Information Integration in a Global Enterprise: Some Experiences from a Financial Services Company

In most commercial enterprises, information is scattered across a large number of (legacy) data stores. Moreover, it is nearly impossible to obtain funding to replace these data stores with a single integrated database, given tight budgets, time-to-market pressures and past failures of various kinds of large-scale efforts. In this paper, we advocate an approach which hinges on (1) a high-level enterprise information architecture, (2) the identification of the stable elements in this information architecture – essentially identifiers of some core entity types, the sets of legal values of some descriptive attributes – and (3) a central metadata and reference data repository which supports the tracking of the history of reference data. 1 The Application Area: Reinsurance A reinsurance company, or reinsurer, insures insurance companies, also called (primary) insurers. Much like insurers assume risk for a fixed price from their clients, either persons or organizations, reinsurers assume risk from primary insurers. Depending on the their needs, primary insurers mainly buy reinsurance to either assume a larger portfolio of similar small risks, and/or to pass on parts of a specific very large risk. For further information on the subject of reinsurance, we refer the reader to [CL00]. While both insurers and reinsurers assume risk, they are different in that a primary insurer is a retailer with a relatively large customer base and relatively few highly standardized products, while a reinsurer is a wholesaler with a relatively small customer base and relatively large number of products specifically designed for one client. As a result, the volume of data and transactions is not nearly as much of a challenge for a reinsurer as it is for a primary insurer, or a retail bank, for that matter. On the other hand, given product diversity, the size (and therefore clout) of many clients, and the global reach of the business, standardization is much more difficult on the data side as well. 2 The Challenge: Legacy and Cost/Time Constraints In the area of information management and databases, two major differences between working in almost any commercial enterprise as opposed to academia are: Historical baggage Most large, global enterprises look back over a history of legacy systems and associated data stores, often developed in isolation, without adequate documentation, using yesterday's methodologies and technology. Many of these applications still form a vital part of the operational backbone of the business and are as such highly valuable. In other words, they represent a huge investment which cannot easily be replaced. Pressures with respect to cost/benefit and time-to-market In today's corporate environment, obtaining funding for large, long-term projects is increasingly difficult due to cost and time-to-market pressures. Often, the best chance is to find an in-house client with budget and then catering to his specific needs, which in turn may conflict with the interests of the corporation as a whole. 3 Application Landscapes In order to identify both gaps and (potential) overlaps in applications fielded in many different locations and supporting various reinsurance products, Swiss Re has been using a simple matrix called an application landscape for over 5 years: Figure 1: (Simplified) Application Landscape The column headings represent a high-level value chain which is roughly structured into a sequence of core business processes (e.g., “Marketing & Acquisition”, “Underwriting”), while the rows are typically associated with either locations, organizational units, products, or a combination thereof (e.g., “Life & Health”, “Property & Casualty”). If an application supports one or more business processes by capturing the data which is produced during the execution of those processes, then the application is depicted underneath those processes. For example, the application CMS (Client Management System) supports data capture in the “Marketing & Acquisition” process across the entire group, SICSnt IUF Marketing & Acquisition Contract Administration Claims Management Technical Accounting Financial Management Property & Casualty CMS Life & Health Underwriting