Next Generation Insurance: Leading from the front.

The role of “business analyst” is getting more and more important as product/package companies are passing more control from IT to the hands of business users. Things like maintaining business rules, changing workflows or adding new fields on a screen - things that involved IT just few years back are now comfortably being done by business analysts. The toolset based products which can be changed via “configuration” through UI, rather than “customization” through code is helping the paradigm shift. The catch is very often it requires some IT skills like knowledge of XML or learning a scripting language which an ordinary business user (like an underwriter) may not be able to do. To make this happen a new set of “trained” business analysts are evolving who have good understanding of both business and IT. Let’s call them “Business Analyst 2.0”.

Continue reading "Business Analyst 2.0 and BAO - Business Analyst Office" »

Posted by Souvik Roychoudhury at 05:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Continue reading "Value selling – strategic benefits typically trump financial measures…but should the latter continue to be a laggard?" »

Posted by George Ignatius at 11:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

For an insurance company both Policyholders and Agents/Producers are equally important to top-line and bottom-line growth.  Even in this day and age, Producers continue to play a vital role in bringing together carriers and end customers.  Insurers are well aware of the importance of satisfied Producers — captives independents and others — in driving new revenue as well as in providing a competitive edge in the marketplace.   

It is true that market-relevant products and attractive compensation will favorably influence a Producer’s decision to contract with a carrier.  However the ‘ease of doing business’ - be it for initial contracting and appointment, tracking continuing education credits or license expiry or other administrative activities like maintaining biographical information, banking details etc. - will be a deciding factor in continuing a mutually beneficial relationship with the carrier.

Continue reading "Improving Producer Experience" »

Posted by Sanjaya Kumar at 06:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Continue reading "Do you have a goal for reducing the % of non-discretionary spend?" »

Posted by Siva Nandiwada at 11:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

There has been a raging debate (on this blog as well as all major media outlets) on the right level of IT spending for carriers. While, generally speaking, the participants in this debate seem to be converging on the central theme of shifting to a ROI based prioritization and governance of IT spend, ruthless management of Total Cost will continue to be an imperative that impacts the ROI.

Most organizations have leveraged sourcing in some way or the other to optimize total costs. While sourcing is a strong lever, it is also important to assess the right sourcing strategy  in optimizing the total cost. Managed services models provide an excellent opportunity to manage cost structures while shifting to a variable cost model. Using managed sourcing in conjunction with other strategies (like Grid computing) can be very effective in managing total cost to address the variable demand.

We all know TC = FC + VC*Q. For the IT landscape Q (Production) is the same as demand for IT in an enterprise (both discretionary and non-discretionary). Functional areas that have potential significant variability in demand (or seasonality – for example processing claims in the hurricane season or a new product launch) can benefit from leveraging models that lower fixed cost (and allow to not plan infrastructure and systems for the peaks) and use variable but predictable (tied to business outcomes) costs.

Let’s take a look at a model for optimizing Total Cost

Continue reading "Sourcing Strategy to Optimize IT Spend" »

Posted by Sanjay Mohan at 05:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Continue reading "What is the true discretionary spend in insurance companies?" »

Posted by Siva Nandiwada at 11:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

The noted futurist Ray Kurzweil continues to expound his vision of human immortality - though his 20-year timeframe for achieving it does not seem to have moved forward in the last 4 years. Given his commendable achievements and awards starting with his college days at MIT, his views continue to attract the attention of the world media with multiple reports in the past week.

Continue reading "Immortality- disagreeable future for Insurance industry?" »

Posted by George Ignatius at 11:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

In the Insurance Industry, product design, claims, distribution, customer acquisition and policy administration figures on the top of the list of Insurance specific core processes. However in the Insurance processes value chain, each process has different cost-structure. Moreover, the impact that process has on the creating differentiated competitive advantage for the organization varies for each process.

Continue reading "Realigning spend priorities for Insurance processes" »

Posted by Sanjay Mohan at 04:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

In an industry organization, 30-40% of processes and supporting infrastructure (technology, systems and human resources) are the same as any other organization in that industry. These processes are not a source of competitive advantage for any of these organizations. Insurance organizations are not the exception here. Moreover, if you look at the cost of these processes (including the underlying infrastructure of technology, systems and human resources), it becomes imperative for Insurance organizations to sharpen their focus on the 4 Ps for the source of differentiation – product, price, place (distribution) and promotion.

Continue reading "Shared services across industries – for the benefit of Insurance industry" »

Posted by Sanjay Mohan at 05:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Continue reading "Finally, thawing of the discretionary spend freeze?" »

Posted by Srikanth Srinivasan at 08:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)