Income faced problems with its outdated, paper-based insurance processes that were costly and inefficient. Transactions took days to complete, systems frequently broke down, and documents occupied three warehouses. In June 2003, Income resolved these issues by migrating to a new digital system called eBao LifeSystem. The new system provided customer-centric, online insurance administration and sales management. It improved processing speeds, enabled real-time information access for agents, and established a robust IT infrastructure with redundant servers and disaster recovery. Income benefited from 50% reductions in time and costs to process policies, as well as improved customer service, cross-selling opportunities, and support for intermediaries. The migration positioned Income well for future growth and innovation.

1. G S T 5 0 8 3
INFORMATION SYSTEMS & ELECTRONIC COMMERCE
Group Members
MODERNIZATION OF NUTC INCOME

2. Question 1 :
What were the problems faced by Income in this case? How were the
problems resolved by the new digital system?
Income had problems with how they process their insurance because it is very tedious
and paper-based. The way they do business costs them time, because it takes them
more days to finish a certain request for insurance; money, because they need to
upgrade HP3000 mainframe that frequently breaks; space, because it is paper-based,
all forms were put into cartons and resulted to occupying 3 warehouses. Income’s
problems were resolved in June 2003 when they switched to Java based eBao
LifeSystem from eBao Technology.

3. Because of eBao’s hi-tech features, it covered Policy Administration, Sales Management, and
Supplementary Resources. Tedious and paper-based insurance processes which causes delay and time
consuming Frequent systems breakdown and insufficient functional back-up systems.
• Slow transaction processing for policy underwriting where information is not available to agents and
advisers in real time.
• Lack of advisers telecommuting as each department did not have up-to-date information and facing
difficulty to pass to each other.
• Company existing system had been upgraded into a more sophisticated one known as (Java based eBao
LifeSystem)
• It consists of customer-centric design, seamless integration with imaging and barcode technology.
• New system operates on high availability platform where:
• All applications resided on 2 or more servers, each connected by 2 or more communication lines- (load
balanced).
• Replace entire IT infrastructure with more robust & scalable architecture.
• Introduction of real-time hot backup disaster recovery center
• It consists of customer-centric design, seamless integration with imaging and barcode technology.
• New system operates on high availability platform where:
• All applications resided on 2 or more servers, each connected by 2 or more communication lines- (load
balanced).
• Replace entire IT infrastructure with more robust & scalable architecture.
• Introduction of real-time hot backup disaster recovery center
CONT’S

4. Question 2 :
What types of information systems and business processes were used by
Income before migrating to the fully digital system?
Income used HP3000 mainframe that hosted the core insurance applications as well
as the accounting and management information systems. They also used COBOL
programs that were developed in the early 1980s. With regards to their business
processes, Income does all the work manually. From the agent submitting the forms
to branches, office services would sort them for underwriting; storage is done by
sorting all documents and is put in cartons, where all documents are stored in 3
warehouses. Policy writing is in batch process and information was not available to
agents and advisors as a result they loss the opportunity to cross-sell.

5. Question 3 :
Describe the Information systems and IT infrastructure at Income after
migrating to the fully digital system?
In June 2003, when Income migrated their documents to eBao LifeSystems,
everything was in order. According to James Kang, CIO of Income it has everything
that they were looking for. a.)A customer-centric design.

6. Question 4 :
What benefits did Income reap from new system?
• Providing easier & more convenient access for staff: for those staff members
who telecommute, it enabled them to gain faster access to information, as fast
as those staff that accessed information within the office.
• Enabled cross-selling of products & improvement of customer service: this new
system has allowed income to gain a singular view of each of their customers
across their products and channels, enabling an even better life and general
insurance line.
• 50% savings on both time & cost needed to process policies: due to the straight
through process workflow capabilities of the new system, it enabled reduction
of 50% on time and cost needed to process policies. Time needed to design and
launch new products was also reduced significantly.
• Provides greater support to intermediaries: Income is able to provide support to
agents, brokers, and customers to do online services regularly.

7. Question 5 :
How well is Income prepared for the future? Are the problems described in
the case likely to be repeated? Are the problems described in the case likely
to be repeated?
• By comparing the past and the present state
• Straight through processing workflow and high flexibility
• Time saving. For instance, cutting product launch time from months to days
• Support agents, brokers, and customers to do online service conveniently
• Lower cost
• Shorter implementation time
Performance (Unlikely)Ranked as the top 3 insurers in the life insurance industry
(MAS Annual Statistics, 2008). Product innovation to meet customers’ needs
(through new IT technology )
Cutting Edge IT Development. For example, STEP technology eliminates the use of
paper which promotes environmentally friendly as well. Partnership with
Development Authority and Microsoft to launch the community web portal, Big
Trumpet

8. THANK YOU