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Insurance & Technology: The BlogMay 13, 2008Health Insurance Consumer Demand Could Shift Towards Mobile FunctionalityThere has been no shortage of health insurers who have made news over the past few years by embracing a more customer-centric business strategy and, as a result, rolling out several customer-facing online tools. The next step though, I believe, center around how insurers make those tools available to members (and, in some instance, potential members) on mobile devices. It’s something that I’ll write about in an upcoming Update story about a recent project at WellPoint. I’d argue that one of the primary reasons that customers began demanding or expecting better online functionality from their insurers was because broadband internet access, over the past few years, has become much more prevalent in the homes of average Americans. Fewer consumers were looking for transparency tools and online provider directories when their 56k dial-up modems grinded web surfing to a snail’s pace. With that sentiment in mind, perhaps a similar transformation is on verge of taking place on mobile devices. While web-enabled mobile phones, BlackBerries, iPhones and the like have already reached a critical mass, some recent developments could lead to a vastly improved overall mobile experience and, as a results, perhaps wider acceptance of mobile applications by the public at large.
I don’t know enough about wireless data networks to understand the full impact of this agreement, but I do know that improved data speeds will undoubtedly lead to an uptick in the number of organizations that focus more effort on mobile, customer-facing applications. Right now, cell phones and other devices have certainly reached a critical mass, but web-based applications build for those devices are lagging just a bit behind. As the times article suggests, “The wireless network of the future is expected to be fast enough — rivaling speeds that cable customers have in their homes today — to allow delivery not just of text and simple Web pages, but of video and advertising.” If and when that occurs, consumers will start expecting insurers to deliver mobile functionality in the same way that they are just now starting to deliver web functionality. Posted by Nathan Conz at 04:41 PM | Comments Big Vendors Affirm Insurance OpportunityAs if to validate last week's Editor's Note, major horizontal vendors have demonstrated its introductory hypothesis, perhaps best summarized by the words of the notorious Willy Sutton. When asked why he robbed banks, Sutton famously replied, “That’s where the money is.” This week two major technology players made announcements about their intentions to beef up their insurance vertical presence with the acquisition of important insurance industry technology vendors. Yesterday HP announced it would acquire EDS, and Oracle said it is buying up-and-coming, new-technology policy management software vendor AdminServer. Taken together with Versata’s announcement last week that it would acquire Clear Technology, this latest round of M&A is probably the most significant spate of insurance technology vendor consolidation since 2006, which featured deals such as IBM/FileNet and ChoicePoint’s acquisition of ePolicy and Insuratec. These deals demonstrate recognition on the part of large horizontal players that they believe there is still great potential for sales in the insurance industry, says Craig Weber, Celent senior vice president and insurance practice leader. “For big players such as Oracle and HP to make a commitment in the insurance industry shows that they are willing to verticalize their offering and that they believe that there’s a long-term play in the industry.” In that respect, while their methods may differ from Mr. Sutton’s, they share his insight on the opportunities presented by the financial services industry, and in this case, the insurance vertical in particular. Posted by Anthony O'Donnell at 11:57 AM | Comments May 06, 2008The Test of Relevance: Ed Zore, Northwestern Mutual
Posted by Anthony O'Donnell at 01:27 AM | Comments The Virtues of Virtual: Ron Boyd, Midwest Family Mutual
Posted by Anthony O'Donnell at 01:24 AM | Comments Eyeing the Competition: Thomas C. Godlasky, Aviva North America
Posted by Nathan Conz at 01:19 AM | Comments Fast Company: Stephen Sills, Darwin Professional Underwriters
Posted by Kathy Burger at 01:17 AM | Comments The Utilitarian: John Leonard, MEMIC
