3 Success Stories of Converting Spreadsheets to Code

Across every industry, business analysts and subject matter experts rely on the flexibility of Excel spreadsheets to build and test sophisticated business logic, but many of these spreadsheets live in silos , or on desktops, with no controls, governance, or audit trails.

Moving spreadsheet models into the cloud has many advantages, but is often stuck in the backlog of resource-constrained IT teams. How can a business continue to innovate when models take months to code and deploy, but competitive markets demand digital products at light speed?
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Convert, Control, and Connect with Coherent Spark

The Coherent Spark platform resolves the between needing the flexibility of Excel, and the control of cloud-based IT solutions with the 3Cs.

• ‍Convert your existing Excel models into enterprise-grade code in minutes – without any specialized programming skills
• ‍Control the model with features like automated version history and assumption testing
• ‍Connect your model with enterprise software and other platforms

The stories below show three examples of how Coherent helped convert spreadsheets for greater outcomes. Stay tuned for future blogs highlighting client success stories demonstrating the control and connect aspects of Spark.
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Converting a Complex Asset-Liability Model

One global life insurance company used a complex stochastic Asset-Liability model to meet new international capital regulations for the cost of guarantees. The model included multiple scenario generation sub-models that created a large set of possible future economic outcomes.

The size and complexity of the model resulted in a runtime of 8.5 hours for 1,000 scenarios. They knew the model had to be converted to a cloud-based system to improve runtime and eliminate the user-defined functions in VBA that made documentation and verification difficult.

They estimated coding the model into their existing actuarial system would take months. Unfortunately, the actuarial team didn't have months. They needed to ensure regulatory compliance quickly to better manage capital and risk.

Coherent Spark provided an alternative solution for converting the model.  With Spark, actuaries quickly converted the model by simply tagging inputs and outputs, and maintained full control without specialized programming skills. And, the IT team now has visibility into the workflow ensuring proper governance and controls.

The converted model had:

• A runtime of 2-minutes; a 99.6% reduction from 8.5 hours
• No VBA
• Templates for easy review of the results
• An externalized assumption with automated connectivity to pull the right assumptions
• Model governance

Using Coherent Spark, the actuarial team converted model testing to a cloud-based environment with more control and enhanced assumption management. And the transformation happened in significantly less time with much lower costs than programming in the legacy actuarial system would have taken.
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Saving $3M with Faster Spreadsheet Conversion

Competing in today's group benefit market means empowering agents with responsive quoting processes. A leading benefit provider was under pressure to quickly update multiple end-of-life product raters to fuel growth.

Existing product raters were being maintained in spreadsheets, and the estimated time and cost of converting to code was substantial: $3M and over 18 months. Desperately searching for a faster, cost-effective solution, they decided to try Coherent.

By optimizing and automating code generation, Coherent Spark swiftly generated API endpoints enabling seamless integration with downstream systems. Coherent became their go-to solution for converting and automating product raters. The outcomes were impressive:

• Reallocation of over $3M in project costs, originally earmarked for manual conversion, enabling investment in other projects.
• Rapid delivery of innovative products to agents through rapid new product launches, differentiating their offering in a crowded market of 60+ carriers.
• Empowering the rating team with the ease of building models in Excel increased speed to market by 89%. And the 18 month conversion process was completed in two months.

Our client significantly reduced operational cost, accelerated product launches, and gained competitive advantage in the Workplace Benefits market.
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Converting Group Benefit Raters to Code

A venture capital-backed firm was in the process of integrating over 20 acquisitions in the insurance carriers, distribution, and business service sectors. They aimed to digitize their Group Employee Benefits (EB)rater, allowing easy accessibility for field agents through Salesforce.

As a newcomer in a competitive space, the company sought to gain market share by streamlining the submission process for field agents. However, their deployment budget was limited.

With the assistance of Coherent Spark, the company efficiently converted their Group EB rater into code, enabling them to unlock the business logic previously trapped in the spreadsheet. Spark generated an API endpoint that seamlessly connected to Salesforce.

The results were as follows:

• Conversion of 58,000 data cells and over 14,000 formulas into code within seconds.
• Savings of approximately $150,000 and 9 person-months in developer costs.
• Reduction in software update and maintenance expenses by roughly $300,000.
  

Ready to Learn More About the Power of Spreadsheet Conversion?

Join key life insurance actuarial leaders as they share best practices for partnering with IT to break the implementation logjams that can impede rapid, efficient transformation initiatives. 

Our expert panel, hosted by Nancy Bush, Lead Insurance Solution Engineer at Coherent, consists of:

• Ben Farnsworth, Managing Director, Actuarial Advisory at KPMG 
• Brenna Gardino, FSA, MAAA, FLMI; Principal & Director of Consulting at Actuarial Resources Corporation
• Sean Hayward, FSA, CFA, MAAA and GTM Lead at Coherent 

Register now to reserve your spot for a great conversation about what can happen when you bring actuaries and IT together.   

And be sure not to miss our upcoming blogs on the other 2C’s – control and connect.

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