IT modernization boosts Insurance customer base

Insurance

IT modernization boosts Insurance customer base

Existing applications and business systems of a Fortune 500 Insurance Carrier were inadequate to meet customer expectations. Iris business systems transformation solution enabled the client to deliver a consistent customer experience, improving acquisition and retention significantly.

Client

A leading American Fortune 500 Insurance Services Provider, offering insurance, investment management and other financial products and services across the Americas and 40 other countries

Business Drivers

To advance business agility and customer experience through modernized business systems

Technologies and Frameworks

C#/.NET, JAVA, DevOps, Python, NodeJS, App Services, Managed Application Support

BUSINESS CHALLENGE

The client’s existing business applications, systems, and support services were in stasis and not delivering the much-needed value to the insurer and end customers. Due to the lack of enterprise application portfolio strategy, business functions were onboarding applications in a silo. The net impact was that the insurer’s revenue and market share decreased. Longer turnaround times and outdated UI were discouraging customers. On the other hand, prospective customers were also opting for modernized options available in the market.

SOLUTION

Iris delivered app development and managed services across Annuities, Life Insurance, Group Insurance, Retirements and the Global Enterprise Service groups that decide the platform for all business units. Our services spanned around Enterprise Collaboration portal, Financial Wellness platform, Mutual Fund platform modernization, Oracle EBS development and support, and Retirement Annuities platform management. We also executed a scaled Agile program and ran multiple Scrums within the enterprise development and support landscape. Iris tech experts established DevOps and scaled Agile Framework within the client organization and enabled a team of over 150 professionals globally to support business operations 24X7.

OUTCOMES

Iris has been working around the application portfolio for over three years. We have helped the client deliver an exceptional experience to employees and end customers through active service support. Key outcomes of the delivered solution included:

Infrastructure availability increased to 99%
Optimized maintainability reduced the KYC process time by 75%
Customer response time cut down by around 40%
Promoter score incremented from 5 to 9 out of 10
Customer retention improved by nearly 80%
Customer acquisition increased by 65%

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Cloud transformation increases business agility

Standards & Membership

Global Standards organization increases business agility

Existing applications supporting the business were built on monolith architecture with high technical debt. Iris transformed over 15 years old monolith applications into microservices with automated integration and cloud deployment to deliver faster MVPs.

Client

A non-profit global organization responsible for developing and maintaining standards, including barcodes with over 115 local member organizations and over 2 million user companies

Business Drivers

To deliver MVPs in shorter cycles, reduce Mean Time for Ticket Resolution (MTTR), and lower the total cost of ownership

Tools and technologies

C#/.NET Core, Python/DJango, NodeJS/Express, Azure WAF, Azure APIM, App Services, Azure Kubernetes Service, Azure Monitor, Application Insights

BUSINESS CHALLENGE

The client had a suite of legacy applications to generate barcodes that are scanned globally over 6 million times a day. These applications were built on monolithic architectures using heavy-weight application servers and outdated technologies. This architecture was causing long development cycles, making the organization less competitive. Developers’ productivity was also dropping due to high technical debt.

SOLUTION

Azure cloud offered some of the foundational features like container orchestration, app engine, integration, API gateway, monitoring and others, making cloud-specific modernization a natural choice.

Modernization strategy involved reverse engineering of on-premise applications, domain-specific grouping the product backlogs by, adopting domain-driven design, and using open source cloud-friendly software with CI/CD pipeline. We transformed the applications to a .NET core framework using cloud-native design principles on Azure cloud. The solution was developed using Azure App Services, front door and service bus following the agile development approach with two-week sprints.

OUTCOMES

Iris helped the client realize multiple business benefits, including higher agility, resiliency and cost-efficient IT operations. Key outcomes of this cloud modernization engagement are:

Reduction in Mean Time for Ticket Resolution (MTTR) by 30%
Increase in application and infrastructure uptime to 99.9%
Real-time visibility of application and infra metrics
Enabled bi-weekly MVP delivery

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Pandemic pivot from physical to online tests

Education

Pandemic pivot from physical to online tests

System modernization helped a multinational educational testing and assessment organization overcome COVID-19 disruptions to deliver seamless and accurate digital testing.

