Co-operative Group Chooses Hitachi Consulting UK for Risk Management
Co-operative Group Risk and Insurance Department (GRID) is using Hitachi Consulting UK to implement a new risk management and claims process and handling system. Known internally as the GRID @Risk Project, the new platform, based on Microsoft SharePoint, is designed to help the company gain a true picture of risk, identify higher risks faster through trend pattern analysis and facilitate collaboration for better decision making. The new system is projected to save the group an estimated £800k per annum by removing duplication of effort and establishing improved methods for the collection, sharing, presentation and dissemination of information project.
In creating the new system, Hitachi Consulting UK provided both onshore and offshore consultants to establish a framework upon which the Co-operative Group’s business applications can be rapidly assembled. The framework can be accessed by the wider Co-op community of over 100,000 through self-service and departmental portals, mobile applications and is regularly updated through enterprise-wide content management. The initial phase of the project went live at end of August 2010 and included case management functionality for the management of incidents, accidents and claims, as well as integration with the company’s learning management system. Subsequent phases around data protection, compliance and business continuity are due to go live from October 2010 onwards.
“We have recently amalgamated two teams into one,” said Phil Willsmer, group head of operational risk at the Co-operative Group. “We had numerous existing systems across our operational risk department and our insurance department to support core business process, but these didn’t integrate as well as we would have liked. Hitachi Consulting UK enabled us to create a single risk management solution across the business that enables effective collaboration and implementation of our risk management activities and projects. They had a deep understanding of the technology requirements as well as our business objectives, and worked closely with our in-house teams to ensure we had a consistent approach to managing risk across the group.”