Relevance of Technology in Insurance.

Technology remains the same, the difference lies in how one applies the Technology for Sustainable Competitive Differentiation in a low margin & high-volume Insurance business. This can make a difference and bail an insurer out of the Red Ocean by creating a Blue Ocean.

Technology must meet below Objectives:

1. Save time (for every stakeholder, primarily the Insured) — think of a Digitalization where a very long paper-based form is replicated on the web / mobile app. Yes, it is Digitalization, but without innovation.

2. Simplify the process

3. Reduce Risks in underwriting & claims settlement — Easier access to authentic information

4. Organize everything in a single place — Single Source of Truth

5. Deliver Customer Delight

6. Reduce Efforts

If Technology is not meeting all the above Objectives, then it is partially successful and, in several ways, it becomes costly and cripples the Business growth.

The word “Technology” can be misleading like blindman’s definition of the elephant, and the change for good happens when the leadership team starts looking at the Technology as the sum and total of:

· The Products used in operations and analytical reporting

· The Software and Hardware, its acquisition costs, AMC, and support costs

· Technical experts, who are creating, maintaining, and supporting

· Product roadmaps

· Finally, the outlook about the future.

When leadership starts looking at Technology as the sum and total of above factors, then “Technology” becomes everybody’s business and not just the ICT department’s function. Such a mindset change is the beginning of great journey, where Business exceeds the expectations by becoming a “Customer Centric Organization” to deliver new Products and Services at the speed of thought, else it will continue to be Good (but not Great) with a lot of efforts.

Think like this, if your Technology is not functioning like OPEX i.e., pay-per-business transaction and it is not flexible enough to adapt to your business demands within weeks, then there is something wrong. With the advent of Cloud, AI, ML, PaaS, and SaaS, today Technology is affordable and easy to implement. The incremental changes must happen within few weeks & complete transformation must happen under 2 quarters.