LIBERTY GROUP
458 that Thomas details lies in the technology underpinning it : it ’ s fully built in the cloud , specifically Microsoft Azure . “ Being a new business entity , we were afforded the luxury of building from scratch ,” Thomas explains . “ The biggest challenge that most financial services companies in South Africa face is that they ’ ve built systems from the 1960s onwards and lots of inefficiencies have crept in . It also limits your flexibility if you want to roll out a new product . On the other hand , a cloud platform allows you to integrate new
APIs and services easily , for instance .” Collaboration and the sharing of ideas is often touted as a key driver of success in the technology market and it ’ s one which Vermaak echoes . “ The insurtech world is by necessity one based on partnerships . Success is determined by bringing together unique capabilities in a seamless manner , rather than trying to build and own the ecosystem ,” he observes , citing Microsoft ’ s cloud platform as a critical asset . “ We found Microsoft particularly supportive . We gained ‘ early adopter ’ status , which
FEBRUARY 2019