HONOLULU, HI -- (Marketwire) -- 11/10/09 -- BlueWave Technology is pleased to congratulate Andy Edwardson, vice president of IT for Farmers Alliance Mutual Insurance, for his recognition as one of the 2009 Elite 8 Award honorees as named by Insurance & Technology. The award was presented at the 11th Annual Insurance & Technology Executive Summit in Phoenix, Arizona.

"I am very pleased to congratulate Andy on his selection as one of the 2009 Elite 8," said Keith Birkhead, CPCU, president and CEO of Farmers Alliance Companies. "Since becoming head of IT, Andy has developed and led a team of professionals that are successfully integrating information technology initiatives and investments with our corporate business objectives. His ability to blend his technical and business knowledge is helping provide Farmers Alliance the tools necessary to remain a leader in serving rural America."

Insurance & Technology's Elite 8 is an annual award recognizing senior insurance carrier IT executives who have used technology strategically to successfully support overall company business objectives. Recipients are a cross section of distinguished individuals from the property/casualty, life and health, and reinsurance insurance sectors. The award is given annually during Insurance & Technology's Executive Summit.

"While many financial institutions -- including some that are much bigger than Farmers Alliance -- are still weighing the pros and cons of legacy systems replacement, and still debating the prudence of moving to a service-oriented architecture, Andy Edwardson has transformed the company in a big way," said Kathy Burger, editorial director, Insurance & Technology. "The I&T editorial team is very pleased to include him among this year's Elite 8 honorees."

During his tenure at Farmers Alliance, Edwardson has held various positions of increasing responsibility, including developer, database administrator, and IT manager, before becoming VP of IT in 2006. He has more than 15 years experience in the property/casualty insurance industry, and his work on Farmers Alliance's current technology initiative, iFAMI, piqued industry analysts' interest and helped the company win Celent's 2009 Model Carrier of the Year Award. Edwardson holds a B.S. in Computer Information Systems from Emporia State University and is currently seeking his CPCU designation.

"Andy has been a visionary leader from vendor selection to implementation," said Riki Fujitani, president of BlueWave Technology. "His vision for iFAMI as an innovative technology initiative was clear, but at the same time he is not afraid to reevaluate the process and change course to meet strategic objectives for Farmers Alliance. It has been our pleasure to work with him."

Farmers Alliance won the 2009 Celent Model Carrier of the Year Award for recent technology initiatives, including an overhaul of their core claims system during which several legacy systems were replaced with the browser-based PipelineClaims from BlueWave Technology.

About BlueWave Technology

BlueWave Technology, developer of PipelineClaims, a state-of-the-art, browser-based, technology solution that combines core claims administration capabilities with business process management (BPM) and configurable business rules, offers rich functionality to help property/casualty insurance companies, third-party administrators (TPAs), and self-insured organizations improve customer service, enhance profitability, drive down claim costs and increase customer retention rates through modern technology with the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO) available in the insurance industry today. For more information about BlueWave Technology or PipelineClaims, please contact Renata Bell at 866.927.9981 or rbell@bluewavetechnology.com.