Virtual workspace offers way out for insurers frustrated by costly legacy IT infrastructure

ARLINGTON, Va., July 18, 2017 -- Willis Towers Watson (NASDAQ:WLTW), a leading global advisory, broking and solutions company, has launched vPlace — a virtual, actuarial workspace that brings the company’s insurance software to the cloud. The Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform has been developed to help meet the industry’s need to reduce IT costs and find more efficient ways to respond to business and regulatory pressures, which legacy IT infrastructure is failing to address.

The online workspace, powered by Microsoft Azure, overcomes the limitations of legacy IT by providing insurers with an agile, alternative environment to host and manage their Willis Towers Watson software and supplementary actuarial programs. Through vPlace, software is enabled to run at peak performance, supporting insurers’ ability to effectively respond to fluctuating industry pressures, maximizing their software investment.

“Shorter reporting timelines are pushing insurers to do more in less time, and traditional on-premise infrastructures are struggling to remain fit for purpose,” said Stephen Hollands, SaaS global product leader at Willis Towers Watson. “Having a virtual workspace in the cloud, supported by our risk and actuarial software experts, allows insurers more time to respond to the changing needs of the business without having to spend huge sums on purchasing, updating and maintaining onsite infrastructure.”

“To expand computing capacity enough to meet regulations and compete in the market, insurers that rely on on-premises technology will have to invest heavily in infrastructure, which may quickly become obsolete,” said Jonathan Silverman, director, business development at Microsoft Corp. “By leveraging high-performance compute capacity in Microsoft Azure, vPlace gives insurers a solution for their risk and actuarial software challenges that is both flexible and cost effective.”

vPlace can accommodate a range of Willis Towers Watson’s risk and actuarial software products and other supplementary actuarial programs to enable them to work seamlessly together. The consultancy and leading software vendor’s RiskAgility Financial Modeller (FM) is the first of its actuarial software products to be hosted on vPlace, with other products scheduled to join over the coming year.

Notes to editors

Using Azure Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) as the underlying base for vPlace, Willis Towers Watson deploys Microsoft Remote Desktop Services (RDS) as the platform for delivering its thick client applications, and layers on Azure Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) solutions to enhance that core platform. For example, using Azure SQL Database to host its RDS connection broker enables Willis Towers Watson to support this small but critical database without the added costs of an expensive multi-node SQL cluster.

Key benefits of vPlace include:

• A fully managed actuarial Software-as-a-Service — removing the burden from internal IT of installing and managing specialized actuarial systems
• Automatic software updates to ensure users are always working with the latest version in an optimized environment — enabling them to benefit from Willis Towers Watson’s suite of actuarial software products 
• Seamless user experience provided through an easy-to-use interface that hosts their software applications and data in a central location, allowing for easy cross-tool collaboration
• Increased speed and performance of software by removing workload from onsite desktop PCs to limit system conflict
• Use of leading cloud-based security services with exceptional privacy credentials, as well as built-in disaster recovery
• High-quality, specialist client services and expert support available 24/7
• Accessible from anywhere, at any time — removing the reliance and constraints of traditional desktop PCs
• Cost-effective way to implement and manage actuarial technology
• RiskAgility FM in vPlace fully supports vGrid 2.0, the latest version of Willis Towers Watson’s flexible and highly scalable cloud-based computation grid service

Willis Towers Watson is the world’s largest provider of actuarial software with over 40 years’ experience in developing market leading products. Our technology solutions form an important part of our strategy and continue to grow. We have over 1,000 associates dedicated to these solutions. From software to web-based and mobile applications, we provide over 70 technology products to our clients to support their financial/risk and HR needs.

About Willis Towers Watson

Willis Towers Watson (NASDAQ:WLTW) is a leading global advisory, broking and solutions company that helps clients around the world turn risk into a path for growth. With roots dating to 1828, Willis Towers Watson has 40,000 employees serving in more than 140 countries. We design and deliver solutions that manage risk, optimize benefits, cultivate talent, and expand the power of capital to protect and strengthen institutions and individuals. Our unique perspective allows us to see the critical intersections between talent, assets and ideas — the dynamic formula that drives business performance. Together, we unlock potential. Learn more at willistowerswatson.com.

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Josh Wozman: +1 703 258 7670
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