Modernization of NTUC Income
CASE STUDY “Modernization of NTUC Income”
1. Please read the case study that starts on the next page. 2. Answer all 5 questions below.
1. What were the problems faced by Income in this case? How were the problems resolved by the new digital system?
2. What types of information systems, communication and business processes were used by Income before migrating to the fully digital system?
3. Describe the Information systems and IT infrastructure at Income after migrating to the fully digital system?
4. What communication and information systems benefits did Income reap from the new system?
5. How well is Income prepared for the future? Are the problems described in the case likely to be repeated?
Chapter 2 Global E-Business and Collaboration
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M o d e r n i z a t i o n of NTUC Income
CASE STUDY TUC Income (Income), one of Singapore's largest insurers, has over 1.8 million policy holders with total assets of S$21.3 billion. The insurer employs about 3,400 insurance advisors and 1,200 office staff, with the majority located across an eight-branch network. On June 1, 2003, Income succeeded in the migration of its legacy insurance systems to a digital webbased system. The Herculean task required not only the upgrading of hardware and applications, it also required Income to streamline its decade-old business processes and IT practices. Up until a few years ago, Income's insurance processes were very tedious and paper-based. The entire insurance process started with customers meeting an agent, filling in forms and submitting documents. The agent would then submit the forms at branches, from where they were sent by couriers to the Office Services department. The collection schedule could introduce delays of two to three days. Office Services would log documents, sort them, and then send them to departments for underwriting. Proposals were allocated to underwriting staff, mostly randomly. Accepted proposals were sent for printing at the Computer
1. Please read the case study that starts on the next page. 2. Answer all 5 questions below.
1. What were the problems faced by Income in this case? How were the problems resolved by the new digital system?
2. What types of information systems, communication and business processes were used by Income before migrating to the fully digital system?
3. Describe the Information systems and IT infrastructure at Income after migrating to the fully digital system?
4. What communication and information systems benefits did Income reap from the new system?
5. How well is Income prepared for the future? Are the problems described in the case likely to be repeated?
Chapter 2 Global E-Business and Collaboration
105
M o d e r n i z a t i o n of NTUC Income
CASE STUDY TUC Income (Income), one of Singapore's largest insurers, has over 1.8 million policy holders with total assets of S$21.3 billion. The insurer employs about 3,400 insurance advisors and 1,200 office staff, with the majority located across an eight-branch network. On June 1, 2003, Income succeeded in the migration of its legacy insurance systems to a digital webbased system. The Herculean task required not only the upgrading of hardware and applications, it also required Income to streamline its decade-old business processes and IT practices. Up until a few years ago, Income's insurance processes were very tedious and paper-based. The entire insurance process started with customers meeting an agent, filling in forms and submitting documents. The agent would then submit the forms at branches, from where they were sent by couriers to the Office Services department. The collection schedule could introduce delays of two to three days. Office Services would log documents, sort them, and then send them to departments for underwriting. Proposals were allocated to underwriting staff, mostly randomly. Accepted proposals were sent for printing at the Computer