This week, Applied Systems® and the Applied Client Network hosted Applied Net 2021, bringing together the largest online gathering of independent agents, brokers, insurers and managing general agents.

During the conference, which was held virtually for the second year in a row and was free to all Applied customers, attendees took advantage of more than 120 live and on-demand education sessions, peer networking opportunities, and first looks into new products and innovation across the market-leading Applied portfolio.

On the first day of the event, Applied made two announcements. First, it revealed that it has launched a fully browser-native version of Applied Epic®. The new browser-native platform enables agents to more easily learn the system between releases and during onboarding. It also offers a single access point for multiple systems that occur because of a merger or acquisition, and provides greater flexibility for integrations, allowing agencies to scale quickly.

The move into a browser represents a major step forward since Applied announced a nine-figure minority investment from CapitalG, the growth equity investment fund of Google parent company Alphabet Inc., in 2018. Based on Google's Apigee technology, Applied Epic®'s open, application programming interface-based architecture enables easier data exchange in and out of the platform, providing more choice for how to build around Applied Epic® and increase scale. Modern data storage with Google's BigQuery Data Lake technology also improves the speed of querying data, removes hardware burden and cost, and provides choice in business intelligence solutions to visualize data into actionable intelligence.

“The cornerstones of browser-native technology are speed and simplicity, and with the pace of technology change, agencies need technology that will give them the flexibility to build the tech stack that is right for their business and will scale as fast as they grow," said Michael Howe, chief product officer, Applied Systems. “We are excited to bring this innovation to agents, insurers, MGAs and their partners so they can fully realize the benefits of the digital ecosystem of insurance."

Applied's second announcement unveiled the expansion of Epic Quotes to support commercial lines quoting directly in Applied Epic®. By tapping into the IVANS Distribution Platform—recently enhanced by Ask Kodiak's API technology—and utilizing online form technology acquired via the purchase of InsurTech Indio last year to gather information from clients, Epic Quotes for small commercial first presents in-appetite markets for each risk, allowing agents to select desired markets and complete the quote and bind experience.

Epic Quotes for Commercial Lines creates a simpler, more efficient and more connected commercial lines quoting experience for all stakeholders. At launch, agents will have access to quote small commercial risks for Coterie, Encova, Travelers, and Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies.

On the second day of the event, Applied also announced increased investment and new innovation to support brokers in the benefits market with updates to core products within the Applied product portfolio, including Applied Epic® and Applied Benefits Designer.

“The benefits market is overdue for simple, digital tools that can help brokers better connect their staff, customers and insurer partners to work more productively and profitably," Howe said. “These innovations demonstrate our commitment to providing benefits brokers the same level of connectivity and automation as property-casualty agents while creating a single view across both books of business to create more efficiency and business opportunities."

Applied Epic® has new functionality to manage benefits commission schedules and service plans, including allowing brokers to calculate premium-weighted broker commissions to determine the most lucrative revenue streams, and record and import commissions without entering a premium amount.

Additionally, Applied Benefits Designer has new features that include the ability to import an Excel file to upload multiple medical, prescription, dental and vision plans quickly and easily to the Agency Plan database, as well as access to information so brokers can easily compare specific plan designs versus the entire plan group. New Plan Design and Plan Design Benefits Comparisons are also available in Applied Benefits Designer for vision, life, short-term disability and long-term disability insurance in addition to medical and dental.

Will Jones is IA editor-in-chief.