Insure Think

“Frictionless” is a word that gests used a lot by vendors, but if everything were as frictionless as promised, we would be in cyber-heaven, wouldn’t we?

Managing reinsurance policies and claims with spreadsheet software is error-prone, slow and labor-intensive; regulatory compliance is difficult, and legitimate claims can slip through.

More than 80 percent of healthcare organizations have been compromised by cyber-attacks in past two years, according to KPMG.

Businesses have traditionally delivered complex documents to their customers using print delivery or electronics of the same printed output. This approach is not ideal for the mobile world where this highly regulated content must be viewable, actionable, and compliant across all of the devices that consumers use today.

Developing a common communications approach is a critical part of the CIO function. This checklist is a place to start for board meetings, presentations and for an IT leader’s communications with their board members.

Despite many rational and logical reasons to modernize core system technology, companies often put these decisions off for years or even decades, and impediments to change can come from unexpected directions.

While I've tried to articulate how some organizations get big data "right," it's frequently more compelling to explain how others seem to be getting it terribly "wrong."

While capital remains the primary tool that IAIS plans to use to ensure global insurer solvency, the IAIS demonstrated an apparent new openness to listening to those who had decried its rush to new standards, and its unwillingness to consider the equivalency of current local regimes.

As insurance companies increasingly digitize their operations, reach out to customers via apps and online services, and employ big data analytics for everything from telematics to fraud prevention, any hiccups in software delivery may mean delays and losses.

What we learn about securing data and communications from the Department of Defense.

Success in the future will depend on the capabilities we put in place to present an accurate map of what information resides where, and describes the actual quality level of that information.

The joining of two more global technology firms creates another global technology services giant in the financial services space. But why so many? And what does this mean to us in insurance?

In the week since the release of the Celent report “Machine Intelligence in Insurance: Designing the Aware Machine,” I have been involved in several fascinating discussions around a new level of personalization in insurance.

Security vulnerabilities exist in a number of areas; data sent from a wearable device to a nearby smartphone, for example, may be exposed during transfer via Bluetooth or WiFi connections.

For an IT strategy to be successful, control areas, such as strategic planning, legal, regulatory and finance, and operational areas, including underwriting, claims, actuarial, product development and marketing, need to help. If that were not challenging enough, IT leaders must be able to create a strategy that works in the context of multiple divisions, entities and possibly countries.

Security researchers demonstrated that they could hack Metromile's UBI dongle; insurance carrier issued patch in June.

Over the next few years, technology will play a vital role for commercial lines insurers as prices firm and new insurers enter the marketplace.

Many insurers are looking to redesigning systems to better support analytics, but it may be better to develop them as separate sideline to be tested and merged into the organization when ready.

Leader of insurers’ drone program will discuss her parallel journeys in insurance and flight at 2015 Women in Insurance Leadership Forum.

Many insurers find that legacy billing technology limits efficiency for internal operations, effectiveness of customer service, the speed to market for new or modified billing features, and can be an obstacle in delivering capability to agents and policyholders.

The NAIC’s recent and startlingly rapid moves towards a cyber regulatory doctrine are evidence of the importance and vulnerability of cyberspace.

Insurance companies are major consumers of IT outsourcing services, but there are hints that carrier CIOs are rethinking their outsourcing strategies.

Since its introduction to the market in 2010, telematics has come to be recognized as a maturing rather than emerging technology and often gets incorporated into connected car initiatives.

The insurance industry is focused on products. But for consumers, when it comes to complex products, it's all about the customer experience.

Ever since personal data was first discussed as having the potential for emerging as a new asset class at the World Economic Forum in 2011, capturing and incorporating personal data into the proposition design has been seen as a potential gold mine.

Combining the operations of two insurance giants likely would require months of research, as well as an increase in headcount and IT expenditures, at least in the short term.

Beyond encouraging a strong personal relationship with an underwriter, what can carriers do to build stronger connections with agents and grow their book? Celent surveyed a group of agents to understand those areas most likely to make a carrier the agents’ top choice.

Pair Programming and other Agile development methods are helping Allstate and others find the best route on their digital journeys.

Most of these advanced capabilities are being driven by a combination of five elements: analytics, data, digital channels, modern applications and innovative business practices.

There's still time to submit nominations for exemplary female executives at your insurance company,

Faster and more accurate claims processes, improved customer experience, and safer conditions for insurance staff will continue driving investment in drones.

In part one, we looked at the challenges and opportunities involved in rewriting a ten-year old application; here we’ll focus on talent, customer expectations, and enhancements and maintenance.

The NAIC Executive (EX) Committee recently established the Cybersecurity (EX) Task Force to act as a focus point for cybersecurity insurance regulatory activities. The message is clear: there will be regulatory pressure to do something around cybersecurity.

With the gold medal-winning U.S. Women's Soccer Team parading not far from the INN offices, taking a moment to reflect on Women in Insurance Leadership.

Having a set of vendor-specific questions and expectations can assist in selecting the best vendor for your company.

Insurers clearly appreciate the greater insights into policyholder risk factors from connected cars and homes.

Claims is the perfect place to test emerging technologies, then build upon that foundation to truly reinvent the claims process.

It’s not often one gets a chance to revisit a past development effort, but it’s just that kind of unique opportunity that makes one’s development life just a little bit sweeter.

There’s no denying that there are a few exciting use cases of insurers truly leveraging big data, but it’s still extremely limited.

The combined company will have around $40 billion in annual revenues, which elevates it to a key global player and should allow for some economies of scale.

Between now and the effective date of the merger, there will be a lot of planning focused on efficiencies and platform rationalization, cloud, SaaS, data management/stores, analytics and more.

To boost efficiencies and innovation, global insurers are expected to increase IT spend to more than $100 billion in 2015, but how does this forecast translate for the insurance world?

Half of surveyed software developers don't feel they can work with the Internet of Things. Can insurers take the lead?

Experiment, but be careful of expensive, enterprise installations that are hard to extract later, and understand these types of projects can be more transient than other enterprise software.

Each hurricane season puts CAT models to the test, with potentially billions of dollars riding on the accuracy of these models. The key to developing effective CAT modeled loss estimates is accurate, high-quality data.

INN is accepting nominations for our 10th annual Women in Insurance Leadership honors, and we want to hear from you.

In insurance, it is easy to be swayed by the shiny new tool and jump to invest in the latest system.

As analytics and mobility become higher priorities, a new challenge will emerge: how to find and retain the best talent.

IT leaders are spending too much time down in the engine room, when they should be up on the bridge helping to steer the ship.

Cyber crime is a broader problem that's not confined to tech companies and large corporations. The risks are very real for all companies.

Having a single view of the customer means that the insurer and any front line individual dealing with the customer understands the full context of the relationship.

Once a digitally savvy company from an “adjacent industry” such as web services has a wrap around your customers, what’s to prevent them from embedding their own insurance products?