Allstate Uses DataDirect's ClientBuilder to Build "Good Hands Network"
Flexible & Highly Scalable Web-based Integration Solution Plays Key Role in Allstate's Transition from "Brick-and-Mortar" to a "Click-and-Mortar"
DataDirect, a leading provider of legacy application integration solutions since 1987, played a key role in the development and implementation of The Allstate Corporation's groundbreaking Good Hands Network. Allstate employed the flexible and highly scalable Web-based integration solution to facilitate its transition from a 'Brick-and-Mortar' to a 'Click-and-Mortar' sales and service model.
The Good Hands Network serves as the centerpiece of Allstate's visionary multi-access strategy, an innovative, customer-centric approach that integrates the network of approximately 13,000 Allstate agents with customer call centers and the Internet. Currently available to about 40% of the U.S. population and expected to reach much more of the U.S. populace by the end of this year, the multi-access strategy uniquely allows customers to reach Allstate how, when and where they want to be served. Through this strategy, customers have the flexibility to speak directly with a local Allstate agent, contact a call center or sign-on to the Internet to get a quote, buy insurance for their cars, homes, condos or apartments or make policy changes.
The Good Hands Network effectively placed Allstate at the forefront of technology in the insurance industry, but like all large-scale technology implementations the process of arriving there was not without its challenges. Allstate, in fact, had several hurdles to overcome, with most significant being how to provide its new Web-based network with fast, reliable, and transparent access to 35 million policies and billions of bits of customer and other data stored on its IBM AS/400 legacy systems. A second major challenge that Allstate faced was the need to implement the link between these systems in a short timeframe to ensure the company met its publicly announced rollout objectives for the year 2000.
To address these critical challenges, Allstate collaborated with Microsoft, Accenture and DataDirect, among others to develop a complete, end-to-end e-commerce solution. The Allstate IT staff in particular evaluated various middleware solutions from an assortment of software vendors and ultimately selected DataDirect ClientBuilder for its flexibility, speed of implementation, reliability and scalability. DataDirect staff then worked closely with Allstate's development team to implement the middleware software that provided the transparent connection between the company's new Web-based front-end and its established back-end systems. Allstate met its goal for the initial launch of the network in the State of Oregon and was also able to adhere to its aggressive rollout schedule.
According to Mark Hansen, Director of Emerging Technologies for The Allstate Corporation, "DataDirect allows us to build a bridge between older and newer generation technology through the ability to fully leverage and integrate our existing legacy systems and data within our overall e-business strategy. The ClientBuilder solution clearly played a pivotal role in Allstate getting the multi-access strategy to market so quickly."
"DataDirect is very pleased to have the opportunity to work with an insurance industry leader like Allstate and to play an important part in the development and on-time launch of its critically-acclaimed Good Hands Network," said Robert Evelyn, Senior Vice President for DataDirect. "ClientBuilder truly is an ideal solution for organizations like Allstate that have significant investments in legacy systems, because it provides them with an opportunity to quickly and easily integrate new applications with existing host-based systems to fully leverage their Internet and Customer Relationship Management business initiatives."
DataDirect ClientBuilder is a complete development environment that enables host-based applications and databases to be extended and transformed quickly and cost-effectively to employees, customers and partners over the Web and wireless. ClientBuilder uniquely provides companies with a swift and easy path to e-business and e-commerce opportunities by allowing them to fully leverage their current legacy system infrastructure.
A proven, cost-effective integration solution, ClientBuilder is ideally suited to implement new Web-based corporate initiatives such as Customer Relationship Management and Enterprise Resource Planning, as well as almost any other host-to-Web solutions. ClientBuilder leverages the use of proven legacy applications in production today, and allows for the enhancement of these applications through the integration of other desktop tools such as Visual Basic, Java, PowerBuilder, ODBC, COM, DCOM, XML, CORBA and IBM's MQSeries.
