Polaris
Martin B McLachlan, Polaris U.K. limited managing director, said of the agreement: "EDI has always been a major factor in Polaris' offerings. Recently, when we decided to enhance the facilities offered within the Polaris solution we decided that we would consider the products of specialist EDI software houses. We have been using Kewill consultancy for many years and entering the master licence agreement seemed a natural development."
The Polaris Plugin is a fully pre-configured customisation of the Kewill eBiz-Manager for the insurance industry. It facilitates transactions between the systems of insurance intermediaries (brokers) and insurers, via Kewill eBiz-Manager's any to any data conversion capabilities.
Polaris U.K. Limited and Kewill plc have unique relationship whereby Polaris has purchased a Master Licence allowing intermediaries who either have the Polaris run time environment integrated into their systems, or who are undertaking this work, to use Kewill eBiz-Manager's Polaris edition software in UK installations. The Polaris license does not currently encompass direct usage by insurers.
After detailed analysis of suitable products, Kewill eBiz-Manager was favoured by Polaris due to its extensive scope for industry-specific customisation. As part of the arrangement, Polaris maintains the mappings for the major standard industry messages - i.e. PROP05.2 (Motor Insurance Proposal), HHPR03.6 (Household Insurance Proposal) and IPPOAD (New Commercial Business Proposal). The agreement also covers upgrades to the Kewill software.
The availability of the master license agreement allows authorised intermediaries to use Kewill eBiz-Manager in a variety of ways. These range from the provision of a development copy of the product, the availability of run-time modules for incorporation with their third party software and where relevant, the provision of a bureau/clearing house operation.