Client

A leading U.S.-based educational testing and assessment services company

Goal

Switch from in-person to online testing

Tools and technologies

AWS Serverless, Dynamo DB, Node.js, Typescript, Java, Jenkins, and Angular

BUSINESS CHALLENGE

Our client, which provides educational testing and assessment services, faced an existential threat with the pandemic-era lockdowns and social distancing
requirements. The testing centers it operated at physical locations were unable to open, leaving thousands of students worldwide in a state of uncertainty.
Our client had to switch from in-person testing centers to a digital-first or online
testing solution almost overnight. To achieve that, it had to migrate rapidly from legacy systems to the cloud. It also needed to ensure the sanctity and accuracy of its tests while delivering a seamless digital experience to its customers. Other challenges included the ability to dynamically scale up or scale down capacity in response to demand, maintain acceptable service levels, and enable thousands of
expert test raters’ to access and evaluate tests.

SOLUTION

Iris Software stepped in to facilitate a strategic digital pivot in the business model to secure the company’s future. Modernization efforts that were underway at the company even before the pandemic were accelerated as a digital upgrade became imperative. We shifted the data stored on legacy infrastructure was to the cloud. Our team developed a new testing interface that would work overnight across devices, geographies, and different internet connections. Switching the testing operations to the cloud with scalable capacity could help manage the surge in the number of users for the tests Iris also deployed automation and AI tools to deliver superior experiences for test raters. Those who faced challenges while attempting to grade tests were provided with an always-on AI-based solution to automate the troubleshooting and ticketing process.

OUTCOMES

The client now has scalable, digital-first testing capabilities to meet all its testing requirements.

Cloud-based testing ensures that students, evaluators, and employees have access on-demand.
The remote testing options are accurate, secure and safe from external threats.
A strong focus on automation and user experience has allowed for optimized online offerings.
Surges in demand for tests can be met rapidly and at scale with minimal intervention.
Thanks to the always-on cloud offerings, service levels are easily maintained.
The successful digital pivot has led to strong interest in a hybrid operating model to safeguard the business from threats in the future.

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The power of in-sprint automation

Automation

The power of in-sprint automation

A large securities firm sped up time-to-market with end-to-end test automation on the cloud.

Client

A leading securities trading firm.

Goal

Build a cloud-based automation framework to test client’s trading platform.

Tools and technologies

C#, Ranorex, TestRail, Simulators and Selenium.

BUSINESS CHALLENGE

The client had a legacy trading platform that had grown and evolved over time. The platform consisted of a stack of 33 applications, built on a variety of technologies and architectures. Testing new features and additions was proving to be a big challenge. A simple change in one feature would warrant a verification of the complete application. To ensure that any change does not affect other functionality, the client needed to do extensive regression testing and verification. This was a cumbersome process with over 20,000 or 30,000 test cases being checked and executed manually. The trading firm had to deploy over 20 people to carry out this exercise. The client had tried to automate the testing process with a variety of tools but was not able to get the efficiencies it wanted. In addition, the client had multiple squads working on different apps, functionality and features. Each squad used its own automation suite. It was becoming a challenge to co-ordinate the work of the different squads and ensure that changes made by a squad did not impact the overall functionality of the platform. Iris’s brief was to design and deploy a common cloud-based test automation framework for the client’s trading platform to ensure that it could launch new features faster.

SOLUTION

Using its cloud-based ready-to-deploy test automation framework, Iris sped up the deployment of new features for the client’s trading platform. The cloud solution, based on Amazon Web Services (AWS), featured continuous testing of multiple products on a common framework layer. It allowed for complete capacity planning of spinned cloud instances and need-based shutdowns. Iris executed the project using acceptance test driven development (ATDD), a methodology that involves collaboration between customers, business teams and development teams. The teams jointly created the user stories and put down the acceptance criteria for any feature or functionality. Then tests were designed within the common framework to check if the feature met the acceptance criteria. What was unique about the approach? Typically, automation is introduced towards the end of a development cycle. You would find that, in most projects, developers bring in automation in Sprint 4 for features developed in Sprint 1, 2 and 3. As a result, return on investment isn’t maximized. Our team introduced ‘in-sprint’ automation, enabling 90% test automation with every sprint. This resulted in more efficient and faster testing, and cost savings for the client.

OUTCOMES

The client’s deployment speed improved significantly with 90% faster execution in each sprint cycle and 80% faster script development. The cloud-based solution is 100% configurable for on-demand execution on AWS, which reduced the client’s cloud infrastructure costs by 70%. The new ability for complete capacity planning through the use of infrastructure-as-code (IaC) for spinning up cloud instances helped the client achieve end-to-end (E2E) automation of regression/ functional test cases.

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Deliver personalization via report automation

Asset Management

Deliver personalization via report automation

A leading asset management firm personalized offerings by automating processes to glean customer insights.

Client

A leading asset management firm based in the U.S.

Goal

Help asset managers deliver personalized solutions to establish differentiation.