Posted by Nathan Conz at 01:08 AM | Comments May 05, 2008Real Opportunity or Hype?: Video Games and InsuranceAs a member of the I&T editorial team, I’m constantly inundated with new product announcements, story pitches and press releases -- with each e-mail or phone call assuring me that the product or concept in question is revolutionary, industry-changing or both. As a result, a big part of our job here at the magazine is to cut through the hype and find out what really works -- not in theory, but in practice. Cutting through the hype is especially true when it comes to Web 2.0-type technologies. Can social networking initiatives, blogs, or wikis really benefit an insurance company or are they just buzz words that are fun to throw around at business meetings? Even with that necessary skepticism in mind, I couldn’t help but be intrigued by a new feature in Grand Theft Auto IV: Liberty City , the controversial and obscenely popular video game that hit store shelves at the end of April. The game’s developer, Rockstar Games, has partnered with Amazon to market GTA IV’s in-game music tracks. [If you need some background, the Grand Theft Auto series of video games are set in fairly well-developed, 3D, virtual cities. Gamers are free to accept missions or simply explore the game’s environment on their own. A gamer can quite literally hop in (or steal) a car, flip on the radio and cruise around aimlessly if they so desire.] from Yahoo: So what are the insurance industry implications of this innovative new distribution model? Right now, there are none. It’s one thing to market rock and hip-hop music to young adult gamers. It’s another to try and sell them insurance products. Still, many studies suggest that the average gamer is older than conventional wisdom dictates and now that the latest generation of video game consoles practically require Internet connectivity, it wouldn’t be too big a jump to link an in-game billboard (maybe even one advertising, let’s say, auto insurance) to an actual Web site. I’m not saying that insurers need to immediately dedicate valuable time and resources to marketing opportunities that may exist within popular video games. It’d be foolish to do so. On the other hand though -- given the increasing popularity of the video game medium -- it’d be just as foolish to ignore them completely. I guess the key is to separate what’s viable and what’s just hype. Posted by Nathan Conz at 05:27 PM | Comments Why Tech Savvy Matters to CEOs – And To Those Who Judge ThemEvery once in a while, when acquaintances jocularly question the economics of a trade publication dedicated to the subject of insurance IT, I ask them to guess how much the largest insurance carriers spend annually on IT. My interlocutors typically answer, "I dunno; maybe $10 million?" I laugh in a way reminiscent of the characters responding to Dr. Evil's pathetic ransom demand in the first Austin Powers film and say, "Try again." They give their second answer, sure that this time they vastly overshoot the mark: "OK, one hundred million!" I laugh some more. I bring this up not so much to reflect on what insurance CIOs spend as what CEOs entrust them to spend. Given that insurers typically spend 2.5 percent to 3.5 percent of direct written premium on IT, it seems unlikely that a respectable understanding of the potential of technology for business success should be a rare commodity among insurance CEOs. Every time we embark on Insurance & Technology's "Tech-Savvy CEOs" issue, someone is sure to remark: "Isn't that an oxymoron!" And I am always tempted to respond, "Good one! Haven't heard that before!" However, there's enough anecdotal evidence and appreciation of IT's not-too-distant historical role of order-taker to forgive a wag suffering from painful memories. Memories they must be, however. Technology has revolutionized business, period. And the insurance industry, whatever its shortcomings, is no exception. It may be that some few technophobic stragglers exists, perhaps in smaller companies, or surrounded by capable executives who can protect them from themselves. But success is increasingly tied to astute commitment to technology investment, and not just for cost-control. Vendors, consultants and analysts may have occasionally exaggerated the importance of tech savvy at the higher tiers of management in the past, but their exaggeration had the saving grace of being prophetic. Today, equity analysts who follow CEOs performance, and boards who hire and fire CEOs, act under the assumption that a CEO ignorant of the potential of technology is not likely to be a good CEO. Along with other observations and commentary, you can read about the increasing expectations boards and equity analysts have of CEOs in my introduction to I&T's June 2008 Tech-Savvy CEO issue, due to be circulated electronically within the next few days. The issue will also contain written profiles of the five CEOs recognized this year, along with other special content and regular I&T features. In the meantime, we decided to take advantage of our weekly newsletter to share with our audience podcasts featuring conversations between the this year's Tech-Savvy CEOs and the editors of I&T. Posted by Anthony O'Donnell at 03:20 PM | Comments
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