AWS technology to help in Sun Life’s efforts to innovate for clients and transformation into a more agile business in the cloud
Sun Life building in downtown Toronto. (Credit: Raysonho @ Open Grid Scheduler / Scalable Grid Engine / Wikimedia Commons)
Sun Life has selected Amazon Web Services (AWS) as its long-term strategic cloud technology provider in its quest to become a cloud-first organisation.
Through AWS’s portfolio of cloud technologies, the Canadian financial services company aims to drive ongoing innovation as well as create new digital client experiences. The company will tap AWS’ analytics, machine learning, security, storage, and databases for bringing in operational efficiency and innovation to both clients and employees.
Sun Life chief information officer and executive vice president Laura Money said: “Our aim in moving to the cloud is to be a digital innovator for our clients and use technology to shape how we work and develop employees at Sun Life.
“AWS’s portfolio of cloud technologies help us to be predictive, proactive, and personal by taking client insights and translating them into new, digital ways to meet their needs.”
AWS claimed that Sun Life became the first firm in Canada to introduce an immersive cloud skills training programme called Catalysts for Cloud, which is currently available to its employees.
Catalysts for Cloud, which uses a skills enablement programme called AWS Skills Guild to build cloud fluency, focuses on drawing and developing top talent.
The programme brings together the cloud experts of the Canadian firm alongside AWS instructors to provide peer-to-peer learning and hands-on training for developing cloud skills across the group.
Sun Life is also said to have built development workspaces across North America and innovation labs in Asia for bringing together IT teams and business leaders for innovating with AWS technologies. This is said to be part of the company’s move to expedite digital transformation and provide new client experiences with the help of the cloud.
In Asia, the Canadian firm created the Sun Life Secure Experience so that its advisors can virtually collaborate with clients through video conferencing and secure file sharing.
AWS financial services vice president Frank Fallon said: “Sun Life has a long history of embracing digital technology to offer new services and features that keep customers at the centre of everything they do.
“By running on the world’s leading cloud, Sun Life has the agility to quickly build and scale new platforms to give customers more ways to manage their portfolios as the demand for digital services continues to grow.”
In another development, Amazon, the parent firm of AWS, announced two new cybersecurity initiatives in the US, aimed at protecting organisations and individuals from rising cybersecurity threats.