{"id":26933,"date":"2019-05-09T15:05:28","date_gmt":"2019-05-09T20:05:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/?p=26933"},"modified":"2021-12-15T00:16:09","modified_gmt":"2021-12-15T05:16:09","slug":"recasting-it-leaders-as-strategy-partners-for-growth-in-pc-insurance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/blog\/recasting-it-leaders-as-strategy-partners-for-growth-in-pc-insurance\/","title":{"rendered":"Recasting IT Leaders as Strategy Partners for Growth at P&C Insurers"},"content":{"rendered":"

To remain competitive in a disruptive market and drive growth, insurance companies must recast IT leaders as strategy partners.<\/h2>\n
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When Property and Casualty (P&C) insurance<\/a> companies position themselves for growth, they generally focus on acquisitions and the exploration of new products and markets. Such expansion involves integrating new information technology (IT) platforms with the intention of creating value for the business.<\/p>\n

Most of the time, however, a value-based approach is not truly taken because business leaders tend to delegate this responsibility to their IT centers rather than partnering with them to develop a technology strategy.<\/p>\n

The disconnect between business leaders and their IT departments creates roadblocks to innovation and makes companies vulnerable to market disruptors \u2013 companies that leverage new technologies to exploit the inefficiencies of traditional business practices.<\/p>\n

One of the most notable examples is Esurance, a startup that burst into the market in 1999 on the dot-com wave, establishing itself as the first online insurance<\/a> company. The new business model made buying insurance private, efficient and paperless for consumers.<\/p>\n

The absence of a commissioned insurance agent allowed the company to offer competitive rates and the online platform empowered consumers to do comparison shopping. In short, Esurance used a new technology<\/a> to undercut the traditional insurance model, which resulted in a significant loss of market share for many companies.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In an industry that is predicated upon the use of information, disruptors render the P&C insurance market exceptionally precarious because they force the need to innovate around information technology. To remain competitive in a disruptive market, companies must recast IT leaders as strategic partners to help them stay ahead of the technology curve and drive growth.<\/p>\n

Positioning Insurance Companies to Drive Growth in a Disruptive Market<\/h2>\n

Since the insurance industry is a business of risk aversion and risk mitigation, companies tend to be resistant to change and are seldom positioned on the cutting edge of technological innovation. Building a strategic partnership between business and IT leaders enables insurance companies to find new and innovative ways to use their data to create timely and competitive insurance products.<\/strong><\/p>\n

To accomplish this, they must acquire the technological agility to meet shifting market demands. Naturally, this comes with significant challenges. Given the data-driven nature of the industry, insurance companies become highly vested in their existing systems which must maintain and process huge stores of data. Therefore, the costs and hassles of adopting and integrating new technologies can become a daunting prospect.<\/p>\n

Although there is no \u201cone size fits all\u201d solution, there are common requirements for enabling insurance data systems to be stable, nimble and efficient. These requirements include:<\/strong><\/p>\n