Implementing Agile IT Solutions for Business Growth and Efficiency Featured Image

Case Study: Implementing Agile IT Solutions for Business Growth and Efficiency

This case study delves into how Aviva Health, in collaboration with IBM, transformed its IT environment to support significant business growth. By automating and integrating processes, they achieved reduced costs, improved efficiency, and enhanced customer and partner experiences.


How can Agile IT help you gain competitive advantage? Read this case study:
Customer challenge
Keen to double its business across Income Protection and Private Medical Insurance in three years whilst improving the customer journey but without increasing costs, Aviva Health found itself hampered by an ageing and inflexible IT environment and a complex set of highly manual processes.
Solution
In partnership with IBM, Aviva UK Health designed and built an agile, dynamic solution which is now being rolled out to other areas of the business. The IBM WebSphere® family of software products is used to automate processes and integrate existing systems. The hardware platform is IBM System p® running AIX®.
Customer benefits
• Reduced costs – cost per Private Medical Insurance quote reduced by 44%
• Increased levels of business – met sales targets to double the size of the portfolio by 2009
• Improved customer experience
• Improved corporate partner and intermediary experience
• Increased speed to market for new products• Increased business flexibility and competitive advantage.

Companies must constantly evolve to stay competitive. This is especially true in the insurance industry, where customer demands and market conditions can shift rapidly. A well-known health insurance provider successfully navigated this landscape by partnering with a leading technology company to transform its IT environment, resulting in significant business growth and enhanced customer satisfaction.

The health insurance provider aimed to double its business in income protection and private medical insurance over three years while maintaining flat administrative costs. However, the company faced an aging, inflexible IT infrastructure and a complex set of highly manual processes that varied across channels and intermediaries. These inefficiencies hindered the company’s ability to respond quickly to market changes and customer needs.

Despite its strong market presence and historical success, its outdated IT systems and labor-intensive processes were costly and time-consuming. The lack of automation and system integration made scaling operations and improving the customer journey difficult. Watching competitors gain market share through electronic trading underscored the urgent need for modernization to stay relevant and efficient.

The company’s leadership recognized that it needed to reduce its reliance on manual processes to achieve its ambitious growth targets. This transformation required a dynamic and integrated solution capable of automating business processes and improving operational efficiency. It sought to partner with a technology provider that could deliver a long-term, scalable solution tailored to its unique needs.

Collaborating with a renowned technology firm, the health insurance provider implemented a suite of agile IT solutions. The cornerstone of this transformation was using the technology firm’s software products to automate processes and integrate existing systems. This approach allowed for a significant reduction in costs—44% in the cost per private medical insurance quote—and enabled the company to double its business within the targeted timeframe. Integrating the primary human workflow application streamlined operations, particularly in risk and error management, which were previously highly manual.

The results were transformative. The company met its growth objectives and enhanced the overall customer and partner experience. The new IT environment provided increased flexibility, allowing the company to adapt to market changes and introduce new products quickly. By automating routine tasks, staff could focus on more complex, value-added activities, further driving efficiency and job satisfaction.

In conclusion, this case study demonstrates how a strategic partnership and implementing agile IT solutions can lead to significant business improvements. By modernizing its IT infrastructure and automating processes, the health insurance provider achieved its ambitious growth goals, reduced operational costs, and significantly improved customer and partner experiences. This successful transformation underscores the critical role of technology in driving business success in a competitive market.

Main Contents

  1. Introduction to the health insurance provider’s business goals and challenges.
  2. Detailed examination of the company’s outdated IT infrastructure and manual processes.
  3. The strategic decision to partner with a leading technology firm for IT transformation.
  4. Implementation of agile IT solutions, including automation and system integration.
  5. Results and benefits achieved, including cost reduction, business growth, and improved customer experience.

Key Takeaways

  1. Modernizing IT infrastructure is crucial for staying competitive and meeting growth objectives.
  2. Automating manual processes can significantly reduce operational costs and improve efficiency.
  3. Integrating existing systems enhances flexibility and responsiveness to market changes.
  4. Strategic technology partnerships can drive successful IT transformations.
  5. Improved IT systems benefit business operations and enhance customer and partner experiences.

This case study provides a practical example of how a health insurance provider successfully transformed its IT environment, offering valuable insights that can be applied to solve real-world challenges.

  • Identifying Inefficiencies: CIOs and IT leaders can use this case study to recognize similar inefficiencies within their organizations, such as outdated IT systems and manual processes that hinder growth and responsiveness.
  • Strategic Partnerships: The example demonstrates the benefits of partnering with a technology provider. IT leaders can explore strategic collaborations to access cutting-edge solutions and expertise that may not be available internally.
  • Implementing Agile Solutions: By studying the implementation of agile IT solutions in this case, CIOs can develop strategies to automate and integrate their processes, enhancing operational efficiency and flexibility.
  • Cost Reduction: The case highlights significant cost savings achieved through process automation. IT leaders can use these insights to build a business case for investments in automation technologies that promise long-term cost benefits.
  • Enhancing Customer Experience: The improvements in customer and partner experiences serve as a reminder that IT transformations should also focus on end-user benefits, driving satisfaction and loyalty through better service delivery.

In summary, CIOs and IT leaders can leverage the lessons from this case study to address common challenges such as inefficiencies, high operational costs, and customer dissatisfaction. Adopting similar IT modernization strategies, strategic partnerships, and process automation can drive significant improvements in their organizations, achieving growth and competitive advantage.


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