NIB sends GU Health core corporate record system to the cloud

Australian health insurer NIB has announced that it has completed the migration of the core record system for its corporate health insurance business, GU Health, to Amazon Web Services (AWS) Cloud.

Completed in September, the migration saw NIB partner with AWS and CMD Solutions to move the record system that maintains essential information, which is used for helping the health insurance provider determine its obligations to customers and counterparts, to the cloud.

NIB CIO Brendan Mills said the move was part of the company's ongoing cloud-first approach.

"We've made significant investment in our cloud migration during the past four years as it is one of many enablers that allows us to pivot at speed and innovate," he told ZDNet.

"We see this as a great investment as our cloud-first technology approach helps us to create great member experiences, improve operational efficiencies, build greater resilience, and improve our security posture."

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According to Mills, the shift was done in consultation with the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, which saw NIB develop a new governance and compliance system that was reflective of the new 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.

Looking ahead, Mills said the company plans to make additional investments in digital technologies in the next 12 months.

He said specific areas include modernising its core insurance platforms, a new mobile app, leveraging wearables, and further personalisation opportunities.

"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," he said.

Mills added NIB is also looking to migrate other core platforms, beyond its health insurance business.

"We will be looking at all of our core platforms, which doesn't just include the health insurance platform, but also our travel platforms and New Zealand business. Our aim is to get out of data centres as quickly as we possibly can," he said.

"We've been able to decommission three in recent times, but the geography of the business means we have them spread across Australia and New Zealand. Cloud is the way in which we're driving that."

Back in 2017, Mills revealed to ZDNet that NIB believed the health insurance industry needed to undergo change and technology would be the enabler.

"From our point of view, we probably see ourselves as a disrupter ... we only have about 10 percent market share, but we see ourselves as trying to be fairly agile, nimble, and really try and bring innovation through," he explained.

"Innovation is part of our culture; it's how we operate the business ... we always try experimenting with new initiatives."

At the time, NIB was developing AI and chatbot technology, and running a pilot based on AWS Lex.

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