Customer Scenario

Insurance providers have long used databases to help them maintain and organize policy information and claims processing. Some are still using legacy systems that once were enablers but are now costly and rigid solutions.

Our customer was looking to modernize their legacy database system, moving away from the need for highly specialized technical talent, expensive licensing, and resistance to integrations. They were having difficulty maintaining pace with competitors but were aware that a migration to a new solution would need to be well-considered and planned to be successful.

The client approached Big Compass with a desire to adopt a cloud-first approach to speed delivery and provide a landing space for migrated data. With their intent to move away from the existing, staid solution, the management at this insurance provider focused on adapting a document-style database to replace their outdated system.

Solution Approach

The client needed a solution that would be robust, secure, flexible, and scalable. As part of the modernization plan, Big Compass recommended an approach that combined the stream processing platform Confluent with the document-style database MongoDB. The database would be wrapped with MuleSoft to offer domain-based API access for read and write capabilities.

As a cloud-based Kafka solution, Confluent Platform enabled stream processing support, ingesting the data from the existing legacy system and enabling data transformation. This included processing as well as the generation of real-time analytics of the incoming data stream. The transformed data is then consumed by MongoDB Atlas, giving the customer a fully managed cloud database to ensure the security and stability of the system.

The addition of MuleSoft to the approach provides the customer with a flexible solution for integration and connectivity that also enforces the security and governance over data access with their comprehensive API toolkit, both crucial elements for an insurance provider.

Results

With this approach, the company can modernize its existing data, some of which is more than 30 years old, for use with modern solutions while integrating with applications across the business safely and securely.

The move does more than keep the data fresh and available, however. By migrating to a cloud-first approach, the customer reaps the benefits of reduced downtime and support and maintenance costs. At the same time, team members can learn a broader, up-to-date set of skills to support the solution instead of being shackled to an outdated technology stack.

Notably, the new solution opens the door for innovation. Future projects will be implemented easier, and faster as reusable components are developed and added to the company’s API catalog.