nib migrates core insurance system of record to AWS Cloud

Image credit: Edwina Pickles, Australian Financial Review

Leading Australian health insurer, nib health funds, has achieved a major milestone in the Australian cloud technology landscape with the successful migration of the system of record for its corporate health insurance business, GU Health, to AWS Cloud.

The migration, which was completed in September with AWS Partner Network (APN) partner CMD Solutions and the AWS Professional Services team, is one of the earliest migrations of an insurance system of record to the cloud in Australia.

It was made possible following extensive technical work and ongoing consultation with nib's regulator, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA). APRA defines a system of record as a system which maintains information essential for an institution to determine its obligations to its customers and counterparties.

nib Chief Information Officer, Brendan Mills, said that the achievement reflected nib's innovative approach to building capability and working closely with the regulator.

"We run a cloud-first approach on AWS, which helps us to create great member experiences, improve operational efficiencies, build greater resilience, and improve our security posture," Mr Mills said.

"Migrating our core insurance systems is a significant step forward in our cloud migration to AWS, which started only four years ago. We've built our maturity through this multi-year phased adoption by working with our partners and the regulator, and now are confident about safely running our most critical workloads on the platform without compromising our risk and security posture," he added.

Mr Mills said part of this process was developing a strong governance and compliance system that was reflective of the digital environment.

"Our number one priority has always been to ensure the security of our members' information. We have worked hard to create strong security controls and supporting documentation for adhering to and maintaining the standards demanded by the regulator, as well as our own privacy policy," he said.

CMD Solutions CTO, Adam Durbin said getting a system of record migrated to nib's AWS cloud platform shows the industry’s increased understanding of the cloud’s ability to offer a best in class security posture.

"At CMD we understand the need for customer data to be kept secure. The use of modern cloud architecture and security tooling ensures customer data is secure without compromising on agility," Mr Durbin said.

"This project has required a high level of technical and regulatory detail to enable its success. It's been a great achievement for nib and we're really pleased to have been a part of the journey," he added.

Paul Migliorini, Managing Director for AWS in Australia and New Zealand, said the announcement shows continued trust from Australian organisations about the security and reliability of AWS to run their most critical applications in the cloud.

"nib's migration of the system of record for its corporate health insurance business is a terrific milestone – they join a growing number of Australian organisations migrating to AWS because we offer customers the ability to move fast and stay secure in the cloud. AWS provides customers with the tools they need to ensure their content is secure so that they can innovate quickly."

The migration is another milestone in nib’s cloud journey and is one of many investments in digital technologies, which the company plans to make in the next 12 months.

"One of our key business strategies is personalised healthcare which focuses on harnessing data science and digital technologies to better “personalise” our relationship with members," Mr Mills said.

"That's why we're continuing to focus on investment in cloud and serverless technologies, modernising core insurance platforms, a new mobile app, leveraging wearables, and further personalisation of the member experience as we move our business from a focus of "sick care" to "health care," Mr Mills said.