Tools and technologies

AquaData Studio, Java, Perl, Python, Spring, Hibernate, VRS, PostgreSQL, Composite and MS SQL.

BUSINESS CHALLENGE

Asset management firms face challenges such as a generational shift in the demographic and new patterns of investment behavior. They also face changing regulations, and aggregators with low-cost products who are thinning the pool of investible funds. Our client wanted to differentiate itself by offering customer-centric solutions that are flexible and adaptable. But its existing systems presented several challenges:

Its front, mid and back office functions needed a lot of manual effort
Business rules were inconsistent and data duplication was rampant
User experience on the platform needed significant improvement
Clients were unable to get a holistic view of their accounts
Data validation was consuming a lot of manhours

SOLUTION

We partnered with the asset manager to deliver better digital experiences to all its stakeholders. We created a robust data ecosystem and used advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence/machine learning or AI/ML, intelligent automation, cloud computing and test automation.

Our team streamlined and integrated the client’s front, middle and back office functions. We helped the client integrate their back-office solutions with their custodians, reducing complexity in information exchange, eliminating reconciliation and increasing operational efficiency by more than 75%.
We automated the creation of more than 7,000 reports.
Improved experience for retail and institutional clients by automating the generation of complex compliance and strategic reports.
Developed a strategic reporting module that gave customers a holistic view of their accounts and holdings.
Set up a business data validation team offshore.
Enabled self-service option for bespoke reports.

OUTCOMES

Our solution helped the client significantly improve front-end experience for customers; reduce manual effort and costs in the back office; and improve overall operations efficiency. Highlights of the outcomes:

Automated the exhibits process with 75% increase in throughput
Our report automation solution reduced manual effort by 70% and improved monthly artefact generation throughput by 40%
Reduced manual effort for customization in client profile management by 60%
Achieved $50,000 savings monthly in data validation for client profile management

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Striking the right balance of care

Interactive

Striking the right balance of care

A work-life services provider transformed the care experience for its customers with a user-friendly, intuitive and responsive web platform.

Client

A leading provider of work-life services to caregivers.

Goal

Enable caregivers to easily set up and manage care schedules.

Tools and technologies

HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Bootstrap, JQuery, Atlassian User Interface (AUI), AngularJS and Liferay DXP7.2

BUSINESS CHALLENGE

Many young and middle-aged workers combine both work and caregiving responsibilities that cover not only children but extend to parents and pets. Research shows that employees who achieve greater work-family balance are more satisfied in their jobs and happier with their families.

For our client, a leading provider of work-life services, the key to enabling that balance is the setting up of care schedules for dependent or vulnerable family members. The client’s existing solution for managing such schedules, however, was not user-friendly, flexible, or mobile-responsive.

The client's websites offered no provision to schedule premium services for care.

The websites were served by a Liferay V6.2 content management system (CMS) as the common backend for which support ended in December 2020.

SOLUTION

We designed and developed a web platform for scheduling care for family members including parents, children, self and pets, with e-mail notifications and quick access to customer care. We migrated the websites to Liferay DXP7.2 CMS backend.

To improve the performance of the web application, we developed website forms as AngularJS-based single-page applications. We developed a responsive website that worked flawlessly across different-sized screens on desktops, tablets and mobile phones.

We used Agile methodologies right from the requirements-gathering phase until the final deployment of the web platform to shorten development time.

To save cost and time, we used an almost identical codebase for both iOS and Android platforms (except for a few configuration settings and device specific features).

Furthermore, our team performed continuous integration using automated build tools, and script and code repositories, to save time during the development, testing and deployment phases.

We ensured that the sites we built followed the WCAG 2.0 and OWASP accessibility and security standards.

OUTCOMES

The web platform we developed ensured the client’s care scheduling interface was user-friendly, flexible and mobile-responsive.
Customers could easily create, change and cancel schedules. They also had easy access to records and historical data.
The common codebase across iOS and Android ensured significant cost savings in the development and maintenance of the application.
Agile methodologies and a high degree of automation reduced costs and shortened the development time.

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A robust platform for investment advisors

Brokerage & Wealth

A robust platform for investment advisors

A prominent U.S. brokerage firm transformed its monolithic legacy apps for registered investment advisors (RIAs) into a microservices-based open platform and significantly improved user experience.

Client

A leading brokerage and wealth management firm based in the U.S.

Goal

Create a best-in-class platform for registered investment advisors (RIAs).

