SBI General Insurance: PSUs too falling for cloud’s charms

Cloud computing has risen to the top of CEOs’ priority list in recent years, and has become a key topic of boardroom discussions. The fierce competition and the ever-changing economic and technology dynamics have prompted organisations to constantly upscale their processes and cloud is serving as a fundamental enabler here.

One such organisation that is banking on its cloud investments is SBI General Insurance. With a presence in over 137 cities in India, it currently serves three key customer segments: retail, corporates, and SMEs. Functioning in the BFSI sector, one of the fastest-growing sectors of the Indian economy, SBI General Insurance is relying on cloud applications to enhance and optimise its internal and external operations.

Cloud enablement

The company has gradually strengthened the digitisation process and now moved many of its digital applications to the cloud for faster and seamless customer service, though the hybrid environment it has chosen includes both on-premises deployment and cloud use.

“Our overarching goal of becoming a digitally empowered organisation prompted us to select the Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP Solution. We implemented their Digital Procurement Module because it allowed for quick implementation and the flexibility to ‘Pay as per actual usage’. We were able to streamline, automate, and improve our procurement operations thanks to its advanced embedded capabilities”, said Anand Pejawar, deputy managing director (DMD), SBI General Insurance.

“Cloud applications are enabling organisations of all sizes to transform themselves and grow, particularly SaaS applications and embedded AI and ML capabilities that enable businesses to improve their core processes. Cloud-native applications’ flexibility, scalability, and agility enables organisations like SBI General Insurance, which operate in a highly dynamic environment, to grow exponentially,” said Prasad Rai, vice-president, Global Strategic Clients Group, Oracle India.

Propelling growth

Cloud adoption is often termed to be a time-consuming and costly process. However, the benefits accruing to organisations in the long run outweigh the initial challenges. From cost-effectiveness to scalability with speed to rapid deployment and risk management to elimination of IT interruptions and simpler data access, cloud adoption has myriad benefits to offer. This is well reflected in the exponential growth in cloud investments across industries.

“We use and evaluate cloud financial modelling, allowing stakeholders to take appropriate action in the cloud adoption process. Cloud adoption provides us with the agility and flexibility to experiment with and adopt new solutions and innovations,” said Pejawar. “It has aided us in the integration and migration of our accounting, financial management, project management, and procurement operations to a smart, AI-enabled platform.” He added,  “leveraging the Cloud ERP solution, we were able to consolidate all our procurement-related operational processes onto a unified platform, reducing manual work and enabling faster turn-around time.”

CIOs are considering cloud implementation not only as a technology strategy but also as a business move. “Cloud computing has significantly aided our processes from a business standpoint. It has significantly enhanced growth, easing our transition to a data-driven organisation,” Pejawar said.