Continuous further development of the IT strategy

Mr. Hübscher, how important do you think IT is for Mobiliar's business?

As very high. Without stable, functional IT, not much works at Mobiliar anymore. Our IT department now has around 450 employees - almost 10% of the total workforce. We invested a total of CHF 121 million in projects in 2016, 90% of which went towards renewing our core business.

Are you investing in the renewal of your core business? What exactly do you mean by that?

We are modernizing our IT systems, tools and processes to ensure the continued success of our current business model. We are also investing considerable resources in the digitalization of customer access and data security. We are also investing in individual projects to test new and innovative business models that may become successful the day after tomorrow. These so-called "speedboats" are nimble, agile and experimental in nature. In 2016, for example, we developed the "FindMe" app, which can be used to connect mobile items that are not connected to the power grid, such as bags, laptops or bicycles. In the event of loss or theft, the app helps users to quickly find their items again.

How does Mobiliar ensure that business requirements are incorporated into IT strategy and IT operations?

Mobiliar lives a business-driven IT - this means that the further development of the IT landscape is based on business cases. We develop and maintain IT systems that support strategy implementation. We constantly review technological developments and derive proposals for the business from them. The aim is to ensure that business processes and product structures (also beyond the insurance industry) can be standardized using IT systems. Events such as the "ChallengeDays" support this, as evaluation, assessment etc. is carried out by a jury consisting primarily of business representatives.

How can Mobiliar's IT strategy be summarized in a few words?

The development of IT is based on five strategic goals:

• Ensure flexibility for the future (simplify IT landscape, utilize synergies, increase agility)
• Managing growth (ensuring performance)
• Reduce risk (guarantee availability, stability and security of IT systems, active lifecycle management)
• Reduce IT costs (process optimization, automation and mass processing)
• Promote innovation (support business, modern workplaces)

You are responsible for IT operations: What are your typical challenges?

• The perfect provision of IT services for Mobiliar employees at the 79 general agencies and three head office locations
• Dealing with permanent cost pressure
• Expanding security topics
• Agilization of IT operations
• Understanding cloud approaches and - where appropriate - implementing them for Mobiliar

The Mobiliar IT team has 450 employees. With such an impressive number, where do external IT service providers make any sense at all?

The consistent prioritization of new functionalities since 2002 has led to growth, but also to increased IT complexity. Mobiliar must take the IT complexity factor into account and consider sourcing models where external service providers can offer their services better or more cheaply than internal IT.

Why did Mobiliar decide to work with ITpoint?

ITpoint is a reliable, reputable IT service provider with an offering that suits us well. ITpoint provides competent and conscientious employees. From my point of view, it is very important that they keep their promises.