Control of critical data flows : Automated monitoring of insurance data

Abstract: EU insurance companies work on implementing the Solvency II directive, which calls for stronger focus on data quality and information controls. Information controls are procedures that can validate data at rest and data in motion to detect errors and anomalies. In this master thesis a case study was carried out at AMF, a Swedish pension insurance company, to identify and investigate their critical data flows and the controls performed in the respective flows. A purpose of this project is to help AMF ensure data quality requirements from the Financial Supervisory Authority that they have to fulfill. The thesis was conducted at AMF between September and December 2015, and included tasks such as carrying out interviews, Enterprise Architecture modeling, analysis, prototyping, product evaluation and calculation of a business case.  A gap analysis was carried out to analyze the needs for change regarding existing information controls at AMF, where different states of the company are documented and analyzed. The current state corresponds to the present situation at the company including attributes to be improved while the future state outlines the target condition that the company wants to achieve. A gap between the current state and future state is identified and elements that make up the gap are presented in the gap description. Lastly, possible remedies for bridging the gap between the current and future state are presented.  Furthermore, a prototype of an automated control tool from a company called Infogix has been implemented and analyzed regarding usability, governance and cost.  A benefits evaluation was carried out on the information control tool to see whether an investment would be beneficial for AMF. The benefit evaluation was carried out using the PENG method, a Swedish model developed by three senior consultants that has been specially adjusted for evaluation of IT investments. The evaluation showed that such an investment would become beneficial during the second year after investment.