CLIENT OVERVIEW

Hiscox protects more than 600,000 small business customers of all types across the US, offering coverage ranging from  short-term liability to cybersecurity and more. It is part of the  Hiscox Group, an international specialist insurer that has been in operation since 1901 and serves customers in 13 countries.

BUSINESS CHALLENGE

Hiscox wanted to revitalize its approach to testing and quality engineering (QE) to deliver quality across every phase of the software development life cycle (SDLC) rather than sticking with the traditional, siloed configuration of its existing QE department. The insurer knew that turning QE into more of a partner than a separate function that joins at the tail end of the SDLC would provide a better balance between speed and safety, more consistent outcomes across all lines of business, and significant efficiency and cost savings.

Initial goals for the effort were to better understand what gaps existed and where they were to enable faster speed to market for enhancements and new products across professional liability (PL), general liability (GL), cyber, and businessowners (BOP) lines of business. Hiscox leadership wanted to become equipped for truly data-driven decision-making, surfacing information during performance testing to help solve issues before they made it to production.

The insurer decided that the key to a more consistent delivery process with higher quality from the outset was to improve its organizational approach to QE and quality assurance alongside its cloud deployment. It was also critical to offer a modern, responsive experience that provided the right information at the right time to stakeholders ranging from employees and agents to partners and retail customers.

SOLUTION OFFERED

ValueMomentum has partnered with Hiscox in a development and application support capacity for several years. When the insurer began its large-scale investment into its QE overhaul, ValueMomentum was brought on board to double-check  application support. This expanded into development work and testing services before becoming a full managed services partner. To truly reinvent Hiscox’s QE approach, the insurer and ValueMomentum prioritized three key elements: automating as much as possible, setting up a Test Center of Excellence (TCoE), and bringing testing earlier into the SDLC.

The ValueMomentum team worked closely with Hiscox and OneShield to drive a scalable enterprise QE (EQE) approach alongside the insurer’s cloud migration efforts.  ValueMomentum developed a metrics-driven TCoE to help  establish and uphold best practices across testing and  application maintenance, as well as some development  support. As part of the EQE and TCoE initiative, ValueMomentum helped implement Automate First, a program that trains testers to automate tests rather than creating each individual test manually, and instituted a shift-left approach, testing earlier and more often rather than relying on pre-go-live regression testing.

Revamping its approach to EQE helped Hiscox discover the root cause of existing issues it was facing, such as with rating. To optimize this critical process, ValueMomentum worked with Hiscox to develop a custom rating validation engine that confirms rate changes are applied correctly, more effectively, and in less time.

VALUE DELIVERED

Transforming QE from a late-stage function into a partner that is involved across the entire SDLC enabled Hiscox to shrink its time to market while improving leakage. In addition, the program brought regression testing down from five days to two days. For specific fixes enabled by the EQE and TCoE efforts, such as the more accurate and efficient approach to rating validation, Hiscox has already seen cost savings, with a projected added revenue of more than $1M in the first year since deployment.

With strong EQE in place and a dedicated TCoE established, Hiscox has built business agility into its foundation, enabling it to provide employees with better tools and policyholders and partners with a seamless and defect-free experience. In addition, the more comprehensive approach to EQE and testing has shifted the culture within Hiscox, turning QE into a partner rather than a silo and setting the stage for faster, more effective innovation.