Willis Group Holdings plc is a leading global insurance broker with 400 offices in 120 countries. The firm delivers a full range of professional insurance, reinsurance, risk management, financial consulting, human resource and actuarial services to corporations, public entities and institutions around the world.

Risk is an inevitable factor in any enterprise. Yet, for large multi-national organisations and businesses with global supply chains, understanding and managing that risk can be hugely complicated. Risk managers need to be able to assess hundreds of factors, ranging from the political stability of a country to the probability of an earthquake – at dozens of international locations – and then act upon them.

Willis supplies its corporate clients with a wealth of information and analysis to help them identify and manage global risks, including (but not limited to) climatic disasters, volcanic activity and political unrest. Until recently, this information was provided in PDF-format reports; however, clients sometimes found it difficult to aggregate this knowledge and analyse all the information at their disposal.

“There was a pressing need within our business to improve the service we offered to our clients by developing a smarter way to deliver all the intellectual capital and knowledge held within our global analytics department,” says Nick Charteris, Engineering Team Manager, Construction, Property & Casualty, Willis.

Willis decided to harness Geographic Information System (GIS) technology within a solution that would allow its clients to review asset information and the risks associated with each asset. Interactive global maps and spatial analysis are an integral part of the overall platform. Named Atlas, the solution was developed in-house by Willis, with support from Esri UK and Esri Inc, using Esri’s ArcGIS Server and ArcGIS Online software.

For each new client, Willis loads location-based data specific to the client’s own business into Atlas and integrates it with its own vast reserves of risk management information and analytical power. Clients can therefore search for, view and evaluate both internal and external information at the same time, via a single easy-to-use application. Only named users, with discrete login details, can access a client’s data, so sensitive information is kept secure.

Using Atlas, Willis’ clients can gain a far deeper understanding of their global risk profile, not only at their own business sites, but at partner and supplier sites and strategic locations throughout their entire supply chains. “Our clients can investigate their supply chains visually on a map to get new insight into risks that they might not have been aware of before,” says Nigel Davis, Executive Director Platforms, Willis.

With improved awareness of risk, Willis’ clients can then implement more pro-active measures to protect their businesses. Charteris explains, “With a better understanding of potential threats across multiple geographies, our clients can manage risk more effectively and take steps to minimise potential losses.”

For example, Atlas allows clients to monitor the path of an active tropical storm and to identify property and business operations that might be impacted. Clients can then respond quickly to put measures in place to protect these assets in order to reduce the financial losses that might occur through property damage and business disruption.

As a web-based solution, Atlas can be accessed by clients outside their offices, using their home computers, laptops or tablets. Consequently, managers who are travelling to overseas factories or visiting potential new suppliers can access risk data on demand to help make strategic decisions. Davis says, “Risk data can be used to inform day-to-day business operations rather than just annual reporting and that helps to reduce risk.”

In addition, use of the Atlas solution could potentially pave the way for clients to obtain more cost-effective insurance premiums. When they renew their corporate insurance, they will be able to provide accurate location-specific information which can be used to create a comprehensive risk assessment. “Atlas can help clients become more attractive propositions in the insurance market,” says Charteris. “With accurate risk profiles, we can help broker their risk to insurers, and drive better value for them.”

An added advantage of the solution is that it provides organisations with better control over who has access to risk management information. It is no longer possible for employees to forward PDF documents to other (internal or external) recipients by email; instead only authorised users can log into Atlas to view and analyse potentially sensitive risk data.

As well as benefiting clients, Atlas has also created efficiencies within Willis’ own business. The solution is integrated into core workflows and provides a central repository for data. Charteris says: “Atlas is becoming a single source of truth for our risk analytics intelligence.”