Synopsis
Migrating to a .NET platform needs the capabilities of an enabler who can align the migrated insurance platform to the changing technologies. The client, keen to carry out large-scale application migrations, turned to us to for our ability to provide new ideas and migrate to the platform with ease. We planned, documented, and implemented the migration of insurance applications in accordance with business growth, capacity, resiliency, and IT transformational objectives—delivering more value.
About the Client
A leading software development organization of UK origin, the client offers an insurance and brokerage platform to Fortune 500 insurers across the globe.
Business Challenge
The client managed to retain their technological lead through a process of continuous innovation. This entailed continuous upgradation of their IT landscape to meet changing business needs.
The client’s current insurance platform- S4i, a virtual insurance company in a box—was developed in VB 6.0. VB 6.0 is no longer supported by Microsoft, and the client wanted to avoid increasing staff costs and recruitment processes associated with it. The client realized that in order to reduce the operational costs and maintain its leadership position it was necessary to carry out the migration of the legacy system to the .NET platform. While this would extend the overall life of the system, it was also necessary to share a new sales pitch around VB.NET with the employees.
To achieve these objectives, the client was looking for an IT implementation partner with proven global delivery methodologies and the ability to gain deep knowledge of the company’s processes in a short span of time. We picked up the challenge and delivered value to the client.
Our Solution
We defined a top-level migration approach through which a high-level GUI map design was derived and implemented by combining time-tested methodology, tools, and best practices. GUI map is an interface-mapping tool to ensure that pre- and post-migration interfaces are the same, and it validates various fields on 1000 screens of the system.
To illustrate the detailed end-to-end migration of the current legacy system, our team of process consultants, business leads, and technical leads participated in specific migration programs. We also leveraged our in-house reverse engineering practices and tools to document detailed business rules and validation required for implementing solutions on next generation platforms. The client’s development team could use this guide in future for planning migration of other products to .NET.
Continuous collaboration with the client’s team also helped us identify gaps in the regression test pack. Early identification of gaps resulted in significant test pack enhancement. A bug-tracking tool developed by us using MS Team Foundation Server was a valuable asset for the client. The turnaround efforts were well appreciated as the delivery was done by us before time despite merger issues.
Delivering More Value
This implementation, one of the crucial migrations to .NET, led to significant benefits for the client.
More Savings: The cost associated with recruiting individuals skilled in VB 6.0 was reduced.
More Enhancements: Migration to the .NET platform served as a foundation for future enhancements—increasing the product life.
