With this purchase Friends Provident has extended its user base and now deploys DSTi's multi-tier internet enabled technology as a company-wide business process management solution.

The AWD solution, which wraps around all enterprise business processes, ensures that actions are delivered from the various channels to the most appropriate person, based on set priorities. It streamlines exception management and ensures consistency throughout the organisation and a higher level of compliance. Task management, quality control and activity monitoring, e.g., help organisations to improve customer service, profitability and effectiveness of their businesses.

Andy Jackson, IT Director at Friends Provident states: "Consistent business process management is of vital importance to our organisation, and is not merely an efficiency issue. Therefore we held a strategic review in 2004 of our processing requirements, including a close look at AWD, which we had already been using for some time. We entered into significant commercial discussions around our future requirements (internally and with DST International) and concluded that the product, and more importantly, its development path still fit our requirements for all our paper processing. We are fully committed to this longer term deal, which adds more users as well as a strategic scope."

Mike Winn, Chief Executive Officer at DST International adds: "Financial services is a process-intensive industry, so consistent process management is key to achieving excellent client service levels in a controlled and compliant manner. AWD is a tool, which, thanks to its user-friendly interface can be largely implemented and maintained by the business professionals. The fact that a leading institution such as Friends Provident implements our solution enterprise-wide and with strategic focus around all of its business processes, is proof of our ability to understand the wider scope of financial services firms’ requirements."