Data migration issues have long held life insurers back from replacing their legacy systems.
While the long-term answer is likely no, many companies presently will be able to succeed without hiring new workers inside or outside of IT.
With the economy continuing to suck wind, vendors, too, need to find ways to get more value out of what they produce.
Insurers may want to ensure they're not guilty of providing a vastly different quality of customer service via social media versus other channels.
A new study and some Congressional testimony reinforce the difference a CEO’s abilities have on company performance.
Expert believes it’s more about communication and less about alignment.
A new report says PC shipments will diminish over the rest of this year due to a sluggish economy, but maybe people are just tired of large boxes.
Hyper-social product development and innovation are the next frontier for insurance companies.
Car insurance has been on the market since 1897—six years after the first recorded car accident.
Insurers should ensure that the Web portals being used to simplify transactions with agents and customers don't make things harder on them.
Bounties on defects make a lot of fiscal sense.
How do increased automation and the advent of “swarms” fit in an industry that seriously values its personal interactions and relationships?
If U.S. and European governments don’t address their chronic deficit and debt problems soon, we may see a major nation’s economy fail in the next five years.
Effective distribution management strategies result in 65% adoption rate among growing demographic.
Perhaps the answer is to take user-empowered networking and secure it with user empowerment.
Tracing the history of insurance through the ages, the practice of transferring risk in exchange for money really began to take hold between the 14th and 17th centuries.
Academics and security vendors say they uncovered Windows vulnerabilities months ago; what did Microsoft know?
A key benefit of having a common MDM repository is enhanced customer support and increased customer loyalty.
From the ancient Chinese to the Babylonians, Greeks and Romans, the insurance industry can trace its history back to the beginnings of our civilization.
To ensure effective change within an organization, C-level executives need to cultivate leaders at the business unit level.
New drives are smaller than a postage stamp with no moving parts.
There are many avenues open for insurers to either migrate or modernize legacy systems to bring them up to code.
What have we learned in the past 18 months? In an industry where confidence, stability and trust are critical, we must strive to do better.
The government of India may shut down BlackBerry and other messaging services for security reasons, but is wireless technology really the problem?
Compliance only seems to be stepping up, as governments require more information and accountability from enterprises.
Still slow to catch on in the United States, bancassurance is quickly becoming a major distribution channel in Asian markets.
Containerized data centers may be a viable option for insurers that want to keep their servers in-house, while keeping their purse strings tight.
Toshiba drives offer auto-erasing of sensitive data on shutdown, but their limits have yet to be tested.
In this time of economic uncertainty, should auto insurers align themselves with Big Brother approaches to catching the uninsured?
Technology may some day enable cars to sense danger and avoid it, but how will this affect auto insurance?
Employing business transaction management practices is a good starting place.
The innovative app took social networking to new levels, but failed to make it relevant to the humans who tried it.
Understanding your customers and their traits is only the first step.
Grinding out a meaningful cost-benefit analysis is nothing new, but it is the only way to be certain that the varied benefits to your organization outweigh the costs.
Definitions and interpretations aside, an effective SOA deployment can lay the groundwork for cloud formations.
An apparent shift in criminals’ strategies toward poorly protected banking services should spark concern, but does it?
The negative public perception of the industry only compounds insurers’ challenges to hiring new employees.
Who thought the entertainment industry might be in a position to liberate insurers from an unrelenting bad rap?
Many insurers are now securing their databases by "data masking," which removes confidential data elements and replaces them with usable, fictitious data.
License revocations and opprobrium are the inevitable results of those who are seen as having taken advantage of service members or their families.
Social networking and BPM could create a new approach to collaboration across organizations.
Enterprise managers are keeping their cards close to the vest as they wait for the economy to show more definite signs of recovery.
Some think mobile devices are the rising stars while PCs are legacy toast. But is that true for insurers?
The business often asks crazy things of IT, but sometimes that craziness can lead to creativity.
The first ripples from regulatory reform are already being felt.
