Insurance software vendor Applied Systems has completed its acquisition of the property/casualty business of IVANS, a major supplier of managed network, electronic data interchange (EDI) and agency-company interface services to P/C insurance agencies and carriers for more than 30 years.
In another related transaction, Ability Network, a healthcare technology company, completed its acquisition of the two remaining divisions of IVANS — its healthcare and retail business segments.
Boston-based venture capital firm Bain Capital owns a controlling interest in both Applied Systems and Ability Networks.
The IVANS P/C unit will operate under the name IVANS Insurance Solutions as a separate business division of Applied Systems. It will be led by Jim Ochiltree, president of IVANS P/C, and the senior management team, and will operate from its existing office locations in Tampa, Fla., and Cincinnati, Ohio. IVANS currently has 125 employees.
Applied Systems promised that it will continue to operate IVANS as an open platform and help develop products to improve carrier-agency integration for the benefit of the entire P/C industry. This would be in keeping with how IVANS has been run since its founding by a consortium of 24 insurance companies in 1984.
IVANS has been the leading provider of download and real time technologies for insurance agencies and their carriers. IVANS P/C’s data download service is currently used by about 350 insurance carriers and more than 25,000 independent insurance agencies across the U.S., according to Applied Systems.
The major insurance technology vendors Applied Systems, Vertafore and others use IVANS to facilitate real time agency interfaces with carriers through their various agency management systems. IVANS is one of the original co-sponsors of the getrealtime.org campaign to convince more independent agencies to utilize real time processes.
Also, IVANS’ Auto Liability Insurance Reporting (ALIR) software is used by insurers to electronically submit evidence of auto liability insurance as required to do by some states.
Jeff Yates, executive director of the Agents Council for Technology (ACT), part of the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America, said it is critical that IVANS remain open to other vendors and the entire industry as a platform for improving technology.
“Applied Systems has always been a leader and they said they would keep it open, so I am hopeful,” Yates said.
He also said this move may be an opportunity for more investment to be put into agency technology and speed up adoption of real time processing. “In a way, that could be a positive,” Yates said. “I am keeping an open mind.”
Applied Systems said the merger will lead to better interface products.
“Together, Applied Systems and IVANS will deliver more value to the insurance industry through innovation in carrier-agency data exchange and more efficient workflows,” Reid French, CEO, Applied Systems.
University Park, Illinois-based Applied Systems specializes in agency management systems. It has about 11,000 clients and 1,000 employees.