Life Insurance Company NN and Cegeka are Building an Integrated Future

The digitization of our society comes with new expectations, and this applies to insurers too, as customers now expect 24/7 availability. Life insurance company NN Belgium is fully committed to customer centricity through a clever IT strategy, in which Cegeka plays a crucial role as a partner.

Typically, life insurers offer products with a long lead time. This is why NN uses different back-ends on a wide range of technologies. ‘We offer life insurance, which often means contracts with a term of 40 years or more. During this time, rules and regulations are constantly changing. That makes it very challenging to apply these new rules to all the different back-end systems at all times. This was one of the reasons why we have embarked on a digitization process with Cegeka, in which we are trying to combine legacy architecture and new state-of-the-art technology in an optimal and maintenance-friendly solution,’ says Femke Jacobs, CIO of NN Belgium.

Availability and performance

"NN's infrastructure in Belgium largely consists of two parts," Johan Claesen explains. "You have the front end, which is the access used by brokers. This has to be available at all times. If a broker wants to take out a policy, and your system is unavailable, they will simply go to a competitor. So availability is our highest priority, and we use modern technology for that."

"On the other hand, you also have the back end, where the insurance policies are located. For this we need particularly robust and reliable systems, to encompass not only policy administration, but many other satellites. We must make sure that those back-end systems can communicate with each other effortlessly and securely."

“We must make sure that those back-end systems can communicate with each other effortlessly and securely.”

Johan Claesen, Sales Manager Infrastructure at Cegeka

The importance of security

"Security is also a huge challenge for us," Femke Jacobs continues. "Securing new technologies is one thing, but always have to think about the legacy applications as well. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Moreover, as a financial institution, we are held to strict privacy, data and security standards, so you can see that security is high on our list of priorities. If there is a weak point in any of the components, we have to be able to act quickly. This is why we needed a partner who understands this requirement, and is perfectly able to assess and manage the IT risks." NN has found this partner in Cegeka.

“If there is a weak point in one of the components, we have to be able to act quickly. This is why we needed a partner who understands this requirement, and is perfectly able to assess and manage the IT risks.”

Femke Jacobs, CIO of NN Belgium

"Our answer is a cloud solution, in which our Cegeka cloud plays in important role," says Johan Claesen. "It’s housed partly on our shared platforms, partly on dedicated servers. Infrastructure is built according on the requirements and needs of each technology. Before implementing this infrastructure, we analysed the entire end-to-end data flow, from when an insurance broker contacts the front-end to where the insurance policy is managed in the back-end."

Optimizing the entire value chain

"But the cooperation goes beyond that. We needed a solution to optimize the entire value chain, taking legacy and new technologies into account," Femke Jacobs says. "Cegeka mapped our entire value chain and every data stream it contains, and then optimized it."

“Cegeka mapped our entire value chain and every data stream it contains.”

Femke Jacobs, CIO of NN Belgium

"If an insurance broker enters from the front end, which path does he take then to the insurance policy and back? It is very important to define this path exactly, and to ensure that the whole chain is covered by a single SLA. If one link in the chain is not covered, the whole chain will break," says Johan Claesen.

Long-term strategic partnership through a holistic approach

"As well as brokers, we also have internal employees using the systems. The technology focus for them is a bit different: security and performance are more important that 24/7 availability for the internal employee chain. Yet availability is crucial for the external chain," says Femke Jacobs. "That is why we not only need management of individual components, such as a separate server, but also a strategic view on the entire chain. Cegeka’s main strength as a partner is that they have this holistic view. Over the years, the partnership has evolved from a “your wish is our command” approach to a true cooperation, where Cegeka thinks along with us and creates value across the entire chain."

“Over the years, the partnership has evolved from a 'your wish is our command' approach to a true cooperation, where Cegeka thinks along with us and creates value across the entire chain.”

Femke Jacobs, CIO of NN Belgium

"We share knowledge in a way that benefits both partners," Femke Jacobs concludes. "Cegeka keeps track of what is happening in the market, for instance, in the field of security. We have short lines of communication with them, and we very often share changes in strategies, technologies and market developments. This allows us to respond quickly and efficiently to changing situations, so we can continuously improve and optimize our service to customers, brokers and internal employees. We want to innovate together and cooperate on continuous improvements. It is a collaborative model where we make each other stronger and are aligned at every level."