Insure Think

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.

Legacy systems upgrades were once mainly beneficial to IT operations, but now, they make or break a company's competitive advantage.

“The longer things remain uncertain, the more pressure that puts on the industry,” said Howard Mills, director and chief advisor of Deloitte’s insurance industry group and former New York State Insurance superintendent. “It’s sort of an artificial cloud hanging over the industry’s head; what’s going to happen with SIFI designations, what’s going to be in the FIO report? There’s just so much uncertainty out there.”

Gadget Show Live shows off the technologies that will be defining major advancements in the year to come.

Big data is becoming more and more responsible for insurance business initiatives, including advertising.

Trying to define a data scientist's duties is tough but it can be even tougher to find someone with the proper skills to carry them out—here's some advice.

How one insurer adopted 'ERP for IT' to build repeatable, business-savvy processes.

As the system gains acceptance, regulators expect major expansions to the use of LEIs in an effort to gain insight into the connectivity of financial systems.

Most current data strategies weed out all data that doesn't point to a single end, but that may be selling the potential of your company's data way short.

A new book breaks down a tech-savvy approach for insurers looking to decipher the habits of online consumers.

Agents, carriers and vendors come together to discuss the importance of equipping every team member with real-time technology.

How to effectively deal with the insurance equivalent of enterprise resource planning: policy administration systems.

In anticipation of the announcement of designations for non-bank systemically important financial institutions, Howard Mills, director and chief advisor of Deloitte’s insurance industry group and former New York State Insurance superintendent, shares thoughts about some of the last-minute speculation and what options insurers will have if designated.

The phase where companies focus on accruing millions of followers and likes is ending; a focus on influence is what should replace it.

Using a top-tier insurer as an example, analysts advise companies to start small and think big.

Insurers looking to tap into Latin American markets may be surprised to find high levels of mobile usage.

Insurers are going to have to double down on efforts to attract and retain technology talent, before they're absorbed elsewhere into the digital economy.

A 30-year-old in the industry explains what he would like to see as the transformation of the way insurance is conducted continues.

When it comes time to make a change in a policy admin system, a lot of planning, negotiating and hand-holding will be required.

A new Novarica report predicts continued software provider M&A in 2013-'14. Is there a way for insurers to prepare?

After a couple weeks of online dialogue regarding the industry's image problems, a solution may be emerging.

Critic claims that even though BI and analytics software is powerful, it is still out of reach for general business users.

Agents and carriers are tripping over themselves, when they should be working together.

The stage is set for Siri-like capabilities across all BI systems, as well as more automated decision-making.

Adapting social practices in core systems operations may be insurers' best opportunity to leverage social networks.