BAJAJ ALLIANZ : 'Wireless technology, PoS services for policy issuance, and claim settlement would be the key drivers'

Bajaj Allianz General Insurance plans to open offices in 500 towns by this
financial year. All its offices will be connected to the head office and can
access all their business applications in order to make information available at
their fingertips. Thomas Varghese, head, IT, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance,
talks about the company's expansion plans and technology requirements. Excerpts

What were your pioneering efforts that assisted customers?

As our CEO often says, “IT in Bajaj Allianz means insurance and technology”
and that is how closely the business and IT is integrated. In our company,
business runs IT and not vice versa.

This philosophy and our aggressive approach have led to many of the firsts in
the insurance industry. Bajaj Allianz was one of the first private insurers to
pioneer instant issuance of policies at PoS locations of all registered
intermediaries, integrate policy issuing software with diverse bancassurance
partners who had their own banking software, online buying, or renewal of
policies, SMS alerts on progress of claim status from claim intimation to final
claim cheque, etc.

Bajaj Allianz has developed a robust IT system, which is Internet based and
where MIS and key business information is accessible everywhere with real time
management interaction. Every morning, automated SMS alerts are sent to top
management and office heads on key information about premium collection the day
before, which often serves as a “wake up” call.

These pioneering efforts did not go unnoticed as Bajaj Allianz was accorded
the Center of Competence in Asia Pacific by Allianz SE.

Bajaj Allianz has developed software for Allianz companies in Thailand,
China, and Russia. Additionally, Bajaj Allianz also offers the first level
support for OPUS users (the operational software platform used by all Allianz
companies) of Allianz companies worldwide besides maintenance and support for
Web-enabled OPUS (WEO) applications.

Thomas Varghese head, IT, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance

What are your expansion plans?

Bajaj Allianz is set to grow at a fast pace and open offices to augment our
pan-India presence. We are currently present in over 200 towns and expect to
increase it to 500 towns by this fiscal. All our offices would be well connected
to the head office and can access all our business applications in order to make
information available at their fingertips.

IT forms the backbone of operations at Bajaj Allianz General Insurance.
Hence, whatever is required to automate, connect, and integrate is expected from
IT. This also includes interface with business partners, distribution channel
partners besides the all important-customers.

We use state-of-the-art technology, including hardware, in enabling our IT
needs. We have mission critical applications, as IT is the backbone of our
business infrastructure. In simple language, all internal divisions like
marketing, sales, policy issuance, claims management, human resource, accounts,
and CRM are automated using IT.

Bajaj Allianz is on an expansion spree. What are your IT investment plans
for 2008-09?

Bajaj Allianz has set aside a significant part of its investments for IT to
upgrade and maintain the IT requirements as and when the need arises. Bajaj
Allianz is committed to embrace all possible technologies, be it in IT or
telecom or networking to lower the transaction costs and provide seamless
service to our customers. We periodically review the IT investments and the
progress of business goals. Any new IT investment is initiated and driven by
business goals. Hence, the RoI is calculated before the start of the
implementation.

What were your main investments during the current fiscal?

Our main investment has been in the areas of data center upgrade, software,
call center solutions, IVR implementation, and CRM development. Recently, we
upgraded our data server to take care of the growing business and generate quick
and accurate MIS reports as well as support a whole lot of other applications
necessary to issue and process policies. The processor can take the load of over
5,000 concurrent users without affecting speed and connectivity.

Which technology is going to be the key driver in your industry in the
days to come? What new technologies are in the pipeline that can make a
difference to the industry?

Wireless technology, PoS services for policy issuance, and claim settlement
would definitely be the key drivers of success in the market. In fact, any
technology and its adaptation that will offer a hassle-free experience to our
customers will be used. We feel that this approach would be the key
differentiator in the insurance industry.

The emerging wireless technologies are definitely a boon for every business
and they are the future. We widely use wireless applications such as providing
information on mobile and acknowledged to the user at PoS.

In order to provide faster claims services and settlements, we use wireless
technology. We are committed to embrace all technologies and the emerging
convergence benefits to streamline our systems and simplify them to benefit the
ultimate customer.

What are your main concerns?

IT risks like data security is a growing concern and we do ensure adequate
security to review and mitigate the risks as we follow the Allianz Global
security standards. We follow stringent security standards. However, we have
initiated formal certification on ISM and are in the process of receiving the
same at the earliest. Accessibility issue in remote locations is a major
concern. We are trying to simplify the process to address this issue.

What approach do you follow in outsourcing? Who are your main vendors and
focus areas?

No, we don't outsource IT work except network management. We follow a
well-defined process in evaluating our vendors.

Baburajan K

baburajank@cybermedia.co.in