Surprising Figures on Insurance Data Spending

People always say that insurance is a data-intensive business. Then why it its data-related spending so low compared to other industries?

Our sister brand, Wall Street & Technology ran a really interesting piece from Dr. Howard Rubin, president and CEO of technology economics research firm Rubin Worldwide, yesterday.

The piece focused on how much money various business categories spend on data per $1 million in revenue. Here are the results:

Table 1

Have to admit, I was surprised to see insurance so low on this list, considering we take for granted that this is a "data-intensive business." What's more, in conversations I've had with insurers, it seems data center issues are often near the top of CIOs' task lists. So, will we be seeing this number tick up as data centers are revamped and expanded? Or, is the number so low because insurers are masters of data and don't need to spend as much money on it relative to their total revenue? Would love to know what you think.

Nathan Golia is senior editor of Insurance & Technology. He joined the publication in 2010 as associate editor and covers all aspects of the nexus between insurance and information technology, including mobility, distribution, core systems, customer interaction, and risk ... View Full Bio