Accenture (NYSE:ACN) has been positioned as a leader in a new IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Policy Administration Systems, 2015 Vendor Assessment1. The report lists the Accenture Life Insurance & Annuity Platform as a leading policy administration system for life and annuity insurance carriers.

According to the IDC MarketScape, its vendor inclusion short-listing was determined on the basis of breadth of functionalities, comprehensiveness and excellence in products and services; future vision and leadership; stellar credentials and live client installations; and strong bonds cultivated with the insurance industry. The IDC MarketScape vendor comparison assessed suppliers based on two major categories: strategy and capabilities.

The report notes that “core replacement cycles are brewing and we increasingly see insurers moving away from internal IT spending and looking outward to vendors with suitable technological capabilities, resources, and expertise for their business scenarios.”

“We are thrilled to see the continued positive recognition in the market for our Accenture Life Insurance & Annuity Platform,” said Shay Alon, global managing director, Accenture Software for Life Insurance and Annuity. “This type of recognition serves to validate that our historic and on-going investments in technology and functionality are well-positioned to help carriers achieve their modernization program goals.”

This IDC MarketScape provides a vendor-agnostic, informed investment guidance for insurers’ technology offices and their line-of-business buyers seeking to invest or replace their PAS platforms, while at the same time offering these specialist technology organizations further exposure to a wider insurance market. The evaluation is based on a comprehensive framework and a set of parameters IDC Financial Insights expect to be most conducive for providing highly rated PAS platforms, together with the inclusion of buyers’ perception of overall value delivered by these vendor solutions.

About Accenture

Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 323,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. The company generated net revenues of US$30.0 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2014. Its home page is www.accenture.com.

Accenture Software combines deep technology acumen with industry knowledge to develop differentiated software products. It offers innovative software-based solutions to enable organizations to meet their business goals and achieve high performance. Its home page is www.accenture.com/software. The Accenture Life Insurance Platform is part of Accenture Life Insurance Business Services, a business service within Accenture’s Financial Services operating group. By applying its extensive industry knowledge to continuously enhance its software, Accenture helps insurers reduce operating costs, manage risk and drive growth through improved product development, enhanced policy administration and distribution, and through technology platform consolidation and modernization. Its home page is www.accenture.com/lifesoftware.

About IDC MarketScape

IDC MarketScape vendor analysis model is designed to provide an overview of the competitive fitness of ICT (information and communications technology) suppliers in a given market. The research methodology utilizes a rigorous scoring methodology based on both qualitative and quantitative criteria that results in a single graphical illustration of each vendor’s position within a given market. IDC MarketScape provides a clear framework in which the product and service offerings, capabilities and strategies, and current and future market success factors of IT and telecommunications vendors can be meaningfully compared. The framework also provides technology buyers with a 360-degree assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of current and prospective vendors.

1IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Policy Administration Systems 2015 Vendor Assessment (Document #AP251041, May 2015)