How a Global Insurance Brokerage Built a Repeatable Model for Agility and Growth

Discover how one of the world’s largest insurance brokerages modernized how work gets done while scaling through constant change.

Amid frequent mergers and acquisitions, the CIO of a global insurance brokerage and risk management services company saw an opportunity to streamline how the entire organization planned, delivered, and prioritized work. Disconnected tools, limited visibility, and immature resource management made it difficult to understand capacity, align work with strategy, and move efficiently during periods of change. Without a common operating view, decision-making slowed just as the business demanded greater speed and coordination.

The company implemented Planview as a connected platform for portfolio planning, execution, and collaboration. Leaders achieved enterprise-wide visibility into priorities, progress, and capacity. “What impressed us most was how quickly they were able to bring structure to a very complex and high-velocity environment,” says a Planview account manager. “By consolidating tools, they created clarity across strategy, delivery, and resources at scale.”

Founded nearly a century ago, this global insurance brokerage and risk management services firm supports clients spanning a wide range of industries and operates in dozens of countries. The organization is known for its disciplined and ambitious approach to mergers and acquisitions. It continues to grow rapidly while investing in technology and operating models that improve efficiency, transparency, and long-term value delivery.

As the company expanded, teams across countries and divisions relied on a patchwork of disconnected tools, including spreadsheets, work management software, and department-specific solutions, to manage their work. These tools fostered independence, but they limited collaboration and leadership’s ability to see work holistically, understand resource capacity, or confidently prioritize new initiatives.

Mergers and acquisitions added further complexity. Newly acquired organizations arrived with their own systems and ways of working, making integration slow and resource-intensive. The lengthy process of integrating different systems and workflows delayed the benefits of acquisitions and put additional pressure on teams that were already at capacity.

At the same time, the ePMO leader recognized an opportunity to modernize how work was delivered. Much of the insurance industry still operates with a traditional, project-based mindset, focused on fixed scope, sequential delivery, and start-stop initiatives. The firm wanted to move beyond that model toward a more flexible, outcome-oriented approach that could adapt to changing business priorities and strategies.

To succeed, they needed a comprehensive solution to unify end-to-end implementation across methodologies and business units, mature resource management practices, and support change at enterprise scale.

The company adopted Planview as its shared system of record for managing work. Since then, portfolio leaders have gained visibility into initiatives, priorities, and investments using Planview Portfolios. Teams now work collaboratively, prioritizing outcomes, identifying bottlenecks, and adjusting direction as business needs evolve.

Rather than forcing a single way of working, teams have the freedom to operate using traditional, agile, or hybrid approaches, while still rolling up into a consistent enterprise view. This flexibility advances the organization's evolution from managing work as discrete projects to managing ongoing product value streams.

In one major acquisition, the firm migrated all users from their old environment to Planview in just two weeks with seamless access. They used Planview's AI-powered collaborative work management platform as their standard execution environment to track every step of the process. The entire transition, including the ERP, took less than six months, which was far more efficient than industry norms, allowing the company to realize value quickly while minimizing team disruptions.

"They had a team come in to manage the transition without any configuration overhaul or extensive user training, just a few quick videos from the Planview library and some internal office hours," says a Planview account manager. "This shows how easy Planview is to implement and use, even in complex environments."

Resource management was intentionally designed as a core component of the solution, particularly as mergers and acquisitions continually add organizational depth. With an acquisition strategy that brings new teams and priorities into the enterprise at a rapid pace, the firm found a solution that enables leaders to understand capacity and demand across an expanding footprint and plan work accordingly.

By establishing visibility into capacity versus demand, work is planned more deliberately. Teams can sequence initiatives based on priorities and available resources, evaluate new work using reliable data, and reduce the risk of overloading or duplicating effort as the organization grows.

The solution also embeds change management into day-to-day operations. By cultivating internal champions across portfolio management, IT, and delivery teams, the brokerage created a model where new teams can adopt shared practices quickly and consistently, making change a built-in capability rather than a one-time effort.

Since moving to Planview, the brokerage has achieved measurable improvements in visibility, efficiency, and delivery with less friction. Nearly 1,200 users across five divisions globally have adopted a consistent approach to managing work.

As part of this CIO-led transformation, the company shifted its focus from executing temporary projects to delivering continuous product value. "What began as roughly one percent of work managed as products in 2022 has grown to about 33 percent today, with a goal of reaching 50 percent by 2026," says a Planview account manager.

Now that leaders have clear line of sight into resources, assets, and opportunities, they can make outcome-based decisions that foster greater fiscal accountability and maximize capital efficiency. Teams are still doing the same work, but it's now fully aligned with outcomes and tied to strategic objectives. The entire enterprise is working towards the same goals using the same connected systems for sustained forward momentum.

The firm plans to continue expanding its use of Planview across all divisions and work types. With demonstrated success in accelerating acquisitions, leaders aim to improve resource management by gaining greater visibility into operations, including during mergers and acquisitions.

Standardized portfolio management powered by a flexible, connected platform helps the company navigate change more smoothly, integrate acquisitions faster, achieve business goals more reliably, and remain responsive in an increasingly competitive market.