Discover how Hyro enabled IAG to obtain a significant share of the rapidly growing online insurance market.
Background
The Buzz Insurance is part of Insurance Australia Group (IAG) which manages a portfolio of general insurance businesses across Australia and New Zealand (household names such as NRMA Insurance, SGIO, SGIC, Swan Insurance and CGU).
IAG identified that Internet savvy, mid to high socio economic consumers wanted a new way to buy, claim and manage their insurance. With new online only insurance providers beginning to enter the Australian market, IAG recognised that they needed to address this competitive threat and reinvent their existing business model to deliver insurance services via the digital channel.
IAG therefore established a new business unit and brand called ‘The Buzz Insurance’ which would initially focus on the online car insurance market. With a focus on agility, speed to market and low cost of delivery, the insurance offering had to be implemented within six months to establish significant market share in this rapidly growing online only insurance market.
The Solution
The Buzz Insurance team was issued the task of finding a team of vendors and suppliers that could provide the necessary expertise, systems and technologies to make The Buzz online experience a reality. The Buzz approached Hyro, looking for a vendor that could pull the solution together in a very short timeframe using an Agile development approach.
With rapid timeframes set, Hyro began working alongside the Buzz’s creative design agency to provide competitor analysis, user testing and interface design improvements. This enabled The Buzz to avoid a number of common pitfalls and ensure a usable and useful online customer experience would be delivered.
As part of a complex multi-vendor environment, Hyro then delivered the key technology components which would bring the solution together:
- Designed, developed and tested the .Net based claims functionality which would form the foundation of all claim processes.
- Recommended, implemented and configured the Sitecore Content Management System, giving the Buzz the ability to manage and publish website content and seamlessly integrate .Net based web applications.
- Implemented and integrated IBM Websphere® Datapower® to provide a quick and efficient way to establish an SOA compliant integration bus between solution components. In excess of ten vendors were required to deliver solution components in parallel to interface specifications for later integration into the combined solution.
- Implemented the Hyro Idaptive™ Password Manager module to provide users with self service password reset capabilities. This would minimise the Buzz’s administrative costs and increases their small workforce productivity.
Following deployment, the solution was transitioned to Hyro’s Managed Services team. They would support the components implemented by Hyro and other 3rd party vendors including the application front-end, content management system, integration layer and back-end infrastructure on a 24x7 basis. This ensured that the website would be kept running smoothly and, should technical issues arise, be dealt with swiftly and effectively.
The Outcome
Within approximately six months, Hyro delivered a customer focused solution (www.thebuzzinsurance.com.au) which would enable customers to manage the entire lifecycle of their car insurance policy online. From “real time” quoting, purchasing, policy administration right through to the ability to make a claim online, the Buzz is now able to establish a significant share of the online car insurance market.
The solution also provides IAG and the Buzz Insurance with a successful online delivery model that can be used to introduce similar online insurance products to market.
Boru Kagho, Head of Ecommerce, The Buzz Insurance said:
“Hyro was seen as the right fit from a leadership capability and cultural alignment. Hyro’s ability to cover the integration and development needs to the testing of the end to end solution was a key deciding factor.”