Blog
'Halloween Irene' Just Latest Entry in Freakish Catastrophe Year
October 31, 2011 @ 10:34 AM | By Nathan Golia
It may not be the most expensive event of 2011, but the pre-Halloween snowstorm that walloped the East Coast is another reminder that such incidences don't follow the models.
continued...Guardian Study Shows Online Enrollment Pays Off
October 28, 2011 @ 11:37 AM | By Nathan Golia
The insurer's investments in the online channel over the past few years have coincided with an increase among all age groups in preference.
continued...Allianz Life Gets on the Social Media Train With Videos
October 27, 2011 @ 09:11 AM | By Nathan Golia
We've reported on how social media is becoming popular among life and annuities carriers in an attempt to broaden their policyholder bases. The ways companies look to start a conversation, however, aren't all the same.
continued...Former Insurance Head Rometty Becomes IBM CEO
October 26, 2011 @ 12:48 PM | By Nathan Golia
Virginia Rometty, who has been with IBM since 1981, served as GM of IBM's Global Insurance and Financial Services Sector on her way to succeeding Sam Palmisano.
continued...Gartner Forecasts 3.9 Percent Growth in Enterprise IT Spending for 2012 – How Will Insurance IT Budgets Compare?
October 26, 2011 @ 10:32 AM | By Kathy Burger
Gartner forecasts 3.9 percent growth in enterprise IT spending for 2012; cloud, social, information, mobile identified as forces shaping IT spending. Insurance & Technology survey investigates budget plans and IT priorities for the coming year.
continued...Rethinking the Single-Platform Policy Admin Strategy
October 26, 2011 @ 08:18 AM | By Anthony O'Donnell
Consolidating down to a single policy administration system would be a dream-come-true for many insurance CIOs, but given the capabilities of modern systems architecture, it's not necessarily the right objective.
continued...Have You Taken I&T's Budget Survey?
October 25, 2011 @ 11:33 AM | By Nathan Golia
Budget decisions are being made in an increasingly uncertain economic environment. Are your plans changing on the fly?
continued...The Risks and Rewards of Being an Insurance CIO
October 24, 2011 @ 08:25 AM | By Kathy Burger
The role of CIO is a complex, demanding and often thankless job that can be simultaneously high profile and unappreciated.
continued...MajescoMastek Investment in SEG Begins to Pay Dividends
October 21, 2011 @ 13:14 PM | By Anthony O'Donnell
Both the vendor and carriers shopping for modern life and annuity policy administration platforms will benefit from Elixir NA's debut implementation at Wawanesa Life.
continued...The 80/20 IT Spending Trap
October 21, 2011 @ 12:57 PM | By Nathan Golia
We talk about legacy a lot in the insurance industry. Is it holding you back from devoting your budget to innovations you'd like to make?
continued...Can Social Media Save Life Insurance?
October 20, 2011 @ 12:55 PM | By Nathan Golia
Let's be honest: Selling life insurance is about getting people to buy something related to their death, and who wants to think about that? More insurers are looking to begin that talk with prospects by turning to the most conversational technology available to them.
continued...Insurers Looking to Cut Costs: Is Tech on the Block?
October 19, 2011 @ 12:29 PM | By Nathan Golia
The insurance market isn't getting any better and premium growth is hard to come by. If cost reductions are put on the table again, will IT budgets feel the pain?
continued...Which Insurer Do Customers Trust Most?
October 18, 2011 @ 13:12 PM | By Anthony O'Donnell
The Temkin Group just released the results of its 2011 Trust Ratings, based on a poll of 6,000 U.S. consumers about 143 companies across 12 industries, and readers may be shocked to see an insurer in the number-one spot.
continued...Will You Spend Too Much on Your Transformation Initiative?
October 17, 2011 @ 09:36 AM | By Anthony O'Donnell
While insurers are typically prudent about solution selection, they often short-cut the contract phase for solutions whose pricing can be "all over the map." Spend consultant Jeff Muscaralla of NPI offers the three "Rs" of transformation cost control.
continued...How Are Insurance Companies Navigating the 2012 IT Budget Process? Respond to I&T's Survey to Share Your Budget Experiences
October 17, 2011 @ 08:38 AM | By Kathy Burger
Whether they increase or shrink compared to 2011 levels, insurers' 2012 IT budgets will have to cover everything from compliance to analytics to core systems to customer experience. Tell us how your 2012 IT budget is shaping up by participating in an Insurance & Technology survey.
continued...Insurance Fraud Fighters Accused of "Snooping" on Facebook Accounts
October 14, 2011 @ 11:32 AM | By Anthony O'Donnell
Insurers need to navigate privacy and public relations problems when examining newly available data sources for fraud, and on a practical level they need to discard manual approaches for Big Data-style automated analysis.
continued...What Do New Supercomputers Mean for Insurance Strategy?
October 13, 2011 @ 13:50 PM | By Anthony O'Donnell
Leaps in processing power herald the era of Big Data and foreshadow new competitive battlefields for the information-driven business of insurance.
continued...Don’t Short List Your Search of Core System Choices
October 13, 2011 @ 10:50 AM | By Bill Garvey- Eastern Shore Consulting
Exploring too few vendors introduces unnecessary risk into the selection process and may prevent you from finding the system that is best suited to your company's business strategy.
continued...P&C Policy Admin System Replacement: Be Careful Whom You Trust
October 11, 2011 @ 20:44 PM | By James M. Kerr- Best Practices Enterprise Group
Thinking that "industry experts" ought to manage one's policy administration system selection may be more about looking for an easy way out than a concern about whether technology should be a core competency for an insurance company.
continued...Direct to Fraud: Applying Analytics to the Fraud Challenges of the Direct Insurance Channel
October 10, 2011 @ 16:42 PM | By James Ruotolo- SAS
As insurers continue to expand into the direct Internet business, having analytical anti-fraud capabilities is no longer a luxury but a necessity.
continued...Another British Invasion? The New Wave of Insurance Regulation
October 10, 2011 @ 12:00 PM | By Denise Tessier- Wolters Kluwer Financial Services
Just as the musical "British Invasion" ultimately had a lasting impact on American music and culture, the synergy of regulatory reforms in the U.S. and Europe are also aimed at constructive global cooperation, a blending of the best of both worlds.
continued...Regards to Unum's Bob Best on His Retirement
October 07, 2011 @ 11:14 AM | By Anthony O'Donnell
The trajectory of Bob's career brought him through increasingly broad responsibilities and tested him through the rigors of major mergers and acquisitions. His continued eminence from Colonial Life, through UnumProvident to Unum, demonstrated his outstanding worth to those organizations through all their changes.
continued...The End of an Era for Apple
October 06, 2011 @ 11:38 AM | By Nathan Golia
Perhaps in hindsight we should've known that the writing was on the wall when Steve Jobs stepped down earlier this month. His passing offers a true opportunity to reflect on a remarkable run.
continued...A Brief Roundup of Selected Steve Jobs Tributes
October 06, 2011 @ 11:29 AM | By Anthony O'Donnell
Steve Jobs understood the relationship of the aesthetic to the utilitarian, he understood the importance of liberating and encouraging creativity, and he demonstrated that the hipster sensibility could be reconciled to the capitalist ethos of competition.
continued...AgencyPort Co-CEO on Name Change from Sword
October 04, 2011 @ 12:58 PM | By Nathan Golia
Sword Insurance, recently purchased by a private equity firm, has changed its name to AgencyPort Software. Co-CEO Steve Hauck spoke with I&T on how they ended up there.
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