NEOS has developed Modernization Solutions that specifically focus on key, incremental, deliverables that provide value to clients in 6 to 8 week increments. Our solutions fall in-line with our 3 phased, holistic modernization, approach.
These solutions work for modernization, simplification, integration and merger and acquisition efforts in almost any industry.
Rationalization Solutions:
- NEOS Scorecard - a repeatable, flexible method that sets program direction.
- Optimizing Closed Block Portfolios - Using our NEOS Scorecard, but tailored to the characteristics of closed block life insurance and annuity products, we can present viable and practical direction to modernize your closed block products.
- NEOS Modernization Option Matrix - a dependable tool to determine the future, modernized, state of a business product or system.
- Business Rules Harvesting - a tools-based approach to extract business rules embedded in applications.
- Application Portfolio Assessments - a tools-based approach to assess the complexity, dependencies and opportunities available to clients looking to modernize legacy applications.
Orchestration Solutions:
- NEOS Delta Force - a small-team engagement that works to quickly organize and launch a modernization project or program.
NEOS Scorecard
The NEOS Scorecard summarizes key information about a portfolio of processes, products, technologies or applications in such a way that modernization options can be defined and decisions can be made. The Scorecard is a key deliverable within the NEOS Rationalization Phase of its holistic modernization approach.
The NEOS Scorecard presents a clear line of sight with links to business goals, strategic direction, and organizational priorities. The NEOS Scorecard is designed to work with reality in mind. We have built in methods that allow your roadmap to flex with your business, showing you impacts to your modernization effort. How? Because we think holistically, practically and strategically.
Whether we are working with your business processes, products, or technologies, we incorporate a business focus combined with a strong data orientation to ensure a holistic solution.
Clients use the NEOS Scorecard to:
- Assess the impact of a merger/acquisition
- Prioritize resource allocations and funding for modernization initiatives
- Conduct modernization planning
- Lay a foundation for wide-scale business process management
- Establish benchmarks for system simplification or consolidation
The Scorecard creates a holistic view of the process, product, or application portfolio. The NEOS Scorecard process is based on four key principles:
- Objective, quantifiable, metrics add more value than subjective statements.
- The current business and management vision must be taken into account in planning a modernization program/project.
- All views of the organization must be considered in order to achieve success.
- Traceability must be in place in order to provide context to the data collected at the time.
NEOS completes the portfolio Scorecard in a six-to-eight week sprint, which generally yields several quick win opportunities in addition to defined deliverables.
Optimizing Closed Block Portfolios
Most large insurance companies carry a large-to-moderate sized block of closed products. These blocks are high-expense and no-volume, often requiring the company to retain dated systems and maintain specialized skillsets. These legacy product portfolios are prime opportunities to liberate resources, both financial and human, that can be invested in new, more profitable, products or initiatives.
But what is the key to unlocking these resources?
The spectrum of solutions for dealing with legacy products runs the gamut from “do nothing” to mass conversion to modern technology platforms. A common, although misguided, belief seems to be that the cost of analyzing the closed product portfolio to make smart decisions will take too much time and not yield enough financial benefit to offset the cost. NEOS disagrees.
Our Legacy Product Scorecard solution assesses key information about your closed block portfolio, using objective and quantifiable metrics to score each product block against 12 common attributes. We incorporate your strategic imperatives and business priorities into the assessment to ensure our final recommendations fit your vision, company direction, and technology investments. At the end of the six- to 8-week project sprint, you receive our recommendations and enough information to decide how to optimize your legacy product portfolio.
Read the NEOS Whitepaper for more detail on our approach to Optimizing Closed Block Product Portfolios.
NEOS Modernization Option Matrix
The NEOS Modernization Option Matrix (or "MoM" for short) provides modernization options that are appropriate to the characteristics of a business product, process, or technology. The MoM considers both technology and business solutions to modernization.
Combined with the NEOS Scorecard, the MoM can help direct a modernization, or M&A, roadmap. By objectively assessing the product, process, or technology landscape, via the Scorecard, the MoM is a tool that can be used to dependably direct the outcome most suited for the business.
