Kuwait Pension Fund to benefit from IT revamp

The new IT systems will allow PIFSS to easily and cost-effectively conduct its business and will pave the way for its future integration with other e-Government solutions in the country.

The solution is being implemented by Khorafi Business Machines (KBM), General Marketing and Services Representative (GMSR) for IBM World Trade Corporation (WTC) which is the Kuwait operation of Gulf Business Machines (GBM), and is expected to go live during the first half of 2007. It will offer enhanced functionality, increased 'digital-warehouse' space and a more user-friendly environment for its operators. These will help the institute to offer improved service levels, increased efficiencies and reduced costs.

The solution will replace PIFSS' old system which was developed when the organisation was created in the mid-1970s. The batch nature of the old system is not flexible enough to meet today's increasing client demands. In addition, the system's maximum capacity has been reached, making it exceedingly difficult to add new business functionality and data. The GBM solution will address these issues to help PIFSS meet today's demanding business challenges.

At the heart of GBM's solution is the Relational Database DB2 environment. Once implemented, the old VSAM data structures will be migrated to the new DB2 environment, making it easier for PIFSS staff to handle clients' requests and facilitate ad-hoc queries, as well as support management decisions via a state-of-the art data warehouse.

Georges Kaldany, GM of KBM, commented on the project, "As the Kuwaiti citizen's only provider of pension information, it is essential for them to have the most up-to-date and versatile hardware and software on the market. KBM is proud to have been selected to provide this service for PIFSS and for the Kuwaiti people."

In addition to the superiority of GBM's technical solution over the competition, the proposed solution will engage both GBM and PIFSS IT staff in the development and implementation of the solution, thereby affording PIFSS significant cost efficiencies in addition to the skills transfer aspects of such a collaborative solution approach.

"Once installed, this system will enhance our ability to better serve our customers by giving them instant answers to any queries they may have, in contrast with the overnight wait currently needed to obtain the same information," said Ahmed Al-Turki, Deputy Director General, IT Section - PIFSS. "In addition, staff will be able to create new ad-hoc reports on demand without the need to customise a special program for each new report."

The contract was signed by Georges Kaldany, GM of KBM and Fahad Al-Rajaan, Director General - PIFSS, on 14 March 2005, beginning a three-month design phase with implementation immediately following. The solution is expected to become fully functional within two years.