Novarica Report: Insurance CEOs Don’t Recognize Full Potential of Technology |
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Written by U.S. Insurance News
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Monday, 03 March 2008 |
By not recognizing the full potential of technology, insurance CEOs are hurting their business.
That’s the assessment of “Insurer CEOs on Technology: Property/Casualty Survey Results 2008,” a new report from research and advisory firm Novarica. The report contends CEOs tend to focus on the impact of technology on distribution and service instead of on the potential impact on product development and marketing.
“Insurers recognize that technology has created significant value in improving and streamlining communications over the past few years,” explained Matthew Josefowicz, director of the insurance practice at Novarica and author of the report. “CEOs across the industry recognize the returns on their investments in agent portals, policyholder service capabilities, and internal workflow systems.”
However, Josefowicz adds, the logical next step that CEOs must take is to focus their attention on getting the most out of technology in the area of data analysis in order to improve product and customer profitability.
The report is based on a survey of 59 property-casualty insurer CEOs conducted in January in advance of an executive roundtable hosted by the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI), where Josefowicz moderated a panel. Respondents ranged across all lines of business and sizes of companies.
The survey includes several other key findings, including:
- Almost all insurer CEOs underestimate the technology savvy of their customers, ranking them below their own employees and agents.
- Small and midsize insurer CEOs are often unfamiliar with new technology areas like SOA and Web 2.0
- Insurers where the CIO reports to the CEO or line of business president are more likely to be more optimistic about the value of technology.
The 18-page report is available from Novarica at the company’s Web site.
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