short to story
Helvetia is currently in a strong third place among multi-line insurers in Switzerland. It mainly offers life and non-life insurance as well as group life insurance. In addition, Helvetia has specialized in niches such as engineering, transport, art and active reinsurance in the specialty markets segment. Helvetia operates in Switzerland, Europe, Asia and North, Central and South America.Helvetia has been operating a data warehouse for local analysis requirements in Switzerland for more than 10 years. This system is to be comprehensively modernized. This includes the centralization of data integration and the establishment of an organizational unit that supplies all peripheral systems with data.
„synvert saracus consulting ist seit über 2 Jahren ein wichtiger Partner im Umfeld der Helvetia Data-Warehouse Integrationsplattformen. Hierbei werden unterschiedliche Rollen erfüllt: von der Ausarbeitung taktischer Konzepte bis hin zur Realisierung ganzer Building Blocks. synvert saracus consulting war in zukunftsgerichteten Projekten wie DANTE, DANTE II und DANECO beteiligt und die Zusammenarbeit hat sich in dieser Zeit vom DWH-Entwicklungspartner hin zum konzeptionellen Partner der Neuausrichtung der Helvetia Integrationsplattform weiterentwickelt.
Im Projekt IFRS17 ist synvert saracus consulting für die Umsetzung der Anbindungen aller Systeme an die zentrale Datenplattform und das SAP Zielsystem zuständig. synvert saracus consulting übernimmt die gesamte Verantwortung bezüglich Planung, Konzeption und Realisierung aller Umsetzungstätigkeiten. “
Goals & challenges
The DANECO project originally served as an initial project for the introduction of a modernized data warehouse. As part of this, data integration from various source systems was standardized with the introduction of a global staging area. By implementing the IBM Information Server as the new integration platform, the ETI tool, whose support had expired, and then the SAS DI Studio were replaced. To this end, all ETI programs for the old Core Data Warehouse were replaced. During the project, Helvetia's strategic direction changed and the new data warehouse for Switzerland became the global data integration interface for all countries. The focus is on the staging area and different processing variants. The new team, which was created in the course of the strategic change, should therefore ensure the following:
- Integration of all source systems in all countries in which Helvetia operates
- Traceability of data loads and persistent storage
- Generic source system connections and scalability
- Provision of various data providers with different data views (analytical data provider, operational data provider, individual data provider)
requirements
The general data integration layer also served as the basis for further project plans in the sense of a company-wide platform:
- With the changeover to IFRS 17, all countries are to provide the required data for SAP FPS and the actuarial systems via the new integration layer. The integration layer will therefore become the central data hub for the monthly, quarterly and annual financial statements
- In the BDM project, a company-wide business data model is to be created, which will serve as a template for the analytical data provider
- In future, integration into the Global Staging Area will take place using InfoSphere CDD, which will enable real-time integration
- In the ECM project, a real-time connection of source systems to DMS systems is to be implemented
key points
- Due to restructuring in IT during the project phase, the overall concept and scope had to be constantly adapted. At the same time, the agreed deadlines had to be met
- New requirements from additional projects, such as the IFRS project, had to be incorporated into the infrastructure and process landscape in parallel with the ongoing development work
- In addition to the conversion of all source systems that are connected to the old CDWH via ETI, several new source systems were connected during the project
- Introduction of a new range of tools with IBM InfoSphere (DataStage, CDC, Business Glossary, Quality Stage, Information Analyzer)
- Introduction of a business glossary as part of the IFRS project
- Creating a new mindset within the team towards generic development and processing
- Connection of existing source systems to the Global Staging Area with a completely new approach
architecture
A generic approach with IBM DataStage and DWautomatic is used for integration into the staging area. IBM DataStage is used as the ETL tool. Depending on the possibilities and benefits, generic or partially generic processes are also created at higher levels. In the long term, all ETL tools (ETI, SAS DI, SSIS) are to be replaced with IBM DataStage
generated benefits
- The architecture developed is the template for Helvetia’s overall architecture in the area of data integration
- The generic approach minimizes the development effort for connecting new systems
- The implementation of the IFRS project will further consolidate the overall concept and its usability
- The creation of a company-wide business data model standardizes future developments for the analytical area
- The Data Provider Service team is established as a new point of contact for the integration of source systems throughout the company
services accomplished by synvert saracus
- Overall concept of the data integration layer
- Analysis and implementation of the new ETL processes for the ETI replacement
- Conception and implementation of ETL and CDD tasks for the IFRS project
- Conception and implementation of CDD and IIB tasks for the ECM project
- Collaboration in the creation of the business data model
- Operation and maintenance of the old DWH
- Collaboration in the DWH team in the area of sales
delivery / conclusion
The planned overall architecture was so successful that Helvetia set up a separate team that deals exclusively with data integration and can operate independently of the DWH team. The connection of new source systems is very fast thanks to the generic approach.
