Case Study
A U.S. insurance provider modernized data systems and reduced future migration costs by 60% with reusable DevOps assets
OUR CLIENT
This national health insurance association is a federation of many independent health insurance companies that collectively insure more than 100 million people in the U.S. The company has operations in all 50 states, several U.S. territories, and some additional countries. It also administers Medicare insurance plans in several regions across the U.S.
THE CHALLENGE
Outdated provider data systems—lacking automations, scalability, and cloud capabilities
The insurance provider struggled with outdated data systems that lacked the scalability to handle growing volumes of information with increasing complexity. The legacy infrastructure was difficult to maintain and prone to errors and inefficiencies. As a result, the company could not reliably deliver timely, accurate information to member plans, which negatively affected patient care and operational efficiencies.
The company also struggled with manual processes for both applications and infrastructure deployments, which were time-consuming and error-prone. These manual interventions led to deployment inconsistencies, increased downtime, and risks of security vulnerabilities. Additionally, a lack of deployment automation made it difficult to scale operations quickly or respond to changes in the healthcare landscape, such as adapting to new regulations.
Because the company’s existing systems were not optimized for cloud environments, it could not leverage the benefits of modern cloud infrastructure, such as better performance, cost efficiencies, and increased agility. The company needed to modernize its provider data systems to ensure robust, secure, scalable, future-proof capabilities and implement a cloud infrastructure that adhered to industry best practices and provided a foundation for growth, innovation, and positive patient outcomes.
THE TRANSFORMATION
Modernizing data systems and infrastructure while ensuring security and compliance
UST delivered a comprehensive cloud migration and DevSecOps solution, providing a fully automated application environment and ensuring every aspect of infrastructure and applications adhered to the highest security and compliance standards. The solution integrated DevSecOps principles into every phase of development and deployment processes—a necessity in the highly regulated healthcare industry.
Automated pipelines facilitated continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) across all environments, and automated scanning tools performed continuous audits of the codebase, infrastructure, containers, and all dependent components. Real-time scanning identified potential vulnerabilities and compliance issues, so they could be addressed immediately, significantly reducing risks of security breaches and ensuring system integrity. The automated pipelines also streamlined deployment processes, eliminating manual errors and inconsistencies that had previously plagued operations. By automating infrastructure deployments, the company could scale its operations quickly and efficiently to adapt to changing business demands without compromising performance or security. The solution also included monitoring and logging tools, providing comprehensive visibility into IT environments and enabling proactive management and rapid issue resolution.
In addition to enhancing security and scalability, the solution reduced operational overhead by automating routine tasks, allowing IT teams to focus on more strategic initiatives. The solution also ensured that all deployments adhered to best practices, a critical element for maintaining compliance with health insurance industry regulations. UST also provided training and support to internal teams, driving the adoption of new processes and tools.
The company can now automatically deploy and scale applications with peace of mind that compliance and security checks are embedded at every stage of delivery—something development teams struggled to achieve before. Additionally, the company can now proactively identify and address vulnerabilities in real time, significantly reducing risks of security breaches and ensuring continuous operational integrity.
THE IMPACT
More than 100 reusable DevOps assets contribute to efficiencies, cost-savings, and innovation
The successful eight-month engagement, completed with minimal business disruptions, modernized the company's data systems and established a robust, secure, and scalable cloud and DevSecOps infrastructure—ensuring adaptability to the ever-evolving healthcare industry. By developing more than 100 reusable infrastructure as code (IAC) and DevOps assets, the company has a robust foundation for future projects, enabling development teams to standardize and accelerate infrastructure deployment across multiple environments. The modularity and reusability of these assets will reduce the time and effort required for subsequent deployments, ensuring consistent quality and compliance with best practices across the board.
The solution also led to a 60% cost reduction for subsequent migrations, thanks to efficiencies from automations, standardization, and reusable assets. These cost savings will enable the company to shift budgets away from high operational expenses and focus on more strategic growth initiatives. The automated pipelines and standardized processes also reduced the risk of errors and rework, further contributing to cost savings and operational efficiency. The company has achieved a more agile, cost-effective, secure application and infrastructure landscape, enabling high-quality, efficient health insurance services.
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