Survey data reveal that IT employees are more confident about a number of things—including finding employment elsewhere.
The concerns of Japanese insurers are very similar to those of their North American counterparts.
Investments can be made in one area, but if other related areas are forgotten, the initial investment's benefits may be less than expected.
Many business and IT initiatives fail because decision-making responsibilities are given to under-skilled or under-talented managers who wind up making bad decisions.
Effective deployment of information technology will be a difference-maker for insurers.
Giving customers what they want seems like a no-brainer, but where do we draw the line between service and servitude?
To reach consumers, the confectioner, like many insurers lately, is eschewing traditional e-mail marketing in favor of social media.
Imagine the benefit of agents logging in and accessing application processing or customer verification services, or internal departments helping with claims processing or adjusters in the field.
Black Hat was set to expose Chinese cyber-attack capabilities until big-money agencies stepped in to silence them.
The insurer believes an analytics-based strategy is the future of customer relationships.
Insurers watch and wait as Microsoft looks to standardize cloud services around its Azure platform.
Researchers and TV shows have already proven that it’s possible, but is it advisable?
No prior IT architecture initiative has had an impact as positive or broad-reaching as SOA.
When was the last time your company rolled out an innovation? Are you playing catch-up?
Effective data management and data quality are no longer “nice to have” options.
Consumers want it, but will we survive it—and how do we insure it?
An increase in qualified actuarial resources, and a need to move actuaries into more strategic activities, will offer insurers opportunities that were previously unavailable.
Universities have taken up the challenge of grooming willing replacements for needy insurers.
However, we now have new means and methodologies to add to our toolboxes.
The economy, it seems, is forcing us to make choices.
In the face of public anger, and legislators anxious to produce a fix, the insurance industry was able to influence the course of financial reform legislation largely to its liking.
Study shows consumers want responsiveness, but clearly they also don’t trust portals when it comes to more difficult issues.
Insurers are finally starting to stand up and take notice of Lean IT, which has been a staple in the manufacturing world for years.
Insurers should look at how many websites they're running, what they cost and if any of those services could be merged onto cheaper platforms.
The federal government wants to build a place where everyone feels safe online, but are they instead creating a tempting target for cybercriminals and other enemies?
While it doesn’t make sense for insurers to hand over critical systems to third-parties, there are many other processes that can be handed over without worry.
While some hopeful signs are anticipated, economic recovery is still not a reality in terms of IT budget levels.
Even the best-aligned insurers face IT departments not quite getting what the users want, and users not understanding how IT operates.
A new tax on British insurance purchases creates a challenge for insurer IT departments to respond in a timely fashion.
The best way for insurers to differentiate themselves from their competitors is to deliver on this simple promise.
Asian insurance CIOs tend to be very tech-aware, and are actively pursuing process automation.
Pundits and analysts are having a field day with social media for insurance, but is it really that big of a deal?
Not treating data quality as an IT issue and taking critical enterprise info out of employees' heads are two of the keys.
The economic recovery horses are at the starting gate, but when will the race begin, and when do we plunk down our bets?
Insurer says achieving efficient, green data centers need not be expensive or overwhelming.
Cyber-security is a rapidly growing problem, but you’d never know it by the response in our industry.
Risk management is only the first of many apps and functions that can be delivered via cloud-based services to insurers.
A more integrated and holistic approach to the delivery of health care is crucial.
The economy still stinks, but the IASA Educational Conference and Business Show came up smelling like a rose.
Most bad business policies involve similar one-stage thinking—the type of thinking that never considers the question: “And then what happens?”
An industry analyst survey says BI systems efforts aren’t cutting it in the insurance industry.
Messaging and collaboration, and infrastructure have even the largest of carriers reaching for the cloud.
A good reputation will prevail over all, especially in the insurance marketplace.
Vendors are making insurance software tools easier for business users, but how much technology can we leave in the hands of non-techies?
Breaking business process problems down into components to be digested by groups of three people can save insurers significant amounts of time.
Exhibitors acknowledge improvements, but daunting challenges remain.
