Direct Line Group modernizes finance using Oracle Cloud

In 2019, Direct Line Group, a leading UK-based insurance company, was operating with a financial ledger system that would soon reach end of support and no longer receive updates from the provider. The system was also heavy in manual processes and the use of spreadsheets, and lacked the ability to integrate with modern financial technology platforms.

The insurer determined that moving to the cloud would increase automation, improve efficiency, and put the onus on the provider to update its software. The company also wanted to replace its legacy software to allow for the implementation of new strategic plans.

Direct Line had an existing relationship with Oracle and decided it wanted to continue. The company was ready to easily migrate from its Oracle on-premises solution to both Oracle Fusion Cloud Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Oracle Fusion Cloud Enterprise Performance Management Cloud (EPM).

The company’s deployment of Oracle Cloud ERP and EPM took place in two phases. Phase one took seven months and concentrated on the EPM components—financial consolidation, balance sheet reconciliation, and enterprise data management. The second phase took 10 months and focused on deploying the ERP components, including new ledgers and subledgers to support financial accounting and financial operations such as claims payments, project accounting, asset accounting, and data integrity reconciliations.

Working with PwC as its implementation partner, DLG adopted standard cloud services and then adapted how its business worked in the new cloud environment. The implementation has further enhanced Direct Line Group’s internal controls and compliance through standardized processes, and moved the company’s system of record to Oracle Cloud. The new solutions have also enabled faster payment processing with the latest security and encryption services.

Direct Line Group selected PwC to help with the implementation.