PARIS, April 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Prima Solutions, developer of Prima Platform(TM) the Foundation for Service Oriented Insurance Applications, announced today that it has finalized an innovative proof of concept using IBM's Workplace Client Technology, Micro Edition that enables insurance organizations to easily address the requirements of their mobile users.

Insurance organizations worldwide are adopting Service Oriented Architecture principles to develop new process-enabled applications supporting their core distribution or claims management requirements. As part of this transformation existing "green-screens" or client/server front-end applications are often replaced by new thin-client interfaces leveraging the easy deployment and update capabilities of web-based applications. Certain business requirements are however poorly or not at all supported by "pure thin-client" front-ends; these include complex functional needs such as illustration or underwriting transactions or the needs of insurance workers such a loss adjusters or mobile sales persons not benefiting from an "always-on" connection to the Web. Insurance organizations are therefore looking for solutions to address these requirements while leveraging the full benefits of the modernized architecture based on SOA and new thin-client developments.

In order to illustrate how IBM's new Workplace Client Technology could provide an answer to this requirement, Prima Solutions recently leveraged an existing J2EE thin-client demonstration application based on Prima Platform(TM). This demonstration application supports a term life insurance new business process involving a producer and a medical underwriter. The project consisted in porting the producer's interface to WCTME and then implementing the necessary synchronization mechanisms to enable the end-to-end process to progress once access to the web was re-established. Thanks to the strength of the WCTME development and run-time components and the strict respect of SOA principles by applications supported by Prima Platform(TM) this proof of concept has been successfully developed in a matter of days by a joint IBM - Prima Solutions team.

"We are excited about IBM's Workplace Client Technology since it further strengthens our ability to deliver highly efficient insurance applications with rich-client functionality and thin-client deployment and updating capabilities," stated Frédéric Dutreuil, Pre-Sales Director of Prima Solutions whose team conducted the proof-of-concept. "Prima Solutions' industry leading Prima Platform(TM), together with WCT, can enable global insurance institutions to easily develop the new core process applications they need to improve their business efficiency. The introduction of this new technology further reinforces the long-standing partnership, shared vision and complementary product offerings we have with IBM."

"To expedite important customer information in the insurance industry, the efforts of managers and sales adjusters must be coordinated across the different working locations and conditions," said Michael Garbett, Director, Client Technologies, IBM Software Group. "Prima Solutions showcases how IBM Workplace Client Technology, Micro Edition can enable process continuity across semi-connected devices such as PDAs, smart phones, laptop computers or desktop systems."

About IBM Workplace Client Technology

IBM Workplace Client Technology is a programming platform that enables software developers to create rich, client-side applications to deliver all the functionality of a local desktop client, coupled with improved manageability and easier deployment. Workplace Client Technology Micro Edition provides supports the extension of existing enterprise applications to server-managed client devices such as desktop computers, laptop systems, personal digital assistants, and other mobile and pervasive devices.

About Service Oriented Insurance Applications(TM)

Service Oriented Insurance Applications is a new type of applications that orchestrates and delivers end-to-end business processes across multiple users and channels while leveraging existing legacy systems. Based on Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) principles, they enable insurance organizations to progressively turn business computing assets into well-defined services and assemble these services to orchestrate end-to-end business processes. This allows changes to business processes, business rules and other policies to be made without affecting the underlying systems. It enables maximum re-usability of existing assets while providing greater agility to both IT and Business users. When applied to core insurance processes such as Underwriting, Policy or Claims administration, the business benefits are limited only by the level of automation that management want to enforce in their organization.

About Prima Solutions

Prima Solutions provides a standards-based software foundation to design, develop, deploy, manage, monitor and maintain Service Oriented Insurance Applications. Built around an extensive insurance reference model and service repository, Prima Platform(TM) supports rules-based business process automation, their real-time integration with legacy systems and deployment via a portal infrastructure. Prima Platform(TM) enables insurance organizations to improve enterprise agility, and to incrementally transform their legacy systems, therefore dramatically increasing business results.

Founded in 1999 Prima Solutions operates globally from offices in Paris, London, Munich, Milan and Tokyo. Customers include CNP, Swiss Life, Erisa IARD, Groupama / Gan and AGPM. Projects implemented by these customers involve General, Health, Life and Pension insurance product s for core distribution, underwriting, policy administration and claims processing. Prima Solutions is supported by global alliances with key technology partners including IBM, BEA Systems, Ilog, Sun Microsystems and Oracle as well as selected delivery partners in its strategic operating markets. Prima Solutions is a member of ACORD.

Additional information can be found on www.prima-solutions.com

Prima Solutions Press Contact: Séverine Roussel, Phone : +33-(0)-1-70-91-24-57, severine.roussel@prima-solutions.com, www.prima-solutions.com