When an insurer plans a system renewal, the primary focus is usually on how the new system supports needs today and in the future. However, few insurance companies start from scratch. Especially within life insurance, policies may be older than 50 years. Therefore, the migration of run-off portfolios usually pops up at some point during the renewal project.

Older systems often have an “uncontrolled flexibility”, a feature that originally was regarded quite handy. Individual policy details could be modified in many ways, and not all information had a designated place or format. Thus, over time, users may have entered the same information in different places and, for example, dates in different formats. Older policies also do not always have all the information required by the new structure; in which case the policy information needs to be enriched. Not to mention file formats, which have changed over the years. There are certainly many more examples. And now, 15–20 years later, when this rather mixed data should be adapted to the structures of the new system, we are faced with a data cleaning task. The scope of a migration project can often be bit of a surprise, but luckily there are tools available to help.

The power of collaboration

In data migration the cooperation between the insurance company and the system supplier is key. The insurance company knows its old products and can foresee some of the challenges in the data structures. The system supplier on the other hand, knows inside out the logic and structure of the new system. When a mechanism for checking the quality and consistency of the data is created in between, even a difficult migration becomes easier.

The three phases of migration

Data migration can be divided into three phases. In the first phase, the migration is planned, and the portfolios are studied to the smallest details. First steps are taken with smaller test data and the creation of data mapping rules starts. At the same time, the insurance company often considers whether some product portfolios can be combined to simplify the management of portfolios in the future.

In the next phase, our conversion tool will take centre stage. It is used to check whether the data to be migrated is consistent and compatible with the new system. Rarely, if ever, is older data ready at once. The conversion tool provides feedback on differences and inconsistencies, such as data fields that cannot be matched in the new structure, missing data fields, or data in an inappropriate format.

This is where the actual data cleaning begins. The same data may be run through the conversion tool several times until it can be stamped as OK. Finally, a policy lifecycle testing will be done to ensure that everything matches in the future as well. For the work to progress promptly, the conversion tool is made available also for the insurance company. Hence, the actual experts of the portfolios and those working on data cleaning can independently test the changes and updates. All in all, a time-consuming phase, but the work is rewarded in the last phase.

The actual migration is often the fastest phase. When the old data has been processed and its compatibility has been verified, this is largely a technical routine, where the converted policies smoothly float into the new system. As a final check, the outcome is reconciled with the source data.

Extensive experience of migrations

In addition to the conversion tool, Evitec Life‘s accurate description of the data structure makes migration work significantly easier. The description gives the customer a clear view of which information is needed and in which format.

At Evitec we have carried out system migrations for several decades. We have converted nearly one hundred portfolios and hundreds of thousands of policies. So, it’s fair to say that our experience has built up over time and our migration process and tools have been put to the test in many demanding projects.

In the beginning, there is an initial idea. A fragment of a phrase from a conversation suddenly springs to mind. A question to colleagues, “has this ever come up with your client?“. And in no time, we are in full swing at work, conceptualizing a new functionality!

The development of systems and functionalities can get an initial impetus from almost anything. Sometimes the client has a clear need, sometimes the stone in the shoe rubs a little but no blister has yet appeared.

System development is the sum of many factors, teamwork at its best and involving many steps. Clarifying the context and the essence of the problem. Curiously trying to understand the past, challenge the existing, try to peek into the future. Focus on the big picture, dive into the details, notice all the points of convergence, list the stakeholders. Boldly asking all the questions that comes to mind. And finally, to create a working solution from all of this.

Therefore, an IT company needs a wide range of expertise. In Evitec, this means not only industry specific core competences, such as expertise in system architecture, coding in several languages, UX and UI competence and project management, but also widespread knowledge of the insurance and financial sector. However, for the final solution to really meet the customer’s needs and carry far into the future, the dialogue with the customer and system users plays a significant role.

From the initial idea, the next step is to create a concept-level picture of how the system should work. Already at this stage, we are happy to involve customers in the conversation. According to our experience, just a process map can trigger surprisingly lengthy discussions. New ideas pop up and the understanding of the whole matter deepens. The picture is not always finished in one go, sometimes two or three iterations are needed. Especially when the customer’s need is clear, there is a temptation to speed up the process at this stage, but experience has also shown the importance of a good foundation. The need and the corresponding solution may still become even more sharp.

Also during the development work itself, we maintain an active dialogue with the customer. From the more overall conceptual level, we dive deeper, and the focus is transferred to the details of the solution. Subject-matter experts are involved in workshops and demos, views are exchanged, and the direction of development is commented. A good process during which also the customer learns something new and gets a new perspective.

Evitec Life is a policy management system is specifically developed for life insurance companies and supports handling of a wide variety of investment instruments. In the most recent development project for handling of illiquid investments, Project Manager Maija Pietilä has made use of her experience of investment products from her previous working life.

— This experience has clearly been useful both in concepting and in discussing with customers, says Maija. — It has been easy to understand the product and the requirements related to its management.