What insurers can do to enhance their customer experience in the years ahead.
For those who see converting to a green facility as daunting or expensive, Aflac has five words: it's okay to start small.
Seriously engaging and understanding the customer is of dire importance.
A surprising reprimand of national politicians and a less surprising disregard for the industry highlighted the conference’s first day.
One of the keys to good employee management, and ensuring fairness, for insurers is open, effective communication.
Without cloud, insurers risk obsolescence as their competitors may win on cost and efficiency alone.
As a result, the government ponders creation of a Financial Stability and Development Council to lay down clear guidelines for the financial market.
We provide insurance for those whose identities are stolen, so why not add preventive services?
As part of its green strategy, Allstate is pursuing “aggressive virtualization,” which dramatically cut the amount of servers and storage needed to support present and future operations.
Facebook remains an intriguing channel and marketing tool for insurers, and this debate with regulators underlines just how important it could be.
The question of how to handle security identification is a thorny one.
Insurers must ask themselves ‘What?’, ‘When?’ and ‘Why?’ while defining their cloud adoption strategy.
The boundary between where social networking for an employer stops, and personal networking begins keeps getting fuzzier and fuzzier.
The new Cyber Command appointment confirms the notion that we really are engaged in cyber-war.
As insurers expand accessibility for the customer and distribution systems, streamlining supporting processes becomes even more important.
Everyone wants to appear to be a good global citizen, but the bottom line still dominates decisions.
BPM was front and center at this year's IBM Impact conference, which may be a first for IT-leaning audiences. The fusion has finally arrived.
Expert believes cloud, for insurers, is “the next phase in the logical evolution in the delivery of IT services.”
IT budgets aren’t growing, but critical needs are still critical. How do we know when to take the economic recovery seriously?
Given the importance of distribution management to P&C, life and annuity insurers in 2009, carriers should go one step further with PRM.
There are many ways to store data, but mitigating risk must be priority No. 1.
Insurers should keep apprised of Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook's latest developments, as they could have profound effects on the business.
For insurers like SafeAuto that heavily rely on online consumer engagement, robust application uptime and performance means the difference been competitive edge and sure trouble.
Social media outlets are hot marketing tools—and dangerous security risks. What’s an insurer to do?
Perhaps this isn't surprising, as smaller firms have a lot more to lose if they have fraudulent accounts in their midst.
Insurers’ self-service strategies should be about bringing together process management and customer experience management.
If the insurance industry truly designed technology to meet user needs and expectations, it could avoid a lot of pain and effort by leveraging existing user behaviors.
Steering a car with one’s eyes seems like a neat idea ... until you look the wrong way.
Narragansett Bay Insurance’s CIO offers tips for insurers on how to best leverage the cloud while minimizing risks.
Planned acquisition of compliance specialist firm will pay dividends in an industry sharply focused on complying.
While mainframes are still both viable and valuable, perhaps the key to this semantic pretzel is that the needs of the business must come first, and executives shouldn’t rush to adopt new systems simply because they're the latest-and-greatest new tech.
Starting slowly and establishing best practices from the outset are two keys to mitigating cloud computing's risks.
A university study implies that young people are just as concerned as baby boomers about online privacy, but the details tell a different story.
Insurers will increasingly use public, shared data to make informed pricing decisions, which begs the question: How will underwriters use this new information?
Letting customers do the work for themselves obviously saves money for insurers, but why don’t more customers do it?
An IBM report recommends aggressive adoption of tools and platforms that foster collaboration between employee groups as a key to maximizing growth in this recovering economy.
As insurers emerge from the economic downturn, opportunities for growth may not follow traditional patterns, nor are things likely to improve as quickly as before.
If Tiger Woods' image can have such a profound effect on Gatorade and Nike's bottom lines, can characters in insurers' ad campaigns do the same?
Recent security breaches have focused attention on Indian outsourcers at a time when they can least afford it.
Messaging and e-mail are the best starting points for insurers, experts say.
