LIC shortlists 4 cos for IT platform rejig

MUMBAI: Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has shortlisted four of the leading Indian IT companies for its front office modernisation plan. The shortlisted companies include Infosys Technologies, L&T Infotech, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Wipro.

The corporation has sought bids from IT companies for modernisation of its Micro Focus COBOL based FEAP, which is the core insurance solution of LIC. The FEAP runs in all branches of the corporation and is currently using Red Hat Enterprise Linux Version 4.4.

This extremely low-cost and home-grown software caters to the requirements of all offices of the corporation.

���We currently have a distributed IT framework on a Cobol platform. Now, we want to centralise it in some locations,��� said LIC chairman TS Vijayan.

He added it was becoming necessary to integrate the distributed system, because LIC was rapidly increasing its network by opening many satellite offices which have skeletal staff, but provide most of the basic service functions.

���With the number of offices going up, we are finding distributed system expensive and controls are not that effective. To go to the next level, we want to centralise the IT in around 100 centres,��� said Mr Vijayan.

A centralised solution will require database migration from the Cobol platform and web enablement of LIC���s business. in the range of Rs 200-500 crore.