Solution Analyst Irene Palazzo, on the other hand, is deeply familiar with Evitec Life’s savings solutions.

— It has been interesting to think about how existing functions can be used in a new way, says Irene. —There is no need to completely reinvent the wheel. In Evitec Life you can already manage most of the simplest illiquid investment functions, but now we have conceptualized the management of more complex structures.

If you want to hear more about our concept of handling illiquid investments, please contact us! sales@evitec.com

Digitalisaatio on jo monen vuoden ajan ollut kestopuheenaihe vakuutusalalla. Koronaviruksen tuoma paine pystyä palvelemaan asiakkaita etäyhteyksin kiihdytti keskustelua entisestään. Yhtiöt ovatkin viimeistään koronan myötä kehittäneet asiakasrajapinnassa tapahtuvaa palvelua digiaikaan. Mutta mikä on yhtiöiden sisäisten toimintojen tilanne?

Kun asiakas täyttää esimerkiksi henkilöriskivakuutuksen korvaushakemuksen verkkopalvelussa, alustaako tämä automaattisesti korvaustapahtuman ja ehkäpä tekee myös korvauspäätöksen ja hoitaa korvauksen ulosmaksatuksen? Vai syntyikö tästä pdf -lomake, joka otetaan manuaaliseen käsittelyyn?  

Monella yhtiöllä sisäisten toimintojen kyvykkyys törmää sopimushallinnan ja korvauskäsittelyn ydinjärjestelmien yli-ikäisyyteen. Pahimmillaan niiden yhdistäminen digitaaliseen ympäristöön ei onnistu ylipäätään tai ainakin toimenpiteen kustannukset ylittävät pitkän aikavälin hyödyt. Sen sijaan uusimalla liiketoiminnan ydinjärjestelmä saataisiin pitkälle tulevaisuuteen kantava ratkaisu, joka kytkeytyy jouhevasti muuhun liiketoimintaympäristöön. 

Kaiken kattava järjestelmä 

Evitec Life on varsinkin suomalaisille henkivakuutusyhtiöille tuttu vakuutussopimusten hallintajärjestelmä. Järjestelmä kehitettiin alkujaan erityyppisten eläke-, säästö- ja sijoitusvakuutusten hoitojärjestelmäksi, josta onkin kertynyt paljon kokemusta. Luonnollinen jatkumo kehityspolulle on ollut tuoda riskihenkivakuutustuotteet säästötuotteiden rinnalle.  

Evitec Lifessa voikin nyt hallinnoida kaikkia henkivakuutusyhtiön henkilöriskiturvia sekä näiden erilaisia yhdistelmiä. Yhtenä esimerkkinä yhdistelmistä mainittakoon Lainaturvavakuutukset, joissa omana erityispiirteenä on vakuutusmäärän sitominen lainapääomaan. PLP:ssä on jo entuudestaan voinut käsitellä sekä yksilöllisiä- että ryhmäsopimuksia ja henkilöriskivakuutusten osalta lisäksi pariturvia.  

Kun vielä henkilöriskivakuutusten korvauskäsittely on tuotu sopimushallinnan kanssa samaan järjestelmään, voimme ylpeänä tarjota henkivakuutusyhtiölle kaiken kattavan järjestelmän. Erityyppisten korvausten, kerta- ja päivärahakorvausten sekä kulukorvausten, hoitoa sujuvoittaa käsittelyssä tarvittavien sopimustietojen automaattinen välittyminen korvausjärjestelmään. Mikäli korvauspäätöksellä on vaikutusta sopimuksen tietoihin, esimerkiksi jokin turvalaji päättyy, päivittyy tieto automaattisesti sopimushallinnan puolelle.

Sopimusten ja korvausten hoitaminen samassa modernissa järjestelmässä tuo useita merkittäviä kustannus- ja tehokkuushyötyjä, kun liiketoimintaprosesseja automatisoidaan ja järjestelmäarkkitehtuuri yksinkertaistuu. Tällä luodaan pitkälle tulevaisuuteen kantava, koko liiketoimintaprosessin läpäisevä uudistus.

Olisiko nyt aika päivittää järjestelmäkanta nykyaikaan ja alkaa hyödyntää modernin teknologian suomia mahdollisuuksia?

In honour of the day, Profit Software publishes a whitepaper A digital solution for Swedish occupational pension. The whitepaper gives an insight to Tjänstepension and how a modern policy administration solution enables a fully digital customer journey. When the customer demand for digital services is constantly increasing, many insurers are faced with the challenge of how to solve this effectively. Usually, the challenge isn’t the digitization itself. It’s a question of the underlying IT-architecture, which might be difficult to connect with modern interfaces. 

In the whitepaper we dive into the structure of Tjänstepension and its complex demands. We continue by illustrating how Profit Life & Pension supports the digital agenda, increases business efficiency through automation and helps to stay updated with regulatory demands. Also, for more complex insurance products. 

Download A digital solution for Swedish occupational pension