New Zealand rural insurer Farmers Mutual Group (FMG) has upgraded its digital programme in an effort to provide improved customer services and to leverage business opportunities, thanks to a partnership with IntegrationWorks.
As digital transformation sweeps the country, established insurers face the threat of disruption as smaller and agile competitors enter the market.
Understanding that threat, FMG sought to improve its digital programme by building new capabilities and ways to meet its business needs. Project Optimus is part of that digital programme.
“The project used agile and design-thinking methodologies and involved ongoing engagement from FMG stakeholders to drive continuous improvement and iteration at every sprint,” comments IntegrationWorks founder Grant McKeen.
FMG designed and built numerous components including client profiles and a better customer experience across online, voice, and face-to-face services.
While the company was challenged to plug everything together, much like ‘digital plumbing', the company is already seeing benefits.
FMG also had to address its legacy back end technologies with the Guidewire system for processing policies, claims and billing systems.
Other challenges included incorporating identity access management and a transition to Azure Cloud, as well as providing a DevOps environment so continuous testing could take place without negatively impacting concurrent work streams.
IntegrationWorks designed the integration layer and implemented a microservices architecture that enabled FMG to provide information services, business transaction services and management services for Guidewire.
This further enabled the combination of the business processes, orchestration, state control and capacity management for the services to be delivered at an agreed level to use across the enterprise.
“This transition has allowed eligible clients to self-service their insurance with FMG. This creates greater choice, convenience and control for clients in how they choose to manage their insurance,” continues McKeen.
FMG says that one of the key benefits in implementing this solution was having access to the talent and expertise of the IntegrationWorks team without which, FMG stated, it would not have been otherwise possible.
FMG can now provide improved client services and leverage business opportunities. By clients being able to self-manage their insurance with FMG, there is now a facility to offer other products to clients. This includes the capability to add new features or marketplace offerings that can increase revenue and provides flexibility with ease-of-release of new digital-orientated products.