REDWOOD CITY, Calif. and
LONDON, Nov. 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Equinix, Inc.
(Nasdaq: EQIX), the global interconnection and data center company,
has collaborated with Lloyd's and the Lloyd's Market Association
(LMA) to enhance a catastrophe risk modeling platform that could
change the face of the insurance industry.
The Oasis Loss Modeling Framework is potentially one of the
most radical shake-ups in the catastrophe modeling sector in years.
Hosted in Equinix's interconnected insurance ecosystem, it gives
insurers in the multi-billion dollar catastrophe insurance market
access to a wider range of model providers from around the
world.
The latest release of the framework, just announced, has now
made it fully open source – encouraging greater collaboration and
enabling users to share data and information to further improve
their models.
Collaboration has been the focus of the project
from the start. The creation of the framework required the
involvement of players from across the industry, with Equinix,
Lloyd's and the LMA gathering 10 managing agents together to
implement and test the system within Equinix's London International
Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data center (LD5).
This unprecedented level of collaboration, also involving
Equinix partners Cinnober and Datapipe, enables insurance companies
to enhance their modeling capability – modeling anything from wild
fires in Australia to hurricanes
in the Americas – to ultimately improve the terms they can offer to
their clients.
Equinix's global interconnection platform simplifies the sharing
of data between multiple stakeholders in global insurance markets –
from life to property and casualty. Market participants directly
connect to one another, enhancing the performance of risk modeling
systems and the secure consumption of cloud technologies, while
lowering IT, bandwidth and network connectivity costs.
The Oasis framework was developed over five years at a cost of
$4 million. It is expected to lead to
significant savings in modeling in the coming years.
Highlights / Key Facts
- The launch of the LMA framework is coming at a time when
catastrophic events such as Hurricane Matthew are happening with
increasing regularly – with insurers often footing the bill.
- The Oasis Loss Modeling Framework was modeled using data shared
by 10 managing agents – several of whom are existing customers of
Equinix – who collaborated specially on this project. It also uses
Applied Research Associates' HurLoss model. Additionally, Equinix
brought in technology partners Cinnober and Datapipe who provided
the hardware that runs the Oasis LMF at London data center,
LD5.
- The insurance industry today faces increased complexity, more
regulation and heightened consumer expectations. This is putting
strain on IT systems, which must adapt in an efficient and
cost-effective way. By moving IT infrastructure inside Equinix's
global data centers, insurers gain access to leading colocation
facilities, ensuring the highest levels of data center security and
operational reliability.
- Advanced analytics and modeling can lift an insurer's
performance, as competitive advantage can come from the more
accurate pricing and loss reserving that predictive modeling can
bring. Additionally, new data sources being driven by the Internet
of Things (IOT) such as telematics in the motor industry, wearables
in health and smart homes/offices in property are huge new areas of
data input which Equinix simplifies.
- A combination of Equinix's global data center services and
Performance Hub™ solution, alongside Equinix Cloud Exchange™
provide the secure, compliant and effective means of using an
optimum mix of compute resource to meet the challenges that
analytics pose to the insurance industry.
- Equinix accelerates business performance by connecting over
8,000 companies to their customers, employees and partners inside
the world's most interconnected data centers.
Quotes
- Trevor Maynard, head of
Exposure Management and Reinsurance, Lloyd's:
"The
Oasis framework is groundbreaking in itself but really it's the
nature of the collaboration that sets a new precedent. Equinix,
Lloyd's and others have accelerated the creation of a market place
for catastrophe models giving choice and the potential for deeper
analysis to insurers."
- Ken Curtis, LMA director,
Finance & Risk:
"The LMA fully supports these
initiatives which will help to lead the way in catastrophe modeling
for the market and should ultimately lead to cost savings for
members."
- Dickie Whitaker, CEO,
Oasis:
"Leaders in the catastrophe modeling
field are realizing the value of the new, extensible, scalable
Oasis Platform and deploying high quality models. This opportunity
realizes a new range of cost effective transparent models coming to
market."
- James Maudslay, global head
of Insurance, Equinix:
"Equinix's ability
to interconnect businesses and partners has led to the launch of
something that has the power to change how an entire industry
works. As our business ecosystems continue to grow and more
collaborations like this are formed across industry sectors, we
will see more and more of this type of disruptive innovation – it's
a very exciting time for Equinix and our customers."
Additional Resources
- The Future of Insurance [whitepaper]
- Insurance and the Use of Cloud Technology [industry
report]
About Equinix
Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ: EQIX) connects
the world's leading businesses to their customers, employees and
partners inside the most interconnected data centers. In 40 markets
across five continents, Equinix is where companies come together to
realize new opportunities and accelerate their business, IT and
cloud strategies. www.equinix.com.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release
contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and
uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from
expectations discussed in such forward-looking statements. Factors
that might cause such differences include, but are not limited to,
the challenges of acquiring, operating and constructing IBX centres
and developing, deploying and delivering Equinix services;
unanticipated costs or difficulties relating to the integration of
companies we have acquired or will acquire into Equinix; a failure
to receive significant revenue from customers in recently built out
or acquired data centers; failure to complete any financing
arrangements contemplated from time to time; competition from
existing and new competitors; the ability to generate sufficient
cash flow or otherwise obtain funds to repay new or outstanding
indebtedness; the loss or decline in business from our key
customers; and other risks described from time to time in Equinix's
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In particular,
see Equinix's recent quarterly and annual reports filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, copies of which are available
upon request from Equinix. Equinix does not assume any obligation
to update the forward-looking information contained in this press
release.
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SOURCE Equinix