RAETS P&I

Success Story

Insurance companies require fast and secure access to data. RAETS P&I needed to replace an outdated system with Web-enabled applications, easily accessible from its worldwide offices. Using Novell® exteNd™, the company created a portal to centralize information and can now process quotes 50 percent faster

Overview

Located in the Netherlands, RAETS P&I (Protection and Indemnity) is a group of companies specializing in marine liability insurance. With revenues of €35 million, the company provides insurance services worldwide.

Challenge

RAETS P&I needed to replace a customized Paradox database infrastructure that was becoming too expensive to maintain and lacked any possibility to expand. Disparate systems for insurance quoting, order entry and invoicing made it cumbersome for employees to access information. RAETS tried to find the right packaged software before determining that building a new system would be less expensive than attempting to update its existing systems.

With offices in Paris and Singapore, the company also wanted to Web-enable its applications, making them easily accessible by all employees. Centralized data would not only improve access to information, but would also help the company be more efficient without having to hire additional personnel.

Novell solution

"Novell exteNd is the right platform for a flexible portal. Because Novell products support open standards, we can easily integrate open source software which is a great combination. Open source allows us to develop anything we want and remain self-sufficient."

Folkert Strengholt
Managing Director
RAETS P&I

RAETS wanted to integrate its applications into a portal and selected a Novell solution consisting of the Novell exteNd SOA development suite, Novell eDirectory™ and SUSE® Linux Enterprise Server.

"Novell exteNd is the right platform for a flexible portal," said Folkert Strengholt, managing director of RAETS P&I. "Because Novell products support open standards, we can easily integrate open source software which is a great combination. Open source allows us to develop anything we want and remain self-sufficient."

Novell Consulting® created a customized insurance application to replace multiple systems and made it available via the new company portal. Employees can now access the portal from any standard Web browser to field customer inquiries, get quotations, produce invoices, and access claims data and other information. This responsiveness is critical as RAETS prides itself on a 24-hour delivery time for quotation, policy or declaration requests and claims handling.

"Novell had the right vision and put extremely knowledgeable people on the project," said Strengholt. "Our IT department must be able to maintain the portal going forward and Novell consultants provided us with the right knowledge transfer to make that possible."

The new portal runs on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server and incorporates a number of open source technologies, including MySQL*, Hibernate, Tomcat and the Apache Web server. With easy access to help from the open source community, RAETS can easily update and maintain its applications.

"With our new portal, employees in Paris and Singapore no longer have to send requests to the home office for processing," said Strengholt. "They have the same fast access to applications as employees at corporate headquarters and can now process their own work."

Novell eDirectory is the central repository for user identity information, allowing each user to have a single user ID and password to access the portal. In the future, RAETS has plans to extend access to some of its clients and brokers so they can update their own data and check the status of their claims.

Secure and centralized access to data has helped RAETS employees work more efficiently and has already significantly reduced paperwork. With more efficient processes, RAETS can expand its business without the need to hire additional personnel.

"In our business, it is extremely important to have fast and secure access to data," said Strengholt. "Novell allows us to give the right access to the right people. Centralizing information has also improved data accuracy which, in the end, helps saves us money."

Results

"In our business, it is extremely important to have fast and secure access to data. Novell allows us to give the right access to the right people. Centralizing information has also improved data accuracy which, in the end, helps saves us money."

Folkert Strengholt
Managing Director
RAETS P&I

Novell consultants helped RAETS replace a legacy system and make its applications centrally available via a secure portal using Novell exteNd and Novell eDirectory. Employees now have access to applications from a standard Web browser, regardless of location. Faster access to more accurate information will significantly improve operating efficiency.

RAETS has already reduced many manual processes and can provide insurance quotes 50 percent faster. With a flexible open source platform, the company can easily scale its systems to meet growing business demands.

"Novell consultants really took the time to understand our business," said Strengholt. "They created the right foundation that will help us adapt to the future. Our new portal will allow us to work more efficiently and further grow our business."