
Progress
Software and McCamish Systems Extend Financial and Insurance Applications
to Equitable Life Insurance
Top Insurance and Benefit Plan Administrator Deploys ASP Application
For Client Tracking and Reporting
ATLANTA--(BUSINESS
WIRE)--September 11, 2000-- Progress
Software Corporation, a leading supplier of technology for building
E-Business solutions, today announced another Application Service
Provider (ASP) customer success with McCamish Systems, a leading
provider of state-of-the-art administrative services and enterprise
software for financial institutions. An early member of Progress
Software's ASPEN Program, McCamish developed a Progress®-based
financial tracking application and has made it available through
the ASP model. It is currently being implemented by The Equitable
Life Assurance Society of the United States, a respected leader
in the insurance and annuity industry.
"McCamish
is proving that the ASP model is an effective way to deploy high-end
financial applications to customers quickly and easily. Their
success validates the strength of Progress Software's ASPEN Program,
which provides independent software vendors (ISVs), such as McCamish,
with the technology and business resources they need to quickly
and cost-effectively ASP-enable their applications," said
Robert Palumbo, vice president of ASP Market Development for Progress
Software. "By offering its leading-edge financial application
over the Internet on a subscription basis, McCamish is able to
leverage the ASP model with large customers such as The Equitable
and generate incremental revenue."
McCamish
hosts the Variable Products Administration System (VPAS®),
a sophisticated Progress-based financial tracking application,
for its customers. The VPAS software is designed specifically
to accommodate the unique requirements of variable annuities,
life insurance products and non-qualified employee benefit plans.
The Equitable is currently using the VPAS Benefit Plan Administrator
product to track investment transactions and provide electronic
confirmations.
"Our
customers are demonstrating that they are willing to use the Internet
as a reporting tool for their accounts," said Bill DiMuzio,
vice president at Equitable. "Our relationship with McCamish
offers us the opportunity to expand products and services to our
client base without having to expand our IT operations. Their
expertise and delivery of Progress Software's sophisticated product
offerings allow us to focus on our core competencies and devote
the necessary resources to servicing our clients."
"Progress
Software and the ASPEN Program provide us with a solid platform
to offer business solutions quickly to our customers," said
Tom Fricano, director of Systems Architecture for McCamish. "Progress
Software continues to be the technology platform of choice here
at McCamish because of its ease of use, quickness of development
and growing acceptance in the market."
McCamish
began its relationship with Progress Software in 1989 by building
its application on Progress version 7.3. Since joining the Progress
Software ASPEN program in late 1999, McCamish has leveraged Progress
Software's expertise in the ASP market to deploy their applications
via the Internet.
A
channel pioneer, Progress Software has long been recognized for
its ability to give ISVs the technology and services they need
to meet the rigorous requirements of middle market, resource-constrained
environments and to deliver industry-specific solutions more quickly,
more tightly integrated and at a low total cost of ownership.
With its strategy, the company is now at the forefront of the
ASP market, providing an established infrastructure for bringing
2,000+ ISVs and their more than 5,000 Progress-based applications
to this new distribution channel.
Progress
Software's ASPEN Program offers business planning assistance,
technology, services, partnerships and industry recognition to
help ISVs quickly and easily transform Progress-based applications
into ASP-enabled applications. These new applications, available
on a subscription basis and accessed over the Internet rather
than purchased, allow organizations to more quickly and economically
gain access to application functionality previously unavailable
to them. ASP-enabled applications reduce traditional IT infrastructure
costs because they are developed and maintained by service providers
rather than an internal IT staff.
Progress
Software's ASPEN Program now boasts a worldwide membership of
more than 150 partners, from 20 different countries around the
world, representing the leading-edge of the ASP wave and the world's
largest network of ASPs and related strategic partners. The program
consists of more than 60,000 end-user seats including organizations
such as General Mills, Beirsdorf and The Equitable, that rely
on Progress-based ASP applications for improved profitability
and competitive advantage. For more information about the ASPEN
Program please visit www.ASPconnections.com.
About
McCamish Systems
Headquartered
in Atlanta, Ga., McCamish Systems offers world-class administrative
services and state-of-the-art enterprise software to financial
institutions that distribute life insurance, annuities and non-qualified
employee benefit plans. The VPAS® Benefit Plan Administration
product is ASP and client/server based and supports the transactional
delivery, maintenance and reporting of Non-Qualified Benefit Plans,
SERP Plans and Split Dollar Plans.
About
Progress Software
Progress
Software Corporation is a global supplier of software products
and services for developing, deploying and managing business applications
moving to the Internet. We offer messaging servers, application
servers, databases, and application development and management
products. Our partners include more than 2,000 application service
providers and independent software vendors who supply annually
over $5 billion in Progress®-based applications and related
services. Our products are used by over 10,000 organizations across
100 countries worldwide, including 60% of Fortune 100 companies.
For more information, visit www.progress.com or call 1-781-280-4000.
Progress
is a registered trademark and ASPEN is a trademark of Progress
Software Corporation. VPAS® is a registered trademark of McCamish
Systems, L.L.C. Any other trademarks and/or service marks contained
herein are the property of their respective owners.
***
For more information about McCamish Systems, please contact our
Sales & Marketing group at Solutions@McCamish.com
or call 800.366.0819.