A federal court says the FCC has no authority to regulate broadband Internet providers, but a free-market will still create opportunities.
Expert says insurers should mandate risk management exercises be a part of every IT project.
Expert says one of the most common misconceptions is the belief that cloud computing is a cheaper technology to be implemented and deployed.
Two senators warn of impending disaster, but some seem to think the threat is overblown.
It’s no surprise that customers don’t relate well to the machinations of our customer-facing software.
Unified communications is the integration of various communication media with business process management and workflow.
The challenge for insurers, experts say, is to stay focused on the customer, but without additional funding to do so.
An unbalanced UK economy and uneven success across Europe utilizing a bancassurance model have hindered life insurers overall success.
As a trillion-dollar industry managed by political cronies and policed by the IRS, government-run health care is a series of problems waiting to happen.
When paired, cloud computing and BPM permit insurers to identify, model and automate mission-critical business processes.
Any organization connected to health care is going to need lots of expertise in data management and architecture sooner than later.
The Chinese government and Google both seek the moral high ground, but China’s record on the Web reveals hypocrisy.
Insurers can create a hybrid cloud that keeps certain tasks within the enterprise on a private cloud, but leverages the public cloud for other tasks.
Thinking globally and acting locally, Patni follows the example of Mitsubishi and others that have brought jobs to the United States.
The reality is self service is one of the key value drivers in insurance systems these days, and can have a significant and rapid impact on the business.
When developing new processes and implementing new applications systems, it's vital to eliminate the uncertainty and get the necessary information from those who do the work.
Would Apple’s show of appreciation land it in hot water with Obama’s salary watchdog?
Creating this type of a dialogue between employees frequently yields greater efficiencies for the organization.
Insurers that were most happy with their IT services vendor felt they had a true partnership with their vendor.
A new IBM study finds CFOs have gained power as a result of the financial crisis, but lack tools needed to make good decisions.
Sure, online health care will save time and money, but it will also alienate patients from their providers.
Insurers shouldn't ignore developing mobile apps for customers, integrating social media across all activities and honing multi-channel communications.
The average large insurance company has 13 Twitter accounts, according to the study.
UK consumers have learned that their loyalty is usually rewarded with a hike in premiums.
A new, more robust version of the federal government’s intrusion detection program could be a blessing for U.S. businesses, but already the specter of invasion of privacy is being raised.
While greatly desired by many insurers, this promise is often more aspiration than realization.
Everyone agrees that something needs to be done, but crooks know they can count on government for a phlegmatic response.
While the space insurance market is currently small, one expert says it's vital for sustainable commercial space activities.
Implementing new strategy requires leadership, executive involvement, a plan, technology and discipline, among other things.
New studies find consumers are still slowly recovering from the economic maelstrom that hit between 2007 and 2009.
IT is a world unto itself, and that’s part of the problem when it proves to be ineffective.
The end-goal for many insurers is to bring self service to all aspects of customer and agent interfaces. And everybody wants it.
Leveraging existing assets and getting privacy concerns right the first time are two important lessons insurers can learn.
The federal government seems keen on developing commercial space flight technologies, but how do we insure those who go where very few men have gone before?
Part of IT planning is to consider how a system will be kept up-to-date, and how it will eventually be retired.
By opening channels for customer interaction, USAA shows that it's keeping customer care front and center.
When you do something wrong with someone else’s computer, are you still entitled to keep it secret?
The latest social media "trial" is designed to improve preventive care and decrease emergency room visits, the results of which could have far-reaching benefits for its target audience, as well as for insurers.
The challenges inherent in legacy system maintenance are not impossible to overcome; but they do require a combination of technical and soft skills, and the right leadership in place to anticipate turbulence.
Maintaining control over quality should be your strategic objective, but how do you do so when you are forced to cut costs?
The bleeding edge is a risky place, and our industry doesn’t like risk.
Most of us would not buy a car based solely on a review of features and functions on the manufacture’s Web site or brochure, and it’s similar in the world of core system evaluation.
