The CompanyMembers of one of the world’s largest insurance companies form a multi-billion dollar organization providing property and casualty insurance for personal and commercial customers worldwide through 5,000 independent agents and brokers. Their company includes branches and affiliates throughout North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Australia.
The ChallengeWhen CGI held its annual seminar for Ratabase clients in April 2001, it announced that it was beginning the necessary work to integrate XML technology (Extensible Markup Language) with its Ratabase product, a rating and scoring engine that reduces time required to develop and support insurance rating process. This announcement was welcomed news for this company, which needed a more cost-efficient way to collect and distribute data in order to be more competitive and provide accurate quotes on-line.
How CGI HelpedIn 2002, CGI and the company met to discuss how the interface would be customized to fit their requirements. Fortunately, CGI had a generic adapter component in place, meaning they did not have to start from square one in the customization process. After demonstrating XML's suitability for Ratabase, CGI successfully integrated the XML adapter with the Calculator component on the
IBM AIX platform. CGI then developed an MQ XML message-handling component and customized it to the company’s environment to further facilitate integration of the Calculator component into the company’s
IBM Z and IBM AIX server-based solution.
The ResultsAfter a few months, CGI had completed the XML conversion within the prescribed deadline. With XML, the company can now give their agents on-line quotes that are accurate and changes in rating criteria can be done instantaneously. The company could now ensure regulatory compliance, since both the mainframe and the server components are in sync in terms of the AIX XML calculator component. Also, CGI’s solution on IBM Z provided further added benefits for the company:
- Eliminated need to duplicate the entry of rates and formulas in the system
- Maintenance, cost and human resource savings
The bottom line: The insurance Company gained a competitive edge without incurring additional costs. After 20 years, the company is still satisfied with IBM Z solution and has chosen not to upgrade to newer technologies because of the platform’s stability, speed, security, and low cost of maintenance. In 2021, company provided CGI with a perfect 10 score on their customer satisfaction survey and stated:
“The implementation of Ratabase on the IBM Z system has been infinitely successful in our organization for many years. This configuration has been dependable and reliable, enabling the secure continuity and success of our business.”
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CGI for more information.