United India investing Rs 100 cr on IT solution

Chennai: United India Insurance will invest Rs 100 crore on an information technology solution to offer its products and services online.

A consortium led by Hewlett-Packard has bagged the seven-year contract to implement a ‘Core Insurance Solution’ to connect around 1,300 offices, and enable customers transact online with the Chennai-based general insurance company.

After seven years, the IT solution will be handed over to United India personnel, who will be trained by Hewlett Packard (HP). A pilot will be done by September 2008, and the online solution should go live by next year-end, Mr G. Srinivasan, Chairman-cum-Managing Director, United India, told newspersons.

There is competition; customers’ expectations are high; margins are under pressure and cost of operations for non-life insurance companies has gone up. These are some of the compulsions for deploying the IT solution, which is likely to reduce the transaction cost, said Mr Srinivasan.

HP and its partner, SSP of UK, will implement Sirus 4 Insurance, a centralised core insurance application, in United India. The scope of the contract includes supply, customisation, implementation and maintenance of core and other applications software, hardware and system software.

A ‘Newgen’ document management and workflow management solutions will also be provided to enable United India ‘optimise’ performance and operational efficiency in future by setting up a back office processing centre, says a press release.

The project cost could be recovered in two years. Once the project goes live, there will be an immediate saving of around 22 per cent in transaction costs (about Rs 1,100 per transaction), Mr Raju Sharan, Financial Advisor, United India, said.

Largest project


Mr Balu Doraisamy, Managing Director, Hewlett-Packard India Sales, said HP has implemented core banking solutions for banks, but this was the largest project in the Indian insurance sector for the company.

This project will help United India leverage IT for business outcomes.

HP will also enable multi-channel connections, voice recognition and help desk as part of the project, he said.