A new survey suggests that organizations are finally starting to get their arms around MDM. For insurers, it could pave to the way to more focused marketing and services.
Google Buzz users went nuts when their contacts were assembled without their consent, but other social media users are only too happy to air every piece of dirty laundry in their baskets to anyone who will listen.
Insurers don’t buy tech for policyholders to tell them how pretty their bill is but, instead, as part of a bigger strategy to do something for the business.
Open source offers rapid turnaround and quicker time to market, which appeals to many insurers.
Speed is an important part of the equation that yields customer satisfaction and begets retention, but not at the cost of relationship building.
The Toyota recall is the perfect opportunity for carriers to encourage online self-service.
Experts believe companies should gradually immerse themselves in social networking strategies—not dash in an all-at-once fashion.
Insurers looking at IT outsourcing, whether for hardware, software or people, should focus not on cost, but long-term business value.
A new study from IBM suggests that data governance is critical, but actions based on data are unique.
Critic contends that all this cloud terminology is sort of silly, and suggest that it may even be setting the industry back.
IT personnel budgets for 2010 are slightly higher, but who will actually benefit from the increase?
Today's insurance CIO must rise above the shortcomings of his predecessors, and be equally adept at dealing with both business and technology issues.
The green concept is catching on with insurers as well, as Allstate opened a data center last year based upon best practices and technology aimed at saving energy and employing renewable resources.
Just a few pieces of information may be all that is needed to identify you—yet new methods make breaching your privacy even easier.
A Texas bank is suing a business customer that was victimized by cyber-theft; what will insurers do in similar circumstances?
Platform and infrastructure, software development customization and application maintenance are expected to garner the biggest spending increases.
Wouldn't you love to have even a piece of that magic when you're pitching ideas for a new underwriting system or agency portal? Learn how.
The focus of lean IT is to put forth “a set of principles that says you are going to slow down in order to speed up.”
Actions by French insurers could trigger new rounds of discussions and delay the effective implementation of the Solvency II directive.
The tech icon says it will cost fewer dollars, but it can also subvert key relationships that make for success.
MetLife's new teleconferencing setup may have cost about $1 million, but it expects a double-digit ROI in travel savings.
Using technology, insurers can anchor claims at the first notice of loss to improve the fairness, accuracy, speed and consistency of claims.
Several high-profile insurers incorporated elegant designs into service processes, and the impact on their market presence has been phenomenal.
Everyday users worry about their privacy, so how much more should business users be concerned?
For an industry built on trust and relationships, technology is beneficial, but there are still times when face-to-face contact is still important.
The industry considers salivating over the huge China market, but it does so at the expense of our security.
A LinkedIn discussion chain yielded a surprising array of responses from IT folks on this question.
Internet marketing will be regulated by 2015, controlling more than $250 billion in Internet marketing spending worldwide. Outlandish? Maybe not.
Insurers that tie themselves to major sporting events build brand by capturing eyeballs in an innovative way, not by trying to be "cute" with their sponsorships.
Instead of focusing on product features, insurers are focused on growing customer wallet share and capturing emerging customer segments, such as Gen Y’s. Tech vendors need to pay attention.
Two insurers prove that SOA has finally reached a stage of maturity that allows it to address real business problems.
The amount of data we have is growing faster than our ability to store it, and that spells trouble for enterprises.
IT departments sometimes fall into the trap of gauging success solely on project-management parameters or technological criteria, which isn't always the best measure.
“Faster” and “easier” are very appealing buzzwords, but “safer” is even better in the current security climate
While still seen by many as a double-edged sword, social media helps insurers bring bring about innovation.
Going forward, insurers will be employing their existing Web application platforms for all manner of devices.
As usual, the federal government chooses a sledge hammer to swat a fly, which means we all get squashed.
The Y2K "crisis" spawned major shifts in the IT landscape that are still felt today... what might tomorrow bring?
Many of us are trying hard to see positive trends for the coming year, but employment remains the only meaningful bellwether of change.
