Mohit Rochlani, Director, IT and Operations, IndiaFirst Life Insurance Company

Enterprises in the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) industry have been early adopters of information and communication technology (ICT) solutions, which have enabled them to digitise their operations and make them more efficient. The government’s demonetisation move has provided a further impetus to the digitisation initiatives. However, since enterprises in the BFSI space deal with confidential consumer data, ensuring data security while using ICT solutions is of paramount importance. IT heads of leading BFSI enterprises discuss their IT strategies, technology trends, the impact of demonetisation on everyday operations and the level of cybersecurity readiness in the industry…

What are the key IT and telecom solutions dep­loyed by your organisation? How have these helped in improving business performance?

IndiaFirst Life Insurance uses front-end tools like websites, portals and mobile applications that benefit customers and distributors; policy administration system and CRM solutions that help in administering customer services and operations; and a host of other applications that support functions such as human resource management, finance, legal and compliance and actuarial and pricing issues. Our state-of-the-art infrastructure and information security set-up helps us deliver these solutions to customers, distributors and employees.

What has been the impact of demonetisation and the push towards a cashless economy on your IT needs?

Demonetisation has had a positive impact not only on the digital payment ecosystem, which now offers multiple options to customers in the form of the unified payment interface and payments banks, but also on the overall customer experience by digitising other processes as well. However, from the IT perspective, it is for organisations to see how fast these mechanisms are adopted in the current landscape and how the IT architecture can integrate multiple options for delivering a better customer experience.

What is the scope of big data analytics, cloud and internet of things (IoT) in the BFSI industry? What are your plans for deploying these technologies? 

Although big data analytics and cloud technologies are responsible for bringing about changes across the BFSI industry, it is still a challenge to leverage these technologies. As far as cloud technology is concerned, IndiaFirst Life Insurance has already moved a portion of its IT infrastructure to the cloud. The organisation is also undertaking investments in cloud-based applications, which will help curtail capital investments. Further, we are trying to leverage IoT to deliver cutting-edge solutions.

What are the key challenges faced while implementing new technologies?

Some of the challenges are identifying the right set of technologies, developing relevant software and changing management practices to leverage the opportunities offered by the implementation of new technologies. Besides, identifying the correct partner to implement these technologies becomes a challenge to ensure that the solution is delivered as per expectations.

What are your views on the cybersecurity readiness amongst BFSI companies in India? How do you ensure the security of your customers’ data?

The BFSI industry has geared up to improve the security paradigm. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority also recently came up with information security guidelines. Infor­ma­tion security is a top priority for India­First Life Insurance. We have been investing in this domain to develop strong capabilities for building a multi-tier security model across end-points, network, infrastructure, etc.

Going forward, what are the key IT and telecom trends that the BFSI industry is likely to witness?

Digital solutions, analytics and process automation are the areas where the majority of investments in the industry are being channelised. Going forward, automation, AI and blockchain technologies will prove to be game changers for the industry.

“The BFSI industry has geared up to improve the security landscape.” Mohit Rochlani