Issue link: https://resources.axway.com/i/1472523
axway.com 2 Preparing for transformation After evaluating the current state of its IT landscape and identifying the changes required to reach the target capabilities, Groupe Henner determined that replacing Henner Net outright would be prohibitively complex, costly, and disruptive to business users. Girardeau continues, "Our legacy systems control our core business processes, and we knew that they would be absolutely essential to delivering the new digital services. At the same time, these systems were fundamentally at odds with the latest web-services architectures and cloud platforms that we were going to use to build the new capabilities. "To solve the challenge, we wanted a way to continue to use Henner Net behind the scenes while developing the new applications in a separate infrastructure layer. We were confident that embracing an API-driven architecture would enable us to achieve the goal, and we set out to find an enterprise-class solution." Embracing API services After evaluating a number of leading API solutions, Groupe Henner selected Amplify API Management Platform as the basis for its new API gateway. "One of our key business areas is our brokerage business, which creates an acute need for us to share timely data with our insurance partners to enable their online customer services," explains Girardeau. "When it came to selecting an API platform, we wanted a solution that would scale to support our digital ambitions, without compromising on performance or information security. "With the Amplify platform, we have a single, central platform to manage the entire API lifecycle: from development and testing to ongoing management and usage analytics. We also appreciated the fact that we could deploy the AMPLIFY platform on-premises first, and transition to the cloud when we are ready." Accelerating the deployment In just 18 months, Groupe Henner has moved its ambitious transformation plan from the drawing board to the data center. In parallel to deploying the Amplify platform, the company has formed a brand-new architecture team within its infrastructure services department. The new team has a mandate to explore and embed new practices and methodologies into the company's IT approach, including DevOps, agile and cloud. "In under two years, we have truly embraced the transformative potential of API-driven services," continues Girardeau. "By using the Amplify platform as an integration layer between our back-office applications, our new web services, and our insurance partners' systems, we can innovate our offering without making complex, costly and time-consuming changes to Henner Net behind the scenes." When it came to selecting an API platform, we wanted a solution that would scale to support our digital ambitions, without compromising on performance or information security. Frédéric Girardeau, Direction Systèmes d'Information, Responsable du Domaine Solution Middle-Office, Groupe Henner