Brazil-based SulAmerica has entered into a 12-year agreement valued at more than $200m with IBM Brazil to manage business processes for the company's life and pension insurance unit.

Under the agreement, IBM will be responsible for the back office activities of both areas, including issuing policies, registration updates, document transfers and claim management.

The agreement covers information technology (IT) infrastructure services, maintenance of legacy applications, construction of a dedicated service center in the city of Barueri and the hiring of professionals currently allocated to the insurance company’s life and pension operations, to maintain service continuity, IBM Brazil will also support the management of current applications.

As a result of this deal, IBM and Control Consultoria, an IBM Business Partner, will develop a new system to process insurance operations for life and pension for the Brazilian market.

Renato Russo, vice president of life and pension at SulAmerica, said: This tool will strengthen the insurance company’s goals to reach excellence levels in providing services to its customers and higher flexibility in product development. Through this contract, SulAmerica expects to achieve significant cost savings within the first year of the contract.

Eduardo Bandeira de Mello Joia, vice president responsible for strategic business at IBM Brazil, said: For the first time, an insurance company is outsourcing activities directly related to business of this scope. Under the initiative, many benefits are expected, such as cost reduction, greater efficiency and agility due to the processes automation, expanding the company’s competitive advantage.