CASE STUDY:

Enabling new opportunities for an automotive insurer through legacy modernization

How we partnered with a service contract automotive insurer to modernize its IT infrastructure and migrate its AS/400 system to a modern platform.

Introduction

A service contract automotive insurer needed to modernize its IT infrastructure and decommission legacy systems to keep up with changing customer demands, stay competitive, and mitigate the risks of being completely dependent on aging technologies. The organization partnered with Integrity Inspired Solutions, a software company specializing in modern web applications, to migrate their AS/400 system to a modern web-based platform.

The AS/400 Challenge

While AS/400s are known for their reliability, the client's dependence on an AS/400 for critical functions presented several business continuity risks:

People with the knowledge base to work on the AS/400 are harder to find every year.
The AS/400 limited the client's ability to take advantage of technologies like mobile devices and the cloud.
The workflow of AS/400 screens was hard to use, especially for new employees, and that slowed the company’s production.
The few times the AS/400 did fail, it was a company-wide disaster since all operations depended on it.

The Migration Solution

The client's IT Director was looking for a third-party service provider who had experienced developers with knowledge of AS/400s, modern applications, and strategies for migrating from one to the other. But it wasn’t going to be enough for the client to simply to mitigate the risks of the AS/400—they wanted new systems that would bring tangible benefits to their work, and they knew Integrity would be the best firm to get them there.

With that in mind, Integrity worked with the client's existing IT staff, stakeholders, and SMEs from various departments to identify the capabilities that the business needed. Integrity then organized those business capabilities into applications and broke down those applications into MVPs. This way, functional pieces of the software could be delivered to users as they were built, allowing users to use the software right away.

As the actual users used the MVPs, their feedback was incorporated back into the software. This solution required:

UI/UX Design

The client needed smoother workflows for their jobs to be done quickly while also balancing for the needs of a seasoned workforce that was used to working in an AS/400.

Code Migration

The team converted logic from RPG into a GraphQL-based API that integrated easily with modern systems.

Data Migration

The team moved data from the AS/400 into structures with greater data integrity and quick service time while at the same time continuing to feed the AS/400 for ongoing technical needs.

Testing and Deployment

The team covered the apps with plenty of automated integration and unit tests and deployed the apps to a scalable Cloud framework, ensuring that the client could seamlessly function through spikes and outages as well as making sure that any future development wouldn’t break existing systems.

Data Migration

The entire process was fully transparent and highly collaborative with actual users to make sure the software was exactly what they needed. The software was iteratively developed, released, and used so that feedback could be looped back into the product early and often.

Results Achieved

The migration process is still a work in progress, but Integrity’s iterative approach has already brought the client significant benefits:

Improved Performance

Not only are the new apps much faster than the old AS/400 system, the modern UX is helping workers process more claims per day, and we expect this rate to rise as users become more familiar with the system.

Increased Scalability

The team converted logic from RPG into a GraphQL-based API that integrated easily with modern systems.

Data Migration

The cloud infrastructure allows easy scalability with usage without affecting performance.

Decreased Risk

The apps use modern technologies that are easy to hire for. The client has already been able to triple their in-house developer staff due to the migration to modern technologies. In addition, several third-party libraries that were at the end of their lifecycle were able to be removed.

Cost Savings

The systems that the client tried to use off the shelf charged per claim, which drove monthly software costs up into the tens of thousands. Building their own solutions that they own costs a fraction of that price, and the savings will continue to pay off year after year.

Increased Opportunities

The API-based business logic layer allows for easy construction of mobile apps and easy integrations with other systems.

Conclusion

Modernizing and decommissioning legacy systems is critical for business continuity and staying competitive and secure in today’s fast-paced digital world. This auto insurer's migration project with Integrity Inspired Solutions is a great example of how a company can overcome the challenges of legacy systems and achieve significant business benefits. If your business is facing similar challenges, consider partnering with Integrity to help you migrate to a modern, web-based platform.