Teradata Program Enabling Companies to Cut Hidden IT Costs

Teradata, a division of NCR Corporation, announced a data mart consolidation program designed to help insurance companies save millions by tackling a common problem hidden within their information technology (IT) infrastructures – too many data warehouses, not enough information.

By combining these departmental data warehouses (called data marts) into an integrated information infrastructure, insurers can increase the amount of knowledge they have about their customers and the state of their business while saving millions in unnecessary costs.

“Companies that originally took the data mart route now have new incentives to consolidate their data into a single integrated warehouse. Today’s economic environment increases the appeal of an enterprise system that will both reduce IT costs and improve competitive advantage through more comprehensive and accurate analysis,” said Bill Sinn, vice president of Teradata Insurance and Healthcare marketing. “Our surveys of IT professionals show 68 percent believe their companies need to consolidate data marts. Teradata can demonstrate the cost savings using an organization’s own data, and our current customers’ results demonstrate the business benefits. It’s a very convincing combination.”

By taking the information from disparate systems and combining it into a central, enterprise-wide Teradata® warehouse, insurers can reportedly eliminate their redundant data mart costs, estimated at an annual amount of $1.5 to $2 million each.

With this new consolidated view, insurers are now able to perform a myriad of business-intelligence tasks. Things such as forecasting the effect that a rate increase will have on retention or underwriting, using claims data to identify new trends that impact underwriting or rating variables, or analyzing the effectiveness of their distribution channels are now easily achieved.

Teradata’s (www.teradata.com) research found that 59 percent of companies maintain up to 30 individual data marts, while some companies have more than a 100. Since the initial cost of purchasing these systems traditionally falls under the companies’ departmental capital-spending limits, organizations often reportedly lose track of the exponential costs of duplicating staffing, hardware and software licenses.

To help insurers smoothly and seamlessly consolidate their data marts, Teradata’s data mart consolidation program includes assessment services, migration tools and customer education, in addition to business impact models that calculate return on investment (ROI) using the insurer’s specific data.

The business impact models developed by Teradata can create ROI projections based on the size and number of data marts consolidated and the speed of implementation.