Improve your offering by modernising Portima, Brio and Telebib2
The relationship between insurers and brokers is vital to success in the insurance industry, with Portima, Brio, and Telebib2 playing a key role in facilitating this collaboration. These integrations have long served as the backbone for communication and operational processes between insurers and their brokers, but they are now outdated. In today’s rapidly digitalising world, it is crucial to modernise these technologies to improve efficiency, speed, and service across the broker channel. Mattijs Augustijnen, Manager of Technology Consulting at thewave, underscores how thewave, as a leading digital consultancy, is poised to assist insurers in this critical IT transformation. “Now is the time to invest in modern, future-proof IT solutions. By upgrading and modernizing data integrations, insurers can not only provide faster and more accurate service to their brokers but also strengthen their market position and promote new product offerings.”
Portima, a key IT service provider in the Belgian insurance sector, offers shared technological solutions to support both insurance brokers and companies. Its solutions are widely used for managing policies, processing claims, exchanging data and handling other core insurance functions between brokers and insurers. Over the years, Portima has played a central role in the digitisation of Belgium’s insurance industry. However, like many long-standing systems, it now faces increasing challenges due to its aging infrastructure.
Brio, one of Portima’s main offerings, was designed to streamline the day-to-day activities of brokers, providing essential tools for customer relationship management (CRM), policy handling, claims processing, and reporting. Telebib2, the standardised data model for the Belgian insurance sector, facilitates data exchange through protocols such as the older EDIFACT and the newer JSON standard. The advantages of JSON, including enhanced readability and flexibility, better meet today’s needs for efficient data communication between insurers and brokers. While these systems have been fundamental to the industry, their legacy architecture is becoming a barrier to innovation and agility, highlighting the urgent need for transformation.
Significant challenges
In recent years, thewave has built an impressive track record in facilitating and guiding the modernisation of these integrations within insurance companies. We have supported multiple clients in setting up or expanding their integration with Portima – sometimes from scratch. In 2018, thewave achieved a milestone by being the first to successfully integrate a “branch-44” product for Nationale Nederlanden (NN) into a Portima message using a Telebib2 structure. However, while such older technologies can still be utilised for new API integrations, they are not future-proof solutions—only a few IT veterans remain familiar with these outdated principles.
Many insurance companies continue to face significant challenges in modernising their IT landscapes, including applications and integration capabilities, and a Portima integration can always be part of this journey. It is in every insurer’s best interest to facilitate their brokers as effectively as possible, encouraging them to choose their products. Beyond a competitive commission-based remuneration system, the ease of working with a platform is often a decisive factor for brokers when selecting a company for their clients. A performant external interface with Portima is undoubtedly an asset in this regard.
A deep understanding of technology and industry
At thewave, we understand the intricacies of the insurance industry and the unique challenges posed by aging systems. Our approach to modernisation goes beyond merely updating technology: it’s about transforming the way insurers operate, interact with brokers, and serve their clients. The modernisation of Portima is a multi-faceted process that requires a deep understanding of both the existing system and the future needs of the insurance industry. We specialise in transitioning legacy systems to more agile, cloud-based architectures. By leveraging microservices and API-driven development, we ensure that Portima integrates seamlessly with other modern technologies and platforms.
Our team also focuses on enhancing the user interface and user experience (UI/UX) of Portima’s applications. Insurance brokers need tools that are not only powerful, but also intuitive and user-friendly. Through user-centered design, we create interfaces that streamline workflows, reduce training time, and improve overall productivity.
Improve service offerings
With our expertise in setting up Portima integrations and data exchanges following the Telebib2 standard, we help insurers enhance their operations, improve their service offerings, and stay ahead of the competition. Whether you’re looking to upgrade your existing infrastructure or embark on a full-scale digital transformation, thewave has the knowledge and experience to guide you every step of the way.
Ready to discover how thewave can facilitate your integration with Portima and drive your growth? Let's connect and explore how we can tailor our expertise to your unique needs.
Contact us at mattijs.augustijnen@thewave.tech and let's make your business digitally fit for success.
