Software Futures, a wholly owned subsidiary of MGX, has been awarded a large contract by insurance giant, the Liberty Group, to develop a central repository system that will effectively manage the electronic Client Transaction Authority (CTA) process within the group.
Five business units within the Liberty Group, namely, Liberty Personal Benefits, Liberty Corporate Benefits, Liberty Specialised Investments, Liberty Healthcare and Charter Life will benefit from this installation.
The first phase of the Java-based application will initially be used for all new business requirements within Liberty Personal Benefits and Charter Life, and the scheduled implementation, after about three months time, will accommodate the remaining business units within Liberty. Phase two of the project will accommodate the servicing requirements of existing policyholders.
Previously Liberty had a document called an Electronic Application Declaration (now known as a CTA), a form a client signs agreeing to electronic process of information between himself or herself and the Liberty Group. Records were kept by each intermediary and Liberty and could not be accessed by other departments within the group. This information needed to be brought into a secure environment and the added functionality of interfacing this information to one of Liberty's current systems, FileNet, as well as to interface with another new system, AFPS Pro (also a member of the MGX Group) that was being developed and installed simultaneously, was a prerequisite.
With the installation of the new software, Liberty is now able to create a client-based CTA repository for use throughout the entire group. There is now efficient management and control of CTA's with a reduced risk to Liberty, Liberty's clients and the intermediary as a result of these controls.
"Government legislation also states that a client will have access to the original signed information that he/she gave to an organisation and the information in hand cannot be changed by the organisation without the express permission of the client," says Marilyn Tromp, project manager at Liberty.
According to Tromp, the choice to embark on such a project with Software Futures was obvious. "We did not have the in-house resources or skills to manage such an intricate and important project and due to past successful dealings with Software Futures, made them the ideal candidate to manage this requirement for us."
An entire new department, the Secure Client Services department, headed by Kurt Joubert reporting to Lee Izikowitz, the Liberty Group Chief Information Officer, has been set up to supplement the handling of the group's electronic processes. The process devised by Software Futures, using their Rational Unified Process, now makes client transactions with Liberty not only simple and user-friendly, but secure as well. "The system now operates extremely smoothly," says Tromp.
When dealing with a client for either setting up a new policy or processing a servicing request, the intermediary obtains a signed CTA from his client, which is then either faxed or scanned into the AFPS Pro system. The system then posts the information into the repository system and the image is stored onto the company's image storage and retrieval system, FileNet. An SMS message is then sent back to the intermediary via his cell phone advising him that the CTA has been received and that electronic information may now be processed for that client.
Should the intermediary be unsure as to whether the client has already signed a CTA with the group, they are able to access a Liberty Web site, called BluePrint, to check if the client already has a CTA lodged with the group. The clients themselves, using their national identity number, are also able to access the Liberty Web site to check the status of their CTA.
"There is no need for numerous CTAs to be generated if a client has an existing CTA lodged with the company. Once a client has signed one CTA, for example if he or she has submitted a CTA for a investment with Liberty Personal Benefits, they would not have to submit another in order to apply for a policy with Charter Life. Basically, the client will not have to sign another CTA during their lifetime," says Tromp. "The previous system did not allow for this convenience and the client would have to sign a new CTA every time he or she had a new dealing with Liberty."
With all the information imaged and stored on a database, the intermediary is also saved the tedious task of preparing additional paperwork.
"A successful software development project such as the CTA Repository System we implemented for the Liberty Group, is the result of high levels of innovation and creativity balanced with proven best practices to ensure delivery and to minimise risk," says Derek Hughes, managing director of Software Futures.
"This is what we stand for as a team and what we offered the Liberty Group as they seek business advantage from their software development projects," says Hughes.
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MGX listed in the IT sector of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in 1995 and has, during its five-year history as a listed company, delivered consistent growth to shareholders. MGX was ranked 8th in the Sunday Times top 100 companies for 2000. MGX has operations in SA, Botswana, Australia, the UK and the USA and is grouped into five focused strategic business units, which have strong operational and strategic synergies.
The underlying theme to what MGX provides is the existence of business information and the need to manage and deliver that information through all the applications available to business users. The rapid growth of the "information age" has resulted in an enormous amount of information in constant circulation, and the challenge is to help businesses make decisions and act swiftly on that information, in order to be successful in their chosen markets.
This is what MGX means by Information Rich Business Solutions. To deliver Information Rich Business Solutions, MGX has created a group of companies that can create and implement effective solutions to business users in any sector or industry, anywhere in the world. MGX's ability to deliver centres around its core competencies, its dedication to innovation, its commitment to attract and retain the best talent in the industry who are passionate about what they do and its fierce focus on customer needs. For more information, visit www.mgxgroup.com
Software Futures
The software development business of MGX is SA's leader in the application of best practices for software development. With a staff of 500, it is one of the largest and most successful development teams in SA, and enjoys a strong leadership position in component-based development and global best practices.
Rational Software Corporation
(Nasdaq: RATL), the e-development company, helps organisations develop and deploy software for e-business, infrastructure, and devices and embedded systems through a combination of tools, services and software engineering best practices. Rational's e-development solution helps organisations overcome the software development paradox by accelerating time to market while improving quality. Rational's integrated solution simplifies the process of acquiring, deploying and supporting a comprehensive software development platform, reducing total cost of ownership.
IDC has recognised Rational as the revenue leader in multiple application development and deployment markets for four years in a row. Rational is represented in SA by Software Futures.
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