<s>
VP/MS	B-Application
(	O
Visual	B-Application
Product	I-Application
Modeling	I-Application
System	I-Application
)	O
is	O
a	O
family	O
of	O
software	O
components	O
developed	O
by	O
CSC	O
that	O
support	O
product	O
development	O
and	O
product	O
lifecycle	O
management	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Insurance	O
companies	O
(	O
among	O
other	O
users	O
in	O
business	O
and	O
IT	B-General_Concept
)	O
use	O
VP/MS	B-Application
to	O
manage	O
the	O
rules	O
,	O
clauses	O
,	O
formulas	O
and	O
calculations	O
associated	O
with	O
savings	O
and	O
both	O
life	O
and	O
non-life	O
insurance	O
products	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
VP/MS	B-Application
all	O
calculations	O
and	O
queries	O
for	O
purposes	O
such	O
as	O
quotes	O
and	O
administration	O
are	O
supported	O
by	O
a	O
central	O
repository	O
of	O
product	O
definitions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VP/MS	B-Application
supports	O
processes	O
like	O
product	O
definition	O
and	O
administration	O
,	O
product	O
testing	O
and	O
documentation	O
,	O
design	O
checks	O
,	O
visualization	O
and	O
cross-platform	O
usage	O
of	O
products	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
to	O
hosting	O
product	O
definitions	O
,	O
VP/MS	B-Application
is	O
a	O
modeling	B-Language
language	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	B-General_Concept
provides	O
a	O
graphical	B-Application
interface	I-Application
(	O
GUI	B-Application
)	O
for	O
creating	O
business	O
rules	O
as	O
components	O
and	O
models	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VP/MS	B-Application
is	O
platform	B-Device
independent	O
–	O
products	O
can	O
be	O
ported	O
to	O
any	O
administration	O
or	O
illustration	O
system	O
or	O
deployed	O
over	O
the	O
Internet	O
–	O
and	O
makes	O
use	O
of	O
the	O
Eclipse	B-Application
platform	I-Application
for	O
developing	O
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VP/MS	B-Application
is	O
a	O
product	O
server	O
–	O
a	O
software	O
tool	O
that	O
hosts	O
all	O
knowledge	O
on	O
insurance	O
and	O
other	O
products	O
centrally	O
and	O
provides	O
it	B-General_Concept
to	O
application	O
systems	O
in	O
various	O
deployment	O
scenarios	O
and	O
across	O
various	O
platforms	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
outcome	O
of	O
a	O
VP/MS	B-Application
-designed	O
model	O
is	O
modular	O
,	O
portable	O
calculation	O
rules	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VP/MS	B-Application
rendered	O
calculation	O
rules	O
are	O
in	O
turn	O
incorporated	O
with	O
associated	O
applications	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
VP/MS	B-Application
Designer	O
or	O
J-VP/MS	O
,	O
to	O
create	O
(	O
respectively	O
)	O
GUIs	B-Application
or	O
a	O
calculations	O
architecture	O
compatible	O
with	O
existing	O
software	B-Architecture
architecture	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
Systems	O
used	O
by	O
insurance	O
policy	O
administrators	O
,	O
product	O
brokers	O
and	O
web	O
servers	O
ultimately	O
rely	O
on	O
libraries	O
of	O
VP/MS	B-Application
rendered	O
architecture	O
for	O
the	O
production	O
of	O
product	O
illustrations	O
and	O
calculations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VP/MS	B-Application
is	O
industry-neutral	O
–	O
it	B-General_Concept
is	O
a	O
generic	O
tool	O
that	O
is	O
not	O
designed	O
to	O
be	O
used	O
exclusively	O
within	O
a	O
specific	O
industry	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VP/MS	B-Application
has	O
been	O
deployed	O
within	O
non-insurance	O
applications	O
as	O
a	O
general	O
rules	O
engine	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
since	O
it	B-General_Concept
was	O
developed	O
within	O
an	O
insurance	O
context	O
,	O
VP/MS	B-Application
is	O
applied	O
broadly	O
and	O
extensively	O
in	O
insurance	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
sectors	O
where	O
VP/MS	B-Application
’	O
s	O
underlying	O
rules	O
management	O
capabilities	O
are	O
applied	O
include	O
banking	O
,	O
energy	O
and	O
utilities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VP/MS	B-Application
Workbench	I-Application
is	O
the	O
main	O
environment	O
for	O
modeling	O
in	O
VP/MS	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
