Insurers Disagree That Android is Mobile King

With changes taking place at blinding speed in the mobile technology marketplace, it’s a wonder insurers can keep up with their corporate-wide strategies. Upgrades, new smart phone and smart pad platforms, bolstered network speeds all play forward to insurers’ adopting a deferral approach to embracing new technologies.

A report issued this week of global country-level smartphone market data holds that Google’s Android has become the leading platform. Canalys published its final Q4 2010 results, which revealed shipments of Android-based smartphones reached 32.9 million, nudging Nokia’s Symbian platform out of first place with slightly at 31.0 million worldwide. Nokia did retain its position as the leading global smartphone vendor, with a share of 28%. The fourth quarter also saw the worldwide smartphone market continue to soar, with shipments of 101.2 million units representing year-on-year growth of 89%.

Although smartphone use is up, insurers’ choice of smartphone platforms is very much in a state of flux.

“While Android is on fire, several things are likely to change over the next few quarters that both support and contradict what you are hearing,” Chad Hersh, principal with New York-based Novarica tells Insurance Networking News. “First, BlackBerry's tablet, the Playbook could be a hit or a flop. While this is always a given, in this case it will come down to whether RIM's [Blackberry] desire to appeal to the consumer market will overtake their focus on the corporate market. If the focus is corporate, it could be a big hit in the security conscious insurance industry, but if it is too consumer focused or developers fail to create tens of thousands of apps, it could be a dud.”

For Carlos Corea, AVP and U.S. IT manager at New York-based Liberty International Underwriters, security is a focus. “We do not use the Android and do not intend to,” he says. “We only use Blackberries due to security concerns.”

Blackberry use is widespread among INN readers. Eric Bulis, EVP of Operations and CIO at SBLI USA Mutual Life in Newark, N.J., says his company employees use the Blackberry, but is testing iPhones now that Verizon is supporting them.

“In the long run, we are evaluating what it would mean for the employee to provide the smartphone they want to use (regardless of the type or OS),” says Bulis, who maintains that his company is considering an approach that he believes is gaining momentum, thanks to employees have a strong preference for the type and number of phones they want to carry. “They may expense fees related to its business use, but IT would not be responsible for supporting them,” says Bulis. “The challenge with this approach is that the employees may ask IT for help anyway, especially if documents aren't openable, or e-mail is not being delivered. Also, devices used will need to be able to be locked down remotely, and remotely wiped (even if it wipes personal info on the phone.) We will probably end up in this latter scenario once we see how things shake out,” he says.

Like Bulis, Michael Romano, SVP, Risk and Administrative Services at Pittsburgh-based Highmark Inc., is faced with more than one option, using a Verizon Droid and iPad at home, and a Blackberry for work.

Another Blackberry user, Dennis Mehmen, CIO and VP of Business Information Services at Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance Co., Grinnell, Iowa, says his company plans to remain on the Blackberry platform for the foreseen future, and does not believe its Playbook will be a flop. “We are looking forward to the release of the Playbook and incorporating it into our home office and field staff’s daily routine,” he says.

Still, holds Hersh, the role of Android may be dramatically influenced by the next six months as the first true Android tablet OS arrives (version 3.0), which he believes will drive mass development of Android tablet apps.

“Expect huge adoption numbers for Android tablets as cell phone carriers subsidize the devices, with apps to follow that adoption,” says Hersh.

Of all the platforms currently under consideration, Bulis is betting on further changes and related choices available that may shape the competitive marketplace. iPhone users are seeing Apple slowly roll out the capabilities that Blackberry users have had for a while (remote lock and wipe as examples) to address the key show-stoppers that potential enterprise customers bring to them as the barriers to entry for use in their organizations, notes Bulis.

“To my knowledge, Apple is not yet doing it from a centralized administration perspective, like Blackberry does,” he says. “This is bound to change if Apple chooses to put more energy into the enterprise space.

As the variety and number of feature/functionality/platforms proliferate, many insurers are taking time to review all their options. Ursuline Foley, CIO at Stamford, Conn.-based XL Reinsurance, joins Bulis in studying and testing Android for future enterprisewide rollout.

“[The year] 2010 has been a fantastic [one] for the smartphone market,” said Canalys VP and principal analyst Chris Jones, who reminds vendors not to take a complacent role going forward. “After a difficult 2009, the speed with which the market has recovered has required real commitment and innovation from vendors and they have risen to the challenge. [The year] 2011 is set to be a highly competitive [one] with vendors looking to use new technology, such as dual-core processors, NFC and 3D displays, to differentiate their products and maintain value.”