Features

Business

General

Multi-Lingual	Can simultaneously operate across many countries, accepting and returning calculations using different languages.
Multi-Currency	Calculations can be in any currency (or none).  Different calculations can use different currencies.  A single calculation can also be set up to use multiple currencies.  There is complete flexibility.
Multiple Lines of Business	Napier's highly flexible model-driven approach allows it to be used for any and all lines of businesses, including life, pension, personal and commercial lines.  There are no pre-conceived constraints (e.g. a maximum number of drivers allowed per policy) that would impose any restrictions.
Multiple Quotes	Supports alternative 'what-if' type quotes within one calculation call - invaluable for supporting interactive web sites, and for upselling.
24 x 7	Designed to run without any downtime, Napier is a true 24 x 7 service.

Designing Calculations

No IT Development	Calculations can be set up by business staff using an easy-to-learn graphical modelling language. This unique approach allows business users to rapidly create and maintain complex calculation rules.
Rate Table Support	Napier supports any number of tables for providing look-up values.  Tables can be provided in native Excel format or as structured text.  There is full support for multiple dimensions to tables.
Algorithm Support	For non-rate table based calculations, Napier has an in-built actuarial calculation language called calcscript.  With this, it is possible to rapidly construct algorithms to any required degree of complexity. Both table and algorithm approaches can be combined to best suit the need.
Built-In Functions	Napier contains a range of built-in functions (e.g. calculating compound interest) that can be used to speed the creation of complex calculations.
Multi-Tiered	Support for any depth and complexity of calculations to give actuaries and underwriters the capability to elegantly structure any calculation.
Support for Decision Making	Aside from performing standard rate calculations, Napier can also be used more innovatively, e.g., to support decision making processes; for instance, recommending the best insurance product for a customer from amongst a number of similar but slightly differing products based on pre-defined criteria.
Version Control	All changes are version-controlled and author tracked giving complete traceability of changes to rules and rates.

Testing Calculations

Test Harness	A web-based test harness allows business staff to quickly test individual calculations.
Excel Integration	For bulk testing, Napier supports integration with Excel allowing test cases to be produced and sent to Napier, and results captured and displayed in context.
Automated Bulk Tests	For unattended load and performance testing, a scripted approach is available too.

Deploying Calculations

Web-Based Deployment	Deployment is facilitated by a web-based dashboard that requires no IT knowledge to use.
No Down Time	Calculations can be deployed without any down time to service.
Effective Date Control	All calculations are controlled by effective dates and times, allowing them to come into effect at the desired time.

Invoking Calculations

From Internal Applications	Napier's flexibility makes it an ideal tool for providing a one-stop calculations service for a company's existing and new applications. The easy-to-use web services interface allows for rapid integration.
From External Partners' Systems	Napier's in-built capability to accept and return calculation calls in any required format makes it highly suitable for integration with external third party applications, allowing a company to provide calculation results to it's partners quickly and securely.
From Aggregator Sites and Partner Networks	Napier has been designed to support multiple external parties making simultaneous automated requests requiring rapid responses.  There is no practical limit to calculation volumes that can be handled.
From Company Websites	Napier is ideally suited to providing website quotations and illustrations in real time. Coupled with Pact and PortalWizard this can easily be extended to include saving and retrieval of personal calculations.
Security	Calls to and from Napier are typically set to use the same web services encryption techniques as those used on internet payment sites.  Firewalling also ensures that only authorised channels can use the facility.

Reporting

Statistics	Napier allows you to keep track, in real time, of the number of calculations performed and the speed of responses, and shows trends over time.
Reporting Extracts	All Napier calculation requests are logged and can be extracted for reporting purposes (for example, to a data warehouse or an MI system).

Other

Management Dashboard	Napier comes with a web-based dashboard that provides complete control over the operation of the service, including view statistics, controlling users and managing calculations. In a cloud environment, it also provides dynamic control to scale performance up or down to suit load.
Full Audit Trail	There is a full audit trail of every calculation made through the application.
Scheduling	An in-built scheduler allows periodic tasks to be automated, e.g., extracting MI reports at specific times.

IT

Architecture

Service Oriented	Napier has been designed as a discrete encapsulated component capable of providing a complete independent calculations service.  It has no dependencies, and can be invoked via standard web service calls.
Database	When deployed in a data centre, Napier is able to make use of most standard relational database for the logging of calculations, including Oracle, DB2 and MySQL.
Integration Compatibility	Napier provides a full web services interface that can be used to integrate with other software packages (including Open Square's own components), aggregators, Broker or Insurer networks or legacy systems.

Performance/Reliability

Speed of Response	Napier is optimised for speed and designed to provide consistent response times even as loads increase. How fast can it perform? Well that depends on the calculation rules specified, but Napier is easily capable of meeting the speed demands of the UK's price comparison web sites - perhaps the toughest quoting requirement in the worldwide insurance market.
Error Handling	Comprehensive error handling allows Napier to keep working even when presented with badly formed requests or calculation rules.  A web based dashboard presents error information and detailed logging allows for rapid analysis and rectification.
Disaster Recovery	When deployed in the cloud, Napier holds calculation rules and details of calculations performed, in automatically replicated storage.  The same can be set up in private data centre deployments.  In addition, a built-in scheduler allows for more traditional backups to be taken at any required frequency.

Scalability

Transaction Volumes	Napier has been designed to work efficiently whether at low or high volumes.  Testing has been conducted up to the equivalent of a million calculations a day, but Napier won't stop there!
Quick Ramp-Up	Napier's cloud-based architecture allows the infrastructure capacity to be scaled up and down at the click of a mouse, through a user-friendly web-based dashboard.

Deployment

Methods of Deployment	Napier runs on a wide range of hardware and operating systems, and can be deployed in a Public Cloud, a Private Cloud, as a hosted service or in an internal data centre.
Ease of Deployment	Easy to deploy and upgrade, and no licence restrictions to prevent having multiple environments, e.g. test, prelive and live.