such	O
,	O
it	B-General_Concept
is	O
used	O
extensively	O
in	O
the	O
back	O
office	O
during	O
the	O
design	O
or	O
maintenance	O
of	O
product	O
rules	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Actuaries	O
,	O
financial	O
modelers	O
,	O
business	O
analysts	O
,	O
product	O
specialists	O
and	O
programmers	B-Application
are	O
among	O
those	O
using	O
VP/MS	B-Application
during	O
this	O
phase	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Examples	O
are	O
VP/MS	B-Application
Documentation	O
Suite	O
,	O
VP/MS	B-Application
Test	O
Suite	O
and	O
VP/MS	B-Application
Checker	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Product	O
managers	O
use	O
VP/MS	B-Application
Model	O
Manager	O
for	O
an	O
overview	O
,	O
product	O
release	O
and	O
versioning	O
,	O
team	O
collaboration	O
and	O
access	O
control	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VP/MS	B-Application
Runtime	O
is	O
then	O
responsible	O
for	O
sharing	O
a	O
single	O
instance	O
of	O
a	O
product	O
across	O
various	O
platforms	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
the	O
design	O
phase	O
,	O
VP/MS	B-Application
hosted	O
architecture	O
is	O
supplied	O
to	O
the	O
organization	O
via	O
related	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
IT	B-General_Concept
specialists	O
use	O
VP/MS	B-Application
Designer	O
and	O
J-VP/MS	O
to	O
integrate	O
model	O
libraries	O
with	O
end-user	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
J-VP/MS	O
integrates	O
VP/MS	B-Application
calculation	O
rules	O
into	O
existing	O
software	B-Architecture
architectures	I-Architecture
via	O
standard	O
interfaces	B-Application
and	O
technologies	O
such	O
as	O
Java	B-Language
EE	I-Language
,	O
XML-based	O
SOAP	B-Application
,	O
WSDL	O
and	O
Struts	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
1995	O
–	O
VP/MS	B-Application
was	O
designed	O
by	O
a	O
team	O
of	O
M+I	O
Unternehmensberatung	O
GmbH	O
(	O
an	O
Austrian	O
consulting	O
company	O
,	O
founded	O
by	O
Gerhard	O
Friedrich	O
and	O
partners	O
)	O
with	O
Interunfall	O
Versicherung	O
AG	O
,	O
a	O
subsidiary	O
insurance	O
company	O
of	O
Generali	O
Austria	O
as	O
the	O
first	O
client	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	B-General_Concept
is	O
originally	O
named	O
Versicherungsprodukt-Modellierungssystem	O
(	O
which	O
translates	O
to	O
"	O
insurance	O
product	O
modeling	O
system	O
"	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
1996	O
-	O
M+I	O
and	O
CAF	O
start	O
to	O
sell	O
VP/MS	B-Application
to	O
insurance	O
companies	O
in	O
Germany	O
,	O
Austria	O
and	O
Switzerland	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
1998	O
–	O
Development	O
of	O
VP/MS	B-Application
Designer	O
by	O
CAF	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
1999	O
-	O
PMS	O
Micado	O
(	O
the	O
German	O
subsidiary	O
of	O
the	O
US	O
based	O
Policy	O
Management	O
Systems	O
Corporation	O
)	O
takes	O
over	O
CAF	O
and	O
obtains	O
a	O
worldwide	O
general	O
license	O
to	O
develop	O
and	O
sell	O
VP/MS	B-Application
from	O
M+I	O
and	O
Generali	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Introduction	O
of	O
J-VP/MS	O
and	O
integration	O
of	O
VP/MS	B-Application
into	O
CSC	O
offerings	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
2003	O
–	O
Development	O
of	O
Eclipse-based	O
VP/MS	B-Application
Model	O
Manager	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
2005	O
–	O
Development	O
of	O
Eclipse-based	O
VP/MS	B-Application
Test	O
Suite	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
2006	O
–	O
Development	O
of	O
Eclipse-based	O
VP/MS	B-Application
Documentation	O
Suite	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
2008	O
–	O
Development	O
of	O
Eclipse-based	O
Workbench	O
and	O
VP/MS	B-Application
Checker	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2009	O
there	O
are	O
over	O
140	O
companies	O
in	O
24	O
countries	O
using	O
VP/MS	B-Application
,	O
e.g.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
market	O
research	O
source	O
listed	O
the	O
following	O
VP/MS	B-Application
users	O
in	O
the	O
USA	O
in	O
2008	O
:	O
American	O
National	O
,	O
New	O
York	O
Life	O
,	O
Ohio	O
National	O
and	O
Symetra	O
.	O
</s>
