MetLife Institutional Strategy - Functional Application Profile

MetLife Institutional Strategy Functional Survey

Application Name:*			Name of Respondent:*
If the application has not been defined in the MetLife Application Portfolio Review survey, please enter the information in that survey. (http://solutions.tact.com/metapps.nsf)				*-Required Information

PRODUCTS

Indicate PRODUCTS which are supported by this application (check all that apply):

Contingency
Contingency
Cross Enterprise
Billing
Broker Commissions
Case Installation
Contracts
Eligibility
Information Technology
Defined Contributions
401(k)
401(a)
401(b)
Finance
Finance

Insurance, Sales and Marketing
Dental
Disability
FEGLI
Group National Accounts
Group Regional Operations
Life
Long Term Care
Marketing
National Service Center
Vision
Voluntary

   Pensions and Asset Management
Pensions
SBR
   POMP
POMP
   Small Business Center
Individual Disability
SBC

Please provide a brief description of what this application's function is:

Question		Response
Business Functions
1.	What are the business functions that this application performs? Check all that apply.		1. Sales & Marketing Consumer	1a. Sales & Marketing Provider
			2. Proposal / Quoting Consumer	2a. Proposal / Quoting Provider
	Consumer: Utilizes a business function provided by another application Provider: Provides the business function with the application either for internal use or for consumption by another application		3. New Product Development Consumer	3a. New Product Development Provider
			4. Compensation & Commissions Consumer	4a. Compensation & Commissions Provider
			5. Underwriting Consumer	5a. Underwriting Provider
			6. Case Installation Consumer	6a. Case Installation Provider
			7. Case Administration Consumer	7a. Case Administration Provider
			8. Eligibility & Participant Record Keeping Consumer	8a. Eligibility & Participant Record Keeping Provider
			9. Claim Processing Consumer	9a. Claim Processing Provider
			10. Billing & Remittance Consumer	10a. Billing & Remittance Provider
			11. Reporting Consumer	11a. Reporting Provider
			12. Customer Service Consumer	12a. Customer Service Provider

2.	What would the impact on your business be if this application was web-enabled? Consider the impact on revenues for products supported by this application or on productivity. Some criteria to consider for web-enabled candidates: large user base; multiple sites; business-to-business external clients (vendors/suppliers); end client data entry.		0. The application is not appropriate for the web	1. No impact on sales or productivity
			2. Minimal impact on sales or productivity	3. Some impact on sales or productivity, but not critical
			4. Significant impact on sales or productivity	5. Great impact on sales or productivity

3.	How would your business be impacted if this application could support cross-selling your product to Institutional's customer base?		1 Not applicable; the function of the application is not appropriate for this kind of effort	2 Extremely difficult; the development time and costs would be prohibitive
			3 Difficult but not impossible to develop	4 Not difficult; the development time and costs would not be prohibitive and with some effort the application would be ready to support this effort
			5 Very easy; the application is ready to support this effort

4.	Is the application involved in first sale or second sale processing? First sale: Sale to a MetLife client. Second sale: Sale to a MetLife participant in a plan.
Application Assessment Maintainability
5.	How difficult is it to add additional functions or business processes to the application?		1. Extremely difficult; highly unstructured, no separation of presentation, business and data access logic	2. Difficult; little structure, little separation of presentation, business and data access logic
			3. Average; some structure, some separation of presentation, business and data access logic	4. Fairly simple; mostly structured, much separation of presentation, business and data access logic
			5. Easy; highly structured, presentation, business and data access logic are separate

6.	What percentage of your negotiated SLA line items will not be completed this year?
Data and Report Information Accuracy
7.	Indicate whether the application is considered to have accurate data.		1. Pervasive problems with data accuracy and/or considerable time and effort is spent cleaning up data	2. Frequent occurrences of wrong data
			3. Occasional problems with data accuracy	4. Rarely a problem, the data is relied upon
			5. Never a problem with data
Application Reliability
8.	How often does the application fail during use?		1. Failure rate is totally unacceptable	2. Frequently fails
			3. Occasionally fails	4. Rarely fails
			5. Never fails

9.	Is the application available when it is scheduled to be available?		1. Lack of availability is a major problem	2. Frequently unavailable
			3. Occasionally unavailable, could use improvement	4. Acceptable level of availability
			5. Always available
Scalability
10.	Do you anticipate a significant increase in the number of users within the next two years?

