The IVN for insurance will bring together independent software vendors, system integrators and SAP to co-innovate with insurers to help them improve profits, customer relationships and their competitive position through effective applications and a flexible IT environment. Members of the IVN for insurance will initially focus on issues facing property and casualty insurers in the North American market, in the areas of claims, customer service, sales and distribution, and underwriting and policy processing. The announcement was made at the SAP Americas Insurance Forum 2007, an event providing insurance industry executives with unique networking and educational opportunities, being held in Miami, Florida, November 12-14.

The launch of the IVN for insurance will further demonstrate SAP's dedication to drive and collaborate with industry leaders to provide value through the development of standardized industry services and solutions. Members of the IVN for insurance will address the growing need insurers have expressed to improve efficiencies across their organizations.

Plans for the industry value network for insurance currently include key innovative partners in the insurance industry: Adobe, CGI, IBM, MSG, Opentext, Planetsoft and Skywire. The partners and SAP will initially collaborate to bring together industry expertise, knowledge and capabilities in a multi-vendor ecosystem to address the high-value business needs of customers. Customers will be invited to participate in the second phase of the IVN.

"We are excited about participating in the industry value network for insurance," said Chip Greenlee, director, Financial Services, Adobe. "Adobe and SAP have a strong technology partnership and have integrated ACORD forms based on Adobe PDF technology in SAP solutions for insurance policy and claims management."

"Increased competition and heightened customer demands are putting additional pressure on insurers," said Peter Dunning, executive vice president, Strategic Industries, SAP. "The insurers that will thrive are those that are nimble enough to respond to speed of change. The IVN for insurance is another co-innovative step from SAP and its partners to address such challenges faced by insurers and help them move into an environment where they can future-proof their operations."

Industry value networks bring together SAP, partners and industry leaders to solve the most pressing business challenges through the creation and continual improvement of end-to-end business processes. Insurance will join a growing list of IVNs, including: aerospace and defense, automotive, banking, chemicals, consumer products, forest and paper, high tech, mining, oil and gas, public sector, retail, travel and logistics services, and utilities.