Carriers, It’s Time to Join the Instech & Fintech Party
It doesn’t surprise me at all that insurance and financial services companies tend to be laggards when it comes to arriving at the tech party.After all, many Insurance people tend to naturally be risk averse (Sorry, nothing personal!)… Despite having a plethora of proponents available to the revamping of technology in the financial services and insurance verticals, carriers still remain slow tech adopters.
Most are waiting“…expecting the better mousetrap will be invented at some point” said Shane Cassidy, Vice-President and Head of Property and Casualty insurance at Capgemini, in a Forbes article.
The article adds that “Insurers are such laggards in general. They are really burdened with legacy systems and lack of agility,” and “…We could have had this same conversation 10 or 15 or 20 years ago, although I think we are starting to see a turning point where they have to become more agile.”
Party like it’s NOT 2000
With the catalysts of big data and consumer driven products, the need for increased operational efficiency and information management has never been greater. Many employees are currently using up to 5 legacy systems, entering information in 5 different places and 5 ways, involving the use of Microsoft word templates and systems like MS-DOS, circa 2000. Resulting in inefficiencies, customer dissatisfaction, diminished employee engagement, and worst of all--little to no analytic insights or business intelligence
What could be the solution?
Most insurance / financial laymen would just suggest investing into these systems. However, if financial companies are in a constant battle of minimizing what is going out versus what is coming in, then how will they ever invest enough, or feel comfortable investing into the redevelopment of these systems? That is the Legacy Dilemma--if they invest too much money they risk destroying their solvency and rating as a company.
SaaS, Paa-what?
With system overhauls out of the picture and internal development a lackluster option, companies have decided to turn to third party vendors. These providers are able to concentrate on the development, using SaaS, PaaS, and other delivery methods to tie together legacy systems, streamline operational flow, and create click away regulatory compliance, all while being able to provide a subscription model that creates a “pay for what you use” structure. All around this allows insurers to be more nimble without the capital investments.
The insurance and financial world is all about numbers and data. Recognizing the future opportunities and demand in Fintech and Insurtech,Hobson Associates has been increasingly working with these providers, combining our reach in technology and the financial verticals which has enabled us to recruit the top talent from both industries to these RMIS (Risk management Information system) companies.
BYOD (Bring Your Own Data)
So insurance and financial companies, join the technology party-it’s not too late! … Bring your data, the tech providers will bring their solutions, and werecruiters will provide our top technology, business processes, and sales people to these providers, allowing them to develop the top software for policy/document administration, claims, accounting, commission, underwriting, compliance, new business portals, data virtualization, and more-- Hurry up though, you don’t have all night!
-Jon