The Chief Data Officer of Matmut, Olivier Monnier, already suggested a few months earlier that a major development was in preparation in terms of the insurer’s IT infrastructures. From a purely on-prem system, it therefore switches to the hybrid world by opening up to the cloud.
The selection of the cloud provider was confirmed on September 14, then publicly communicated on October 9. The information had obviously gone unnoticed by the specialized press and was only reported in recent days.
Google services located in France and encrypted
For the selected cloud partner, a second reference contract is announced in October. S3NS is in fact also the cloud provider of Birdz, a specialized subsidiary of the Veolia group. The joint venture between Thales and Google had therefore previously signed with Matmut.
The S3NS model – pronounced Sens – is to offer so-called trusted cloud, hosted in France and secured by Thales, but using GCP technologies. Created in 2022, S3NS is majority owned by the French industrialist, but does not have the SecNumCloud label.
The security guarantees provided nevertheless meet the expectations of the French insurer, which will therefore make its debut in the cloud with S3NS. As a reminder, Matmut has 4.2 million member customers and 7.9 million insurance contracts managed.
The group also employs 6,500 people and achieves a turnover of 2.5 billion euros. Finally, it is a mutual insurer wishing to accelerate its digital transformation, but “in control and security.”
Accelerate on Data and AI thanks to the cloud
Its strategic plan ‘More from Matmut 2021-2023’ provides in particular for “More internal development”. The choice of the cloud responds to this pillar of its strategy, while guaranteeing the localization of its data in France.
Mamut also insists on cryptographic control of access to data, technical support in France and “transparency on Google Cloud administration activities.” However, the insurer is not preparing to migrate its entire data assets.
The company deploys a hybrid approach. Its core business data remains in its own data centers and on-premises systems. The cloud is particularly intended for the modernization of its Data & AI platform.
The insurer points out that it has a Data department. This was implemented in 2021 when the position of Chief Data Officer was created. The Data Office will be the “day-to-day” contact for S3NS.
For the Data department, this contract means access to “proven analytical solutions.” It is also presented as the key to “successfully transforming” the group’s AI/ML data platform. “We want to be able to have innovative solutions in an integrated and secure environment from the design stage,” comments Sébastien Marie, Chief Technical Officer of the group.