SulAmerica Signs Agreement with IBM Brazil to Achieve Greater Efficiency

SAO PAULO, May 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SulAmerica has signed a new agreement with IBM Brazil to manage its business processes for the company's Life and Pension Insurance unit. IBM (NYSE: IBM) will be responsible for the back office activities of both areas, including issuing policies, registration updates, document transfers and claim management. The 12-year agreement signed in April 2010 is valued at more than $200 million.

(Logo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090416/IBMLOGO )

The agreement also covers information technology (IT) infrastructure services, maintenance of legacy applications, construction of a dedicated service center in the city of Barueri and the hiring of professionals currently allocated to the insurance company's Life and Pension operations. In order to maintain service continuity, IBM Brazil will also support the management of current applications.

As a result of this deal, IBM and Control Consultoria, an IBM Business Partner, will develop a new system to process insurance operations for Life and Pension for the Brazilian market. According to Renato Russo, SulAmerica Life and Pension Vice President, "This tool will strengthen the insurance company's goals to reach excellence levels in providing services to its customers and higher flexibility in product development. Through this contract, SulAmerica expects to achieve significant cost savings within the first year of the contract."

"This is a pioneer project in Latin America. For the first time, an insurance company is outsourcing activities directly related to business of this scope. Under the initiative, many benefits are expected, such as cost reduction, greater efficiency and agility due to the processes automation, expanding the company's competitive advantage," said Eduardo Bandeira de Mello Joia, IBM Brazil Vice President, responsible for Strategic Business. "In addition, the company's employees will be able to dedicate themselves to more strategic initiatives, such as innovative projects improving customers relationship, bringing additional intelligence, expertise and insight into the business."

The business relationship between SulAmerica and IBM goes back many years, and in 2005, SulAmerica strengthened it by choosing IBM Brazil to manage its information technology infrastructure. The company was the first insurance company in Latin America to sign a contract with this kind of coverage and complexity.

IBM Managed Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) offers innovative options to combine process, people and technology in outsourced delivery models that create real business value. The unsurpassed global delivery expertise and infrastructure provides solutions for industries across major business process areas (Customer Relationship Management, Finance and Administration, Human Resources Procurement and Supply Chain Management), and also for specific segments like Insurance Processes. The IBM Insurance Outsourcing Services (IIOS) is a leading third-party administrator in Life, Health and Annuities, operating in the US, Canada and India, administering over $5 billion in annuity assets.

About IBM

For more information please see www.ibm.com/services.

About SulAmerica

SulAmerica Seguros e Previdencia is one of the largest business conglomerates in Brazil with 114 years of history, working in the sectors of insurance, pensions and investments. Its strong presence throughout the country has been consolidated by the growth of the company, which posted net income of US$ 419.1 million in 2009. With more than 6.3 million customers, SulAmerica is divided into four business units: Health, Auto and casualty, People (Life and Personal Accident) and Pensions, and Asset Management.

SOURCE IBM Corporation