The Client

The client is the sixth largest life insurance firm in USA. It prides itself on a tradition of 'doing the right thing' for the customer, a tradition that dates back to its inception in 1857. Its commitment to building long-term relationships to meet customers' needs; building and preserving financial strength and offering best-of-breed insurance products and services has paid off. Today, it earns revenues worth US$ 16 billion.
A giant in the insurance industry, the company deals with all aspects of the business of insurance. Its product portfolio ranges from permanent life insurance plans, term life insurance and disability income, to annuity plans for personal, business, estate planning and pension markets. In addition, the company has subsidiaries that offer mutual funds, equities and long-term-care insurance.
Business Need

At the time of the engagement, the client was experiencing all the incipient drawbacks of a two-tier architecture. Change-management in a two-tier model is extremely complicated as typically, it leads...