Director of IASA's Technology Program Committee via email at ernie_pearson@secura.net.
About IASA
The Insurance Accounting & Systems Association, Inc. (IASA) is a non-profit, education association that strives to enhance the knowledge of insurance industry professionals, and participants from similar organizations closely allied with the insurance industry by facilitating the exchange of ideas and information. IASA is the insurance industry's largest, and most well represented trade association. IASA membership includes insurance companies of all types (Property & Casualty, Life, Health, Fraternal, HMO and others) as members, as well as companies serving the insurance industry, regulators and also organizations more broadly representative of the financial services industry, including banks and investment brokerage firms. Learn more about the IASA by visiting our website at www.iasa.org or by calling (919) 489-0991.