Blaze Advisor is a core component of Fidelity's vision of a rules-layered architecture that will span its entire suite of product offerings and provides Fidelity customers with complete software packages that leverage existing legacy systems and preserve business process innovation.

Fidelity will begin using Blaze Advisor as it re-architects its core mortgage servicing system, which provides automation for nearly half of all mortgages in the United States. Blaze Advisor will be an integral part of this initiative and is expected to dramatically reduce the cost of managing Fidelity's systems and increase the company's speed to market. Additionally, Fidelity plans to use Blaze Advisor to orchestrate and manage complex business processes that span its channel, integration and core banking applications. The application of rules will allow Fidelity to provide an overall product offering that is more flexible and highly configurable to support unique client requirements.

"Today's announcement underscores the growing importance of business rules as a key component of a flexible enterprise," said Craig Focardi, CMB, Senior Analyst, Consumer Lending advisory service, TowerGroup. "Industries across the board benefit from the introduction of business rules as they provide the foundation of how an organization conducts its business. Fidelity's use of Blaze Advisor as a core component of its rules-layered architecture is a significant step to streamlining this difficult, costly and time-consuming process."

Fidelity's decision to implement Fair Isaac Blaze Advisor was a result of an extensive competitive comparison that concluded Blaze Advisor was the most advanced business rules solution on the market, offered the most benefit to Fidelity's clients and provided comprehensive implementation support. Currently in the first phase of project implementation, Fair Isaac and Fidelity are committed to building upon their existing relationship to further extend the value of their complementary technologies to their customers.

"The introduction of Blaze Advisor within our new rules-layered architecture is a critical step toward achieving our goal of empowering our clients to change business logic and algorithms on the fly to maintain their competitive advantage," said Dan Scheuble, chief information officer of Fidelity National Financial. "The recent increase in IT spending makes this a top priority for many of our customers as they look to capitalize on existing resources and established processes and provide a level of decision automation that incorporates the rules of the enterprise. Blaze Advisor proved to be the most advanced solution on the market, and we are excited about implementing solutions that ensure our customers are at the forefront of technology."

"Fidelity is a leader within the market, and their adoption of Blaze Advisor is a testament to their vision of creating a mortgage servicing system to meet their customers need for enterprise decision management," said Todd Davis, vice president of decision management software and solutions at Fair Isaac. "Blaze Advisor provides a foundation to implement and execute strategies across markets where the competitive dynamics are ever changing, but equally important for Fidelity is the ability to create a mortgage servicing system that provides the opportunity to establish stronger and lasting customer relationships that are beneficial for both customers and lenders."