JM Family
As with many companies, JM Family was encountering increased costs associated with accessing data from multiple sources. At the time, the company was using Impromptu in an infrastructure comprised of various data marts on Windows/2000 and Sun Solaris, Informatica, Mainframe with operational data, VSAM, and DB2/MVS. Data replication was done on a daily basis to replicate key operational data from DB2/MVS and moved to various other systems on different platforms (Windows and UNIX). In this case, data replication was being done to move the recent changes from DB2/MVS to various other distributed systems for operational analysis. The process took 40 hours per month. In addition to the amount of time it was taking, JM Family was also concerned about the costs associated with support personnel and of moving data as well as performing timely updates of key operational data.
“We needed to standardize on a single tool for all connectivity and CDC, as well as open up some of our mainframe CICS transactions to the distributed applications,” explained Rajeev Ravindran, vice president of technology delivery and architecture, JM Family Enterprises. “Attunity’s strategy to further develop and enhance their CDC product (including CDC for other DBMS) and Federated Data Access product significantly influenced our decision to standardize with them.” The company was also experiencing inefficient access across databases for reporting and analysis.
JM Family uses Attunity Connect to integrate data contained in mainframe datasources, DB2, VSAM and distributed data sources such as IBM’s DB2/UDB. The product has enabled connectivity among all components of the company’s architecture with two-way updates made possible between all key data stores. This has allowed JMFamily to proactively manage their business in real-time giving them increased flexibility and efficiency that has resulted in significant cost benefits measured in thousands of dollars.
With Attunity’s Stream solution for CDC, JM Family moves only changes in DB2/MVS to multiple targets consisting of Oracle and SQL Server RDBMS and DB2/UDB. This allows the company to significantly cut mainframe processing time and eliminate the use of replication on the mainframe. The customized monthly data replication the company had been doing has now been replaced with Attunity Stream and Informatica PowerCenter, allowing them to capture key updates in operational data in real-time (sub-second response) while significantly reducing effort and costs.
Lloyd's of London
In order to be successful, Xchanging needed to resolve incompatibilities between Lloyd’s and the IUA’s claims and premiums processes, in terms of both business operations and systems integration. As important, the group had to avoid the potential problems of a soon-to-be unsupported hardware platform for one of the systems. The business goals were equally compelling: align back-office-claims and premiums processing; realize consistent operations processes; share IT resources effectively; lower costs and improve quality.
The first step was to replace COSS (Claims Office Support System) - the legacy Lloyd’s market electronic claims system used by Xchanging - with CLASS (Claims Loss Advice and Settlement System). Then, Xchanging set out to consolidate methods of entering claims data while leveraging its existing functionally rich software and significant in-house expertise. To accomplish this, the team elected to put a Java and HTML-based front end (based on a J2EE Application Server) on a validation and processing engine built using CICS. This decision led to a search for a way to establish communication between J2EE and web clients on one end and the mainframe element on the other. Steria assisted in the integration process and developed the Java/HTML layer but had little success with the original legacy adapter that had been selected.
Attunity Connect accelerated implementation by simplifying connections between the
front and back-end systems. The standards-based solution integrates a CICS-based claims processing engine with an Oracle9i Application Server, allowing users to transact business through a web interface. In addition, Attunity Connect enables Xchanging to shorten the cycle of what can be a lengthy process of resolving claims. Lloyd’s explains, “Claims can be very complex. In the past, claims technicians might have to search reams of paper for the correct codes, made even more difficult when a claim involved US or Canadian regulations. A wrong code can take a long time to sort out, involving underwriters, brokers, adjusters and our technicians. Now, we validate input at the Java level, using drop-down boxes etc.” Attunity Connect provides transparent access through the Java front end to the database of codes on the mainframes.
Attunity is also making it possible to phase out older systems, reducing exposure to the potential cessation of long-term support. Because Attunity provides a full complement of native adapters, Xchanging can elect to work through CICS transactions or go directly to the DB2 data itself, in any combination, at any time.
Xchanging is also looking at Attunity Connect’s support for web services to expose legacy transactions as standard, reusable services. By using the flexible and standard integration middleware, Xchanging will be able to increase its business ability. As a result, the Lloyd’s Market of investors and underwriters will enjoy better returns and decreased exposure to losses. Brokers, managing agents, member agents will appreciate expedited and expanded services; and insurers will appreciate speedy claims resolution. |
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