Keyrus : assists with developing the APRIL Group's management and reporting ...

Since June 2015, the APRIL Group has been entrusting Keyrus with the maintenance of its BI base. The Service Center created in the framework of this partnership ensures that April Group subsidiaries have access to expert resources, and that Keyrus responds in an optimal manner to requests to develop the subsidiaries' analysis, management, and reporting tools.

Keyrus, an international player in the fields of Data Intelligence, Digital, and Consulting on the Management and Transformation of enterprises, is assisting the APRIL Group in managing its BI asset base, using scalable, responsive, and agile application maintenance.

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The APRIL Technologies Economic Interest Grouping (Groupement d'Intérêt Economique/GIE), the role of which is to advise APRIL's forty-odd subsidiaries on their IT tool needs, chose Keyrus for its ability to structure and industrialize this application maintenance activity in close proximity to the client, as well as for its expertise in the full range of technologies used in the group's BI environment: Talend, ODI, SAP BO, QlikView, and SAS.

'After having industrialized our BI base, we looked for a partner with the expertise required to help us maintain this application base which is bound to change constantly' explains Denis Bourdon, CEO of APRIL Technologies. 'Being skilled in these technologies was essential, as was Keyrus's presence in the regions, which made it easier to work together and develop mutual trust between the teams.'

A smooth handover thanks to a three-phase approach, from immersion to industrialization

To be able to address the group subsidiaries' requests for patches and developments within the required time periods, it was essential that, after immersing itself in the activities on site at APRIL's premises, the future Keyrus Service Center team firstly acquire a sound understanding of the relevant business reasoning and the functional sphere to be covered.

Armed with these newly acquired skills, the Keyrus team then moved on to the pre-industrialization phase: it detached itself physically from the APRIL teams and learned to work on the project from a remote location. It was during this transition stage that Keyrus refined and documented the procedures and service level agreement (SLA) commitments that govern the Service Center's activity.

The third, so-called industrialization phase has been underway since January 2016, with Keyrus working autonomously and delivering on its SLA commitments at the cost, and with the level of quality, stipulated.

'BI applications evolve at the same pace as the business, but whilst responsiveness is a major expectation on the part of the subsidiaries, the quality of the responses provided is just as important' underlines Denis Bourdon. 'Therein lies the attraction of the three-phase methodology that Keyrus proposed to us, and we now have excellent feedback from our internal clients to the effect that Keyrus is providing an appropriate and reassuring level of service, under the watchful eye of our application managers.'

Simplified access to expert and responsive resources

When a user notifies an incident or a development request, it is automatically assigned to the Keyrus Service Center group, which responds to the notifier and gives a commitment as to the time it will take to address and resolve the issue. The Service Center's specialists are then capable of dealing with the chain of actions associated with an incident from start to finish, right through to the request for the patch to go into production.

'The initial phase was crucial to the success of this project in terms of locking into place our teams' upskilling and identifying areas for improvement, whilst at the same time guaranteeing Maintenance in Operationnel Condition. Thanks to this, the Service Center now offers services with high added value' specifies François Dilly, Director of Operations at the Keyrus Delivery Center. 'The pooled resources allow APRIL to benefit from all our expertise on very technical topics, like performance improvements and migrations of application bases.'

'We are entirely satisfied with how accessible and responsive the application maintenance team is' confirms Denis Bourdon. 'Not only are deadlines met, but also the processing is of a high quality and in line with stated functional needs.'

A relationship of trust

The Keyrus Service Center now provides the maintenance for the BI applications of a dozen APRILGroup subsidiaries. In the coming months, new subsidiaries are due to join the circle managed by the Service Center. There are also plans to expand the Service Center's activities into new areas by incorporating new technologies and new projects such as MDM (client repository).

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ABOUT APRIL

Created in 1988, APRIL is an international insurance services group present in 33 countries in Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, and is the leading wholesale broker in France. Quoted on Euronext Paris (Compartment B), the group achieved revenues of 798 million euros in 2015. Its 3,800 employees design, manage, and distribute specialized insurance solutions (health and welfare, damage, mobility, and legal assistance) and assistance services for private individuals, professionals, and businesses, taking forward APRIL's aim since the very beginning: to change the image of insurance and make it simpler and more accessible to all. Driven by a strong entrepreneurial culture, the group pursues its growth around four guiding principles serving its customers: trust, be daring, innovate, and make things simple.

Further information at: www.april.com