What to their wondering eyes did appear? Probably not what they were hoping for.
A McKinsey & Co. study finds 55% of execs say current performance in providing basic IT services is very or extremely effective, but only 21% are happy with IT's ability to add value to the business.
Many times, insurers don’t look closely enough at all available data and information to see clearly, and lose out on opportunities as a result.
Search is now generating thousands of new policies for agents and carriers, making it an indispensable part of their marketing strategy.
OK, so some prominent global warming acolytes have been rigging the numbers; let’s just pretend that didn’t happen.
Survey results show younger generation more open to being approached via non-traditional channels.
Businesses need working solutions to their problems, and spending capital on all the latest bells and whistles is not the answer.
Sources say personal computer sales will increase in the commercial sector, but where will the money come from, and who will use them?
Fresh thinking and innovation is needed in the health care sector, and only then will IT improvements begin to have their desired impact.
The few insurers that have released mobile apps have found success but, eventually, every insurer that has invested in a Web-based channel will be taking full advantage of all mobile devices.
Since research has found that 41% of online insurance consumers are interested in PAYD policies, why hasn't this seemingly innovative and intuitive program been adopted by more states, or backed by regulatory groups?
Joblessness has hit most sectors of the U.S. economy, including technology, but companies are still begging for low-cost labor from overseas.
Celent says customer portals should behave in the manner customers expect, which requires continued investments to reflect changing customer behavior, and the leveraging of new technologies.
A new Celent report concludes that the greatest challenge facing insurers is their siloed environments. Improving info sharing would help eliminate this problem.
With the proliferation of security devices and software, you would think that virus infections are decreasing, but exactly the opposite is true. The question is—why?
Fundamental to every insurer's improvement initiative is the need for managers to provide personal-written or verbal permission to make improvements.
While the law may eventually get watered down, the transparency and accountability of information will live on as perhaps insurers' most important corporate value.
No one wants to spend more money these days, but cuts can bleed in ways we never would have imagined.
Social media is invaluable in helping people find each other, share information, communicate and learn, but it's not without its pitfalls.
Move over James Bond, new “gadget-friendly clothing” redefines “cool” for the technophile.
U.S. life carriers need to understand consumer behavior in order to help agents close new business.
Repealing McCarran Ferguson could have serious implications for insurance companies and, ultimately, would burden consumers.
While Web apps are a critical part of many insurers’ business strategies, there needs to be better, more systematic approaches to addressing potential performance issues.
Internet-related crime is a fact of life, but can we afford to simply write it off and forget about it?
Experts say the answer might be a hybrid cloud and on-site computing model.
Eliminating workarounds, or "swamps," can pay great dividends for insurers.
In this age of tight markets and a floundering economy, some are suggesting that carriers take all their sales in-house, but will that happen?
A lack of funding for IT and eBusiness initiatives, channel conflicts and confusion about the role of social networking also plague overseas insurers.
From gathering intelligence to problem solving to making IT decisions, a CIOs job is always varied and busy.
What does it mean for an individual or a company to be a thought leader? For some the answer is powerful, but some refuse to drink the Kool-Aid.
Experts believe insurers eventually will buy into the cloud hype, but in the form of "private clouds" contained within enterprises and close partners and agents.
There's been intense debate among insurance IT pros lately over what SOA is—or is not—supposed to accomplish. Fortunately, experts at last month's International SOA Symposium have helped to shed some light on the subject.
Will anyone need today’s data a millennium from today? Quite possibly, the answer is yes.
What would it look like if Apple's “I'm-a-Mac” commercials were elevated to the enterprise level?
While legacy architectures may make things easier on IT departments, they don't necessarily ease headaches for users.
Holy temblors, Batman, what will the global warming acolytes do with this one?
Management teams have found a need to reset their strategic direction in 2010, so it's imperative insurers improve project execution.
While the government continues to fumble with determining its oversight plan, insurers struggle with their own compliance efforts
Access and authority can be tricky and risky, but someone—or some thing—has to be in charge. Is automation an option?
