Case Study 4: Modernization of NTUC Income

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Modernization of NTUC Income


Question 1:

What were the problems faced by Income in this case? How were the problems resolved by the new digital system?

 Answer:

Income had problems with how they process their insurance because it is very tedious and paper-based. The way they do business costs them time, because it takes them more days to finish a certain request for insurance; money, because they need to upgrade HP3000 mainframe that frequently breaks; space, because it is paper-based, all forms were put into cartons and resulted to occupying 3 warehouses. Income’s problems were resolved in June 2003 when they switched to Java based eBao LifeSystem from eBao Technology. Because of eBao’s hi-tech features, it covered Policy Administration, Sales Management, and Supplementary Resources. Tedious and paper-based insurance processes which causes delay and time consuming frequent systems breakdown and insufficient functional back-up systems.
  1. Slow transaction processing for policy underwriting where information is not available to agents and advisers in real time.
  2. Lack of advisers telecommuting as each department did not have up-to-date information and facing difficulty to pass to each other.
  3. Company existing system had been upgraded into a more sophisticated one known as (Java based eBao LifeSystem)
  4. It consists of customer-centric design, seamless integration with imaging and bar-code technology.
  5. New system operates on high availability platform where:
  6. All applications resided on 2 or more servers, each connected by 2 or more communication lines- (load balanced).
  7. Replace entire IT infrastructure with more robust & scalable architecture.
  8. Introduction of real-time hot backup disaster recovery center
  9. It consists of customer-centric design, seamless integration with imaging and bar-code technology.
  10. New system operates on high availability platform where:
  11. All applications resided on 2 or more servers, each connected by 2 or more communication lines- (load balanced).
  12. Replace entire IT infrastructure with more robust & scalable architecture.
  13. 13. Introduction of real-time hot backup disaster recovery center

Question 2:

What types of information systems and business processes were used by Income before migrating to the fully digital system?

 Answer

Income used HP3000 mainframe that hosted the core insurance applications as well as the accounting and management information systems. They also used COBOL programs that were developed in the early 1980s. With regards to their business processes, Income does all the work manually. From the agent submitting the forms to branches, office services would sort them for underwriting; storage is done by sorting all documents and is put in cartons, where all documents are stored in 3 warehouses. Policy writing is in batch process and information was not available to agents and advisors as a result they loss the opportunity to cross-sell.

Question 3:

Describe the Information systems and IT infrastructure at Income after migrating to the fully digital system?

Answer

In June 2003, when Income migrated their documents to eBao LifeSystems, everything was in order. According to James Kang, CIO of Income it has everything that they were looking for a customer-centric design.

Question 4:

What benefits did Income reap from new system?

 Answer

1. Providing easier & more convenient access for staff: for those staff members who telecommute, it enabled them to gain faster access to information, as fast as those staff that accessed information within the office. 
2. Enabled cross-selling of products & improvement of customer service: this new system has allowed income to gain a singular view of each of their customers across their products and channels, enabling an even better life and general insurance line. 
3. 50% savings on both time & cost needed to process policies: due to the straight through process workflow capabilities of the new system, it enabled reduction of 50% on time and cost needed to process policies. Time needed to design and launch new products was also reduced significantly. 
4. Provides greater support to intermediaries: Income is able to provide support to agents, brokers, and customers to do online services regularly.

Question 5:

How well is Income prepared for the future? Are the problems described in the case likely to be repeated? 
  • By comparing the past and the present state
  • Straight through processing workflow and high flexibility
  • Time saving. For instance, cutting product launch time from months to days
  • Support agents, brokers, and customers to do online service conveniently
  • Lower cost
  • Shorter implementation time


Are the problems described in the case likely to be repeated?


Performance (Unlikely) Ranked as the top 3 insurers in the life insurance industry (MAS Annual Statistics, 2008) Product innovation to meet customers’ needs (through new IT technology) Cutting Edge IT Development. For example, STEP technology eliminates the use of paper which promotes environmentally friendly as well. Partnership with Development Authority and Microsoft to launch the community web portal, Big Trumpet.

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