Scottsdale Insurance to Upgrade Mission-Critical
Network to Ultra-Fast ATM/Ethernet 3Com Systems
3Com's New CoreBuilder(R) 9000 ATM and Supporting Ethernet
Systems Will Drive Business-Critical Imaging Applications and
Increase Customer Satisfaction for High-Risk Insurer
SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 23, 1999--
3Com(r) Corporation (Nasdaq:COMS) today announced that
Scottsdale Insurance, a premier high-risk insurance provider, is
upgrading the campus area network of its Scottsdale, Ariz.,
headquarters using 3Com ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) and
Ethernet switches. The 1,000-user network will soon run on a 622
megabits-per-second (Mbps) OC-12 ATM backbone built on
3Com's next-generation CoreBuilder 9000 enterprise switch. With
the CoreBuilder 9000 systems, the fully redundant two-building
campus network creates the high-speed environment needed to
support imaging, claims processing, underwriting and other
time-sensitive insurance applications Scottsdale relies on to sustain
its leadership. The network today delivers 100 megabits per second
(Mbps) and switched 10 Mbps links to networked desktops using
3Com ATM/Ethernet edge devices.
The world's second largest provider of high-risk insurance policies,
Scottsdale serves a diverse client base, including celebrities,
limousine services, charter bus services, day care centers and pest
control companies. The company distinguishes itself from
competitors by deploying leading-edge technologies to improve
customer service through immediate information availability to
employees and customers alike.
Fueled by 3Com systems, Scottsdale's latest upgrade is designed to
enhance the insurer's ability to rapidly respond to customer inquiries
and adjudicate customer claims, enabling the firm to expedite
customer services and avoid government fines imposed on
slower-moving insurers. Chief among several high-speed
mission-critical applications is Scottsdale's recently deployed
Visiflow imaging system from Datamax, which turns formerly
paper-based policy files into electronic documents. As a result, any
Scottsdale representative can instantly access a client's file for
underwriting, renewals and other information requests. Using the
company's former paper-based filing system, such responses could
take days. Visiflow also lets several Scottsdale representatives work
on a policy file simultaneously to cut the time it takes to route a file
from weeks to days.
The upgraded 3Com network will also improve Scottsdale's
customer service and turnaround times by providing faster access to
its IBM AS/400-based WINS premiums and claims processing
system from Wheatley Corporation. Integrated with Visiflow,
WINS manages insurance premium bookings, the coding for
regulatory reporting and the claims processing of the policy files.
Moving forward, Scottsdale is investigating the deployment of
bandwidth-intensive applications such as videoconferencing and
distance learning, which will provide convenient, cost-effective
conferencing and computer-based training facilities for the
Scottsdale campus.
"3Com today is making a major contribution to our ability to
continue to use cutting-edge technologies to differentiate ourselves
in the intensely competitive high-risk insurance industry," said
David Hendrixson, director of systems services for Scottsdale
Insurance. "Their ATM/Ethernet systems create a rock-solid,
high-performance infrastructure, letting us run the applications
enabling us to generate huge improvements in how we serve our
customers. The systems' scalability gives us room to grow by
supporting new demanding network services such as
videoconferencing and distance learning." Imaging Influx Prompts
Bandwidth Boost
A primary driver in Scottsdale's decision to power up its campus
network was the introduction of the Visiflow imaging application.
Prior to the upcoming installation of the CoreBuilder 9000 systems,
the network was based on an ATM backbone provided by a mesh of
CoreBuilder 7000 switches. In 1996, the CoreBuilder 7000HD
systems themselves constituted a 155 Mbps OC-3 ATM backbone
that had replaced a 3Com 100 Mbps FDDI backbone Scottsdale
deployed in 1993. While upgrading from 100 Mbps FDDI to 155
Mbps ATM delivered significant performance improvements for the
company, Scottsdale was reluctant to add document imaging traffic
for fear of overtaxing its OC-3 backbone.
Having already bested ATM competitors Bay Networks and Fore
Systems in open competition for Scottsdale's OC-3 ATM backbone
in 1996, 3Com was chosen again for the 622 Mbps OC-12 ATM
upgrade thanks to its equipment's proven performance and the
vendor's customer service.
"Even though we had an installed base of their equipment, 3Com
still had to win our business for the upgrade. The performance,
scalability and reliability of the CoreBuilder 9000 clinched our
decision to stay with 3Com," said Earl Horgesheimer, networking
consultant for Scottsdale Insurance. "We were particularly
impressed by the CoreBuilder 9000's automatic failover feature,
which takes only milliseconds to move traffic from a failed switch to
a backup switch. Their Ethernet edge solutions also gave us the
10/100 desktop connectivity our users require."
The latest incarnation of Scottsdale's campus network will include a
backbone of two CoreBuilder 9000 switches deployed in a
fault-tolerant, mesh configuration with each switch connected to the
other via dual OC-12 links. This backbone then uses OC-3 ATM
links to feed 22 CoreBuilder 7000HD systems with OC-3
connections to 40 SuperStack(R) II switch 2700s at the network's
edges. Networked desktops use 3Com EtherLink(R) network
interface cards (NICs) for switched 10 Mbps Ethernet connections
to CoreBuilder 7400 switched Ethernet modules in the CoreBuilder
7000HD switches or to the SuperStack II switch 2700s. Power
users' desktops incorporate Fast EtherLink NICs to make switched
100 Mbps connections directly to CoreBuilder 7600 modules in the
CoreBuilder 7000HD switches. Scottsdale's 30 NetWare 4.1 and
Windows NT 4.0 files servers use ATMLink(TM) 155 NICs for
155Mbps ATM connections to the CoreBuilder 7000HD switches.
The company's two IBM AS/400s sit on a Token Ring network
linked to the ATM backbone via a 3Com NETBuilder(R) II router
using an OC-3 link.
In addition the 3Com hardware, Scottsdale is using 3Com's
Transcend(R) Enterprise Manager management software to
configure, manage and monitor the network. In the future, the
company plans to commit to internal service level agreements and
will likely manage those agreements using InfoVista, 3Com's
trending and analysis tool, or Transcend Traffix(TM) Manager,
3Com's RMON2 (remote monitoring 2) software.
"To maintain our competitive advantage, we continually push the
performance envelope of our network," said Hendrixson. "Using
3Com systems, we'll be deploying a robust, reliable architecture to
support today's and tomorrow's most demanding applications. Led
by its CoreBuilder 9000, 3Com continues to deliver solutions we
can count on to improve our operations and our bottom line." About
3Com Corporation
With more than 200 million customers worldwide, 3Com
Corporation connects more people to information in more ways than
any other networking company. 3Com delivers innovative
information access products and network system solutions to large,
medium and small enterprises; carriers and network service
providers; PC OEMs; and consumers. 3Com - More
connected.(TM) For further information, visit 3Com's World Wide
Web site at www.3com.com or the press site at
www.3com.com/pressbox.
3Com, NETBuilder, SuperStack, CoreBuilder, Transcend and
EtherLink are registered trademarks and ATMLink, Traffix and
More connected. are trademarks of 3Com Corporation. All other
company and product names may be trademarks of the respective
companies with which they are associated.
CONTACT: 3Com Public Relations
David Hayward
(508) 323-1554
(508) 323-1111
david_hayward@3com.com
or
The Brisson Group
David Brisson
(508) 653-4091
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