Insurers may call the rapidly increasing pace of change “normal,” but it still amounts to a loss of control.
Research from Forrester finds that while U.S. auto insurance customers often utilize the Web to shop, they still prefer to purchase through agents or the call center.
New Celent research examines what's hot and what's not for insurers and their IT investments.
The challenge to insurance IT proponents is while they have the support of their companies, they need to do a better job of linking IT projects to actual business gains.
Young graduates seem uninterested in computer science, but some say the real problem is that U.S. companies are opting for cheaper foreign labor in their enterprises. The result is a lack of demand for more highly paid American IT workers.
Forrester talked to 70 North American insurers about their hardware and infrastructure investment plans and found that they're very concerned about risks associated with cloud computing and virtualization.
The cumulative costs for insurers of not fixing all the niggling IT issues and workarounds can be significant.
One plan is to provide services to agents who already have affinity marketing schemes in place.
Zach McCoy, SVP at Kaplan Compliance, offers four recommendations for insurers currently seeking to adopt business process management.
While the federal government’s irrational urge to throw money at every problem is sickening, more funding for cyber-security makes a lot of sense, especially for health insurers.
As more and more consumers use comparison-shopping sites, a major question arises for carriers and agents: Are online comparison shoppers really good customers for your book of business?
The problem stems partly from the Disney mindset of many parents.
We already know the self-service ethic is a winning approach for many insurers, so why not self-service IT?
AHIP's last-second change of heart exposes the organization to retribution.
A new paint formula is said to block Wi-Fi signals, but will it bring more headaches than benefits?
What do we do when the technology environment changes too quickly for us to respond to it? Quantum physics may provide an answer or two.
The real issue buried behind the Justice Department's investigation of IBM is not the hardware monopoly, but the fact that many companies have mission-critical systems running on these mainframes; systems in which they have invested too much money to move.
Reports indicate that revenue support is not going to come from a hardening market.
The power of the list is its ability to bring focus, which is especially helpful for insurance and IT professionals who invariably have their plates full.
Forrester polled 65 insurance IT decision-makers about their infrastructure priorities for 2010, and 48% said extending the life of their hardware was of critical importance.
Despite the gloomy economic picture, many insurers are still upgrading or replacing policy admin systems but, once done, place more responsibility in the hands of business users than IT.
Insurers must encrypt or mask sensitive data that leaves production environments regardless of its destination.
In this information age, perhaps the biggest challenge for insurers and consumers alike is learning to filter through the media deluge for what's truly meaningful.
IT departments are now expected to play a feature role in driving the future growth of the business.
Royal Bank of Scotland Insurance is reportedly moving its claims management system to India.
Given the rise of smartphone adoption among U.S. insurance customers, there is now a massive demand to engage insurers via the mobile Web.
Insurers cutting maintenance levels is a bit like a pro athlete cutting back his workouts—the lack of “maintenance” will eventually show in his performance, or lack thereof.
Insurers should examine their current systems for untapped features and functionality.
Millennials dislike the world their forebears created, and have the current financial crisis, complete with negative opinions of banks and insurers, fueling their disdain.
Celent says two recent policy admin deals in the UK is a sign insurers are looking to get back on track with IT investments.
The arrival of BPM as a transformational initiative is creating new opportunities for carriers to think about new ways of doing business.
The quashing of accountability of a yet-to-be-appointed cyber-security czar is, perhaps, standard operating procedure in the world of politics, but it smells rotten to those of us who live in objective reality.
It’s a tricky time for those who must make plans for next year, but where should insurers draw the line between caution and boldness?
Without an innovation plan, insurance CIOs and IT teams could get a black eye, spending scarce budgets on initiatives that do worse than go nowhere, but end up disappointing the broad customer base.
Insurers should think less about functions and the data itself, and focus instead on processes.
…
With 40 years of reliability, there may still be a place for mainframes in insurance IT shops.
By utilizing Forrester's simple methodology, insurers can evaluate any social, Web, mobile or IT investment.
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