Insurers Less Focused on Efficiency, More on Capability

Modestly growing insurance carrier IT budgets will shift away from efficiency concerns to building increasingly necessary capabilities for a modern, information-based business, says Novarica's Matthew Josefowicz.

In a new I&T video feature, Kathy Burger talks to Novarica's Matthew Josefowicz about insurance IT budgets for the coming year. Two notable observations emerge quickly —'first, companies aren't cutting back; second, they are shifting away from a focus on efficiencies to a focus on business capabilities that are increasingly becoming table stakes. Here's Matt on the shift in spending from Kathy's interview:

Overall it's being driven by the need to create new business capabilities. I think that most insurance companies that we work with, their IT strategies are not necessarily focused around efficiency or cost containment. A lot of that work has already been done. In this case, most companies are focused on creating badly needed business capabilities to serve their distributors, to get new products out to market faster, to optimize internal workflow and to really meet the competitive necessities of a modern, information based business.

Anthony O'Donnell has covered technology in the insurance industry since 2000, when he joined the editorial staff of Insurance & Technology. As an editor and reporter for I&T and the InformationWeek Financial Services of TechWeb he has written on all areas of information ... View Full Bio