After acquisition of Gerling Versicherung by the Talanx Group, the subsidiaries HDI, Gerling and ASPECTA were integrated in HDI-Gerling Leben Serviceholding AG. In this context, insurance experts from mgm consulting partners analyzed technical systems for payment transaction and sales concerning system consolidation for the international domain, and recommended a course of action for ASPECTA.

Initial situation: fusion of companies with differing IT systems.

On the occasion of the fusion with Gerling Versicherung and the founding of HDI-Gerling Leben Serviceholding AG, a new, common IT target structure was to be defined for the new group of companies.
In order to improve the quality of system support services, for example with regards to ‘time-to-market’ and ‘response time’, an internationalization strategy was decided upon with the aim of decentralizing key functions. This was to specifically allow a higher level of independence for foreign subsidiaries and thus more flexibility in order to enable the consideration and integration of local business practices.

Project aim: presentation of an economically and technologically efficient IT target structure.

With regard to the internationalization strategy, the IT systems for payment transaction and sales were analyzed in order to specify an economically and technologically efficient IT target structure for the international domain of the company group. As well as the consideration of insurance-specific requirements within individual countries (e.g. legislative restrictions),  local user requirements were also to be included according to the strategy decided upon.
Various solution possibilities were developed for the assessment of cost-effectiveness and efficiency, including the evaluation of available standard software systems and custom solutions as part of a market analysis. In this respect, a stronger internationalization of application development and support had to be considered for all possibilities.

The expertise of mgm consulting partners:
balancing of local requirements with central efficiency advantages.

In close cooperation with the customer, mgm consulting partners planned, controlled and supported the project during its entire duration.
The specific country requirements were initially surveyed in terms of expertise, technology and organization by using specifically designed, individualized questionnaires and were prepared as part of the mgm procedure model.
The mgm team subsequently held workshops with users from the individual countries and also investigated their country-specific systems. As a part of this, investments up to that time were registered according to cost category and were structured in accordance with the planned market analysis in order to allow a later comparison of solution alternatives.
“The mgm experts were able to grasp and understand our environment within days and were always able to professionally advise us during the course of the project,” complemented Raymond Brust-Rasokat, the project manager responsible at ASPECTA.

With regards to the market analysis, European standard software and solution suppliers were invited as part of a ‘Request for Information’ (RFI) process and each system was presented in terms of its ability to meet the requirements and costs specified.

In order to be able to define an optimal solution, a decision matrix was drawn up together with the customer. “In a multi-dimensional decision-taking situation it is important to be able to comprehend the effects of individual aspects upon the complete system. The uniformly deployed method competence of mgm certainly convinced me,” acknowledged Raymond Brust-Rasokat. As a result, it was possible to evaluate the identified solution possibilities in terms of cost efficiency within the business case definition framework. Here, ASPECTA placed importance upon a detailed estimation of a future implementation as part of the specified IT target structure.

Benefits for ASPECTA

Through a comprehensive, holistic consideration of the IT systems affected, fundamental savings potentials were defined. Without endangering specified synergies, it was possible to find a solution which also granted the individual national subsidiaries the required amount of scope for flexibility.
“Thanks to the work results we were able to rapidly meet a decision and begin implementation,” concluded Dr. Olaf Kliesow, Division Manager with ASPECTA.

* This reference has been officially confirmed by ASPECTA.