• Company-wide internal portal and systems—created quickly and inexpensively—supports teams seeking new business

• Recorded near-immediate payback versus six years for payback with a rival solution

• Enabled the rapid setup of a retail insurance team

The business’s ambitions to grow and modernise outstripped the capabilities of its on-premises productivity applications. When the servers running these applications reached end of life, Sompo Insurance (Hong Kong) decided to use the opportunity to transform its work processes and culture.

The business quickly turned to public cloud services that could minimise the need for its internal team to run and configure in-house infrastructure. This would enable the IT team to focus intensively on application development and other key priorities. Sompo Insurance (Hong Kong) then adopted a policy of choosing applications that could be deployed quickly and easily, would be simple for employees to use, and that delivered a rapid return on investment.

"We decided to measure Google Workspace and rival cloud-based office productivity software," Lee says. "Our calculations showed a return on investment for Google Workspace of 104% in three years, compared to 30% for the rival solution over the same period."

"We could also see near-immediate payback in the first year for Google Workspace, compared to about six years for the competing software." Furthermore, Google Workspace included products such as Google Sites, which Sompo Insurance (Hong Kong) could use to help create an internal staff portal.

Lee and his team presented a plan to deploy Google Workspace to senior management, who leapt at the opportunity to streamline processes at the business. Sompo Insurance (Hong Kong) decided to proceed with its Google Workspace deployment in February 2017 and completed the rollout to its 100-strong workforce in early May the same year. Team members now have access to a range of intelligent applications to operate more efficiently and productively, while the IT team has sharpened its focus on higher-value activities.

"Our business teams use nearly all the applications available, including Gmail for email, Google Calendar to manage appointments, Google Drive to provide file storage and backup, Google Docs to create documents, and Google Slides for presentation development," Lee says. "We also use Google Forms to create and analyse customer surveys and Google Keep for personal note taking."

Sompo Insurance (Hong Kong) has already used Google Sites to create its internal portal. "We had originally submitted a budget to set up a portal, but Google Sites enabled us to create a working version for next to nothing in just a few days," Lee says. "The portal is now the first screen that opens when our employees log on and gives them immediate access to Google services via icons for Google Drive, Google Docs, and others. They can also directly view content posted by teams from across the business and news about the insurance industry through RSS feeds."

Sompo Insurance (Hong Kong) has also employed Google Groups to set up a collaborative site for a small customer service team established to extend the insurer’s business into retail products. "In early July this team started selling online travel policies to retail clients," Lee says. "Google has enabled us to set up a collaborative inbox for this team that also enables its manager to assign tasks as necessary. We’ve also used Google Sheets to manage case logs. These technologies have been absolutely integral to enabling us to set this team up as quickly as possible."

The combination of tools available through Google Workspace has also enabled Lee to set up a highly functional project management structure. "I am using Google Drive to store project management documents; Google Docs for minute taking; Google Sheets to log issues and collaborate with external partners; and Google Slides to create presentations for management and other stakeholders."