Goal:

Enhance the Argo Group Anchor Surety System to provide more usability and an improved user experience, allowing users to access the application from multiple web browsers and mobile devices.

Business Challenges

Argo Surety serves a wide range of specialty risks in diverse industries such as: Industrial Equipment Services, Real Estate, Manufacturing/Coal Mining, Healthcare Insurance, Oil and Gas/Energy, Telecommunications, Banking, Retail, Technology, Municipal Solid Waste, Public Utilities and Transportation. The Anchor Application was built ten years ago, and although it has been recently updated to extend the functionality to manage Contract Surety Bonds, it was still not possible for users to access the application on a browser other than IE 8. Also, the antiquated look and feel was not a good fit for use on mobile devices and limited the incorporation of modern controls that could improve day to day operations, such as searching and filtering in modern grids and text auto-complete. These limitations made any required changes to the application harder and more expensive to execute.

The Solution:

Y&L Consulting was selected to update the Anchor Surety application, creating a new responsive design UI and incorporating multiple application layouts for multiple devices. The use of new web development technologies ensured multi-browser capabilities, and the incorporation of new controls facilitated the use of forms and grids. In addition, exporting functionality to multiple formats (Excel, PDF) was added, a new multi-level menu structure was implemented to optimize navigation, and UI components were standardized to ensure a homogeneous look and feel throughout the application.

Value to Business:

The updates made to the Anchor application allow users to have quick and easy access to Surety information. They also expanded the range of devices and browsers with which users could access the application. The modernized look and feel and new User Interface standards facilitated easier adoption, and the project also helped ensure that future changes to the Application will be easier and more cost effective to execute.

 

Client Reference:

Joseph Perschy

Director of Strategic Operations

Argo Surety

Argo Group

 

Key Services:

 

·       Enterprise collaboration portal

·       Enterprise architecture

·       Custom software development

·       Quality assurance

·       Project management

·       System integration

·       Reporting

Key Benefits:

 

·       Process improvements

·       Easier access to data

·       Enhanced User Experience

·       Multi Browser/Device access

Technologies:

 

·       HTML5/CSS3

·       Bootstrap

·       jQuery

·       ASP .NET

·       SQL Server

Executive Summary:

 

Industry: United States, Insurance, Specialty Insurance, Surety.

Business Challenge: Update the existing Anchor Surety System to modernize the look and feel and allow for the use of the application in multiple devices/browsers.

Solution: Update the system with a new User Interface, incorporating concepts of Responsive Design and allowing for the use of the application in multiple browsers/devices.

Business Value:

 

·       Quick and easy access to Surety information facilitated by the new user interface

·       Surety users will have access to the application from multiple devices and browsers

·       Modernized platform that is easier to use, more cost effective, and allows for continued improvement