Open GI

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Open GI is a software company based in Warndon, Worcester. The company was recently formed after a management buyout, separating it from parent PLC Misys. The main funding for the MBO was provided by Montagu Private Equity.

Open GI supplies both a proprietary software solution to the Insurance Broking market, as well as a Windows based solution. Open GI has the largest market share in the UK. Systems used to run solely on Misys-supplied (and maintained) TRIPOS servers. Today the TRIPOS based solution is also deployed in a Linux based environment on standard hardware.

The architecture of TRIPOS dates back to the late 1970s and Open GI are the only known company to implement and maintain the platform. Its uniqueness isolates the system from almost any threat of security breach by hackers.

Open GI has also lately introduced greater levels of interoperability with other (typically Windows) platforms through development of XML technologies.

[edit] Criticism

As is the case with many proprietary software vendors, Open G I have been criticised for failing to develop their solution in tandem with market demand. ^[1]

Concerning security, although the logical isolation from common systems means that vulnerability and zero-day attacks are reduced, the antiquity of the platform means that there is no encryption present either in transmission of passwords or functional data. Up until recently, passwords have also been stored on the server in plaintext.