Johannesburg, 23 Sep 2004
Two Dimension Data group companies - Internet Solutions and 3fifteen, Dimension Data`s Microsoft applications solutions operation - have joined forces to deliver a cost-effective upgrade to the Astute Financial Services Exchange switch, enabling it to accommodate growing demand for its services while reducing its cost of maintenance and delivery.
Astute was initially launched in April 2000 as a collaboration between the members of the Life Offices` Association (LOA), to enable easy, one-stop access by Life Office intermediaries to information on their clients` policies and investment.
At that time, the sophistication of the switch which had to link the back-offices of 11 independent long-term assurers and unit trusts, and allow for information on individual clients to be gathered via the Internet by intermediaries, demanded the utilisation of high-end, proprietary software.
As a result, the costs involved in developing the switch were high. It was therefore decided that the switch be co-owned by the technology provider which would charge a flat transaction fee for each query.
However, an estimated 130 000 enquiries are currently made by registered LOA intermediaries on a monthly basis. And this is expected to grow as intermediaries are required to undertake financial needs analysis (FNA) for clients in terms of the Financial Advisory and Intermediaries Services Act (FAIS) - which will send the costs of operating the switch soaring.
"So while the switch worked well and certainly eased the work load of financial intermediaries who would otherwise have had to phone, fax or e-mail each life assuror with the same query about each client, change had become imperative. In addition, the technology had aged, and the cost of renewing the licences on the proprietary software was extremely high. We therefore decided to investigate other alternatives," says Biddie Biddulph, MD of Astute.
The alternative chosen was to migrate the switch from the proprietary platform to a Microsoft BizTalk solution hosted on the IS Business Gateway, a collaborative application infrastructure service that provides ASP (application service provider) services as well as ASP infrastructure services.
According to 3fifteen sales director Roger Trummer, this solution offers Astute numerous advantages.
"Not only has the switch been given a technology refresh, we have been able to deliver this while significantly reducing the licence fees that would have been payable had the upgrade taken place on the legacy, proprietary platform.
"And by taking advantage of the Business Gateway`s ASP delivery capabilities, Astute now pays a monthly fee for use of the platform, as opposed to a transaction fee for each query directed through the exchange," he adds.
"We estimate that this will result in Astute - and effectively the members of the switch - experiencing significantly reduced operating and maintenance costs - not least because the skills required to support the exchange are now readily available in SA."
Apart from handling the upfront development costs of the new platform and the migration from the old switch, 3fifteen also redesigned the front-end application on the Web services platform.
"We now have a modular solution in place which will allow for the quick, inexpensive introduction of additional services in the future," Trummer concludes.
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