Callidus Software, the leader in Enterprise Incentive Management (EIM), today announced that Gartner gave the company a 'positive' rating in its MarketScope for North American Insurance Incentive Compensation Management Applications, 2006, released on December 14, 2006. The latest report was written by Gartner research vice president Todd Eyler. "We are very pleased with this 'positive' rating from Gartner, which we believe recognizes us as one of the leading incentive compensation management solution vendors for the insurance industry," said Robert Youngjohns, president and CEO of Callidus Software. "We believe that incentive compensation management is a critical piece of any insurance company's business strategy because it supports ease of doing business for the distribution channel, speeds time-to-market for new and innovative products and ensures a considerable return on spend." Evaluation criteria for Gartner's MarketScope for North American Insurance Incentive Compensation Management Applications, 2006 research reviewed players in the North American insurance incentive management space and focused on five primary areas: overall viability (business unit, financial, strategy, and organization), product/service, sales execution/pricing, customer experience, and vertical/industry strategy. "Life insurers struggle with the complex array of products, channels and compensation arrangements associated with those products and channels," said Todd Eyler, vice president of research at Gartner, in the report. Moreover, "Profitability concerns, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and other regulatory requirements will force life insurers to manage distributor compensation more actively, because this is their single-largest controllable expense. To address their compensation management challenges in cost-effective ways, Gartner expects life insurers to begin actively reviewing outsourcing and software as a service (SaaS) types of alternatives for compensation management in 2007." Vendor Rating Definition: Positive Demonstrates strength in specific areas, but is largely opportunistic. Customers: Continue incremental investments. Potential customers: Put this vendor on a shortlist of tactical alternatives.