Martha Ducharme – CPCU, MBA
Dawayne Eason - CPCU
October 2020
Technology, Reshaping Insurance
What has transpired within Insurance from technology over the last 20 years? Whether the view is seen as positive or negative, most would agree that change has occurred. This is not an issue about replacing any individual, although some departments may have decreased in size, any change that has occurred seems to create an evolution for new departments. Between 2000 to 2020, there has been significant change.
Remember back to 2000, as the year ended the focus was on a fear…that the computers were not going to function when the calendar year switched and there would be a collapse of infrastructure. Many thought the banks would shut down, records would be lost, and phone systems would fail. The reality, things carried on, technology survived and continues to evolve today.
Management Systems
One looming element of technology involves the management systems that insurance organizations have in place. These are systems that manage claim data, underwriting data, accounting, etc. Any business process that needs management fits into a platform of some type. Many insurance carriers continue to use legacy systems, a system set up like a database versus a management system today. The difference when compared to today’s systems is that a management system has moved from holding data, to holding and managing data. There is an ability to pull and analyze data and then use the resulting information to manage the day to day business operations.
Some of these legacy systems are not necessarily bad, many times they continue to be utilized because they offer a better level of security and control. What has been occurring over the last few years is not to replace, but to augment these systems with tools that can function within the legacy system to successfully access and link the different business segments together.
Today’s Driving Forces
Work is focused on technology. What is driving development is not just better software and products, it is the age-old need for customer service. Technology has been allowing points of contact to come into play more quickly and display a two-way access option for customer communication. The expectation for customer service has a higher demand than at any prior point in time.
The customer contact touch points are coming from a few different sources:
- Chatbots, that websites utilize to help answer basic questions and move a person through basic processes.
- Surveys, which allow immediate feedback and offers the company a chance to get in front of an issue rather quickly.
- Portals, that are offering a stronger two-way communication that allows a customer to see an account or claim and interact directly with a service representative.
When processes are detailed to develop workflows, each of these tools can provide improvements to customer service.
Then and Now
What has transpired over time has been an explosion of technology, not just in insurance, but in the everyday facets or our world. Today, everything really is global, and communication occurs 24 hours a day between continents. Has technology reshaped insurance, yes. Although not always positive, most of the technology revolution has provided more benefit than loss. Not having to handwrite documents, use adding machines and lowering the physical size of our documentation into an electronic format has provided significant improvement.
Like any change, it does not come easy to all and there is a learning curve. Much like the curve of a grading scale, the dedication to embrace and continually learn these new technology offerings will leave a new identification. One might have to completely change their career trajectory, but it will never look bleak. The change is just a transformation into another level.
As we look to the future, it is known that technology will continue to reshape the insurance sector. The best option for success is to make a focus for user adoption and maintaining a high level of communication, ensuring the change is scalable for our ever-increasing data. Choose to be a part of the change, practice continuing education, and perhaps you will be the creator of the next high demand technology platform.