RSA CIO cuts 75% from costs with AWS

Insurance giant RSA has signed a contract with Amazon Web Services (AWS) that will see its Group CIO Darren Price trim 75% from the IT infrastructure costs.

London based global insurer RSA will host its online RSA and More Than brands on AWS as well as new digital services. RSA said in a statement it expects to improve its agility and reliability with this deal.

“Ensuring our IT operates as simply and effectively as possible is a key strategic focus for us,” Price said in statement. “By modernising our IT estate, our computing platform will be considerably more flexible, saving us both time and money, and our customers will benefit from more efficient online services.”

RSA is known on the street for its More Than general insurance brand that provides car, home and pet insurance to name just three, but in various guises it trades in over 100 nations, employs 21,000 people and has reported a turnover of £8.2 billion.

The RSA brand name has been in existence for almost 20 years, but its recent history has been difficult. A £200 million hole in its finances led to a change of leadership with Stephen Hester joining as CEO in February 2014 from RBS, and he’s aiming to reduce the cost base by 10%. In December 2014, RSA sold its business in Thailand, following a spate of divestments in Asia, Eastern Europe and North America. According to industry watchers, non-core business units are also being considered for sale.