A platform for the future of corporate insurance: Allianz Commercial's digital customer portal
From worlds apart to thinking smart
A platform solution for commercial insurance customers and brokers - with optimal customer centricity, leading cloud technologies and maximum standardization: this was the ambitious goal for the My Allianz Commercial (MAC) portal. Allianz Commercial has been realizing this vision together with Deloitte since 2020; the first operational product was launched in 2021, with further functionalities and markets that followed. The result is a holistic portal that offers companies and brokers seamless access to services, providing insights to better manage risks. Was awarded the ‘Best Digital Transformation Initiative’ at the Global OPEX and Business Transformation awards in 2024. This award recognizes pioneering initiatives for operational excellence and business transformation.
The client situation
When a manufacturing company wants to insure its global production facilities or a renewable energy company wants to insure their windfarms across the world, it is not just a matter of huge sums of money, but also of highly complex insurance solutions - and this in a market in which in-house, international and national brokers alike, play an important role together with major insurers to offer bespoke solutions to reduce risk for the insured. This specialized corporate insurance business requires powerful, state-of-the-art digital platform solutions.
This is precisely why Allianz Commercial decided to launch the new(MAC) portal in 2020 to deliver an unprecedented level of customer-centricity, convenience, and insight in line with Allianz's overarching strategy. Allianz Commercial selected Deloitte , which had already successfully implemented various digitalization projects for the Allianz Group, as its partner for the design and implementation of the portal. In addition to corporate customers, the target group also includes brokers who offer policies and risk expertise to these organizations on the platform. MAC's seamless digital experience and comprehensive functionality aims to set it apart in the market and create insight for corporate customers, brokers and Allianz Commercial itself. Insured customers use a wide range of services on the platform in a simple, intuitive, and transparent way: global insurance program overview and details, implementation, invoicing, payment, risk services, claims management and much more. This gives brokers a deep insight into their customers and how to best manage risks, ultimately unlocking additional sales opportunities.
Specialists from Deloitte around the world are working with IT experts from Allianz Technology in a total of five time zones on the first elements of the new digital platform for Allianz Commercial, initially focusing on large corporate clients. Since the launch of Allianz Commercial, uniting Allianz Commercial Property & Casualty units across the world have the opportunity to onboard their multinational customers and brokers onto the portal. From manufacturing plants to wind farms: Allianz Commercial provides all these companies with solutions to cover their risk, whether local or global, for even the most complex requirements.
MAC is delivering on our Allianz ambition to be simple, digital and scalable in the commercial space. It also delivers global services helping our multinational customers to manage their programs, a target growth area for us.
- Natasha Osborne, Allianz Commercial Global Head of Digital Distribution
The Deloitte team and Allianz Commercial have once again proven their commitment to delivering exceptional customer experiences with the launch of the MAC portal. This project is a testament to our innovative thinking and dedication to meeting the evolving needs of the customers and brokers.
- Karim Trojette, Partner Deloitte , Global Leader Integration Service
The solution
The extensive project required well thought-out organizational planning. It was structured in three phases (imagine, deliver, and run) and implemented according to the principles of the Scaled Agile Framework. The desired solution with future-oriented capabilities required corresponding internal transformations in the areas of data, processes, technology, and architecture. Key roles for business ownership and product ownership ensured successful implementation. Thanks to Kanban boards and virtual Scrum events, it was possible to collaborate successfully globally, even in the challenging context of the pandemic.
The first step was the preparatory imagine phase. Over the course of eight weeks, service design methodology was used to identify the needs of the target groups, supported by customer research, benchmarking and stakeholder interviews. The development of personas for the relevant user journeys provided the basis for consistent customer centricity. The product vision, roadmap, and minimum viable products (MVPs) were then defined. The deliver phase consisted of a ten-week development block, after which the teams rolled out more and more services in iterative processes, such as claims, document hub, multinational programs billing, and risk management. The focus is now on global onboarding of customers and brokers and further optimizing and developing the services.
Close, trusting cooperation was the common thread throughout the implementation. The teams consisted of employees from Allianz Commercial, Allianz Technology and more than 70 Deloitte experts from Consulting, Risk and Legal, as well as Deloitte delivery specialists, with Deloitte teams from Germany, Poland, India, and other countries. The design and build of the new platform required in-depth technology expertise and the use of cutting-edge technologies. Amazon Web Services (AWS) forms the infrastructure basis of the private cloud solution. Azure AD B2C was chosen as the identity provider and MongoDB as the database. Data streaming with Kafka Confluent enables fast data access. The architecture includes Java, SQL, AngularJS, and Python. Automated CI/CD pipelines and testing and GitHub complete the approach. Other technology highlights include APIGee, SAP S4/HANA, Kubernetes and SonarQube with Adobe analytics providing KPI tracking.
Of course, with a project of this size, there were several hurdles to overcome. Cross-functional cooperation proved to be a key success factor. In addition to the COVID restrictions mentioned above and the global teams spread across different time zones, achieving the set goals at the right time was an ongoing challenge. Onboarding setup, real-time data and payments were other challenges. Aligning IT priorities with business transformation and strategy was also critical - Deloitte and Allianz Commercial always kept customer value at the forefront and every development step was reviewed and scrutinized with this in mind. The parallel implementation of the Business Master Platform across Allianz Commercial meant alignment with the old and the new had to be water tight.. Finally, cybersecurity was a critical dimension for the cloud-based platform. Targeted pen tests ensured the effectiveness of the measures taken.
The impact
With MAC, Allianz Commercial now has a state-of-the-art, scalable digital platform solution with several thousand active users. Features such as intuitive data visualization, insights into global insurance programs and digital payments have been implemented. Seven user journeys have now been realized. Customer feedback is consistently positive, with platform participants achieving benefits in terms of net promoter score (NPS), sales growth and customer retention. The workload for employees is reduced and tasks are completed more accurately and quickly. Functional expert input, regular governance meetings and reporting keep stakeholders informed and encourage continuous improvement.
