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Case Studies
Proof of Concept Confirms Excel Services Implementation as a Viable Solution for Large Reinsurer
Project at a Glance |
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RDA, in collaboration with Microsoft, substantiated the integration of Excel Services with SharePoint 2007 as a viable enterprise-wide solution for our client to access and analyze data in a secure environment and leverage existing data with minimal support from IT. |
About Our Client
RDA's client is a holding company that provides life and annuity reinsurance solutions in more than 45 countries throughout the world through its operating subsidiaries. The company has grown to be one of the 10 largest life reinsurers serving the U.S. market.
Background
RDA and the Microsoft Office 12 RDP team engaged with our client in an effort to demonstrate via Proof-of-Concept (POC) the 2007 Microsoft Office System targeting the integration of Excel Services with SharePoint 2007. The POC enabled this client to analyze the benefits of Office 12 and the use of Excel and Excel Services as an enterprise-wide solution.
The goals of this POC project were to address the following questions:- Is Excel/Excel Services a viable solution for this company as an enterprise wide solution?
- Can Excel 2007 along with SharePoint 2007 provide a common platform from which users can access data and analyze data through publishing, sharing and communicating with other line of business (LOB) users in a secure environment?
- Is Excel Services and SharePoint 2007 capable of leveraging existing OLAP data directly to the LOB user with minimal support from IT?
Solution Detail
RDA and Microsoft addressed the following specific technical issues as part of the analysis effort:- Spreadsheet Template Portal: A repository (document library) for representative spreadsheet templates with secure access was developed.
- Candidate Spreadsheet: A representative spreadsheet template based on an existing Excel 2003 version was ported to Excel 2007 and integrated with Sharepoint 2007 to demonstrate the integration with Analysis Services.
- A series of Data Connections were published in the Data Connection Library and accessed through the Candidate Spreadsheet.
- Published Results: A subset of the spreadsheet was published to a second document library for web-access in a secure fashion by a specific group of users.
- Audit trail: A report of list of events detailing access to the spreadsheets listed above was integrated into the proofed solution.
Benefits
A top-level RDP site developed for this POC demonstrated:- Excel/Excel Services is a viable enterprise-wide solution.
- Users can access and analyze data in a secure environment with Excel 2007 and SharePoint 2007 on a common platform.
- Excel 2007 and SharePoint 2007 are capable of leveraging the existing OLAP data directly with minimal IT support required.
