andsafe AG: Digital insurer uses d.velop documents as its new VAIT-compliant DMS

Andsafe AG sees itself as a “startup with history”. It was founded as a corporate startup of the Provinzial Group and pursues a digital business model. Located in Münster, 37 employees from 14 professions and 4 nations work for andsafe AG. For businesses, andsafe AG offers liability insurance, professional indemnity insurance, and property insurance, while for private customers, it offers bicycle insurance.

It was a real mammoth project that andsafe AG had already tackled. Because the establishment of a purely digital insurance company required extensive planning. Many decisions had to be made, especially regarding IT compliance, as the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) imposes high regulatory requirements on the insurance industry. A considerable challenge for andsafe AG, which started from scratch. When the Münster-based insurer approached d.velop for a new Document Management System (DMS), the sale of insurance products had been running for over a year.

Cloud solution with portal integration

The old DMS, which had been in operation at andsafe AG since its inception, was no longer able to meet the increased demands. It was expensive to operate and not suitable for the cloud. Additionally, locating documents was difficult, and the system was too slow. Particularly with the introduction of significantly more data-intensive private insurance policies, concerns arose about the performance of the old system. “At the beginning, we had other problems than document management,” describes Sascha Körver, Head of IT at andsafe AG, the initial situation. “We wanted to get started and bring more products to the market.” However, not only the core business activity had prevented the company from replacing the DMS earlier. “For a long time, we resisted looking for a replacement for our DMS because a switch for us meant extracting a core component,” Körver further explains.

But the DMS became an increasingly larger thorn in our side. It had to go. We needed something that fits us. That’s how we found d.velop..

Sascha Körver
Head of IT, andsafe AG

When the decision to replace was made, a tailor-made DMS solution had to follow suit. And it had to meet very specific requirements. The request to d.velop: a cloud solution, integrated with the existing portals of andsafe AG. Furthermore, it was imperative that the new DMS, as well as the outsourced operation as Software-as-a-Service by d.velop, complied with the data protection regulations, as well as the strict “IT regulatory requirements for insurance supervision,” abbreviated as VAIT by BaFin.

andsafe AG moves parts of its core processes to the cloud

In addition to the technical aspects, it was particularly important to overcome the high legal hurdles regarding BaFin. “Such conversion projects always take longer in the insurance world, sometimes even years,” Sascha Körver points out. Data storage, data protection, auditability, and the backup concept are some of the key points that BaFin pays special attention to in projects like this.

Especially for clients like andsafe AG, who are subject to BaFin regulations and want to outsource parts of their core processes to the cloud, utmost care is required in project planning and implementation. The risk: if BaFin doesn’t approve of the concept, they could veto it. “One cannot afford to build castles in the air; everything must be well thought out,” Körver knows, “because it’s about protecting the customers or the entire system around it.” That’s why the project was prepared accordingly.

At all times, a dedicated point of contact was available

“We were quickly and informally provided with a fixed technical point of contact and played around with the interfaces a bit. Some of our colleagues who are more technically oriented also had a look,” summarizes IT expert Körver the procedure. “This way, we found out that the system was essentially exactly what we wanted.” Additionally, andsafe AG could discuss the progress of the project with d.velop in a weekly fixed meeting and clarify any questions.

The revision of contracts and the creation of a migration script using test data proceeded concurrently in the following period. After the intensive preparations, the actual transition of the DMS with the subproject for the contract, claims, and intermediary files took only three months. “It was all very straightforward,” says Sascha Körver. He also found the contract adjustments not difficult. “d.velop was very accommodating in that regard.”

DMS exchanged in record time

Shortly after the final contract signing, d.velop received confirmation from andsafe AG that the deployment of d.velop documents was successful. Both parties agree that it could hardly have gone better. Overall, the project took only about 10 months from initial contact to completion. The actual implementation phase lasted only four months. “We exchanged a DMS in record time,” says Körver enthusiastically. “My boss would have considered it impossible because it’s usually a matter of years.”

andsafe AG successful and BaFin-compliant in the cloud

Since then, document management at andsafe AG has been running smoothly. Documents are available without delay, and the staff can find everything quickly and intuitively.

Document management was always our bottleneck before, and that’s just not the case anymore. The interfaces fit much better with us now.

Sascha Körver
Head of IT, andsafe AG

Sascha Körver explains that customers are now thrilled with the performance of their self-service portal, and colleagues are also delighted. “d.velop documents is an improvement in every respect compared to the previous system.” Thanks to d.velop documents, andsafe AG can now launch into the d.velop Cloud in compliance with insurance supervision and data protection regulations. “We still have 1000 topics on our radar,” Körver looks ahead, “and above all, we want to launch even more products.”

d.velop documents as the ideal entry product

During the collaboration, andsafe AG has also become aware of two additional products from d.velop’s partner company alphaflow in the areas of contract management and invoice processing. “Previously, the grown folder system cost us nerves, now everything is much easier and incomparable to before,” Sascha Körver summarizes the work with the new digital invoice processing as an example. He can imagine further cooperation with d.velop well. He believes that the electronic signature software could become a practical new feature in contract management in the future.