5th Mar 2007 13:00
Micro Focus(R) (LSE: MCRO.L), a leader in enterprise applicationmodernization solutions, today announces that Monarch Life InsuranceCompany is using Micro Focus technology to move its key applicationworkload from an IT service bureau to an in-house IT system. With thisstrategic project expected to go into production during the secondquarter of 2007, Monarch Life anticipates a $230,000 savings per yearin operating costs. £ Monarch Life maintains existing blocks of disability incomeinsurance policies, variable life insurance policies and annuitycontracts. The move of its core health and accident and individualdisability applications to in-house Windows servers is critical toMonarch Life's strategic IT plan. When complete, this will not onlyreduce overall annual IT costs, but also minimize any exposureassociated with outsourcing the environment used to run theapplications as the new Windows servers will be fully owned, managedand operated internally. Minimizing risk and disruption is crucial tothe project's success and Monarch Life will achieve this by re-usingexisting business logic and preserving its investment in COBOL-basedapplications and IT development staff. £ "We considered several options, including a complete rewrite ofthe applications or other packaged software," said Jane Demers, vicepresident and CIO of Monarch Life. "We selected the Micro Focussolution because it proved to be the most cost-effective. It gives usthe most independence using the lowest-risk approach and allows us toextend our established applications to a platform that makes businesssense with minimal change." £ "Monarch Life is another example of an organization making clearinroads into modernizing and extending critical business applicationsto its platform of choice," said Stuart McGill, chief technologyofficer at Micro Focus. "We are delighted that Monarch Life will beable to move forward with their application portfolio in a way thatmeets their strategic objectives in a low-risk manner." £ About Micro Focus £ Micro Focus provides innovative software that allows companies todramatically improve the business value of their enterpriseapplications. Micro Focus Enterprise Application Modernization andManagement software enables customers' business applications torespond rapidly to market changes and embrace modern architectureswith reduced cost and risk. For additional information please visitwww.microfocus.com. £ The very latest perspectives, expertise and developments fromCustomers, Partners and Micro Focus are under one roof at Micro FocusWorld 2007. For more information, visit www.microfocusworld.com. £ Micro Focus is a registered trademark of Micro Focus. All otherproducts mentioned in this announcement are trademarks of theirrespective owners. Copyright Business Wire 2007Related Shares:
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