Improving Customer Communication Through New Content Management System

Background

The Motor Insurers' Bureau (MIB) oversees the management and distribution of compensation to victims, and the families of victims, of road traffic accidents caused by uninsured and untraced motorists - in addition the MIB also acts as the Green Card Bureau for the UK.  In 2004, the MIB handled in excess of 63,000 claims and paid more than £260m in compensation.

As well as administering compensation to claimants, MIB works in collaboration with the Association of British Insurers, the Police, the Judiciary, Solicitors and Special Investigators, to help combat the increase in uninsured motorists.  MIB plays a leading role in the fight to eradicate uninsured drivers from our roads.

The Challenge

With more than 100 members to administer, including all recognised High Street insurance brands, the ability of the MIB to sustain its high performance and deliver a prompt efficient service is a constant challenge.  The effective exploitation of IT is essential as the organisation seeks to remain cost-effective and identify new ways in which to provide more up-to-date information to the public – a key source of this information being the MIB website.

Trevor Harrison, Technical Manager at MIB explains the challenge "The website we had was difficult to navigate and to update; it was also felt that that the image of the organisation wasn't accurately portrayed.  Regulatory changes and increasing demand on our resources meant that we had to find a straight forward and cost effective solution to improve communications with our stakeholders."

The Need

MIB required a secure, reliable and easy to use solution.  Accessibility, with minimum training and reduced onsite technical support, remained of high importance.  Any new web capability needed to be standards-compliant, cross browser compatible and meet all stated accessibility guidelines.

Solution

The new system developed by Sopra Group is based on Microsoft's world-class content management server (MCMS).  With much of the initial effort being focussed on developing the database structure, functionality and processes supporting the new MIB website, additional functions can now be implemented easier, faster and at reduced cost. 

A new look and feel was developed that made the new site easier for users to navigate and comprehensive testing was carried out to ensure the new system fully met MIB's business objectives.  Sopra Group also ensured smooth roll-out with detailed user and administrator training before going live.

The new system not only allows MIB to effectively manage the ongoing development of the structure of the site, but also enables them to efficiently maintain control of the content, navigation and their brand image.

Benefits

The new website ensures that only the most relevant and up-to-date information is shared publicly ultimately improving communication between MIB and their customers.  Content can be easily created and edited by authors without particular skill in technology, enabling information to be updated frequently and reducing the cost of maintaining the site.

Minimal technical support is required for those creating web pages again reducing the cost of maintenance and freeing up valuable IT resources to focus on other important tasks.  By using a MCMS, a common development platform, customisation, further development or integration with other MIB applications is enabled, for example a discussion forum may be included on the site at a later date.

Trevor Harrison, Technical Manager at MIB comments "Having worked with Sopra Group for many years we had confidence in their ability to meet our requirements and we are very pleased with the results.  Using their extensive technical expertise, the Sopra Group team has designed a system that is not only fit for our needs today but is flexible enough to adapt to our future requirements.  Since the system was launched we have had excellent feedback from our key contacts, who are finding the new site much easier to use."

Sopra Group specialises in the design, deployment and management of complex IT systems, extending additional value added services that ensure the tightest security and highest performance. 

Being leading suppliers to the Insurance and Finance Industry and the Criminal Justice Industry Sopra Group was an ideal partner to work with MIB on their web project.  What's more, having worked in partnership with MIB for over 9 years on a broad range of projects, Sopra Group was familiar with their existing systems and processes, so was able to respond quickly, and meet the rapid timescales required.