Insure Think

While big data operations based in the cloud are attractive, there is at least one voice out there urging executives to be wary of moving away from on-site data storage.

Advice on improving communication between business people and data professionals.

Several recommendations for using advanced technologies to make communications simpler and more secure.

Or, do carriers' attempts to humanize themselves on social networks strain relations?

We can control ourselves, not our environment. We need to decide whether to stay and try to blaze a trail for change, or we can get out and find a more suitable environment.

Recent estimates put the average hit a business takes as the result of a data breach at more than $4 million.

Some call it nostalgia. Others call it stuck in a bygone era. No matter which, we all have to come to terms with the fact that the world has changed due to technology and we all need to evolve or be lost in history.

Where once underwriters called the tune, it is now the distributors who have leverage and are setting the ground rules.

Insurers are encountering two obstacles in employing more predictive analytics: a lack of both top-level support and appropriate skill sets.

A recent study shows few female film and television characters holding science, technology, engineering and mathematics careers. With the media perpetuating gender stereotypes, how can we expect there to be a natural shift toward more women in leadership?

A guide to the various options insurers have when attempting to tackle lacking data quality, inconsistent formats and fragmented sources.

A three-year move of 97 percent of a major insurer's applications and data is saving the company millions in the long-term.

Carriers seeking new solutions must dig deep into the IP supplied with modern insurance software to be sure they understand the commitment required to fully deploy these solutions.

Most if not all of us were raised believing you say what you mean and you mean what you say. But somehow, this seems lost when it comes to technology implementations today. In survey after survey, and article after article we read that what companies want are Cloud, Mobile, SaaS, and BPaaS solutions. Legacy systems are problems. Technology leaders want to modernize and become agile. Well that’s what they say anyway.

There are many systems written in many languages, but with open-source languages getting all the attention in recent years, are there enough people to support them?

Agents and carriers are working steadily toward more efficient interactions, but to reach their goal, it will take a collaborative effort.

The first step in resolving a problem is identifying the problem. Make sure you aren’t using any of the reasons listed above as excuses to avoid developing women.

While big data possesses transformative potential, investments alone won't elevate business, it takes close coordination and cooperation.

It is no secret, and it is supported by many recent industry studies - attracting and retaining customers is the primary or secondary priority for insurance companies. To do so, insurers need to provide product innovation and get customers excited about new product concepts, protection offers and superior service. Insurers can work with the customers to create the solution to meet their needs and make it about them. This is an opportunity for insurers to disrupt and capture market.

A watershed year is shaping up for insurers and their use of technology, and IT/business relations are more important than ever.

Storage continues to be the biggest chunk of the investment in virtualization projects, which includes both server and desktop initiatives.

The days of social media strategy meaning you open a Facebook page and staff it with someone young and bright are over.

Underwriting is helping insurers improve accuracy and cycle times, but third-party data could have a profound impact on the industry.

Sometimes, the stars all seem to align and that light can bring things into sharp focus. This year's IASA conference focused on knowledge and innovation. The COO Roundtable topics challenged traditional views and challenged the participants to focus on innovation, change, differentiation and competitiveness. All of this combined to emphasize how we - as an industry - must rethink, transform and innovate the insurance industry in response to the many different changes we are experiencing.

In order for ideas to freely flow within an insurer, an IT department may need to step in to enable that conversation.

Insurers and agents need to build more agility into their relationships in order to deliver the type of customer experience that will be required in the future.

Technology is fueling the shift from a reimbursement model to a prevention/loss-control one for P&C carriers.

In this first of three blog posts, a hypothetical upgrade to improve customer interaction is described, and the typical challenges insurers face are illuminated.

When it comes time to migrate to a newer system, you shouldn’t have to worry about the fate of customer information.

While automated underwriting and insurance bundling is a likely future for the industry, AIG Casualty SVP Salvator Branca says there are several attendant concerns.

Many people have written about the impact of the book "Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game" by Michael Lewis not only on the Oakland Athletics, but also on modern businesses across industry boundaries. This book, which was made into a top-grossing film starring Brad Pitt, highlighted the real impact of analytics in shaping the success of a baseball team but it has applications everywhere.

A fruitful group discussion on social media among ACORDLOMA attendees unveiled shared experiences and progress being made with social business.

Insurers could clear up a lot of client management headaches in one fell swoop with desktop virtualization.

A relative newcomer to the insurance industry, RGA Reinsurance CIO Mark Showers shares his perspective on how the insurers' concerns compare to other industries.

While fads for managing and improving business processes come and go with regularity, there is an underlying approach to successful processes that never changes.

Aetna provides an example of private cloud operations being more cost-effective and efficient.

Returning home from the ACORD-LOMA Forum (ACORD-LOMA) last week, I was reminded of a time about 12 years ago when I wrote that data is the lifeblood of the insurance industry and a strategic asset that needed effective management. The recollection was prompted in part by the fact that during ACORD LOMA the topics of big data, business analytics and business intelligence, and the need for quality data, continued to be hot topics both in terms of insurer priorities and discussion points. The fact that the industry is still buzzing about these topics seems to indicate little progress has been made in the last 12 years. And, to make matter worse, recent research indicates insurers are, on average, using only five to ten percent of their current data.

Three items to watch in the wake of the latest big-name technology vendor acquisition.

A new way of looking at technology and work, brought over from the manufacturing sector.

It may sound like an oversimplification to say that Data Mastery (DM) is the ability of an insurer to gain mastery of their data, so perhaps it would be better to say that DM is the ability of an insurer to gain business insight from raw data.

Celent’s first U.K. CIO Roundtable lends a varied discussion on the future of IT operations as well as engaging suppliers of innovation.

If you have been with a company that has acquired or merged with another, you have likely felt the pain that goes with merging systems and data sets — but does it need to be that difficult?

Small- to mid-size insurers are investing in PAS transformations more than ever, but most of them have yet to experience the growth in core business and delivery capabilities that they're looking for.

How one insurance company re-created mainframe logic on a Windows/.NET server environment.

A series of measurements can greatly improve processes if you know what data to look for, and what to do with it once its found.

The volume of customer service questions posted on Facebook (across all industries) has increased 26 percent in 6 months, with an average response time of 13.7 hours—consumers expect a response within 60 minutes.

Four tips from a recent book that provide business executives with everything they need to know when working with analytics.

Recent studies are showing that consumers still prefer an agent's touch; here's a laundry list of things agents can do to keep those consumers happy.

Enterprise architect extraordinaire James McGovern discusses best practices for migrating and improving policy administration systems.

At RIMS, intellectual, intangible and other non-standard property coverage are top of mind.

In terms of insured claims payouts, the fertilizer factory explosion likely will generate even larger dollar claims than the Boston bombings.

Data in health care can provide a good example for all insurers concerned about transitioning to a big data-centric business model.