Weaving Data into Intelligence with Microsoft Fabric for a Renowned U.S. Insurer

This wasn’t just a technology upgrade—it was the foundation for becoming a truly software-defined business. By reshaping core processes around modern digital tools and automation, we empowered the client to use data and software as strategic assets that drive agility and innovation. 

Meet the Client: A Mid-Market Insurance Innovator 

Our client is a U.S.-based company specializing in property and casualty insurance for small to mid-sized businesses. With a reputation for tailored insurance solutions and sound risk management, the client was ready to take their business intelligence and analytics capabilities to the next level for even better customer service and smarter operational decisions. 

Their Growing Pains: When Legacy Tools Hold You Back 

As the client grew, so did their data complexity. Their existing on-premise systems—anchored by SQL Data Warehouse and legacy tools like Qlik—became cumbersome. Here’s what kept their data and reporting teams up at night: 

• Data Silos: Data scattered across systems like AS400, SQL Server, and Qlik made integration a headache. 
• Outdated Reporting: Relying on static reports (PDFs, Excel exports, SSMS outputs) slowed down insights. 
• Slow & Costly Processing: Daily and monthly reports often took up to 24 hours, and system downtime was a regular concern. 
• Parameterization Woes: Tailoring reports for various pricing and business segments was a struggle. 
• Rising Costs & Maintenance Overhead: Multiple systems meant high TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) and significant IT resource drain. 

Simply put: Our client needed a future-ready, consolidated analytics solution—fast. 

Xoriant’s Game Plan: A Modern Makeover with Microsoft Fabric 

We partnered with the client to design and implement a scalable, cloud-first analytics solution using Microsoft Fabric. But this wasn’t just a technology upgrade—it was the foundation for becoming a truly software-defined business. By reshaping core processes around modern digital tools and automation, we empowered the client to use data and software as strategic assets that drive agility and innovation. 

Here’s how we made a difference: 

• Unified Data Lake: All data sources, from AS400 to SQL, were brought into Microsoft Fabric’s OneLake, establishing a single source of truth. 
• Modern Medallion Architecture: Data was structured in Bronze (raw), Silver (cleaned), and Gold (aggregated, ready-for-insights) layers, enabling flexible processing and trusted analytics. 
• Power BI Transformation: Old SSRS and static reports were rebuilt as dynamic, interactive Power BI dashboards, making reports not just informative, but actionable. 
• Automated, Near Real-Time Pipelines: Fabric pipelines, Spark notebooks, and Data Factory ensured data moved seamlessly—and automatically—from source to report-ready. 
• Self-Service for Business Teams: With semantic models in Power BI, actuaries and finance users could now slice, dice, and explore data on their own—no more waiting on IT! 

The Results: Real Business Value, Fast 

The impact of this transformation was anything but subtle: 

• Dramatic TCO Reduction: Annual costs dropped by approximately 40-45%, from ~$85,000 to $60,000, reflecting both technology savings and streamlined operations. 
• Time-to-Insight Slashed: Data processing times for reports fell from 24 hours to just 3 hours. Report deployment cycles shrank from 3 weeks to only 1 week. 
• Boosted Reliability: System downtime was drastically reduced—2 hours a week became just 2 hours a month. 
• Business Agility & Continuity: Shifting from CapEx-heavy infrastructure to an OpEx cloud model allowed the client to scale quickly and manage cash flow predictably. 
• Empowered Business Users: Self-service BI tools freed up the data team and accelerated report creation—putting insights directly in the hands of business decision-makers. 
• Future-Ready Platform: Ongoing enhancements, including more finance reports and broader roll-out of self-service KPIs, keep the client well ahead of data-driven competitors. 

In Summary 

By working closely together with the client, Xoriant replaced legacy bottlenecks with a modern, Microsoft-powered analytics hub—transforming raw data into strategic business advantage. Now, their teams spend less time wrangling data and more time gaining the insights they need to win in the competitive insurance market. 

Technology Stack: Microsoft Fabric