Future challenges in the insurance sector
While they operate their digital transformation, the insurance companies find themselves faced with many challenges. Indeed, new technologies like blockchain upset the market and bring in their wake as many opportunities as uncertainties. But digital development also has risks: cybersecurity, in particular, becomes a major issue to meet computer attacks.
In parallel, the digital boom brought up new players in the insurance market. Building on 24-hour availability and on aggressive prices, these “pure-players” have turned the established order by offering more mobility and a new approach to customer relations.
Finally, the sector must compose with stricter regulations, embodied by European reforms like Basel II, Basel III or Solvency II.
Insurance company: What does the DSI job of tomorrow look like?
To meet these new challenges, the IT DSI profession within insurance companies must absolutely be redesigned.
Install more agility in the company
The adoption of agile methods is essential today within the information systems department. While the CIO is subject to strong budgetary pressure, the agility of IT practices and processes makes it possible to keep a certain room for maneuver, while overall improving the productivity of the teams.
But agility also makes it possible to respond to an increasingly strong demand: instantaneity. Indeed, the acceleration of the product time-to-market is a major issue for customer and user satisfaction, but also to be up to the requirements of other business trades, including marketing and distribution.
ISDs from insurance companies are therefore increasingly turning to DevOps methods. By bringing development and exploitation together, but also by decompartmentalizing studies, development and application, this approach allows a considerable gain in agility.
Support the different professions in their transformation
To transform itself into an agile organization, an insurance company must break the barriers and silos that separate the different trades, but also end certain unnecessary hierarchical dependencies. The CIO must therefore bring the computer service closer to other teams and provide them with a common vision.
Thus, it gives meaning to everyone's work, while providing the different professions with tools really adapted to their needs. Training also has an essential role to play, so that employees are independent and effective in their use of digital.
To achieve this, the choice of digital tools, and in particular ERPs, is of capital importance. Many CIOs have achieved, a posteriori, that they used an imposed and closed platform, unable to adapt to the various trades. Hence the interest of an open and customizable solution.
Operate all the potential of data
In the insurance world, customer data collected over the years have an unsuspected value, and still too often unexploited. This is why this precious capital must be used by the CIO of tomorrow, in order to accelerate innovation, improve customer relations or even quality of service.
However, such an approach is based on better management of data: according to Gartner, poor quality data cost an average of $ 12.9 million to organizations. It is therefore urgent to strengthen the IT architecture of the company, but also to guarantee the reliability, security and consistency of data.
At the organizational chart, the ITB trade tends to integrate that of the CDO (Chief Data Officer): indeed, the management of information systems is now inseparable from data management. At least, the CIO and the CDO must work hand in hand by advancing towards common objectives, in order to best serve the interests of the insurance company.
Be a real engine of innovation
Dematerialization of processes, multi -channel customer relations, new digital products, better responsiveness … with digital transformation, the insurance sector is experiencing an unprecedented dynamic of innovation.
In this context, the CIO must play a driving role, anticipating the developments in its organization and the new professions likely to appear. Beyond the technical aspect, the position includes an ever more important HR component, consisting in supporting users in the face of change and meeting the social and training challenges related to digital.
In addition, the CIO will be increasingly led to promote internally the development of new products, such as mobile applications. In parallel, he must be able to identify the best suppliers and partners, in order to choose the tools and software adapted to meet the needs of the various professions. The post sheet of the CIO of tomorrow will therefore be full!
Agile, visionary, innovative and guided by a “data-centric” approach, the ISS of the insurance company of tomorrow has many challenges to take up, but also a host of opportunities to seize to improve the company's offer. This is why he is led to play a key role in the digital transformation of his organization.
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