Insurance Technology Featured Article

Study Shows Insurance Investment in Technology is Rising

By John Casaretto
Contributing Writer

The insurance industry is due for a significant technology surge in the year ahead, according to a report, “Hot Topics” for Insurers: Social, Mobile, Analytics, Big Data, Cloud, and Digital, by Novarica. The report is based on a survey of insurance industry CIOs that pursued as the title says the technology topics of cloud, big data, mobile, social, analytics, and other digital cutting edge platforms. This marks the third such annual study for Novarica. It projects a number of big things in the year ahead.

Among the interesting facts found in the report, cloud-based systems have been deployed at more than half of all insurers. Insurance companies have clearly discovered the operational and efficiency benefits of cloud technologies based on this increasing level of adoption.

On the big data side of things, adoption has doubled in adoption since only 2014. This indicates that after years of being considered a technology laggard, the insurance industry has picked up the pace in embracing cutting edge technologies which help streamline IT operations and create sustainable business value. 

There are countless factors behind why technology adoption is picking up steam in the insurance industry. These include competition from traditional providers and disruptive startups, statistical needs, volume, geo-diverse technology bases, mobile needs, and a host of workflow automation elements. Many insurance companies are looking for ways to improve business knowledge, tactical information, the ability to operate with greater efficiency, and to create savings for their subscribers as well as investors.

Cloud, analytics, and big data are at the top of the list when it comes to evaluating the need to increase investment in technology because of all the pressures to be more efficient an effective as customers increasingly are faced with a market exploding with more options. How fast and who is upping their game to be viewed as disruptor rather than disrupted is clearly shaping up as one of the biggest trends to follow in 2016 which some industry observers, including company executives, believe could be a watershed year across almost every insurance line of business.

The CEO of Novarica, Matthew Josefowicz, will be hosting a webinar which will review the highlights of the report on January 20^th.