NAME OF COURSE: UGBS 609; MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS

NAME OF STUDENT: DAVID ADEABAH

STUDENT ID: 10551139

CASE STUDY
MODERNIZATION OF NTUC INCOME
Question 1
What were the problems faced by Income in this case? How were the problems resolved by the
new digital system?
Answer
The problems faced by NTUC Income included the following:
-

Prolonged set up time in business process. Transaction processing of policy underwriting

had to be batched processed.

The processes were very cumbersome and paper based.
Frequent break down of the COBOL program and the HP 3000 mainframe.
Difficulty in developong new product in COBOL and launch them.
Cost involved in backing up data was very high and the process was tedious resulting in

risk if loosing important data.

The imcompatibility of the HP 3000 mainframe and employees notebooks.

The problem was resolved by using migrating to a fully digital systems called eBao lifesystem
from eBao technology. NTUC Income replaced its entire IT infrastructure.
Question 2

What types of information systems and business processes were used by Income before
migrating to the fully digital system?
Answer
Before migrating to the fully digital system, the information systems used included:
-

HP 3000 mainframe which hosted the core insuracne application accouting and

management information systems.

COBOL program which was used to develop new products.

For the business processes, Income was batch processing all policy underwriting transaction and
using hand filled form.

Question 3
Describe the Information systems and IT infrastructure at Income after migrating to the fully
digital system?

Answer
After the migration, NTUC Income used Java based eBao lifesystem from eBao technology. The
software encapsulates three subsystems policy adminstration, sales management and
supplementary resources. The application resided on two or more servers, connected by
commuincation lines to ensure load balanced with a better customer oriented technology
capabilities. NTUC Income IT infrastructure also included:
-

scanners
20 inches monitors

upgraded 128MB RAM size

new hardware and software for application servers, database servers and web servers
disk storage systems
Faster Cables
A fiber-optic backbone
Wireless capability

Question 4
What benefits did Income reap from the new system?
Answer
The benefits Income reaped from the new system may include:
-

staff and insurance advisors were able to access the system anytime, anywhere.
Information sharing among staff members and advisors became faster,
a summary of each customer over different products and business areas were also

accessible.
All documents were scanned and store in trusted storage devices secured.
cross-selling became easier.
customer service improved, ie online support of customers, agents and brokers.
workflows were simplified, cutting policy processing time and cost by half.
the time required to design and launch new products was greatly reduced from months to
days.

Question 5

How well is Income prepared for the future? Are the problems described in the case likely to be
repeated?
Answer
NTUC Income is prepared for the future as it switched to the Java based eBao lifesystem and
replacing its entire IT infrastructure with a more robust, scalabel architecture. Income has also
revamped its business continuity and disaster recovery plans. NTUC Income has also trained its

employees who had been accustomed to working with paper to use the new system and change
the way they work.
In my opinion, I do not think that problems would reoccur. With the new system, Income has
embraced a new environment and culture in its business processes which would improve
performance and create competitive advantage.