Unipol Gruppo S.p.A. is an Italian financial services holding and the first insurance company in the damages sector in the country, based in Bologna. With more than 2,400 agencies, the group has almost 12,000 employees, serving 15.5 million customers with the help of approximately 20,000 agents and sub-agents.
The Challenge of Master Data Management and Governance
Establishing a consistent and harmonized master data management strategy across all areas of an organization helps simplify the management of enterprise data and increase the accuracy of information.
This was true for Unipol. To channel customer and supplier master data change requests from a large group of employees to a limited number of authorized business users, the company looked for a centralized solution. This new solution would provide a real level of automation to capture, control, and distribute incoming requests and reject incomplete requests simultaneously.
Before the project started, change requests came in via e-mail or as Word documents, thus leading to an unreliable process with unnecessary interactions and long waiting times until the numerous requests and questions could be processed and answered.
The Solution
Unipol’s trusted, longtime IT partner Qintesi already managed existing SAP systems within the organization and had a proven track record of using SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP). The experienced partner implemented a centralized app to manage the creation and modification requests by authorized users. During the design phases of the solution, the project team worked with SAP experts and SAP AppHaus.
Built with SAP BTP, the new solution manages the master data creation and change requests centrally, saving time, reducing error rates, and making the entire process transparent and easy to manage.
Thanks to the new solution, the Unipol Group has seen a significant decrease in the required time to handle requests. The consistency and completeness checks with which the applications have been designed help guarantee the quality of the entered data. For a new master data entry or change, the processing time of authorization has been reduced, since only selected fields are now subject to an authorization flow, streamlining the process while maintaining the necessary level of control.
Within the first phase and along the agreed timelines, the project team went live with about 80 users. During the second phase, the new solution was rolled out to several hundred users of the group.
“The project has enabled Unipol Gruppo to further move towards a unified master data management process. The organizational model we adopted was supported by a portal in which to channel the checks deemed necessary to ensure correct maintenance of the database,” said M. Alessandra d’Alfonso, head of Unipol SAI Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable.
“In this project, the challenge was to add an authorization workflow to an already complex process concerning Unipol’s business partner master data. Thanks to SAP BTP, the new process has become simpler, faster, and can ensure very high data quality. We are very pleased that we could deliver added value with SAP BTP by simplifying complex processes, extending core capabilities, and integrating heterogeneous systems quickly,” commented Marino Coletta, senior client account manager at Qintesi.
“Intelligent enterprises are leveraging advanced technologies to effectively utilize their data resources and achieve desired outcomes faster and with less risk,” said Adriano Ceccherini, chief operating officer at SAP Italy. “To regulate the lifeblood of a new IT infrastructure, organizations need a rigorous master data governance system that enables seamless integration and quality control. This was the spirit of the innovative project with Unipol Group.”
The Next Steps in Working with SAP
The project is currently being rolled out to other group companies that have not yet adopted the new process and solution. By involving all the group’s companies, even those with diversified businesses, the apps will be enriched by additional features to meet their respective business needs and realities.