Today, insurers are looking for ways to innovate and to keep up with the digital transformation that is taking place in other industries. AWS’ strategic partner for core system transformation Novum-RGI plays a critical role in this transformation. Novum-RGI was formed when RGI Group acquired Novum in 2019 and provides core policy administration systems for Non-life, Life and Health insurance. To learn more about this company and how they have been playing a role in digital transformation of insurers, we spoke with the new Country CEO of Novum RGI, Kai-Uwe Reiter.

Kai-Uwe, Novum-RGI provides core system services for insurers which is a very competitive market to be in. How is your solution uniquely addressing the needs of insurers today?

Kai-Uwe: “Novum-RGI provide cloud-based solutions to businesses all around Europe. Insurance is a highly regulated industry, so compliance is always top of mind. Our core systems are developed with a compliance-first approach, which allows them to meet the highest security, compliance, and regulatory requirements. In fact, within our solution suites, the Novum Cloud Platform, which supports both Life and Non-Life insurers, has already won several awards for its globally unique security and compliance concept.

But just as importantly, insurers today also are looking to innovate and keep up with the digital transformation taking place in other industries. With the flexibility and agility of the Novum platform, insurers can streamline their time-to-market with fast deployment of new applications. The service ecosystem also allows them to bring products and new business models to market quickly and cost-effectively, as well as partner with other market participants to develop new value chains. Finally, the Pay-As-You-Go principle enables insurers to try out new ideas without a lot of cost risk. We’re enabling them to operate more efficiently, and test and learn in ways they have not been able in the past.”

Novum-RGI’s services run on AWS. How does running your core system on the cloud enable more agility and better customer experiences?

Kai-Uwe: “With flexible infrastructure along with a self-learning and rule-based IT operation, our cloud platform is a fully scalable and a fully automated system that allows the business units to act autonomously, without having to follow the pace of the internal IT department during implementation.

This is a key to success in today’s competitive market because it enables the business to keep pace with innovation instead of being held back by longer internal processes.”

What are some of the barriers to cloud adoption that you see in your markets? Can you provide some examples of customers that are “doing it right” with regard to leveraging the benefits of the cloud?

Kai-Uwe: “I can see two main barriers: The first and biggest one is the legal and regulatory concerns about cloud solutions. Also, as I mentioned before, the scalability and automation of the cloud can lead to internal IT departments fearing a loss of importance. In reality, moving to the cloud enables IT resources to focus more on innovation projects rather than maintaining and upgrading legacy systems.

The advantages of adopting a cloud platform exceed the barriers. We can show a best practice of cloud adoption with one of our key customers, UNIQA, who chose Novum-RGI to develop its digital sales platform. With our software solutions for property and casualty business, along with our portal solution, UNIQA now provides partnering banks in the CEE countries with a modern sales solution for the distribution of simple, highly standardized and independent insurance products. They develop these innovative products centrally in Austria and its 20 local partner banks offer and distribute them in 15 CEE countries.

The use of a uniform, cloud-based platform enables UNIQA to ensure a consistent, high-quality digital sales process that is available 24/7. Due to the standardization and availability, customers can buy attractive insurance products anywhere and anytime with each time the same user experience.”

Tell us more about the RGI acquisition of Novum and the benefits of these two companies coming together.

Kai-Uwe: “Back in 2019, Novum acquired RGI to align with their M&A growth strategy in EMEA. This is to aggregate highly specialized front end and core system software vendors in the European markets that share the RGI vision and technology. With the acquisition, RGI Group has strengthened its presence in the DACH region, expanding its range of cloud-based policy administration systems to archiving services.

Novum shared the same corporate philosophy and strategic goals as RGI. Both with strong international orientation, especially in Central Europe, paired with the backdrop of local roots. Because they have been backed by the wider RGI Group, Novum has been able to continue to invest in products and execution plans to accelerate its growth.”

On a more personal note, you recently appointed the new Country CEO for the DACH region of Novum-RGI. What made you decide to take on this role?

Kai-Uwe: “Novum-RGI’s insurance technology provides solutions to businesses all around Europe and is a trusted partner for Insurers. We are building upon great cloud-based products and growth potential by implementing a strategy for a SaaS-based business model. Cloud technology and SaaS models are now key trends in the successful digital transformations of the insurance industry. Personally, I have more than 25 years of experience in the insurance industry, so I’m very excited to lead this innovative company at such a pivotal time in its evolution.

Also, since Novum-RGI is part of the RGI Group, I have been very much looking forward to working with such an international team and to accelerating the growth of our position in the DACH region. Another challenge that I’m very thrilled to take on is the integration with Flexperto, a Berlin-based software provider for digital B2C communications and collaboration This integration was acquired in April and will support enhanced value creation for our clients.”

In your opinion, what does the insurance company of the future look like?

Kai-Uwe: “I think that insurers should leverage their potential assets. They can then develop innovative products tailored to the needs of customers and place them on the market with cloud-based SaaS solutions.

Legacy insurers have the power to do this because they have a deep customer base, market knowledge, and wide access to data. This helps them assess and predict risks and therefore develop insurance products which are in line with the exact needs of their customers and market. Data analysis and powerful cloud platforms enable insurers to act like start-ups, while at the same time leveraging their advantages in terms of customer base, market knowledge and years of experience.”

Kai-Uwe Reiter is Country CEO of Novum-RGI for the DACH region. Mr. Reiter is a highly regarded business leader with 25 years of experience in management, sales and business development, both nationally and internationally. Before joining Novum-RGI in September 2021, he recently served as Division Operating Officer Insurance at Sopra Steria, with previous senior roles at DARAG Insurance (subsidiary of AXA), ALICE Software, ITERGO, Steria Mummert Consulting and Axxiome Germany.

To learn more about Novum-RGI core solutions running on AWS, visit their website here