11.	What is the anticipated growth of the business area that this application supports?

12.	Do you anticipate needing the application more hours than are currently available?		1. No	2. Yes, could increase availability to 7x12
			3. Yes, could increase availability to 7x18	4. Yes, could increase availability to 5x18
			5. Yes, could increase availability to 7x24
Information Technology's Perspective on Business Application Assessment Mission Critical
13.	What is the impact on MetLife if this application is not available?		1. No Impact; Workarounds & alternatives are in place	2. Impact would be minimal; Some users may not have certain information but workarounds are in place
			3. Impact would be significant but workarounds are in place to mitigate the problem	4. Impact would be significant and there are no workarounds
			5. Impact would be disastrous; MetLife would be at risk if this application did not run
Meets Business Needs
14.	Indicate whether there are problems with non-routine processing. Consider how the application handles ad hoc requests or special runs for monthly, quarterly or annual processes.		1. Always a problem	2. Often a problem
			3. Occasionally a problem, could use improvement	4. Rarely a problem
			5. Never a problem, extremely reliable and smooth	0. Not applicable

15.	Rate the overall usefulness or value of this application in meeting business needs. Consider the comprehensiveness and suitability of processing and reporting functions performed by the application. Does the application currently satisfy a business purpose?		1. The application is useless and should be discarded	2. The application is of marginal value to the business, significant modifications are necessary to meet current requirements
			3. Minor adjustments to functionality are needed to meet requirements	4. The application meets current requirements and is considered valuable to the business
			5. The application meets current and anticipated future requirements and is considered extremely valuable to the business

16.	How easy is it to make enhancements to the application? Consider the application's track record for keeping pace with changes in the business environment. Are enhancements made frequently enough to satisfy business requirements?		1. Extremely difficult, existing functions quickly become obsolete and new functions cannot be added soon enough	2. Difficult, enhancements require long lead time and/or are very expensive
			3. The enhancement process is generally considered adequate, but it could be improved	4. The enhancement process is acceptable, most changes can be made in a reasonable amount of time with reasonable costs
			5. The enhancement process is excellent, when business rules or user requirements change the application responds quickly and efficiently to incorporate the new change
Meets Performance Needs
17.	Rate the adequacy of response time for the average transaction. Consider whether the response time is satisfactory in relation to business requirements. A transaction is an interactive display of a record		1. Response time is totally unacceptable	2. Frequently unacceptable
			3. Occasionally slow response time, needs some improvement	4. Acceptable
			5. Excellent	0. Not applicable

18.	Indicate your level of satisfaction with the quality and reliability of support services for this application. Consider timeliness of response and suitability of problem resolution (application team and/or the centralized help desk).		1. Extremely low level of satisfaction	2. Unsatisfied
			3. Neutral	4. Satisfied
			5. Extremely high level of satisfaction
User Interface Quality (Ease of Use)
19.	Rate the overall quality of the user interface. Consider whether there are too many or too few screens. Are field descriptions clear? Are abbreviations understandable? Are screens cluttered and confusing? Is it easy to navigate through the application? Do you like the look and feel of what you see?		1. People actively avoid the application because it is difficult to access and use	2. The application interfaces are cumbersome and/or confusing
			3. The application interfaces are generally considered adequate, but some areas could be improved	4. The application interfaces are acceptable
			5. The application interfaces are intuitive and easy to use	0. Not Applicable

20.	What amount of training is required in order to become proficient in using the application?		1. Considerable training and experience are required to use the application successfully. Application users may require a month or longer before they become proficient.	2. Two to three weeks of special training are required
			3. A week of special training is required	4. Several days of special training are required
			5. The application is intuitive and requires no special training	0. Not Applicable
Ease of Access (Is Application Effective?)
21.	Rate the ease of data entry (e.g., initial input, updates, etc.).		1 Data entry is extremely difficult	2 Data entry is difficult
			3 Data entry is generally considered adequate, even though some functions could be improved	4 The application provides acceptable data entry capabilities
			5 The data entry function is efficient and facilitates accurate data entry	0 Not Applicable

22.	Rate the ease of accessing and retrieving data (e.g. reports, views, queries, extracts, etc.).		1. Information is extremely difficult to retrieve	2. The data retrieval functions have minimal value because they are difficult to use
			3. Data retrieval is generally considered adequate, even though some functions could be improved	4. The application provides acceptable data retrieval capabilities
			5. The application provides easy access to information	0. Not Applicable
Value and Timeliness of Reporting
23.	Rate the overall value of the reports that are the output of this application. Consider whether the reports are appropriate, comprehensive, timely and useful. Are there too many or too few reports? Too much or too little information? Irrelevant data? Is the format understandable or confusing? Do the reports satisfy a business purpose? Does anyone use them?		1. Rarely use, of little or no value	2. Use occasionally, may need to make adjustments to either data or presentation. Often obtain needed information from other sources.
			3. Use frequently, but needs improvements to meet business requirements	4. Reports are useful
			5. Reports are highly valuable	0. Not applicable

24.	Indicate whether the application is considered to have timely data. Consider whether the data is current enough. Or is it considered stale data?		1 Data is so old, it cannot be relied upon	2 Often need to go elsewhere for more current data
			3 Usually data is timely, but sometimes need to use other sources	4 Data is timely, seldom need to use other sources
			5 Data always timely, never need to use other sources

25.	Please enter any comments regarding the business assessment of this application

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