A three-year IT investment programme at insurance giant
Royal & SunAlliance has allowed it to press ahead with plans to
cut £130m costs from the business, including the loss of 1,000 jobs
in the UK.
A spokeswoman for the company said new systems coming on stream
within the business "make us confident we can make the efficiency
savings we have talked about.” As part of the rationalisation Royal
& Sun Alliance will look to retire some legacy applications,
she said.
IT has played a crucial role in helping Royal & SunAlliance
grow its online activities. MoreThan, the firm’s online insurance
operation, is now second in the market. “Technology is a big factor
in getting this far and we see it as central to growth going
forward,” she said.
In 2001, Royal & SunAlliance signed a 10-year IT outsourcing
deal with IBM with the aim of saving around £50m from its IT budget
over the life-time of the contract. Around 300 IT staff transferred
to IBM.