In the Rationalization phase of the modernization program, clients seek to understand the complete picture and create a rational (hence "Rationalization") approach to effectively manage a large portfolio of systems through a modernization effort.
But, not all modernization efforts result in a change in technology. In the case of Life Insurance companies, some older, closed-block, policies could be re-written into a newer product with similar features, reducing operational costs and dependency on legacy systems. Similarly, closed-block life insurance policy maintenance could be outsourced to reduce overhead and, again, reduce the cost and risk of legacy systems.
The MoM considers all facets that a particular client might need to modernize their portfolio of products, processes or systems.
To learn more about the MoM, contact NEOS today.
Business Rules Harvesting
Through the years, organizations have had to embed their core business rules within the applications that support their business. Often times, the actual, fundamental, business logic is lost as time goes by. It is those rules and logic at the core of a business intellectual property; they are the heart of all business.
NEOS uses a tools-based approach to extract business logic from applications by employing Vgo Software's ART product in combination with NEOS' STEP business rules framework. ART collects the business rule data quickly, while NEOS consultants assemble the data into a rules identification framework called NEOS STEP.
- Separate rules - Extract rules from logic to potentially reuse rules through exposure as services, optimize quality or change rules independent of a system.
- Track rules - Determine where the rules are in the application, and within the business process; determine whether the rules are still being used.
- Externalize rules - Provide access, definition and meaning to discovered rules.
- Position rules for change - Allows for modification of rules.
Deliverables of this Solution are:
- Domain model that provides context of the application and its functionality, as well as a structure for the STEP framework.
- Rules catalog with original source and specific location (Excel spreadsheet) and association of rules to domains and entities.
- Recommendations - Nomination of possible consolidation of rules (rules that could be consolidated as part of a potential modernization effort).
- Rules Facility - Architect, design, and implement an improved rules processing facility;. Improved to address client's requirements and pain points.
- Rules Training Documentation - Provide training materials to document current rules domains, context, and processing.
- Rules Maintenance Guide
- Technical guide to the modification of rules within the existing application
- Traceability of rules to application and database components
- Business and Technical guidelines for proper rule definition (e.g. impact of rule to processing, valid ranges for values, valid codes, etc.)
Depending on the business and technology being used, a Harvesting solution can be conducted in typically 4 to 10 weeks with between 3 and 5 NEOS consultants.
Application Portfolio Assessments
In the area of legacy applications, it is quite common to find applications that are +15 years old. In many cases, the original authors of the system are no longer there. Or, understandably, they are there but have simply forgotten much of the applications detail.
This is where NEOS Application Portfolio Assessment ("APA") solutions come in. Using NEOS sister company, Vgo Software, ART product, NEOS can quickly decompose a legacy Oracle Forms, Sybase PowerBuilder or Microsoft VB or .Net, application to assess the feasibility of modernization.
Using ART and the expertise of our modernization solution consultants, NEOS can quickly deliver:
- Objective technical complexity of the legacy application
- Utilization of vendor proprietary components
- Determine dependencies with other programs and databases
- Identify areas of re-use, consolidation, or "dead code" within the application
- Make recommendations as to possible modernization options of the application
APA Solutions can be delivered in anywhere from 1 to 6 weeks, depending on the legacy technology and scope of effort. Contact NEOS today to find out how our APA Solution can help your modernization effort.
NEOS Delta Force
The NEOS Delta Force concept is applied to the Orchestration phase of modernization program. Once the Scorecard and MoM have laid out an appropriate direction, it is time to organize the project(s), align resources and the modernization option in-play.
The NEOS Delta Force is a small team, typically 4-6 people, that assembles the following deliverables for each modernization effort being actioned:
- Cost-benefit analysis to ensure ROI of the effort
- Assembles project plans and estimates resources, effort and scheduling
- Prepares going-in requirements prior to firm up the direction with real requirements and strategy
- Performs "mini-conversions" for specific types of modernization options
- Recommends, estimates and begins provisioning of required IT and HR resources
- Conducts data profiling for data conversions
The NEOS Delta Force team is out in front of your modernization program, a vanguard blazing the trail for your program and enabling an efficient and effective launch of your modernization program.