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Vendor and System Comparative Analysis

This section compares each system against the other using the major parameters of functionality, technology, service (user feedback), vendor stability, and cost.

In the large-to-medium category, the dominant players remain Corporate Systems and Risk Sciences Group. Nevertheless, DORN Technology Group, Pyramid and a re-energized Anistics provide excellent competition for truly comprehensive risk management information system services.

Corporate Systems has made a major decision to proceed with Òclient/serverÓ and slowly abandon its old service bureau corporate philosophy. Its new products division is as high-tech an operation as one sees in the insurance industry, using CASE tools, object-oriented programming, image processing, expert systems and the like. The company is slowly moving over to the new architecture, which is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year. CS still offers the most comprehensive array of systems and related services of any vendor.

Risk Sciences Group finally appears to be making progress in its absorption of Paradigm Infosystems (ParaRisk) as many RFPs we have seen over the last few months show an integrated client/server approach to large and small client opportunities. RSG still retains the large data base and risk financing/risk control systems analyses that made it a dominant vendor in the last twenty-plus years.

DORN Technology Group, one of the oldest of the PC vendors, has released its popular Riskmaster series in a client/server and Windows environment, making it a more price-competitive and comprehensive alternative to the previous two. DORN continues to grow at a healthy pace and to include more and more technology for clients in an intelligent fashion.

Anistics' release of the Windows-based OMEGA system has put the company back on the map as a major player in the RMIS industry. Anistics has always been strong in the risk financing area and has displayed an impressive claims administration system as well.

Pyramid Services offers one of the most comprehensive RMIS available today, rivaling Corporate Systems in that area, as well as being one of the most price competitive of the major vendors. Still a nagging problem is Pyramid's implementation of new systems and the related support services. The company sports a very impressive array of Fortune 200 clients but, with its smaller support staff, is having problems in delivering this service. Nonetheless, Pyramid continues to be a major player in the market.

The newest major entrant to the RMIS industry is CARE Systems Corporation. According to one MIS director, CARE has designed one of the most sound architectures and brought together one of the most impressive support staffs in the industry. Joint ventured with Perot Systems Corporation, CARE aims at the large self-insured, insurer and/or TPA, providing a comprehensive workers compensation/managed care system with impressive expert systems. Not only do these systems estimate on a running basis, the indemnity, medical and related expense categories, they also provide an expert analysis of ongoing medical treatment of a claimant. Finally, the system also provides daily instructions for the claims adjuster/examiner beyond a mere diary function. CARE's WC system may be the best available system that we are aware of today.

For the moderate-to-smaller vendors, there has also been significant advancement over the past few years. DAVID and Insurance Software Packages continue to focus on workers compensation claims administration systems. DAVID offers one of the better WC administration systems anywhere, and especially in California.

American Technical Services offers the most complete RMIS in this group and, quite comparable to Pyramid and Dorn, could have been placed in the first set of vendors. It's likely that the company's continued growth and technological advancements will place it in the larger client echelon by the time of the next of these biennial reviews. ATS operates in a client-server environment and offers some employee benefit capabilities.

California Interactive Computing, on a larger platform (minicomputer), also offers an excellent claims administration system, especially for California WC. CIS has survived some financial crises early in the 1990s and appears to have rebounded quite well. The company is still primarily a claims administration vendor, also offering some employee benefit capabilities.

Seligman Information Systems continues to offer a well-designed certificates issuance and tracking system at a very reasonable price with good service.