Disability Insurance Company: Application Requirements for New Business

Summary

By working with the client to discover true business needs, Doreen Evans Associates helped the company recover from implementation of an off-the-shelf system that resulted in unacceptable new business cycle times.

Client Company Profile

A mid-size life and disability income insurance company that specializes in products that are excellent for highly skilled professionals, executives and business owners.

Business Challenge

The company had installed a new workflow system that was intended to improve productivity, specifically cycle time. Upon implementation of the system, the cycle time increased to unacceptable levels (37 days) and caused many problems with respect to producer (agent) satisfaction and customer satisfaction. Management was required to step in and handle damage control. What they realized was that the promise of the new technology and the reality of the implementation were vastly different. The way they approached the requirements for the system did not identify requirements within the true context of the business process.

Solution

DEA recognized that the failure of the initial implementation of the workflow system to deliver on increased productivity stemmed from a lack of understanding of the true business needs. The system had been designed from the point of view of the vendor’s off-the-shelf features, rather than from the point of view of the New Business area’s processing requirements. To prevent this outcome in the future, DEA worked with the client’s subject matter experts to document the New Business processes from beginning to end. The documentation provided a comprehensive description of current business operations and served as the starting point for identification of improvement opportunities. DEA developed recommendations for process enhancements and improvements to address bottlenecks and shortfalls. Some of the opportunities involved new technology, while others required enhancements to existing systems.

Once the system projects were approved, DEA specified system requirements in the form of use cases for the workflow system, application set up, and automated underwriter worksheets. Additionally, DEA leveraged the system requirements data in the System Architect repository to develop test case scenarios, test cases and test scripts. Users of the system served as testers and were able to learn how to use the system during that time.

With the implementation of the new technology the company was able to reduce their cycle time by approximately 50% and eliminate errors with assignment of policy numbers, a major problem area in the past.