Tools and technologies

Pivotal Cloud Foundry, Spring Boot, Spring Cloud Gateway, Angular 6, TIBCO AMX BW, SQL Server, Hybrid Automation Framework (Selenium, Appium, Perfecto) and AppDynamics

BUSINESS CHALLENGE

With growing competition from nimble fintechs, custodians are under pressure to provide RIAs a differentiated experience. Many of them are looking to use advanced technology solutions such as machine learning, artificial intelligence and data and analytics to help RIAs improve the end consumer experience.

Our client had multiple legacy platforms built over the years that was preventing it from providing their RIAs with a secure, integrated and cost-effective solution.

SOLUTION

Iris has been played an integral role in transforming the client’s technology landscape from a legacy system to a modern, open, API-based architecture. The solutions we have implemented include:

An open access platform with API architecture as part of the client’s go-to-market strategy. We continue to work on integrating third party vendor applications and RIA back-office applications onto this platform.
The platform is highly reliable and secure with protection of data at rest and in motion using encryption. We have enabled encryption of data in transit to protect over 100+ integrations outside the client environment. We have used SAML and OAuth for user authentication.
An SSO solution provides multi-factor authentication (MFA) and a framework for privileged access management to secure customer information. The Iris team has also ensured mobile security for iOS & Android devices and helped the client plug platform vulnerabilities.
Developed responsive design as part of the UI transformation initiatives for core trading, advisory and educational solutions.
Transformed monolithic application into micro services-based architecture.
Provided flexible development capabilities with distributed Agile teams and extensive test automation reducing time to market and achieving significant cost savings.
Digitized end-to-end client onboarding with features for bulk onboarding, advisor authorization and ability to submit statutory documentation online and offline.
Created back-office solutions for money movement and cash and asset management that allowed RIAs to get a holistic view of clients and serve them on the go.
Customizable workflow to serve needs of individual advisor firms.

OUTCOMES

We enabled the client to securely integrate over hundreds of third-party apps and RIA back-office applications. Our test automation and Agile solutions helped the client reduce time to market for new features by 40%. Reduced the regression cycle duration by 60% with automated tests over six months. Increased test automation coverage to 70%. Reduced defect leakage to less than 1%. Improved performance of business transactions by 30% to 40% on the web platform. Addressed > 70% of security and vulnerability issues, leading to a better customer experience.

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Gain speed to market with DevOps solutions

Wealth Management

Gain speed to market with DevOps solutions

A wealth management firm moved from a legacy application environment to a microservices ecosystem. The switch cut production time and expedited the roll-out of releases.

Client

The client is a leading wealth management firm in the U.S.

Goal

DevOps strategy to shorten production timelines and speed time-to-market.

Tools and technologies

JIRA, Jenkins, GitHub, AWS, ECR, Docker, EKS and Helm.

BUSINESS CHALLENGE

The client used multiple legacy applications with a highly complex codebase to run its operations. As a result, it had long production lifecycles and spent several person-hours in integration and deployment.

On the technology front, the client faced challenges in the way server-side applications were defined, stored and managed. Its IT team also had to manage the deployment of multiple Kubernetes manifest files.

SOLUTION

Iris recommended that the client move to a microservices ecosystem. Here’s how we deployed the solution:

We defined an enterprise-level DevOps strategy using Helm
Identified the scope of apps that needed to be on-boarded across the enterprise
Implemented a DevOps pipeline for microservices on the Kubernetes cluster
Deployed the infrastructure, dependencies and applications with Kubernetes using Helm
Delivered continuous improvement through Helm release updates and rollbacks

OUTCOMES

The DevOps pipeline significantly improved time-to-market for new releases.

20x faster release cycle
40% improvement in quality with end-to-end traceability
15x improvement in the mean time to deployment (MTTD)

We also put in place robust security control and validation processes; and provided for auditable release requests.

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Iris continues to shine as one of India’s Best Workplaces for Women

NMSDC Annual Conference & Exchange October 2024

Discover the Iris difference

Supporting and investing in our employees

Insurance

IT modernization boosts Insurance customer base

Client

Business Drivers

Technologies and Frameworks

BUSINESS CHALLENGE

SOLUTION

OUTCOMES

Contact

Standards & Membership

Global Standards organization increases business agility

Client

Business Drivers

Tools and technologies

BUSINESS CHALLENGE

SOLUTION

OUTCOMES

Contact

Education

Pandemic pivot from physical to online tests

Client

Goal

Tools and technologies

BUSINESS CHALLENGE

SOLUTION

OUTCOMES

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Goal

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Client

Goal

Tools and technologies

BUSINESS CHALLENGE

SOLUTION

OUTCOMES

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Client

Goal

Tools and technologies

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SOLUTION

OUTCOMES

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