MEGA manages IT systems evolution for company merger

Published 30th June 2009

London – June 30, 2009 – For immediate release:

MEGA, which has provided enterprise architecture (EA) and business process analysis (BPA) solutions for nearly 20 years, is helping plan the convergence of the IT systems of IONIS and APRI during their merger.

The new company, Aprionis, is consolidating the two separate IT systems as the companies merge into a single entity. This consolidation will provide efficiencies by eliminating redundant applications, processes, and efforts, and will provide cost-savings to the new unified company.

When IONIS established a dedicated IT management division in 2003, the company chose the MEGA Modeling Suite for a project to rationalise IT assets and streamline processes, in order to adapt a future growth path through an IT blueprint. Before, IONIS had used office tools such as Excel, Word, and Visio to track their IT systems.

“The limitation of these office tools was quickly apparent, especially with the updating and maintenance of information. We felt the need to offer improved services to better meet stakeholder expectations and to ensure the quality of the information that can be found in a repository,” said Jean-Yves Murzin, Aprionis Group.

MEGA was selected because of the common repository, which responds to issues such as maintenance, coherence, output and information sharing among different IT and business process teams. With the MEGA Modeling Suite, IONIS could create a dedicated IT repository and describe the complete IT environment of the company.

MEGA Architecture was used to model and create a common data modelling environment for application maps, information flows between applications, technical infrastructure such as networks and servers, and application security information

“Because we knew exactly what we wanted, and thanks to MEGA’s flexibility, we were able to complete our project in only 6 months,” commented Murzin.

The project was completed in five phases:

• Initial planning, focused on identifying the requirements and ‘as-is’ scenario analysis;
• Creation of the repository using the existing one as well as the meta-model set-up, and the creation of a pilot project in the social security group;
• Creation of documents by domain, by infrastructure, and summary;
• Launch of a web site integrated with the company’s intranet that allows non-confidential information to be browsed;
• Deployment.

In addition to providing the advanced software tools, an expert MEGA consultant helped IONIS carry out the project.

“His experience with such types of projects, his modelling expertise, and his methodology input were real advantages in completing the project efficiently and on-time,” added Murzin. “The MEGA training and sharing of best practices were also essential, allowing our project leader to create internal training adapted to the different users involved.”

The IONIS project and the MEGA repository have been an important asset to help speed up the merger of APRI and IONIS. In addition to the time saved on the convergence project, the earlier IONIS project won much valued professional credibility within the new Aprionis Group.

ABOUT APRIONIS
Aprionis provides social protection, such as personal retirement contributions, personal insurance, income savings, financial management, and third-party financial management. The group covers 250,000 enterprises and 5 million individuals, 1.4 million of which are retired. In January 2009, APRI and IONIS merged to form the Aprionis Group. Aprionis is composed of all divisions and professions that were part of APRI and IONIS. The group has 2,723 employees, spread over 24 cities across France.

ABOUT MEGA
MEGA provides enterprise architecture, business process analysis, and governance, risk, and compliance solutions, with 70,000 users worldwide. European customers include Allianz, AXA, British American Tobacco, Direct TV, LCL Le Crédit Lyonnais, Renault Nissan, Société Générale and Unicredit. www.mega.com

ENDS

More information from:

Julie Boulanger
MEGA
Telephone: +44 (0)20 8323 8033
E-mail: jboulanger@mega.com
Web: www.mega.com

Pattison Mitchell & Associates
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7924 7700
E-mail: ptml@btinternet.com