Analysts
theInterpreter - Summer 2010
As an industry, insurance is moving forward and working to reach its potential. It is making great progress in using and seeing the value of technologies such as self-service portals, rating engines, and BPM. It has earned the respect of some of its former critics and deserves a passing great for its efforts."
— Deb Smallwood, Fonder, SMA Strategy Meets Action
Novarica Vendor Solution Review - FirstBest Underwriting Management System
April 2010
"FirstBest’s UMS is an extremely robust agent portal and underwriting platform. It provides strong collaboration capabilities while supporting all of the transactional functionality required in an agent portal. The comprehensive underwriting solution has helped clients increase new business while maintaining or reducing underwriting costs. UMS is an especially good fit for small to midsize commercial carriers who focus on mid-markets or more complex lines."
— Martina Conlon, Principal, Novarica
Download the Novarica Vendor Solution: FirstBest UMS
Gartner
Hype Cycle for P&C Insurance, 2009
July 2009
“An underwriting workstation provides enhanced electronic ordering and receipt of risk assessment data, improves electronic evaluation of data, and includes real
-time underwriting status features and electronic communication with agents. The workstation tracks underwriting decisions as they are made, which helps the insurer respond quickly to underwriting trends or changes in risk exposure, and properly train its underwriters. [It] also provides collaboration between distribution channels and underwriters, as well as business intelligence and analytics, in underwriting processes.”
— Stephen Forte, Research Director, Gartner
Gartner
Now Is the Time for P&C Insurers to Invest In Underwriting Workstations
April 2009
"FirstBest Systems is the only vendor that provides a collaboration tool, a real-time analytics dashboard for underwriting business processes, and an underwriting workstation."
— Stephen Forte, Research Director, Gartner
Gartner
Underwriting Workstation Power Analysis and Collaboration for Commercial Line P&C Insurers
February 2009
“For commercial line P&C insurers, underwriting functionality through legacy policy administration falls short of meeting strategic business goals such as underwriting profitability and pricing/risk accuracy.”
— Stephen Forte, Research Director, Gartner
Beyond the Traditional Short List: Up and Coming Property and Casualty Insurance Technology Firms Class of 2008
October 2008
"FirstBest has developed a strong brand that is synonymous with next-generation Underwriting Systems and quality customer service. The FirstBest UMS is enabling P&C carriers to write more profitable business by collaborating in real-time with their agents…technology that is desperately needed in the industry."
— Barry Rabkin, Senior Research Analyst, Insurance, Financial Insights
Hot Insurance Tech Companies To Watch In 2009: Profiles Of Technology Companies That Are Reinventing Insurance IT
December 2008
"Forrester has identified seven companies as ones to watch in the insurance technology market in 2009. FirstBest's UMS capitalizes on key carriers’ needs: winning business; creating a better experience for the independent agents and brokers; optimizing the productivity and know-how of the dwindling pool of underwriters; and flexibility to respond to customer, agent, and carrier requirements at the speed-of-market."
— Ellen Carney, Senior Analyst
Gartner
FirstBest Systems, Inc. was also listed as a sample vendor in Gartner, Inc.’s “Hype Cycle for P&C Insurance, 2008,” by Kimberly Harris-Ferrante, Vice President Distinguished Analyst, June 27, 2008. According to Gartner’s report, "The use of EBUW (exception-based underwriting) solutions will help P&C insurers reduce subjectivity, improve data collection at the point of sale and improve consistency in underwriting decisions. Low-level decisions and underwriting for straightforward product lines…can be completely automated… while complex product lines can benefit from using EBUW to automate manual tasks and simple decisions, which will improve the workload for underwriters. Collaborative capabilities between agents/intermediaries and the underwriters can also result in such benefits as quicker underwriting completion, which may drive increased revenue and agent satisfaction."
Market Navigator™ US Property/Casualty New Business solutions 2008 (Q4)
December 2008
“Improving ease of doing business for agents is a major focus on insurers' competitive strategies, and the bar for using technology to enable the new business and underwriting process is continually being raised. Even in a down market, our research show that insurers are continuing to invest in this critical area.”
— Matthew Josefowicz, Director, Insurance, Novarica
"At its base, each of these solutions includes an Agent Portal, which provides a web-based environment for agents to submit new applications through an electronic form, as well as perform other activities like messaging with underwriters and managing client information."
"Some of these solutions also include Underwriter Workbench elements, providing an environment for underwriters to interact with submitted applications, or Rating Engines, which generate rates."
— Matthew Josefowicz, Director, Insurance, Novarica
P&C Insurers Turn to Strategic Technology Investments to Beat the soft Market
August 2008
"P&C executives are savvy about the value of technology as a competitive weapon. However, cost control is a major concern, as expense ratios edge upward. Fortunately, new Web-based technologies make it possible and even affordable to leverage new underwriting capabilities without having to replace existing system investments, or to invest significant staff time or resources."
— Jeffrey J. Rieder, CPA, CPCU, President, Ward Group
For additional media information or to schedule a briefing, please contact Meira Primes, VP of Marketing at 781-863-6000 or
mediacenter@firstbest.com.