ChoicePoint entered into an agreement to acquire Marketing Information & Technology, a provider of large-scale direct marketing systems for Fortune 500 clients. ChoicePoint believes combining its ChoicePoint Direct subsidiary with MITI will enable the company to offer a wider array of data, prospecting, and CRM services.

Telesis and Hartford Technology Services formed an alliance to deliver quality assurance services to HTSC's client base. The arrangement enables HTSC to meet its increasing client demand for quality assurance services by leveraging Telesis's expertise and experience in this arena.

Hub International intends to acquire Burnham Stewart Group, a regional insurance broker based in Battle Creek, Michigan.

Oracle finalized an agreement with Guardian Life naming Oracle a strategic technology provider. Guardian will expand its use of Oracle database technology to increase productivity, reduce costs, and speed time-to-market for both business and information technology projects.

InsureZone acquired AgentSecure Enterprises, which launched AgentSecure .com last October as the first Web-based insurance service designed for small and rural commercial agents.

EPolicy.com Insurance Services signed an agreement with ACE USA, a provider of P&C insurance and reinsurance, to offer new lines of specialty professional liability insurance. The newly offered products are designed specifically for architects and engineers with more than $1 million in revenue.

SunGard partnered with WhiteLight Systems to develop an integrated product that will use the WhiteLight AnalyticServer to help power predictive modeling and historical analysis of risk-adjusted profitability.

Surety automation vendor Cumberland Technologies and agency management systems developer AMS Services have integrated the Bond-Pro automation system with the Sagitta Browser management system.

Protegrity has entered into an agreement with Insuretrust.com, a provider of e-risk management solutions, to provide combined data-protection and e-risk insurance solutions for e-businesses.

Similarity engine software technology developer InfoGlide signed a strategic alliance with Computer Sciences Corporation for the cooperative development and marketing of products and services for the property and casualty insurance market.

GE Capital is quenching its thirst for UK markets by agreeing to buy mutual insurer National Mutual Life Assurance Society, an upmarket pensions specialist, for 370 million British pounds (610.4 million euros or 522.9 million U.S. dollars).

Electronic forms and document management software developer Create!form International and content management solution developer Gauss have integrated Create!form's JDE OneWorld and Gauss's VIP SpyVision. The goal: Extend an organization's document management and distribution capabilities.

QuickQuote.com has partnered with BanxQuote.com to provide insurance-related products and services to the latter's online insurance and annuities center.

Commercial P&C insurance software provider Insurance Information Technologies (Instec) finalized an agreement with Freberg Environmental for the implementation of Instec's commercial auto/garage and general liability policy processing systems.

Web-based auto insurance service TurboCoverage for auto dealerships, entered a strategic partnership with Computerized Vehicle Registration, provider of electronic vehicle registration, to install the TurboCoverage platform in auto dealerships throughout California.

Real-time access to MIB Group's database of coded information for the life insurance industry has been developed using the newly approved MIB-specific ACORD XML for Life Insurance standards interface. E-Nable.com, its majority-owned subsidiary, is the exclusive seller of the interface between MIB and its member companies.

Allegiant Systems integrated Actuate's e.Reporting Suite into the Allegiant System to provide its customers a Web-based solution for strengthening supplier relationships through operational data delivery and performance indicator reports.

Fair, Isaac and Equifax formed a partnership to use Equifax's data integration and linkage systems to deliver advanced integration support for a family of newly enhanced products Fair, Isaac is producing as part of the company's Strategy Network.

HNC Software and SchlumbergerSema, an international IT services company, finalized a partnership agreement in which SchlumbergerSema will offer HNC's Falcon-a payment card fraud-detection system-as part of its Essentis new card management system. SchlumbergerSema will also market Falcon to its customers in Europe and Asia as part of its evolving third-party provider services.

Healthaxis entered a strategic alliance with FlexTech to jointly market the FlexTech HIPAA Monitor and the Healthaxis eHealthTalk software to provide payers and administrators tools to comply with HIPAA regulations.

RiskMetrics, a provider of risk and wealth management analytics, formed a partnership with Deutsche Bank to integrate its tools into maxblue, the online investment center of Deutsche Bank. Now subscribers to the maxblue site can assess the risk on individual stocks and funds and across an entire portfolio.

EQE International, an independent provider of risk assessment and risk management services, and ABS Group, a provider of classification services to the international marine and offshore industries, consolidated as ABSG Consulting.

Computer Associates International (CA) entered a strategic alliance with Neusoft Group, China's largest provider of enterprise software products and services. The agreement will deliver enterprise solutions for enterprises of all sizes and government organizations. CA will make a significant investment in Neusoft, making the latter one of CA's most visible business partners in China.

IBM and Sideware agreed to deliver customer service applications to IBM's commercial clients. Sharing an e-government past, Sideware's flagship CRM application is based on IBM's VisualAge for Java platform; the companies are extending their alliance to offer a CRM application to IBM's public sector, small business customers, and global service.

The Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are developing a framework for climate change risk and insurance management issues. The framework will consider outreach, education, research and emerging mitigation, and adaptation activities relevant to climate change.