Microsoft Corp. This isn t going to be easy for IBM or any other company because the Internet ground is moving so fast, said Don Brown, an analyst in Port Chester. But IBM, with deep roots in large companies, is working well in slowly moving businesses onto the Internet while keeping in mind the complexities of big companies and their technological demands, analysts said. Mass. Among IBM s clients, the Prudential Insurance Co., based in Newark, N.J., has for nearly the past two years equipped 11,500 of its agents, financial planners, and field staff with laptop computers. Less than 25 percent of the people had used computers in the past, Prudential said. The laptops enable agents to electronically study customer profiles to determine, for example, if a Prudential client has auto insurance but not home insurance with the company.
Agents can then present policies electronically, also determining premiums on laptops.
Roy Schwartz, Prudential s vice president for information systems, said the company is still evaluating precisely how the technology is helping. But he said it has improved productivity and reduced paperwork. And he said IBM has played a key role throughout the program, teaching personnel not just how to use software and hardware, but also to understand how technology can sell insurance. She said her parents insisted that she and her four sisters take piano and voice lessons. Sanford s two children a son in college majoring in engineering, and a daughter heading to college, to major in math also took piano lessons.