The big challenge is to properly align the transformation of business with that of computer systems

27/10/2011 |

Elisabet Pinilla, AXA CEO of the region made up of Europe, the Middle East and Africa

In your role as the one responsible for AXA’s IT organization in the MedLA region, consisting of a geographical group of more than a dozen entities with very distinct cultures and different levels of maturity, how does one manage such diversity? What key points would you highlight when it comes to involving the CIOs from different entities?

The only way to manage this diversity is to understand that it exists and to respect it. It is unviable to apply the same solutions and processes of a large entity in a mature market to those of a small entity in an emerging market.

The way to involve CIOs, from my point of view, is to get them to take part in the process and give them certain responsibilities in defining and implementing the regional strategy.

One of your major undertakings has been to provide solutions to each entity as well as paving the way for the implementation of the business strategy. What business challenges have been the most complex thus far?

The main challenge is to properly align the transformation of business with that of the computer systems.

For me, the main complexity is that implementing a new IT system brings with it the transformation of business processes. Sometimes entities are clear on the business strategy but not the transformation of their processes. This greatly hampers implementation, such as stabilizing the IT systems.

Another complex point that we have found on the regional level is adapting the time period in which the entities need their solutions, to the definition of the set of solutions and processes on a regional level. It is difficult to combine strategic decisions with tactical implementation, which are necessary because these countries have their own paces of business evolution.

One of the constants that have set AXA apart is its innovation and unique products, as compared to others on the market. In what measure does this also entail an internal dedication towards IT innovation? What role does innovation play in AXA’s IT strategy?

Obviously innovation plays an important role at AXA, whether it is to improve products and services or to find new ways to do things that increase our quality and productivity. In this point our IT strategy plays a crucial role.

Having configurable and flexible systems that can be adapted easily to new business strategies is fundamental, as well as providing businesses with multi-access and mobile service solutions.

We are creating a regionally-led IT innovation community where different countries in the region are taking part. This community works closely with the regional Marketing departments.

The problem does not reside in finding ways of innovating, but in how to implement them. It is odd, but one of the main challenges we have is implementing innovations that are already successful in a given country, or in others countries of the region. It seems that this should be the easy part of the process, but it is not, due to the diversity of cultures and business processes.

Another key element in AXA’s strategic direction is having lower operating costs and improved quality act as the necessary leverage for increasing productivity. From your position in IT, what is the contribution that the technology provides towards these improvements?

With technology we contribute towards the automation of business processes so there is a reduction in our reliance on business experts at operation posts, increasing productivity and guaranteeing the quality in which the processes are executed.

On the other hand, technology provides different ways to access the company’s products, processes and services for both customers and agents or providers. In this way we can widen availability and make processes more productive for both them and AXA.

AXA uses technology as tool to facilitate their relationships with customers, agents and employees. Regarding the customers, what role does the customer webpage play within the strategy to build new income? What other initiatives would you highlight as examples of customer multi-channeling?

The customer webpage is a means of communicating with our customers is becoming more and more important to our multi-channeling strategy and the availability of our services.

We provide them with a wide range of services, among them the possibility of tracking a claim through the process once it has been filed. We also allow them the opportunity to contract insurance through this channel.

With this strategy we create customer loyalty and enable cross-selling.

We are also making more use of SMS messaging to keeping customers abreast of certain events and are focusing on efficiency and the service quality of our call centers.

In the agent’s area, what is the function of the agent web page? What role do virtual technological/offices play in relation to your distribution network?

The function of the agent web page is to provide the agent all of AXA’s services and products right at their office or home, thus increasing productivity for both the agent and AXA, especially helping the agent focus more on devoting their time to selling instead of concentrating on long tedious administrative processes.

Our technology offices allow a better ‘capillarization’ of our physical presence throughout the territory, with a lot more flexibility and lower costs.

Regarding the employees, how do they value the possibility of connecting to others centers through videoconferencing, thus avoiding having to make business trips? What other technology tools facilitate the productivity of AXA employees?

The most noteworthy area from my point of view is our implementation of telepresence systems that allow us to have meetings with multiple countries at the same time, in an environment that is practically the same as a face-to-face meeting.

We likewise use videoconferencing, conference call services and collaborative work tools at our workstations.

Obviously, all these tools have been very well received by our partners, who use them regularly.

Not only are these productivity tools, but in our case, they are indispensable in managing a region that extend geographically over four continents.

In setting up all these initiatives, what role does the partnership with third parties play? What are the main considerations when it comes time to choose a provider?

The partnership with third parties, from an IT point of view, centres in two areas:

- Acquiring expertise in determined technology fields, thus enabling innovation and the implementation of new technologies.

- Industrializing our IT processes as much as possible, making our capacity to take on parallel project more flexible, while at the same time, ‘discretizing’ and reducing costs.

The aspects we value when choosing a provider fundamentally lie in the possibility of establishing a partnership with them, which is to say being involved in the responsibility of AXA projects, plus flexibility and, if possible, their presence as providers in the different countries in the region,

Regarding the future and taking a broad look at various sectors, what technological characteristics would you like AXA to be associated with?

With reliability, availability and multi-accessibility. With the capacity to innovate ‘using common sense’, which means in areas that truly improve service and bring value and productivity to our customers, agents and providers.

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