Computer Sciences Corp.‘s (CSC) most coveted insurance offering will now be available with Microsoft Corp.‘s (MSFT) Windows Server 2008 R2 and SQL Server 2008 R2. The companies signed a technology development, marketing and sales alliance agreement to offer Computer Sciences’ Integral insurance software suite with Microsoft’s server offerings. The combined pack will likely knock at the doors of insurance carriers later this calendar year.
Per the agreement, Microsoft will technically guide Computer Sciences in assimilating the Integral suite into its latest server platforms. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Integral is one of Computer Sciences’ comprehensive administration suites for life insurance and annuities/pensions, property and casualty/general insurance and group insurance. The software provides end-to-end policy/group management, product configuration and business analytics solutions.
The deal is backed by the intention to aid insurance carriers with the rapid deployment of new insurance software through advanced servers. Research carried by Microsoft officials shows that banks and carriers are rapidly adopting Windows and SQL servers across the information technology system to update legacy platforms. The trend suggests that this new venture will not only be beneficial to the insurance sector, but also to Computer Sciences and Microsoft.
Computer Sciences enjoys steady demand from the insurance sector. This is the reason the company always remains on the forefront of innovation, which attract both existing and prospective customers. In May, Computer Sciences introduced a new business process service targeted at insurance carriers, enabling them to process workers’ compensation insurance easily.
We believe that the company’s deal winning prospects from various industrial sectors remain bright. New business wins led Computer Sciences to post decent first quarter 2012 results.
But European issues, uncertainty related to government contracts and stiff competition from big players such as Accenture plc (ACN) and Hewlett-Packard Company (HPQ) make us bearish for now.
Computer Sciences currently has a Zacks #5 Rank (short-term Strong Sell’ recommendation).
