Lloyds of London managing agent
Spectrum Syndicate
Management has dumped its inflexible IT and installed Citrix
software to help it attack new insurance markets.
In a project that took one consultant 10 days and cost less than
£40,000 the firm used
Citrix Presentation Server software to make application
deployment and development easier and enable remote access.
"Citrix killed two birds with one stone," said Rory French, IT
manager at Spectrum. "It allowed us to deploy and develop
applications centrally and it made it easy for applications to be
remotely accessed."
The company manages investments in the Lloyds of London
insurance market made by syndicates. The syndicates put money in
via Spectrum and take their share of payments made by insurance
policy holders. Spectrum also manages the payments when insurance
claims are made.
Spectrum made a major change to its IT infrastructure when it
decided to take on syndicates that are active in investing in the
insurance market. Before this it only worked with firms that were
paying claims to people when required rather than actively
investing in the market.
Because Spectrum is regulated by Lloyds of London and the FSA,
syndicates can use this market for investments without "jumping
through the regulatory hoops," said French. "We have the legal and
IT specialisations to operate in this market."
French said when the company was only dealing with syndicates
that were no longer investing it did not need a very advanced IT
infrastructure.
"Our technology was static and basic," said French. "Because we
took on active investors we needed a more flexible IT
infrastructure."
The company employed integrator Intercept to update its IT. It
implemented Citrix software to give it flexibility for application
deployment and enable its workers and customers to access systems
remotely.
Software sits on a central server rather than on each desktop.
Users can access and use the application via a thin client or a
PC.
French said if the company wants to increase the capacity of its
IT to take in more customers it is simple. "We just need more
servers and licences," he added.