Insurance Products and Brokerage Platform Integration for UK Customers
Project Overview
Duration
August 2022 – May 2023
Technologies
- Java
- AWS
- Spring
- Dynamo DB
- CloudWatch
- Serverless
- SNS/SQS
- Node.js
- TypeScript
- React.js
Our client, a leader in the UK insurance market, sought to revolutionise their services by partnering with a major league figure in e-commerce that’s entered insurance brokerage. This project aimed to develop cross-platform integration between two vastly different platforms – our client’s and their partner’s. This is where we stepped in. We had to onboard our client’s products into their partner’s platform that would allow its users to easily compare available home insurance offerings and choose the one that’s best for them.
Client
Policy Expert
An esteemed InsurTech player holding a position at the forefront of the UK insurance market. They successfully leverage proprietary technology and data analytics to revolutionise the home and car insurance industry. Their partner in this project (under NDA) – a prominent American figure in the e-commerce and retail market (among many other areas) – has debuted in the insurance industry in the role of an insurance broker by introducing their insurance site as a policy aggregator for various insurers, including Policy Expert.
Challenge
The main challenge of this project zeroed in on smoothing the collaboration between our client and their partner – an emerging insurance broker – and bridging the gap between distinct domains – InsurTech and e-commerce. We took on a challenge to develop a seamless integration between the two.
Also, understanding each party’s specific language and practices called for multiple brainstorming sessions and extensive documentation reviews on our side. Another challenge emerged in the process – Policy Expert is, well, an expert when it comes to InsurTech, and so are we. Their partner was a newcomer here. That’s why our role extended to guiding the broker through the intricacies of the insurance industry.
What added yet another layer of complexity was the nature of the InsurTech industry itself, which entails highly sensitive financial data. This called for delivering a meticulously monitored solution with broad alerting and monitoring features. In light of this, we had to demonstrate a proactive approach to foreseeing and handling any potential issue that might appear, ensuring the delivery of a comprehensive reliable solution.
The time difference between all teams engaged in this project wasn’t in our favour either. Us being based in Poland, Policy Expert in the UK, and the broker’s team in India left a very small window for overlapping hours between all three parties.
Not only was the whole project’s scope of work enormous, but it had to be completed within a tight timeframe (we proposed a feasible deadline after we’d devoted a significant amount of time to the discovery of the project) without compromising on quality, extensibility, maintenance, and reliability. Spoiler alert – we delivered.
Our Approach
As the solution for this cross-platform integration, we developed services that lie between the two parties and are integrated into the Policy Expert platform. We ensured our software aligned with all of our client’s standards, acting as a group of well-defined microservices within their ecosystem. To optimise the solution’s delivery, we fully immersed ourselves in Policy Expert’s processes, working in a cross-functional Product Engineering Team model. This involved taking overall responsibility for the technical part of the solution. We helped Policy Expert set up all necessary procedures to maintain the product correctly and also provided sophisticated and extensive documentation for future reference.
Although we served as an extension to our client’s team, we never lost focus on our own set of procedures, methodologies, and cutting-edge technologies. Leveraging our business know-how, as well as the newest technologies, we addressed the challenges at hand implementing approaches such as:
- Event Storming to unveil the complexities and discover the problem space,
- Domain-Driven Design (DDD) to model the integration ecosystem.
The entire project was run in a lean style following the best agile practices. They have been using all communication tools we are using internally at Policy Expert to increase alignment.
Antony Green
CPTO at Policy Expert
Running seamlessly within the Policy Expert environment, our cross-platform integration manages requests from our client’s partner, making communication between them a breeze. The services’ capabilities span from setting up functions such as quoting, policy generation to post-purchase operations like cancellations, adjustments, and renewals.
What was also crucial to us was ensuring the policy status was always in sync between the two platforms, translating to real-time reflection of any changes on either side. To secure our client’s insurance models, we implemented a strategy of minimum disclosure of internal systems. What’s more, given the financial nature of insurance purchases, we made implementing a robust monitoring system a high priority. It provides an array of alerting functions that notify us of any issues.
It’s worth pointing out that we did not just integrate the two platforms – we designed the entire project end-to-end. While in the product delivery planning phase, we outlined all constraints related to business and architecture. The project’s execution didn’t stop us from looking after quality insurance, project monitoring, Post-Go-Live aspects, and overall maintenance.
Effects
The delivery of the cross-platform integration project proved to be a smashing success for both Policy Expert and their new partner, attracting consumers on either side. On one, the American company – a new player in the insurance industry – allows their existing customers to choose from Policy Expert’s home insurance offerings and draws in a fresh clientele. On the other, our client presents their products on new channels, broadening their impact and reaching a wider audience, especially since their partner is a big-league company.
Additionally, our data safety-oriented solution instils confidence in users that their data is handled following the highest security standards.
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