Reforming business processes and the IT landscape

The UNIQA Group is starting the transformation of its business with a far-reaching renovation of its IT landscape, calling this the UNIQA Insurance Platform (UIP). It lays the foundation for a comprehensive re-design of the UNIQA business model. The UIP creates the necessary conditions for better satisfying the expectations and wishes of customers in future, which will change faster and more radically in an increasingly digital world. The UIP will soon send a fresh breeze through UNIQA’s IT landscape. Read about how it’s going, what’s needed, and why the IT system is required for remaining attractive against the competition.

Stable IT processes prevent breakdowns

Whenever an insurance contract is concluded today, hardly anyone thinks about the IT processes that run in almost real time in the background. A glance behind the curtain shows how complicated the network of various programmes truly is. “If a customer would like to know how much the premium is for a specific product, we have to take a lot of parameters into account, such as the customer’s creditworthiness, age, or how many of our insurance products they already hold. It’s a complex, multi-layered process,” says Erik Leyers, COO of the UNIQA Group.

It is clear that even a small breakdown in a critical IT system can have a major impact. “A robust IT system has the uppermost priority to ensure the seamless functioning of our daily business,” says Leyers. This is why intense work continues to minimise interruptions in business-critical systems, so-called major incidents. And with success. The IT systems at UNIQA have become measurably more stable in the past year.

Yet in comparison with the complete restructuring of the IT platform, it is business as usual. That is because ensuring high stability is one part of the largest project in UNIQA’s history: the general overhaul of the entire process and IT landscape.

New platform creates flexibility

“This project is designed to last for more than ten years and will put our business on a completely new foundation. To do this, we rely on standard products that help us become more efficient and agile. In an increasingly globalised world, these are the basic requirements for staying competitive. Digitalisation isn’t just blurring national boundaries; it is also completely transforming customer requirements and will continue to do so at a rapid tempo. The new UIP may not be the reinvention of space travel, but it will bring us unbelievably far forward,” says Leyers.

After comprehensive analyses, UNIQA decided to go with IBM Austria as its general contractor and integration partner. The subcontractors are msg life (Germany), innovas (Germany) and Guidewire (US).

The purpose of the new platform implementation is to create a uniform basic structure on which as many products as possible can be built in a modular manner. Leyers: “In the automobile industry, the platform idea was turned into a reality. The same basic components, for example floor panels or a chassis, are usedfor several models. This makes production more efficient, fasterand less expensive for customers. Development and innovation cycles were reduced in a major way.” This will also be the case in the insurance industry. In the end, customers will benefit the most from the investment. Erik Leyers puts it in concrete terms: “Only with a new IT platform can we offer our excellent products and services in the digital age, thereby keeping our promise to our customers for ‘Safer, better, longer living’.”

Preparations in full swing

The first product to be integrated into the new UIP will be presented to customers by mid-2018. “We are starting with unit-linked life insurance in the bank assurance segment in Austria. In addition, the ‘electronic documentation’ for the sales force will be ready for use by mid-2017”, says Leyers about the first steps, which are currently being implemented. This digitally supported tool helps sales advisers to approach their customers interactively and individually, and to understand their needs, requirements and preferences in a structured way. But that’s only the first step. The support documentation is similar to the car configurator used for buying a new car. It was developed gradually in such a way that the customer can go through the record of the meeting at a later point on their own.

UNIQA is investing a total of €300 million (€240 million of this will be recognised in profit or loss) over the next four years to realise the initial essential parts of the overall transformation programme.