- Web-based SaaS “Meine Pension” for private end clients in Germany
- Multi-insurer pension and insurance calculators with unified UX
- Proposal and contract management in a single online workspace
- Built on Java, Tomcat, Hibernate, Struts, JSP, MySQL
- Delivery timeframe: 2006–2007
- Team: 1 PM, 5 Developers, 2 QA Engineers
VData Software-Entwicklung GmbH (VData GmbH) was a Munich-based software and consulting company focused on solutions for pension and insurance providers. The company operated as a German GmbH specializing in computer programming and bespoke software development.
Founded in the mid-1990s (officially established in 1996), VData has built a long-standing niche as “Ihr Software- und Beratungshaus rund um die Vorsorge” (“your software and consulting house around pension provision”), emphasizing digital tools for retirement and insurance planning.
- Fragmented tools per insurer: Each insurance company provided its own desktop tools, spreadsheets, or calculators, forcing advisors to switch between systems and making it hard for end customers to understand and compare offers
- Limited digital self-service for end clients: Most pension and insurance interactions were still handled offline through agents or paper forms. VData wanted to offer a direct, web-based channel where clients could run scenarios and start the advisory process themselves
- Manual proposal and contract management: Proposal creation, document generation, and contract tracking involved a lot of manual work, leading to slow turnaround times and higher operational risk (typos, missing data, outdated tariffs)
- Need to leverage web technologies early: VData was an early mover in web-based insurance solutions and needed a robust, Java-based architecture suitable for continuous evolution and integration with various insurer systems and calculation engines
- Unified web portal for pension and insurance products: Single entry point for German end customers to calculate pension and insurance benefits, compare scenarios, and submit requests; Common UX layer that hides differences between individual insurers’ calculators and product logic
- Multi-insurer calculator integration: Integration of several insurance calculators from different German insurance companies into one coherent interface; Standardized input forms (age, salary, contribution level, risk profile, etc.) with a normalization layer that maps data to each insurer’s calculation model;'Output harmonization so users can easily compare projected pensions, premiums, and coverage levels side by side
- Proposal & contract management module: Guided flows that turn a calculation into a structured proposal, with validation of mandatory data and tariff constraints; Automated generation of proposal and contract documents (PDF/printable) based on templates and insurer-specific wording; Basic workflow support for status tracking (draft → submitted → accepted → active policy), enabling both agents and back office to monitor progress
- Robust Java web architecture: Layered architecture separating presentation, business logic, and persistence to ease long-term maintenance and onboarding of new insurers; Use of Hibernate for mapping complex insurance entities (policies, tariffs, contracts, customer profiles) to a normalized MySQL schema; Struts-based MVC to manage multi-step wizards for calculations and proposal creation
- Quality assurance & collaboration with VData: 1 dedicated PM coordinating requirements with VData’s product and domain experts; 2 QA engineers building regression test suites around key calculation and workflow scenarios; Close cooperation with VData’s internal team to validate business rules for pension and insurance products and to ensure compliance with German market practices.
Modern digital channel for pension planning
VData expanded from pure back-office and professional tools into a customer-facing SaaS platform, reinforcing its positioning as a specialized software and consulting house for pension provision.
Higher efficiency for advisors and back office
A single platform and standardized data entry significantly reduced repeated data input and manual document generation, enabling staff to handle more requests with the same team size.
Improved transparency for end customers
End users gained the ability to simulate different pension and insurance scenarios online, compare options from several insurers, and proceed directly to a proposal – making complex products easier to understand and more tangible.
Foundation for future digital products
The Java/Tomcat/Hibernate/Struts architecture and modular calculator integration gave VData a reusable platform to add new products, insurers, and distribution partners in later phases without starting from scratch.
- 1 Project Manager
- 5 Java Developers
- 2 QA Engineers