Companies Help Insurers Analyze, Predict, and Manage Risk, Leading to Better Decision Making 

Redlands, California, and Santa Ana, California-June 30, 2009-ESRI, the leading provider of geographic information system (GIS) technology, and First American Spatial Solutions, an industry leader in geospatial software, natural hazard analytics, and property and tax information, announce the release of the Risk Analysis Solution for ArcGIS, a complete location-based risk analysis solution for the insurance industry. Risk Analysis Solution for ArcGIS can be used by insurance companies to view and analyze data at the policy and portfolio level, allowing insurers to assess concentration of risk and increase and improve underwriting decisions.

"Insurers who rely on critical data about their customers in order to price policies and mitigate risk can now also take advantage of the location information included with this data," says Stephen Forte, research director at Gartner, Inc. "Using current and meaningful location data means companies can better understand the exact location of policy addresses, analyze and detect patterns in natural hazard risks, and identify opportunities otherwise unseen in tabular spreadsheets and datasets."

Risk Analysis Solution for ArcGIS combines ESRI's GIS technology with First American's modeling and data. ArcGIS Server, a product that adds full server-side GIS capabilities to the ESRI ArcGIS family of products, provides analytic tools, mapping, and data management capabilities with First American's advanced parcel-based geocoding, natural hazard, and property location data for the United States.

"This innovative risk analysis solution provides insurers with access to the critical GIS tools and hazard information needed to improve their risk management process," states Josh Lewis, director of global partner programs, ESRI. "By partnering with First American, we offer the best of our technologies in a forward-thinking solution. This is a fantastic relationship for us here at ESRI. We believe that our joint efforts will be a significant advantage for location-based analysis in the insurance industry."

"First American has a long history of supplying data and analytics to a number of industries," says Scott Little, vice president and general manager of First American Spatial Solutions. "Extending our insurance solution offering to include the powerful capabilities of ESRI's GIS software will help insurers who need visualization tools to intelligently assess risk concentration during the life cycle of a policy.  An ESRI and First American partnership is an ideal match that creates best-in-class products that enable the insurance industry to make even better business decisions across the entire enterprise."

For more information on the Risk Analysis Solution for ArcGIS or to talk to an expert about the solution, please visit www.esri.com/ras.

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About First American

The First American Corporation (NYSE: FAF) is a Fortune 500 company that traces its history to 1889. With revenues of approximately $6.2 billion in 2008, it is America's largest provider of business information. First American combines advanced analytics with its vast data resources to supply businesses and consumers with valuable information products to support the major economic events of people's lives, such as getting a job, renting an apartment, buying a car or house, securing a mortgage, and opening or buying a business. The First American family of companies, many of which command leading market share positions in their respective industries, operates within five primary business segments, including title insurance and services, specialty insurance, information and outsourcing solutions, data and analytic solutions, and risk mitigation and business solutions. More information about the company and an archive of its press releases can be found at www.firstam.com.

 

About ESRI

Since 1969, ESRI has been giving customers around the world the power to think and plan geographically. The market leader in GIS, ESRI software is used in more than 300,000 organizations worldwide including each of the 200 largest cities in the United States, most national governments, more than two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies, and more than 7,000 colleges and universities. ESRI applications, running on more than one million desktops and thousands of Web and enterprise servers, provide the backbone for the world's mapping and spatial analysis. ESRI is the only vendor that provides complete technical solutions for desktop, mobile, server, and Internet platforms. Visit us at www.esri.com.