InterGlobal is an international health insurance provider, plan administrator and claims handler. The company specialises in providing extensive medical insurance protection in over 180 countries for expatriates, those travelling abroad for long periods and international businesses. As its name suggests, InterGlobal is a worldwide operation, working through eight localised regional offices and an extensive network of independent intermediaries.

Like any company operating on a global scale, InterGlobal requires the very best technologies and IT solutions to maintain operational efficiency and create consistent customer service levels. Recently, InterGlobal chose to implement Actisure, a dedicated private medical insurance software solution, across the entire enterprise. “With an ever expanding number of regional offices, we needed to introduce a more cohesive approach to our IT systems and bring them together onto a common software platform,” explains Eden Barratt, Director of Finance at InterGlobal.

Activus specialises in software, technology and management solutions to improve business performance. Actisure is the company’s flagship product, delivering a complete customer management and administration solution for the protection insurance market. Specifically designed to support insurance companies with SME clients, Actisure manages the complete policy lifecycle and contains a comprehensive pallet of features tailor made for the protection insurance environment.

“We operate in quite a niche market,” explains Barratt. “There are plenty of general Customer Relationship Management software solutions available, but none offer the specialist features we were looking for. We had been getting by with a bespoke in-house system, but it wasn’t scaleable enough to cope with our business development plans. Actisure offers exactly the market-specific features we’ve been looking for, and will enable us to manage our CRM processes far more effectively now and into the future.”

Having decided on the most appropriate and effective software solution, Barratt and his finance team had to decide the best way to pay for the implementation. “We tend to vary our payment methods, depending on the size of the item in question,” explains Barratt. “For this project, we considered everything from cash purchase to shareholder loans, but soon decided that leasing was the most appropriate option.”

Leasing offered InterGlobal a range of financial benefits, including tax advantages, the ability to pay over time and to implement the solution immediately without disrupting cashflow or creating a financial shortfall. Having selected leasing as the best solution, Barratt was naturally keen to find a finance provider that offered not just the best rates, but also one that understood InterGlobal’s technology requirements and would keep the project on track by delivering funds on time.

“The Syscap recommendation came from an IT consultant we were using in our London office,” says Barratt. “He had worked with Syscap before and advised us to contact them about raising the necessary finance.” As a specialist IT finance provider, Syscap has an in-depth understanding of the challenges and pressures associated with large-scale software implementation, and is one of a few finance providers to offer lease agreements on software and intangibles such as training and support. Syscap works with clients to provide appropriate and flexible payment structures designed to deliver demonstrable return on investment from day one of implementation.

Barratt arranged to visit Syscap at the company’s head office in Wimbledon, London. “As the main accountant here at InterGlobal, I understand most of the tax and financial advantages of leasing,” he says. “But I wanted an opportunity to talk to Syscap about the project we were planning, the benefits it was going to bring us and of course the best way to finance it.” At this stage, Barratt and his team were still comparing finance providers, but it soon became apparent that Syscap was right for the job. “Syscap came up with a flexible finance package with competitive rates, so we decided to go ahead.”

The implementation of Actisure at InterGlobal began in December 2005 and is expected to be a ten-month project. Crucially for Barratt, Syscap ensures that the invoices from Activus are settled on time, so there is no delay to the project through unpaid bills or financial hiccups. “As a medical insurance provider, our customers trust us to release funds as soon as possible,” says Barratt. “We expect the same level of service from our finance provider and Syscap have never let us down.”

InterGlobal is a growing business, sustaining profit and financial growth during this significant expansion programme is Barratt’s number one priority during this period: “If we were looking to make another significant IT acquisition we would definitely ask Syscap to quote. I’m sure they would come up with some useful figures and suggestions to enable us to finance our chosen technology solutions without compromising our profits and business development plans.”