Risk mangers looking to assess their options when it comes to risk management information systems can tap the advice of an expert who has evaluated more than 20 systems.

David A. Tweedy, senior consultant and director of RMIS solutions at Sacramento, Calif.-based Bickmore & Associates Inc., methodically assesses bundled and unbundled RMIS offerings in “2013 RMIS Review,” which New York-based Advisen Ltd. published in April.

Mr. Tweedy notes that from its inception as a mainframe technology, the RMIS marketplace has evolved to reflect advances in areas such as mobile computing, predictive analytics and cloud computing.

“Today, the industry has evolved in an amazing fashion,” Mr. Tweedy said in the analysis, which also ranks RMIS providers.

“The technology has moved from mainframe/timeshare systems to private and public cloud-run systems with amazingly configurable solutions in the claims, risk exposure and analytical functional areas.”

As RMIS have evolved from claims administration systems to broader risk management tools, the importance of analytics based on solid data has risen.

“Mobile devices such as iPhones, iPads or other smart devices can be data-gathering instruments,” according to the Tweedy report.

“RMIS are leveraging data analytics and predictive modeling techniques to harvest treasures from vast amounts of data to provide key strategic and tactical information to risk management decision-makers.”

For bundled RMIS offerings, which the report defines as “systems that remain with the vendor if the client leaves,” the report said those provided by third-party administrators tend to be “more functional than the insurer-based systems.”

As for unbundled offerings, Mr. Tweedy said the back-end infrastructure of public cloud providers is noteworthy, and cited two providers in particular: Origami Risk L.L.C. and Riskonnect Inc.

“Not only do the founders of these recent vendors come from founding roles in the two largest RMIS providers (CS Stars and Aon Risk Console), they have aggressively built their two organizations into formidable competition,” he wrote.