I've been remiss in congratulating our customer Crawford & Company on their well-deserved award recognition from Forrester Research. Crawford was named the overall winner in the "Mobility - Business to Employee" category of the 2014 Forrester Groundswell Awards. Crawford won for Crawford Community, the company's Appian-based social application for disaster-related Case and Resource Management, and specifically the related CAT Connection mobile app.
IT awards are often given for the "what" - the cool features and gizmos. Crawford Community and CAT Connection have plenty of that whiz-bang factor. But in Crawford's case, the"why" - why does this matter outside the often-insular world of IT? - is even more compelling.
The number of global natural catastrophes that happen every year more than doubled between 1980 and 2012. That's research data from Munich Re's Geo Risks Research service, tracking geophysical events (earthquakes, volcanoes, etc.), meteorological events (major storms), hydrological events (floods), and climatological events (extreme temperatures, forest fires and the like).
From a natural disaster standpoint, the world is an increasingly dangerous place to live. When these events strike, thousands and 10s of thousands of people's lives are disrupted. Beyond the human cost, there is a high cost to businesses, and the economic effects of a disaster can be felt globally.
One thing that can help people most at such a devastating time is fast action to show that their lives and businesses will get back on track. And that's where Crawford's work with Appian comes in.Crawford's CAT Connection is a mobile app that accelerates global disaster insurance claims management and uptake in the field. It combines process management, enterprise data navigation, social collaboration and the ability to take business action regardless of a claim adjuster's physical location. The app is part of Crawford Community, an Appian-based social application that centralizes all disaster-related Case and Resource Management.
As Crawford's Global CIO and EVP Brian Flynn said, "With Crawford Community and CAT Connection we are changing how quickly and effectively the insurance industry can respond to the people displaced by major catastrophes."
That's a very worthy "why," and Appian is proud to play a part in it. Once again, our hearty congratulations to Brian, his team and everyone at Crawford & Company.
Ben Farrell
Director of Corporate Communications
