Professional Services Business

Company Profile 

A leading professional services provider of solutions to the global insurance industry with 5000 employees in 116 offices in 32 countries spanning, the US, Latin America, Europe, Middle East, and Asia with 8 subsidiaries covering insurance management, claims services and technology. 

CEO’s Mission 

The CEO of the company set an ambitious goal: to position the organisation as a global top-three leader in its chosen sectors. To attain this objective, the company needed to secure additional financing to facilitate both organic growth and strategic acquisitions.  

The technology function was predominantly focused on maintaining outdated legacy systems, resulting in protracted change implementation cycles. This technology-centric bottleneck hindered progress across all facets of the business, rendering technology ineffective in driving growth. The technology function was viewed unfavourably by all segments of the organisation, leading to high employee turnover and an excessive reliance on costly contractors. 

In response to these challenges, the CEO appointed a seasoned Chief Information Officer (CIO) to spearhead the transformation of the technology function. The CIO’s mission was to craft a strategic plan that not only bolstered the company’s current operations but also empowered the executive team to explore fresh opportunities and engage in mergers and acquisitions (M&A). To realise their vision of global leadership, the business needed to become technology-enabled and capable of driving growth. 

CIO’s Objectives 

1. Spearhead the development and leadership of the Technology Function 

1. Formulate a 3 to 5 Year Technology Strategy to establish a globally foundation for the business. 

1. Orchestrate a comprehensive transformation programme to the desired OM and architecture. 

1. Redesign the Enterprise Architecture, reducing cost, enhancing quality and stability. 

1. Foster innovation and introduce emerging technologies to enhance value propositions.  

What the IT Leader / CIO Did 

Provided leadership and strategic direction.  

Upon assuming the role of CIO, the IT Leader assumed responsibility for conducting a thorough evaluation encompassing the technology function and overall business landscape. This evaluation included soliciting feedback from key stakeholders to gain a holistic perspective on the existing challenges and aspirations pertaining to both business and technology aspects. The review pinpointed critical issues, notably the absence of a cohesive operating model and skills gaps that hindered the company’s ability to achieve its ambitions. Furthermore, a close examination of the technology infrastructure revealed a platform ill-suited for its intended purpose and lacking standard operational procedures and technologies. Legacy and redundant application platforms were identified as obstacles, preventing the organisation from effectively adopting new technologies and progressing. Armed with these insights and a vision for the company’s future direction, the IT Leader presented a comprehensive cloud-first 5-year strategy, operational model, organisational structure, and a redesigned enterprise architecture to the board. The objective was to secure £20 million in funding (reduce operating costs by at least 30%) to drive transformative initiatives throughout the organisation.  

Designed and delivered a transformation programme.  

After the strategy had received approval and funding had been secured, the IT Leader assumed responsibility for its development. They proceeded to craft a comprehensive multi-year transformational roadmap and plan, addressing all facets of establishing a new IT function and architecture. This transformation program was structured into four distinct streams.  

1. Operating model, organisational structure, and skills & capabilities. 

1. Global infrastructure platform and security. 

1. Application rationalisation and modernisation. 

1. Innovation and value creation. 

These four streams operated concurrently under the guidance of a dedicated transformation team. The top priority was the creation of a world-class, secure cloud-first infrastructure platform. This involved the migration to Windows 10, O365, and a standardised suite of core applications, all centrally managed globally. This achievement paved the way for rationalising applications and transitioning to SaaS products for critical functions and processes. Innovation played a key role, drawing from both the utilisation of new products and input from business users to streamline processes and enhance user experience. Over the course of the programme, approximately 250 initiatives were completed. The new operating model with core KPIs was brought to life underpinned by a new management team with skilled resources. 

Drove efficiency and enhanced user experience internally and externally.  

The incorporation of state-of-the-art SaaS products enabled the deployment of additional functionality, spanning from automating numerous manual financial and claims-related tasks. A pivotal factor in this transformation was the implementation of a master data management strategy within the new architecture. This strategic move empowered the business to deliver valuable insights to its customers, elevating the value proposition and facilitating more informed decision-making within the insurance underwriting sector. The adoption of a standardised platform facilitated the rationalisation of numerous applications, resulting in streamlined operations. This, in turn, enhanced the user experience by offering improved user interfaces, simplified workflows, and technology as the primary interface. 

The Results 

The IT Leader created an environment for growth, change and success: 

• Guided a team exceeding 100 employees, achieving an impressive engagement score of 85%.  
• Pioneered the adoption of a cloud-first strategy, resulting in a substantial cost reduction of 40%.  

• Established a secure and seamlessly integrated global network across 32 countries.  
• Optimised operations by replacing over 400 legacy applications with 150 new SaaS solutions, driving a notable cost reduction of 30% in areas including PAS, reinsurance, and claims technology.  
• Set up a Finance and HR shared services centre, implementing Dynamics 365 and Sun.  
• Spearheaded a revamp of the service delivery model, yielding an 80% reduction in incidents. 
• Conducted thorough due diligence on 45 potential acquisitions, successfully completing 11. 

• Established a robust information and data security function, attaining ISO27001. 
• Member of the executive team that steered the overall business to a remarkable threefold growth.