Many trailblazers and leaders in the insurance industry make it a point to update their data infrastructure and management systems to keep up with the changing times and to maximize emerging technologies that will allow them to serve their market better. However, not all insurance companies have the means of keeping abreast of the latest developments in digital technology. Many also find it too challenging to invest in the latest insurance management system as soon as the said system is widely available to the members of the financial industry. More likely than not, these traditional-leaning companies only consider upgrades necessary when they find that the legacy solutions they use can no longer keep up with the standards that their industry is subject to or if their company is starting to seriously lag behind the competition.
Championing the Power of Data and Digital Transformation Within Your Insurance Organization
If you’re fighting an uphill battle to convince the decision-makers in your company that now is the best time to start introducing the digital revolution to your organization, then your insurance carrier might be a part of this less tech-savvy group. To acquire the support of more traditional managers, it’s a must for the proponents of digital revolution in your organization to approach the topic from a problem-solving perspective.
In particular, you can consider the specific pain points in your insurance company that only digital technologies and better data management systems can solve. This can be anything from the rising cost of compliance or keeping up with stricter standards from regulatory bodies, to speeding up your internal processes or widening your market among tech-savvy customers. Here are some of the factors your organization should consider when using data and digital technologies to solve your current issues:
A Keen Analysis of the Problem the Organization Wants to Solve
First and foremost, you need to do a thorough analysis of the pain point you want to focus on. Perhaps there’s a new set of accounting standards that you should adhere to in the coming months, but your current system is not yet primed to comply with the said standard once it becomes mandatory. What challenges does the rollout of the new accounting standard present to your organization? How can you respond to these challenges given the current system that you have? Where does your company’s legacy system fall short and how can the addition of digital solutions provide your organization with the means to work around the said new challenges? It’s also a good idea to identify which among your departments or teams will be affected by the said problem and get their insights on how they can utilize digital solutions to not only solve your company’s main pain points, but also augment their respective teams’ processes and functions.
A Structured Framework That Aligns Business and Data Strategy
After establishing that you have a problem with a definite deadline, the next thing your company can focus on is finding out exactly how you’re going to solve the issue you are facing through the use of data and digital solutions. What role will your data strategy play in ensuring that your business goals are met? How will collecting, managing, and analyzing data using digital technologies allow your insurance company to reduce the cost of compliance, keep in step with the ever-changing demands of the market, or make your products and services more accessible to digital natives?
If you’re pushing for the complete overhaul of your data management system to solve all the aforementioned pain points, for example, then it’s a smart idea to bring up exactly how you’re going to effectively manage the data that your company will have access to. This includes describing in detail how the data your company has collected will be stored, safeguarded, and leveraged in the future. At this point, you can bring up how access to a wealth of information from your customers will help your company design and implement competitive products, consistently improve customer experiences, and speed up product rollouts and policy updates, to name a few.
Data Architecture and Data Quality
After you’ve established the value and urgency of investing in digital technologies and systems, the next step is considering how your company will set up its data architecture. It’s always an option to leverage data models from established insurance solutions providers if your company is not keen on coming up with an in-house data model. Your choice of data architecture will dictate the capabilities and tools that your organization will have access to once you’ve fully adopted a digital insurance management system. For example, if you’ve partnered with a trusted third-party digital systems provider, then your subscription may include ongoing data monitoring and data lineage tracking capabilities. However, if your company decides to use its own data infrastructure, then you will have to come up with these functions independently.
Missing the opportunity to upgrade now means that in the near future, there is a significant chance that your organization will lose a lot of ground to established competitors and newcomers that are making a serious effort to embrace digital technologies today. Bring up these data management considerations with the decision-makers in your company as soon as possible to make the most of the current technologies available to your organization.
