Meet the customer
AmeriBen manages healthcare benefits for hundreds of employer groups across the United States. With millions of claims processed annually, AmeriBen’s ability to deliver timely, accurate data to clients is more than a technical requirement: it’s a business imperative.
To meet growing demands for speed, scale, and reliability, AmeriBen turned to Software AG’s CONNX. What began as a tactical integration project has evolved into a strategic partnership underpinning the company’s core operations and supporting its long-term modernization roadmap.
Desafios
- Legacy adjudication system (GBAS) built on OpenVMS architecture
- Increasing demand for real-time data delivery and reporting
- Strict SLA requirements with financial penalties for delays
- Need to modernize infrastructure without disrupting operations
Resultados
- Operational continuity: DataSync runs nightly, 365 days a year, with near-zero failure
- Performance gains: Sync times for large tables reduced by up to 87%
- SLA compliance: Reliable data delivery ensures AmeriBen meets contractual obligations
- Scalable growth: Thousands of jobs and hundreds of reports are now automated
- Strategic flexibility: AmeriBen can adapt quickly to new reporting needs and infrastructure changes
Solução
- ACONNX DataSync—for nightly synchronization of over 3.8 billion rows from GBAS to SQL
- CONNX Fast I/O Logic—for performance optimization
- VisualCron—for job orchestration and automation
- Custom stored procedures—for post-sync processing and reporting
“CONNX is the transmission that powers our claims engine. Without it, we wouldn’t be able to operate.”
Tim Kathan, Data Architect, AmeriBen
High-volume data processing at 8x speed
AmeriBen, aiming to deliver exceptional service through accurate and timely data, faced increasing complexity in its data operations as the company scaled. Their established GBAS adjudication system, while reliable, was not designed for the modern volume and velocity of healthcare data. To support current demands, including processing billions of rows nightly, and enable future innovations like real-time analytics and cloud-based platforms, AmeriBen required a solution capable of moving data from GBAS into modern, scalable SQL environments both reliably and securely.
After evaluating several options, including a proof of concept with Attunity (now part of Qlik), AmeriBen chose Software AG’s CONNX DataSync. The decision was based not only on technical capabilities, but on Software AG’s deep expertise in OpenVMS and proven track record of supporting complex, high-volume environments.
The implementation of CONNX marked a turning point. AmeriBen began by using DataSync to extract and transform data from GBAS into SQL Server. Over time, the solution evolved into a fully automated data pipeline that now processes over 3.8 billion rows every night. “The fast I/O logic was a game changer for AmeriBen overnight,” Tim Kathan, Data Architect at AmeriBen, explains. “We went from a table taking eight hours to just one hour.”
Trust, reliability, and resilience
The transformation wasn’t just about technology—it was about trust. AmeriBen’s data operations team worked closely with Software AG’s CONNX experts to tailor the solution to their unique environment. This included custom stored procedures, job orchestration via VisualCron, and the creation of a mini-GBAS SQL environment that mirrors production data for reporting and analytics. The result is a system that not only meets today’s needs but is built to scale with AmeriBen’s growth. As Tim says, CONNX is as robust as it is capable: “Our DataSync transfer rates and process flows have run very smoothly every single night for many years.”
AmeriBen’s data team also gained greater visibility and control over nightly operations. With CONNX’s robust logging and alerting capabilities, issues are identified and resolved proactively, often before they impact business users. The solution has become a cornerstone of AmeriBen’s data governance strategy.
CONNX powers AmeriBen’s mini-GBAS environments: SQL-based replicas of the adjudication system used for reporting, analytics, and downstream processing. These environments support thousands of scheduled jobs, hundreds of custom reports, and real-time dashboards via Power BI.
The system is designed for resilience. DataSync runs nightly, 365 days a year, with near-zero failure. When issues do arise, they’re typically external, and CONNX is often the first to detect and alert the team. It’s proved to be more than just another tech implementation—CONNX has become an invaluable part of AmeriBen’s infrastructure. “CONNX is the transmission that powers our claims engine,” explains Kathan. “Even if we moved to a new adjudication system, we’d still need CONNX.”
Looking Ahead
AmeriBen is preparing for the next phase of its modernization journey. The company plans to extend the usage of CONNX to further improve replication. It will also virtualize its GBAS environment, eliminating the need for tape backups and significantly improving disaster recovery capabilities.
In addition, AmeriBen intends to expand its environments to support more agile development and testing processes, creating greater flexibility for innovation. Finally, the organization will integrate with the United Data Platform (UDP), unlocking enterprise-wide analytics and paving the way for advanced insights across the business.