The story behind ivv
ivv GmbH is a full-service IT provider for public insurance companies in Lower Saxony, Bremen and Saxony-Anhalt. It supports the core competencies of insurance companies by developing and providing efficient and modern IT solutions. ivv's services are based on optimised processes in insurance companies and IT. Application systems are made available for the sale and administration of insurance products using the latest methods and development technologies.
Status Quo
ivv faces the challenge of supporting the further digitalisation of its clients. In the field of collaboration, there are demands that require further development of collaboration services through technological innovation. Also, they allow for process optimisation. Here, the focus is on the use of existing knowledge and cross-organizational collaboration.
- Cost-conscious action
- Enabling innovation
- Driving process orientation forward
The evaluation focused on the following goals:
In addition to evaluating the current situation, the two market leaders Microsoft and IBM were to be considered primarily from a technological and cost perspective. In the UC environment, Cisco was also evaluated.
"In order to be prepared for future collaborative requirements of the customers or ivv, the project aimed to create an overview of the functionalities which are already provided today in the ivv network using IBM Notes/Domino or other tools."
Dirk PapeDivision manager DS-Serviceivv GmbHAnalysis
The functional requirements for the future collaboration services resulted from the analysis of the current landscape as well as interviews with the clients' specialist departments. A comparison with the manufacturer's capabilities revealed a high level of coverage for IBM and Microsoft.
The technical content analysis was complemented by a 5-year cost analysis. Special attention was paid to a possible porting of the existing Domino databases. Furthermore, operating, software and infrastructure costs were considered. The analysis examines the OnPrem and Cloud versions in four variants.
Goals of the Collaboration Strategy
The future collaboration of ivv is characterized by modern communication and collaboration tools. It is defined for cross-organizational work in cooperation with external parties.
The advantages at a glance:
- Supports mobility
Availability on all common end devices - Uniform file management
no more files in mails or file servers - Modern collaboration services enable new & standardized forms of collaboration
Web conference at the workplace, video - External cooperation and exchange with partners
Open interfaces promote integration across organizations - Networking of information leads to new knowledge
Structured digital recording of experience (knowledge) and provision in context of demographic development - Controlled operation secures data and knowledge
Cloud services are also considered - Strengthening of comprehensive team and project work
Task management in large projects, ad hoc team organization, cross-functional teams - Benefit from cost advantages
fast finding of information, SW licenses, system consolidation, cloud services
Concrete results
In mixed working groups of the customer and GIS the following result documents were created:
- Report of the state analysis of the operated IT landscape
- Mapping of business and technical requirements to required functional capabilities
- Evaluation of different manufacturers on degree of fulfilment
- Derivation of possible solution alternatives
- Operating and project costs
- Comparison of the different solution alternatives
- Final report with a proposed strategy and recommendations for action
"We have experienced the employees of GIS as competent consultants. The GIS staff took a very neutral approach to the task at hand (IBM vs. Microsoft). In many cases they contributed significantly to the success of the project with their ideas on how to proceed. The colleagues of GIS did not get lost in details, which would have been a real possibility. They did not lose sight of the goal and were competent contacts for the internal experts."
Dirk PapeHead of DS-Serviceivv GmbHLisa Marie Tomaschek