Overview
To support Howden in its ongoing growth journey, it was essential that its data team possessed the tools and capabilities to absorb greater and more complex demands. Its team was already small and agile, but required a partner to bring in deeper and more complex expertise to install a data lake from which it could service the needs of the business. Dufrain stood out for its personable, upfront approach that has since brought about a step change in how the data unit performs.
About Howden Group Holdings
From modest beginnings as a specialist D&O broker, Howden is now a leading international insurance group, generating $2bn in revenues and managing more than $30bn in written premiums. Howden are a group of international experts with a local touch and a digital backbone. With operations in 50 countries across Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, the US and Latin America, and over 14,500 employees from Berlin to Brisbane, Howden has grown over the last quarter of a century to become the group challenging the status quo for clients every day and in every market in which we operate.
Today, its combined UK businesses serve a range of clients and customers, from private individuals to global corporates. Offering a complete spectrum of insurance products and services, Howden’s home-based operation now places over £6 billion a year on behalf of more than 1.7 million clients through a network of 5,000 employees in 160 locations across the UK and Ireland.
Technologies:
Will Hyams, Group Head of Data at Howden Group Holdings says
I would describe Dufrain as reassuring, culturally aligned, and cooperative.
We needed a partner who was vendor agnostic and who we could trust. In the case of Dufrain, the relationship began with trusted advisory and process optimisation, which then evolved into fixing some of our most tricky problems.
Why did Howden Group Holdings choose Dufrain?
Reassuring. Culturally aligned. Cooperative.
For Howden to remain on its fast-moving growth trajectory, the company knows that data is the fuel it needs. Raising the overall data maturity of the group is not only critical to anticipating and catering to the data demands of a rapidly evolving business, but also central to unlocking new avenues of revenue and leveraging the transformative power of AI.
While the company was well-placed to advance its data handling capabilities, largely due to its ability to be agile and onboard the latest technology when needed, it soon became clear that a partner could play a pivotal role.
Howden’s data team is small and nimble, and was able to carry out the initial thought leadership itself. However, as the scope and scale of the data operation expanded, the prospect of turning into a large internal team went against a model that had, to this point, suited the company extremely well. In addition, Howden realised it required a range of different expertise and a partner which could also deliver.
The Dufrain approach
After assessing a list of potential vendors, it soon became clear that Dufrain, with its direct and engaging approach, fitted Howden’s needs both from a cultural and capabilities perspective.
Specifically, Dufrain recommended the design definitions for the data lake. The team built a data platform using Azure ADF and Databrick Delta Lake, including a unity catalogue, to provide a unified central store for all Howden Group data.
Dufrain adopted a problem-solving approach with a long-term lens, investing the time needed to get to know the client and its issues, giving Howden the confidence that its pain-points would genuinely be addressed.
Will Hyams, Group Head of Data at Howden Group Holdings says
What Dufrain recommended was achievable and measurable. They were really excited about working with our company, which was infectious and permeated back into our team.
The impact
The major upshot of the collaboration is that Howden was able to become more efficient in its handling and analysing of data far quicker than it otherwise would have.
Dufrain acts an extension of the company’s data team, giving them the confidence that what it has built will stand the test of time and enable the firm to fully focus on its growth agenda, with everything seamlessly working in the background. Today, the team is more widely equipped and able to accommodate the needs of various stakeholders without having to conduct painstaking, bespoke tasks for every request.
Indeed, the project has signalled a step change in data capability. Now, with the right expertise at its disposal, Howden’s data team is ready to move up to the next level and scale as and when new demand is created.
- Upgrading of legacy technology
- Significant improvements in data processing
- Self-serve reporting to support key business decisions
- A more data-driven business better able to serve its customers
- Better equipped and happier team!
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