Leading South African short-term insurer Mutual & Federal is the first local financial services company to implement the full suite of the award-winning product development tool Virtual Product/Modelling Systems (VP/MS) from Computer Sciences Corporation.
The tool is expected to reduce M&F`s time to market for new products, says Ian Williamson, General Manager: Information Technology, while dramatically reducing the costs of new product development. It also has wider application insofar as it can be used as a development tool for a logic or rules-based engine.
"Being able to bring new products to market is essential in SA`s competitive insurance market and we believe VP/MS will give us the edge in responding to market needs. We used it in a pilot project and our product developers and technical staff were impressed with its ease of use and rapid deployment to different platforms within the company."
Williamson adds that the full VP/MS product suite is now being implemented in the company`s Personal Division and the first products will roll-out in the 2004 financial year.
CSC`s VP/MS won the Institute for International Research`s Golden Award 2000 for Product Management Systems. The three-month test for this award put the product through five stringent test phases.
VP/MS is used by about 30 insurance companies in Europe, such as Allianz, Axa, Fortis, Gerling, Generali and Zurich Cosmos.
CSC in SA`s Special Projects Director Garry Wilford says VP/MS`s platform independence and ability to integrate with existing IT systems supports new project initiatives without companies needing to make major new investments in technology.
"Speed to market is a major competitive advantage and developers using VP/MS on their workstations can develop a prototype within a day and deploy it to the company`s different platforms, including handheld and other portable devices, as soon as the product has been approved. This could be the same day as there is no need to modify the prototype for different platforms, facilitating the rapid deployment of the product to market."
A European benchmark on product development tools found that the norm was 183 days from concept to product launch but that the development lifecycle using VP/MS was 81 days.
VP/MS can be used for product development in comprehensive, motor, life, legal aid and health insurance products, as well as in the banking arena.
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Mutual & Federal is one of SA`s leading short-term insurance companies, with 17 operational branches, five claims branches and 26 sub-offices spread throughout the country. The company is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and its main shareholders are Old Mutual and Royal Sun Alliance Insurance Group Plc. The company caters for most insurance needs within three main divisions, namely: Personal, Commercial, including Agriculture and Corporate Business - which includes Marine, Engineering and Risk Financing.
With the origin of the company dating back as far as 1831, Mutual & Federal has a reputation for professionalism and absolute integrity. It continues to hold these values in high regard. The company`s aim is to be the foremost provider of insurance services for its clients and intermediaries by providing quality service and a backup of exceptional claims administration by paying claims in a fair, fast and friendly manner. For more information, go to www.mf.co.za.
CSC in SA
CSC offers the South African market a wide range of services, including systems integration, application and infrastructure outsourcing, and business process outsourcing, as well as customer relationship management (CRM) and healthcare and financial services solutions. In SA, CSC also provides offshore business process outsourcing (BPO) services to manage the policy processing and administration for its US and UK financial services customers which include life and pensions providers, short-term insurance and banking.
By combining international best practices with local expertise and knowledge, CSC is one of the fastest growing IT companies in SA. A leading IT services provider, CSC adds value through its collaborative approach to delivering fast, reliable and flexible solutions. CSC opened its doors in SA in November 1999 and today has offices in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Richards Bay. It is continuing to expand rapidly in South Africa and is extending its services to the rest of Africa. For more information, contact 021 529 6500 or 011 686 5400.
CSC
Founded in 1959, Computer Sciences Corporation is one of the world`s leading information technology (IT) services companies. CSC`s mission is to provide customers in industry and government with solutions crafted to meet their specific challenges and enable them to profit from the advanced use of technology. With approximately 90 000 employees, CSC provides innovative solutions for customers around the world by applying leading technologies and CSC`s own advanced capabilities. These include systems design and integration; IT and business process outsourcing; applications software development; Web and application hosting; and management consulting. Headquartered in El Segundo, California, CSC reported revenue of $11.3 billion for the 12 months ended 28 March 2003. For more information, visit the company`s Web site at www.csc.com.
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